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

by Hope Callaghan

  “Either that or I’m starving.” She eyed the cookie before breaking a chunk off and popping it into her mouth.

  Lucy reached for another cookie. “So what’s going on?”

  Lucy listened while Gloria explained everything that had happened. She started with the surveillance equipment Ruth had installed yesterday and ended with her visit to the police station and how there was nothing Paul could do until the homeowner filed a report.

  “So you’re going to take matters into your own hands to try and flush out the perpetrator,” Lucy surmised.

  “Exactly and since you’re an explosives expert, I thought I would get your professional opinion,” Gloria said.

  Lucy drummed her fingers on the tabletop thoughtfully. “The plan is to have the drone circle over the top of the neighbors’ houses and then set off some kind of bait to lure them out.”

  She gazed out the window. “The only problem is, once you ignite one set of explosives, how are you going to sneak into the neighbor’s yard across the street and do the same thing? I mean, it will be loud and everyone is going to hear it.”

  Gloria rubbed her temple. True. She hadn’t thought of that. Maybe they could set the explosive off in the middle of the street and all of the neighbors would come running out to see what was going on.

  “What about putting a trash can in the middle of the street and blowing it up?” Gloria was thinking aloud.

  “Nope. Someone might see you and then you risk getting arrested.”

  The dilemma had Lucy and Gloria stumped. Gloria needed a plan and she needed it by morning. “Maybe I’ll go home and sleep on it,” she said.

  Lucy and Jasper walked Gloria to her car. “If I come up with an idea, I’ll let you know,” Lucy promised as she waited for Gloria to climb in the car.

  Lucy brightened. “You want me to go with you?”

  Gloria started the car and rolled the window down before she shut the door. Lucy looked so excited; Gloria didn’t have the heart to tell her no. “Sure. The more the merrier.”

  “I’ll pick you up around ten,” she added.

  “Great.” Lucy gave a small wave and then headed back inside.

  Gloria pulled out of the drive and onto the road. Please, God. Help us come up with some sort of idea on how to flush out the culprit.

  She turned into her drive and pulled into the garage. Maybe if she watched a couple episodes of Detective on the Side, she might come up with an idea or two.

  Chapter 23

  Gloria finally came up with a plan but she didn’t get it from her favorite detective show. She got her brilliant idea while she was on the back porch waiting for Mally to fetch the newspaper from the drive. It was when a school bus drove by the house.

  Gloria took the paper from Mally and exchanged it for a doggie treat.

  When they got indoors, she promptly called the local high school to ask what time the bus dropped students off at the Highland Park subdivision. After she had that information, she called the girls to change the pick-up time to 2:45 p.m. They would arrive at Highland Park just in time for the bus to drop the neighborhood students off.

  Ruth’s work schedule ended at five but Kenny said he could make it back in time to cover for her.

  Ruth was the designated driver, and the women arrived at the neighborhood a little ahead of schedule. She pulled her van to the end of the street and parked near the entrance.

  The women waited patiently for the familiar bright yellow and black striped bus.

  When it rounded the corner and stopped at the end of the cul-de-sac, Gloria unhooked her seatbelt and reached for the door handle. “Wait here.” She didn’t want to raise suspicion by having them all get out and on top of that, she wasn’t even certain who she was looking for.

  She stepped around the front of the van and waited on the sidewalk as high schoolers exited the bus and began to wander down the sidewalk.

  A young blonde wearing ear buds and staring at the ground stepped off. Gloria studied her briefly and scratched her from the list. She wasn’t at all observant.

  Next were a boy and girl, who started to quarrel as soon as they hit the pavement. Brother and sister, plus I don’t have enough cash. Scratch #2.

  A teenager darted off the bus and ran full speed ahead down the sidewalk, racing past all of the other teenagers. He’s too fast. I’ll never catch him.

  Finally, Gloria saw him: the one. A towhead moseyed off the bus, in no particular hurry. He shuffled down the sidewalk with a skateboard in hand. He set the skateboard on the sidewalk and hopped on.

