Bully in the Burbs (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Book 8)

by Hope Callaghan

  “Good girl!”

  “Ruff.” Mally licked her hand and pranced around.

  Gloria crawled back inside the tractor, pulled the keys from the ignition and closed the door. She waited until Mally was out of the barn before securing the barn door and snapping the padlock in place.

  Gloria was halfway to the house when something across the street caught her attention. There were cars in the drive and she could see someone standing next to one of the vehicles. “Shall we go meet the new neighbors?”

  She didn’t wait for a reply and the two of them headed across the road.

  Chapter 18

  Parked in the drive was a new sedan. Standing next to the car was a young couple. They turned as Gloria approached. “Hello, I’m Gloria Rutherford. I live across the street.”

  The woman smiled, her long dark hair falling forward, covering a bright blue eye. She shifted the baby she was holding in her arms. “Hello. I’m Melody Fowler and this is my husband, Chris.”

  Gloria smiled at them as she patted Mally’s head. “This is Mally.”

  The woman reached her hand forward so Mally could sniff. Mally licked her palm…the Mally seal of approval.

  The man stuck his hand out and Mally did the same. “Hello Mally. What a beautiful dog.”

  Gloria knew her dog was a good judge of character so if Mally liked them, she was sure she would. “Are you moving in?”

  The man, Chris, shook his head. “Not yet. We’re doing some renovations first.”

  Gloria glanced at the house. “This farm once belonged to my husband’s family. He sold it to one of the local farmers years ago, but I don’t believe anyone ever moved into the house.”

  “It needs updating,” the young woman admitted.

  They exchanged a few pleasantries and Gloria turned to go. “I better get going. I’m sure you have work to do. Let me know if I can help,” she called out as she wandered back across the street.

  It would be nice to have neighbors again. They seemed like a friendly couple and the baby was cuter than a button.

  She had wondered what kind of renovations they planned but didn’t want to seem nosy. It had been years since Gloria had been inside the house.

  She couldn’t date the house but knew it was at least a hundred years old and a lot of the house was original: the plumbing, electrical, mechanicals, not to mention old wallpaper, paneling and carpet.

  Now that she thought about it, it could probably use a major overhaul. She hoped they got a good deal!

  The rest of the afternoon crawled by. When 4:30 rolled around, Gloria changed into dark slacks and a navy blue sweater – the perfect attire for an undercover operation. Although this wasn’t an undercover operation, it was a habit to wear dark clothes. Sleuthing and dark clothing just seemed to go together.

  Gloria steered Annabelle to the back of the post office parking lot and pulled in next to Ruth’s car to wait.

  At 5:01, Ruth exited the rear of the post office carrying a large cardboard box. She opened the rear passenger door and slid the box onto the seat before she climbed into the passenger side. She pulled the seatbelt across her lap and fastened the buckle. “I’m nervous as a tic.”

  Gloria grinned and started the car. “If you’re nervous now, just wait.”

  On the drive to Rapid Creek, Ruth outlined her strategy. She patted her pocket. “I have the drawing with me…just in case. I was able to do a little research online and found a rough blueprint for this house. It was built by a local company.”

  Gloria snorted. “You’re kidding.”

  “No.” Ruth’s expression grew serious. “Mechanicals are very important when installing surveillance equipment.”

  Gloria hadn’t considered that. “Will you need electricity?” She couldn’t remember if the power had been shut off.

  Ruth shook her head. “Nope. The surveillance equipment runs on electricity and has a battery backup but it will only last a day or so.”

  Gloria turned Annabelle onto the main road and pressed down on the gas pedal. “We’re going to pick the equipment up tomorrow so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Gloria had already given some thought as to how they should enter the house. They could pull in the driveway but if the neighbors spotted them…

  She was torn. On one hand, she could come up with an excuse for being there. On the other, she didn’t want the suspect - or suspects - to see them enter the house, carrying a large box. She erred on the side of caution and decided to park one street over, directly behind the property.

