Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy

by Hope Callaghan

  “Hmm. Well, I never noticed. It’s possible.”

  “Any way to find out?” Gloria asked.

  “Kenny’s coming back to work in the morning,” Ruth told her. “I’ll check it out and get back to you.”

  There was another reason Gloria had called. “I just counted our money. We each made just over $500.”

  “Oh! Gosh, Gloria. That’s great!” Ruth could use a little extra cash. She had her eye on a new surveillance camera. One that was more powerful and had a better microphone on it.

  “I’ll bring it by in the morning,” Gloria told her.

  After she hung up the phone, she decided against calling the rest of the girls. Instead, she’d surprise them tomorrow. Today had been a long day and she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was settle into her recliner with a frozen dinner and watch TV. Monday nights featured the “Monday Marathons” for her favorite TV series, “Detective on the Side.”

  She microwaved her meal, grabbed a jar of treats for Mally and Puddles and headed to the living room. The three of them settled into the recliner for a cozy evening at home.

  Gloria and Mally were up bright and early the next morning. Gloria had a long to-do list that started with a visit to the post office. Gloria stepped through the front door. Ruth spied Gloria right away. She had that “I’m-about-to-explode” look on her face. She didn’t wait for Gloria to get to the counter. Instead, she met her at the door.

  She grabbed her arm and pulled her to the corner. “Kenny’s here but I can’t see his arm! He has a long-sleeve jacket on!”

  Gloria nodded. She had an idea. “Let me handle this.”

  Ruth headed back behind the counter and Gloria walked up to the customer side. She set her purse on the counter and opened it up. She plucked Ruth’s share of the yard sale money from inside and pushed it across the counter. “Here’s your share of the yard sale money,” she said in a loud voice. “You’ll never guess what I’m going to do with my share.”

  Ruth answered in the same loud voice. “What’s that, Gloria?”

  “I’m tossing around the idea of getting a tattoo! But I’m not sure how expensive they are.”

  Ruth’s eyes widened. “Really?” she mouthed the words to Gloria.

  Kenny dropped three boxes in one of the bins marked, “airport.” He wandered over to the counter. “Hi Kenny.” Gloria smiled.

  “I heard you say you were gonna get a tattoo, Mrs. Rutherford,” he said. “What kind?”

  Gloria’s face went blank. What kind of tattoo would she get? She hadn’t the slightest idea… But the more she thought about it, the more she was intrigued by the idea. After all, none of her small circle of friends had one. She wondered if it hurt.

  “I wonder how painful it is.”

  Kenny shook his head. “It’s not too bad,” he assured her. “Here, I’ll show you what mine looks like.”

  Gloria’s heart sank as she watched Kenny slip out of his jacket. She looked over at Ruth. The color had drained from her face.

  Kenny set his jacket on the counter, then lifted his shirt to show his bare chest. “I got it a couple years back. On the front of Kenny’s chest, just under his collarbone was an anchor with an eagle. In the middle was the earth. Above that were the words Semper Fi.

  Gloria leaned in for a closer look. “That’s a military tattoo.”

  Kenny nodded. “Marines.”

  Ruth snapped her fingers. “That’s right. You were in the Marines.”

  Kenny nodded. “Yep. This is the only tattoo I’ll ever have or ever want.” He looked up. “Cool, huh?”

  Gloria had to agree. It was cool. And Kenny was officially off the hook.

  He pulled his shirt back down. “Now Seth’s tattoo. His is one I don’t really care for. Some kind of serpent with a satanic head on it.”

  Ruth spoke first. “I didn’t know Seth had a tattoo.”

  “Yep.” Kenny pointed to the back of his arm, above the elbow. “Right there. I asked him one time what that meant and he never did answer.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Course, you never can tell about those college kids. The things they do after a night of drinking and partying.”

  Gloria nodded. They had their inside man. Seth Palmer. Part-time postal worker, full-time student….and drug dealer.

  Ruth gave her a dark look. “I need to step outside for a second,” she said to Kenny. She grabbed her cell phone and went out the back door.

  Gloria glanced at her watch. “I better get going. I have more stops to make.” She headed to the door. She opened it up and turned around. “It’s nice to see you back at work, Kenny.”

  Kenny looked up from his mail sorting, a huge grin crossed his face. “I’m glad to be back, Mrs. Rutherford.”

  Gloria stopped by Dot’s place where she ran into Lucy. She pulled out a chair and slumped down. She peered into Lucy’s mug. “Is that coffee?”

  Lucy shook her head. “Nope. I’ve switched over to hot chocolate.”

  Gloria rolled her eyes. “I have never seen anyone with a sweet tooth like yours.”

  Dot sidled over. She poured a coffee for Gloria. Gloria reached inside her purse and pulled out two wads of cash. Each wad had a rubber band around it. She handed one to Dot and set the other next to Lucy. “$547 each.”

  Lucy’s eyes widened. “Wow! Each of us made that much?”

  Gloria nodded. “That’ll buy you a whole lot of hot chocolate,” she teased.

  Dot stuck her hand on her hip. “If I ate half the sweets Lucy ate, I’d weigh a ton!”

  Lucy pushed the plate of sweet confectionary treats towards Gloria. “Here, have one.”

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass this time,” she said.

  Dot nodded towards the post office across the street. “How’s it going over there? I haven’t noticed any unmarked cop cars so that’s a good sign.”

  “I stopped by first thing this morning,” Lucy chimed in. “Ruth is in high spirits.”

  “I predict the investigation will be wrapped up by the end of today,” Gloria said.

  Lucy leaned in. Dot leaned over.

  Gloria leaned back. “What?”

  “You know something,” Lucy guessed.