  Gloria hurried over. “Excuse me.” The young man, whose hair was too long for Gloria’s taste, turned dark green eyes on her. “Huh?”

  Gloria pointed down the street. “You live here?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Do you know most of the people who live on this street?” Maybe he was one of those nice young men that mowed lawns for extra cash in the summer…

  He eyed her suspiciously. “What’s it to you? You some kind of undercover cop?”

  “No, I’m not, but I need your help.” She fished inside her purse and pulled out a five-dollar bill. “I’m looking for someone – possibly a male – that lives in the neighborhood and walks with a limp.”

  The boy stared at the money.

  “Here, take it,” she urged.

  The boy grabbed the five and shoved it in his back pocket. “Maybe.” He eyed her open purse, waiting for more.

  Gloria sucked in a deep breath and pulled out another five.

  The teenage boy reached for it.

  Gloria pulled it back, just as his fingers touched the edge. “Is there or isn’t there?”

  He eyed her thoughtfully as he rolled the skateboard back and forth with his foot. “Yeah, but I’m not sure of the name.” He grabbed the second five and shoved it in his pocket.

  “Is it a man or woman and can you point to the house?” she asked. Maybe she was finally getting somewhere!

  “Who are you - Angela Lansbury?” he smirked.

  Gloria gave him a dark look. “Don’t get smart with me, young man! I have underwear older than you!”

  The boy grinned. “Okay, just kidding. You don’t have to get all turned up.”

  She raised a brow.

  The boy rolled his eyes. “You know, worked up.”

  Gloria didn’t know, nor did she care.

  He jerked his head toward the row of houses. “Over there. The dude in that house has a limp. Most of the time, he walks with a cane.”

  Gloria followed his gaze. “The white house with black shutters?”

  He nodded. “That’s the one.”

  Finally! They had it narrowed it down.

  Gloria grabbed a ten, the final bill she had tucked into the side of her purse and slapped it into his outstretched hand. “Thank you. You’ve been quite helpful.”

  The boy grinned, shoved the money in his pocket and adjusted his backpack. “You’re welcome, granny.”

  She watched as he coasted down the sidewalk, eventually swerving into a driveway at the end of the street.

  He picked up the board, tucked it under his arm and disappeared inside the house.

  Gloria returned to the van and slid into the passenger seat. “We got a lead.”

  Ruth twisted in her seat. “Can I use the drone now?”

  Gloria furrowed a brow. Although she believed the young man was telling the truth, it wouldn’t hurt for her to see for herself that the man walked with a limp. She nodded. “Somehow, we need to get him outdoors.”

  Lucy leaned forward from the backseat. “That shouldn’t be too difficult.” She patted Ruth on the shoulder. “Ruth is dying to use her drone. Why don’t we let her fly it down the street or something?”

  Gloria studied Ruth’s face. She could see the eager look in her friend’s eyes. On top of that, Gloria had asked her bring it for a reason. “Fly away.”

  Ruth was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth and not wanting Gloria to chan
ge her mind and come up with a “Plan B,” scrambled out of the van and scurried to the rear cargo door. She carefully pulled her drone from the back and carried it to the front of the van.

  Gloria climbed out of the van. She, herself, was curious to see how the drone operated.

  Ruth placed the drone on the cement sidewalk and pulled the controller from her purse.

  Gloria glanced at her friend’s face. She’d never seen her so excited, except maybe the time she had glued herself to her computer screen to spy on the post office! Yeah, the look was about the same.

  “I think you missed your calling in life, Ruth,” Gloria told her.

  Ruth half-turned, her attention honed in on her precious piece of surveillance equipment. “Huh?”

  “Never mind,” Gloria mumbled.

  Lucy climbed out of the van and stood next to Gloria.

  Ruth took a step back, the controller gripped tightly in both hands.

  “Whirr!” Small propellers, located on the four corners of the small machine, began to spin and the drone slowly lifted off the ground.