  They pulled onto the side street and climbed out of the car. Ruth reached into the back of the car and pulled out her box of surveillance equipment.

  Gloria frowned. She wished she had thought to bring a backpack or something that was less conspicuous. Lucy would have definitely thought of that!

  It was too late now. “This way.” She waved Ruth to follow as they walked between two houses and made their way to the back yard.

  A rickety fence ran along both sides of the property but the back perimeter was wide open. They stepped into the backyard and something squished under Gloria’s sneaker. She lifted her foot to inspect the bottom of her shoe. Whatever it was, was dark brown and mushy.

  “I think I just stepped on a landmine,” she groaned.

  Ruth leaned forward for a closer look. “Yep. That is definitely dog doo.”

  She began to gag when she got a good whiff of the brown squishy stuff on Gloria’s shoe. “Oh no!” Ruth covered her mouth and turned away, all the while still making the gagging noises.

  “Shush! You’re going to blow our cover,” Gloria whispered fiercely as she scraped her foot along the grass to remove as much of the poo as possible.

  Ruth sucked in a breath of fresh air. “I’m sorry. I’ve always had an overactive gag reflex.”

  “Don’t ever get a pet,” Gloria warned.

  “Let’s get this over with.” She motioned Ruth along and the women tiptoed through the rest of the yard as they made their way to the rear slider.

  Gloria tugged on the handle. The door was locked.

  She remembered that the basement door had been unlocked last time she was there. Then she remembered that Jill and she had locked it before they left.

  Still, it was worth a try. “Wait here,” she told Ruth.

  She wandered to the side window and stuck her finger on the ledge. It didn’t budge.

  Gloria’s heart sank. That meant she would have to go to the front of the house and enter through the front door.

  Gloria closed her eyes and whispered a quick prayer that she would make it inside undetected.

  She walked around the side of the house and picked up the pace as she headed to the front porch. She twisted the knob on the combination lock and then yanked on the base.

  The key dropped into her hand. She inserted the key, opened the door and stepped inside. Safely inside, she peeked out the front window. No one was in sight.

  Ruth peered at Gloria through the rear slider. She waited while her friend scooted across the dining room floor, flipped the lever lock and slid the door open.

  Ruth stepped inside and looked around. “Just as I envisioned.” She set the box on the kitchen counter and began pulling equipment from the box and placing it on the counter.

  “What can I do to help?” Gloria reached for the box. The sooner they could get the spy gear set up, the sooner they could get out of there.

  Ruth shook her head. “Nothing. It would take too long to explain.”

  Gloria pulled her hand back. “Okay. No problem.”

  While Ruth worked on the installation, Gloria headed to the front door and replaced the key in the container then put the lockbox back on the door. She closed the front door and tugged on the handle to make sure it had locked.

  She stood off to one side and watched Ruth work, impressed by her speed and efficiency. Ruth had it down to a science!

  Ruth had almost finished her installation when Gloria had a tho
ught. Perhaps she should unlock the basement window again to give the would-be perpetrator a way to get in.

  “Almost done,” Ruth announced.

  “I’ll be right back.” Gloria hustled down the basement steps and to the bedroom in the back. She unlatched the window and headed back up the stairs.

  Ruth was waiting at the top, the empty box tucked under her arm. “Mission accomplished.”

  Gloria didn’t want to leave using the front door, not with Ruth holding a large brown box. She opened the rear slider. “Wait for me out here.”

  Ruth stepped onto the back deck.

  Gloria pulled the door shut and locked the door behind her. If her goal was to avoid detection, there was only one way out.

  Gloria headed back down the basement steps to the window she had just unlocked. She lifted the window and grimaced. “Here goes nothing.”

  She hoisted herself up onto the window frame, her legs dangling in the air behind her as she desperately tried to pull her body through the opening.

  A rustling on the other side of the fence caught her attention.

  Gloria tipped her head to peer through a small gap between two of the boards. Her eyes widened in horror. There, on the other side of the fence was a large black eye and sharp canine teeth.