  Gloria lifted her coffee cup and peered over the rim. She shifted her eyes to the post office. They would all find out soon enough. She didn’t want to steal Ruth’s thunder. It would be up to her to share the story. She shook her head at her friends. “I better go. I have to stop by Margaret’s place yet.”

  She drained the last few drops of coffee from the cup and pushed her chair back.

  “What are you going to do with your little windfall?” Lucy asked.

  Gloria shrugged her shoulders. “I was thinking about getting a tattoo.”

  She turned toward the door and missed the jaw drop on both her friends as they watched her walk out. Gloria grinned. She could never envision herself getting a tattoo, but it was fun to tease her friends.

  Margaret wasn’t home. Her husband, Don, answered Gloria’s knock. Gloria handed him the envelope and told him it was the yard sale money. He took the envelope. “She should be back anytime.”

  Gloria shook her head. “I’d love to wait but I have one more stop to make,” she explained. She waved good-bye, then headed to her car.

  On the way to Andrea’s place, Gloria cell phone rang. It was Ruth. “You’ll never guess what!” she shouted.

  “Seth confessed,” Gloria guessed.

  “Yep! Apparently, Tammy was trafficking the drugs through the Fenway post office. When she got wind the Feds were investigating, she talked Seth into helping her move them to the Belhaven post office.”

  Gloria nodded. That made sense.

  Ruth went on. “Tammy would give Seth a heads-up when a package was coming. He would intercept it when it arrived at the post office, then hide it in the dumpster before he left that night. Tammy would come pick it up sometime during the night.”

  “Sounds like they had it all figured out,” Gloria said.


  “Yeah, that Tammy. Wow! She tried to frame me, get me out of the picture so she could continue on with her illegal trafficking PLUS take my job while she did it!”

  Gloria shook her head. You never could tell about people, that’s for sure!

  She pulled into Andrea’s and parked behind her car. “I gotta get going, Ruth. Call me later,” she said.

  She hung up the phone and slid out of the car. She hadn’t seen her young friend for a couple days now. Between Ruth’s crisis, the yard sale and last but not least, her grandsons visit, she’d been busy.

  Gloria grinned when she looked at the lion’s head knocker. For some reason, it cracked her up every time she saw it. Andrea opened the door, a frantic look on her face. “You got my message,” she said.

  “No. What message?” Gloria wondered.

  “The one I left on your home phone,” Andrea answered.

  “I left the house first thing this morning and haven’t been back,” Gloria said.

  Andrea waved Gloria inside. “You’re never going to believe this,” Andrea said. “My parents are coming for a visit.”

  She followed Andrea through the living room and library then out to the kitchen. “Well, that’s great news! I can hardly wait to meet your parents.”

  Andrea whirled around, her eyes wide. “You don’t understand. My parents are different.”

  They were in the kitchen now. Andrea pulled out a barstool and slumped down. She leaned her forehead in the palm of her hand. “What am I going to do?”

  Gloria looked around. “Wait a minute. Something’s different.” She stared at the gleaming countertop. “The wall! You took out the wall!”

  Andrea lifted her head. Her eyes lit up. “You like it?”

  Gloria nodded her approval. “It sure did open up the space.” She spun around. “Great job, Andrea. It turned out beautifully.”

  Andrea’s expression turned glum again. “I planned to have a big get-together. You know, a housewarming party and invite everyone, but now I have my parents coming.”

  That didn’t seem like much of a problem to Gloria. Her parents could help her out. They would have a chance to meet the people that were in their daughter’s life. A chance to meet Brian.

  Gloria patted her hand. “My dear. I can’t wait to meet your parents. I can’t wait for your party. It will all turn out. You’ll see,” she said.

  But you don’t know my parents, Andrea thought to herself.

  The end.

  Spaghetti Pie

  Ingredients

  6 ounce package of spaghetti, cooked and drained

  2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

  1 large egg, beaten

  1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  1 cup ricotta cheese

  1 cup spaghetti sauce

  ¾ cup shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

  Directions

  - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  -Toss cooked and drained spaghetti with butter or olive oil.

  - Mix 1/2 cup parmesan cheese with beaten egg. Stir into spaghetti.

  -Pour spaghetti mixture into lightly greased 10” pie pan. (Glass baking dish works best for this recipe.)

  -Press or mold spaghetti into a “crust.”

  -Spread ricotta cheese over top of spaghetti crust.

  -Spread spaghetti sauce on top of ricotta cheese.

  -Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

  -Remove from oven. Top with mozzarella or Italian blend cheese.

  -Return to oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

  -Remove from oven. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.

  -Cool for 10 minutes, then cut into wedges.

  About The Author

  Hope Callaghan is an author who loves to write Christian books, especially Christian Mystery and Cozy Mystery books. Born and raised in a small town in West Michigan, she now lives in Florida with her husband.

  She is the proud mother of one daughter and a stepdaughter and stepson. When she's not doing the thing she loves best - writing books - she enjoys cooking, traveling and reading books.

  Hope loves to connect with her readers!

  Visit hopecallaghan.com for information on special offers and soon-to-be-released books!

  Email: hope@hopecallaghan.com

  Facebook page:

  http://www.facebook.com/hopecallaghanauthor

  Other Books by Author, Hope Callaghan:

  Waves of Deception: Samantha Rite Series Book 1

  Winds of Deception: Samantha Rite Series Book 2

  Tides of Deception: Samantha Rite Series Book 3

  Who Murdered Mr. Malone? Garden Girls Mystery Series Book 1

  Grandkids Gone Wild: Garden Girls Mystery Series Book 2

  Smoky Mountain Mystery: Garden Girls Mystery Series Book 3

  Death by Dumplings: Garden Girls Mystery Series Book 4