  Ruth’s face contorted as she concentrated on maneuvering the flying craft up into the air. Ruth steered it back and forth across the street as she practiced moving it along.

  It lifted high in the air and then suddenly shot forward like a speeding bullet.

  Ruth began to run as she tried to keep pace with her runaway machine.

  Lucy cupped her hands to her mouth. “Pull back on the throttle,” she yelled.

  Ruth must have heard Lucy’s advice as the drone suddenly slowed and began to hover over the center of the street.

  Gloria and Lucy darted down the sidewalk to catch up with their friend.

  The drone hovered about ten feet above them. “Time to move it into position,” Ruth said.

  Gloria frowned. “How much practice have you had with this?”

  “I’ve only had it out once,” Ruth admitted.

  Gloria closed her eyes and offered a quick prayer that Ruth and her new toy wouldn’t get them into trouble.

  Lucy and Gloria followed close behind Ruth as she made her way across the street. She positioned herself off to the side, out of view of the suspect’s house.

  The women stepped off the sidewalk and slipped behind a cluster of tall juniper bushes at the edge of the property.

  Off in the distance, Gloria could hear the faint “whirr” of the drone’s propellers as it soared over the top of the six-foot privacy fence that separated the front of the yard from the rear.

  Ruth shot out of the edge of the bush as she tried to keep a visual on her drone.

  “Is it filming anything?” Lucy hissed.

  Ruth shrugged. “I won’t know for sure until I take a look at the memory card.” She puckered her lips and narrowed her eyes. “I better bring it in. The battery is probably getting low.”

  Whoop. A faint “whooshing” sound came from behind the other side of the fence. “Uh-oh.” Ruth’s face fell.

  “What?” Gloria whispered.

  “I think the drone went down behind enemy lines.” Ruth shoved the controls into Lucy’s hands and darted across the yard.

  Gloria cupped her hands to her lips. “What are you doing?” she hissed at Ruth.

  “Going for the drone,” she shot back, never slowing her pace.

  Ruth grabbed the top of the dog-ear fence panel with both hands and hoisted herself onto the top of the panel. She teetered there for a long moment, half-in, half-out, her feet swinging wildly as she tried in vain to gain enough momentum to pull herself the rest of the way over.

  “Help me!” she pleaded.

  Gloria bolted across the lawn. She gave Ruth’s feet one good shove and then they disappeared from sight.

  “Umf.”

  Gloria peered through the crack in the wooden boards and caught sight of Ruth sprawled out, face down on the grass. “Hurry UP!” Gloria urged.

  Ruth pulled herself up onto all fours and began to crawl across the yard. Her drone was a good eight feet away.

  She had almost made contact with the drone when around the corner of the house, a pair of boots appeared.

  “What is going on back here?” a male voice demanded.

  Ruth’s hand reached for the drone while her eyes traveled upwards. “I lost control of my drone,” she explained breathlessly.

  The man planted his feet apart, hands on hips. “You’re trespassing,” he growled.

  “I am so sorry,” Ruth apologized.

  Lucy leaned over Gloria’s shoulder as they watched in horror. “We need a distraction. Fast!”

  She darted out into the street, her eyes searching frantically for a diversion. Her eyes fell upon a street drain. Lucy dropped to pavement and wedged her right foot between the top of the drain and metal grate.

  Lucy sucked in a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  Gloria nearly jumped out of her skin! She spun around, her eyes falling on Lucy’s small frame, sprawled out in the street.

  She started to run over to help Lucy when Lucy frantically waved her away. “No!”

  Gloria realized that Lucy had created a diversion, sprinted along the edge of the property line and disappeared behind the bushes.

  The man looked down at Ruth and then toward the front of the house. He paused for a brief moment then disappeared inside, leaving Ruth and the drone behind.

  He bolted out of his front door and made his way over to where Lucy, who was doing an excellent job of appearing to be in a dire situation, shrieked helplessly.

  If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Gloria would have burst out laughing. Lucy and helpless were two words Gloria would never use in the same sentence!

  “I twisted my ankle and now my foot is wedged in the drain,” she moaned.