  “Grr!”

  Chapter 19

  Gloria put a finger to her lips. “Shhh, puppy. I’m almost out of here,” her raspy voice giving way to her fear. Trying to soothe the dog seemed to have the opposite effect and make him even more agitated. The mutt began to bark his fool head off.

  “Woof! Woof-Woof!”

  Gloria dragged one knee onto the frame and pulled herself across the metal barrier.

  The dog, focused on Gloria’s every move, began to ram his head against the wooden panel as he tried to get to Gloria.

  “What in the world are you doing?”

  Shiny black shoes stepped into Gloria’s range of vision. Her eyes traveled from the shoes and up the pant legs to the top of a uniform…a police uniform. A very familiar police uniform.

  Paul knelt on the ground. He blew a puff of air through thinned lips. “I would offer to help but it looks like you have it all under control.”

  Paul stood upright, grabbed his radio and unclipped it from his belt. “Yes, this is Officer Kennedy. Disregard the 10-14.”

  He clipped the radio to his belt and grimaced as his fiancé rose to her feet and brushed the dirt from her dark slacks. “A neighbor reported a suspicious person prowling around the house.”

  The dog, still on the other side of the fence, began to growl. Paul glanced across the fence. “Let’s move to the back so the dog will stop barking.”

  Gloria nodded. She lowered the window frame and followed him to the back yard where Ruth was waiting on the rear deck.

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” Paul muttered under his breath.

  He tipped his hat to Ruth. “Hello Ruth.”

  Ruth shifted the box in her hands. “Hello Paul. Nice to see you.”

  Gloria gave her a hard stare.

  Ruth swallowed hard and lowered her gaze. “Or maybe not.”

  He turned his attention to Gloria. “Do you want to explain to me why you were sneaking out of this house and why Ruth is carrying an empty box, looking guiltier than a fox in a hen house?”

  “Well…”

  Paul lifted a hand. “Let me guess.” He waved his hand toward the house. “This is the house that Jill intends to buy.”

  Gloria nodded. It was best not to say too much. She knew he had caught her red-handed but hoped he wouldn’t force them remove the spy equipment…

  He pointed to the box Ruth was holding. “I don’t even want to know what that is for.”

  Gloria let out a sigh of relief. “It’s probably best.”

  He jerked his head to the house next door, the one with the barking dog. “The neighbor next door appears to be keeping an eye on this place,” he warned.

  “Thanks for the tip,” Ruth piped up.

  Gloria gave her a warning look. She turned to Paul. “We’ll be on our way now.”

  Paul followed the women through the backyard and over to Gloria’s car. He waited for Gloria to slide into the driver’s seat and roll down the window. “Please don’t make me come back here again,” he said.

  Gloria nodded. She couldn’t promise him anything. After all, they had to come back tomorrow to retrieve Ruth’s equipment. “We’ll do our best.” She smiled brightly.

  Paul rolled his eyes. “That’s what I was afraid you would say.”

  The girls pulled out of the neighborhood and Gloria followed Paul’s police car out onto the main road. “That went off fairly well,” Ruth observed.

  Despite the minor snag of running into Paul, Gloria had to agree. “Yes. As well as can be expected.”

  On her way out of the neighborhood, they passed a familiar car. Gloria glanced in her rearview mirror. “That car looks just like the one Sue Camp, Jill’s real estate agent, drives.”

  The car turned onto Pine Place and disappeared from sight.

  Annabelle drifted toward the center of the road. “Watch where you’re going,” Ruth yelled.

  Gloria yanked the car back into her lane. “Sorry about that!”

  On the drive back to Belhaven, Ruth explained that the equipment was motion activated so she wouldn’t have to watch the screen constantly, like she had done when she set up the surveillance equipment at Gloria’s house a few months back. “It gives off a warning beep to let me know the camera picked up movement.”

  Gloria frowned. “You leave it on all the time – day and night?”

  Ruth set her purse on the floor. “Yeah. I’m used to it, though. I leave it on at the post office all night.”

  “Doesn’t it have a recorder? What if it goes off while you’re sleeping?”

  “I like to catch the action live. It’s loud enough to wake me.” Ruth shrugged. “I just get up and check the monitor then go back to bed.”

  Gloria glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye. She knew Ruth was obsessed with her surveillance equipment but this was taking it to the extreme!

  Gloria pulled her car next to Ruth’s van and waited while her friend pulled the empty box from the backseat. “A backpack might work better. You know, so it’s not quite so obvious,” Gloria hinted.

  Ruth nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I never thought of that…”

  Ruth closed the back door and leaned her head in the front window. “I’ll text you if I catch anything on the camera.”

  She pulled the van door open, tossed the box in the passenger seat and climbed in the driver’s seat. She gave Gloria a small wave and backed out of her parking spot.

  Gloria waited until the van had turned onto Main Street before she pulled out onto the road and headed home, all the while praying that they would finally get a break in the case!

  Chapter 20

  Gloria waited for Paul’s evening phone call with a hint of dread. She wondered if he would mention the incident from earlier and was relieved when he didn’t. The only thing he said was he hoped for her sake that Jill got the house.

  She kept her cell phone close by in the hopes that Ruth’s surveillance equipment would do the trick and they would catch someone breaking into the house.

  She stayed up until after the 11:00 news. Ruth never called. Gloria finally gave up and fell asleep in the recliner. The cuckoo clock chimed midnight and Gloria woke.

  Mally was sprawled across Gloria’s lap. She opened one eye and stared a Gloria.

  Gloria shifted her legs. “C’mon, girl. It’s time for bed.”

  Mally eased out of the recliner, straightened her paws out in front of her and stretched her long limbs.

  By the time Gloria brushed her teeth and washed her face, Puddles had already curled up in her favorite spot on the pillow and Mally was asleep at the end of the bed.

  Gloria sandwiched herself between her two pets and promptly drifted off to
sleep.

  ***

  Chirp…chirp…chirp.

  Bright sunlight streamed through the bedroom window. Gloria had forgotten to close the curtains before she crawled into bed. She groggily glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was 6:30 a.m.

  Chirp.

  Gloria flung the covers aside when she realized it was her cell phone! She shuffled over to the dresser and picked up the phone. There were several text messages. Gloria carried the phone to the kitchen, slipped on her reading glasses and stared at the screen.

  All of the messages were from Ruth. The first one read: “I just saw something.” The time stamp was 2:48 a.m.

  She scrolled to the second message. “You are not gonna believe what just happened!” That message arrived at 3:12 a.m.

  Ruth sent the third and final message at 3:22 a.m. “Stop by the post office ASAP in the morning!”

  The post office opened at 8:00 a.m., although she knew that Ruth was at work earlier than 8:00 a.m. Kenny Webber, the rural route carrier, and she arrived early to sort mail and get ready for the day.

  She threw on the first thing she found in her closet, grabbed her keys and headed out the door. It was mornings like that she wished the small town had a fast food restaurant with a drive-thru or even a coffee shop.

  It was 7:22 a.m. according to Gloria’s dashboard when she pulled in the post office parking lot. Dot’s place was already busy with early morning diners. Many of the local farmers showed up as soon as she unlocked the doors, having already milked the cows and tended to their livestock.

  She wandered around the back and tapped on the employee entrance. Kenny opened the door a crack. He smiled when he saw Gloria. “Ruth said you were stopping by.” He swung the door open and Gloria stepped inside.

  Ruth, her back to Gloria, shoved an envelope into one of the mailboxes and then set the rest of the stack on the sorting table. She waved Gloria to the small desk in the back. “Wait ‘til you see this!”

  Gloria gave Kenny a quick glance.

  “Kenny knows all about the surveillance. He noticed my equipment was missing this morning.”