  She reached down and tugged on her calf. “Ahhhh! I think something is nibbling on my ankle!”

  The man bent down and peered into the sewer. “I don’t see anything. Hold still.”

  While his attention was on Lucy, Ruth grabbed her drone and ran to the rear of the yard. She caught a glimpse of Gloria as she ran along the other side. “Take the drone.”

  Before Gloria could answer, Ruth tossed the drone over the fence. Gloria lifted her hands above her head and grabbed onto the drone’s propeller.

  Ruth vaulted over the corner fence. Thankfully, the fence in the back was lower than the one that faced the front.

  When Ruth was safely on the other side, Gloria hunched over and grabbed her friend’s arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

  They scurried across the rear neighbor’s yard and onto the adjacent street. When they reached the safety of the street, Gloria let out a sigh of relief.

  Meanwhile, Lucy, who still had the homeowner distracted, had one eye on the drain and one eye on Ruth’s van parked at the front of the cul-de-sac.

  “Just relax your leg,” the man advised.

  Lucy had tightened her calf muscle in attempt to make it seem as if her foot was truly stuck. She caught a glimpse of Ruth and Gloria as they opened the van doors and slipped inside.

  She rubbed the side of her lower leg. “I think it’s starting to come loose.”

  The man, using both hands, gently tipped her leg to the side and slowly pulled. Her foot “miraculously” freed itself from the inner drain and slid out.

  Lucy blinked her eyes rapidly. “Oh thank you Mr. …”

  “Hendricks. Ron Hendricks.”

  “Mr. Hendricks,” Lucy repeated. She lifted her pant leg and inspected her bare ankle. “Huh! I could’ve sworn something was gnawing on my flesh!”

  She rolled over to her knees and slowly stood. She brushed her hands on the top of her pants and held out a hand. “Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome.” He pointed at the drain. “What in the world were you doing?”

  Lucy waved dramatically. “I was searching for my dog, not paying attention to where I was going and my foot caught on something slippery. Next thing I know, I�
��m on the ground and my foot was wedged inside.”

  She went on. “When I felt something on my ankle, I panicked and when I tried to jerk my foot out, it wedged even tighter.” She shuddered. “If you hadn’t helped me, I would probably have rabies right now.”

  He glanced down the street. “You live around here?”

  Lucy shook her head. “No…I live in B-.” She corrected herself. “I live a few miles away and my dog seems to have wandered off so I’m checking all the neighborhoods.”

  “I haven’t noticed any stray dogs,” he said.

  Before the man could ask more questions, Lucy turned to go. “I better keep looking.”

  She limped along the street, turning back once to watch Mr. Hendricks, whose limp was worse than Lucy’s limp, make his way down the drive and back inside his house.

  Lucy slid into the backseat, right next to Ruth, who had set up a small command post with her computer. She studied the screen. “I got some great footage of the suspect’s backyard.”

  “Ron Hendricks,” Lucy corrected.

  Gloria grinned. “You got his name?”

  Lucy nodded triumphantly. “Yep! Did you see his limp?”

  Gloria gazed down the street. “Yes, I did. It’s time to visit Paul with our evidence.”

  Chapter 24

  After Ruth picked up the spy equipment from the house at 726 Pine Place, the women headed straight to the Montbay Sherriff station.

  Luckily, Paul was at the station. He watched the drone footage in silence. “This is a good lead but it doesn’t prove that he was the one that broke into the house and caused the damage.”

  He placed his reading glasses on the desk and leaned back in the chair. “What’s his motive?”

  Gloria frowned. True. The man lacked motive. He had opportunity and fit what little clues they had about the intruder.

  Ruth closed her laptop and slid it back into her computer bag. “I wish I had been able to help crack the case,” she said.

  Gloria rose to her feet. “Do you mind if I borrow the card and take it home to study the footage?”

  Ruth shrugged. “Sure. I have a spare at home.”

  She pulled the small memory card from a side pocket and placed it in Gloria’s outstretched hand.