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Cozy Mysteries Women Sleuths Series: Box Set III: Books 9-12

Page 12

by Hope Callaghan


  She cut off a large piece of the pasta and eased it into a disposable container, carefully placing the lid on top and pressing down to make sure it had sealed properly. Next, she wrapped a couple garlic knots in a clean paper towel and placed them on top, handing both to Officer Gatlin.

  His eyes lit as he took the dish. “Whew! You moved up a notch on my list, Loretta. I can hardly wait to dig in.”

  “Whoops! I almost forgot.” She darted into the kitchen and returned with a packet of plastic silverware. “You’ll need this. It’s delicious but messy.”

  Uncle Ichabod and she walked Officer Gatlin to the door and waited for him to climb into his police cruiser before closing the door to the clubhouse and locking it. “I’m on a mission to find out who is harassing us,” Loretta vowed. “It’s time to check out the surveillance.”

  Chapter 7

  The surveillance footage was a huge disappointment. Dark, grainy images were the only things visible on the recordings, which may or may not have been the vandal.

  For all they knew, the figures on the screen could have been tenants out for an evening stroll. Even the fleeting image of the dark figure near the burning barrel gave no clue to the person’s identity.

  Loretta thought of Bobby Tackett, who had noticed the fire and then happened to be walking by right after the pellet gun incident.

  Uncle Ichabod and she could see a sudden flash of light inside the trashcan, which confirmed what the firefighters had said – someone had added an accelerant to the can before setting it on fire.

  They watched the clip until firefighters arrived on scene.

  The footage from the camera secured to the corner of the office around the time they estimated someone had snuck into the laundry room and cut the hose was a little more telling. They caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a male strolling into the laundry room and could see the lights flicker through the window.

  Moments later, the lights went out, the figure slipped out of the laundry room and disappeared from sight.

  “What time was that taken?” Loretta asked.

  Uncle Ichabod clicked the mouse to rewind the tape and check the time. “It was about two in the morning.”

  “Scum,” Loretta muttered. “I wonder if we can see anything in back of the clubhouse the night the graffiti was sprayed on the back of the building.”

  She watched as Uncle Ichabod fiddled with the tapes. It was then Loretta had her “ah ha” moment. She snapped her fingers. “Hm. I think I know who’s vandalizing this place. Now all we have to do is set a trap.”

  Uncle Ichabod reset the cameras to begin recording again and Loretta slid out of the chair. “Lacy’s date should have ended.”

  She lifted her hands over her head and stretched her back. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go home.”

  They packed up their dirty dishes and leftovers, placed them inside the empty laundry basket and headed to the golf cart.

  When they reached the house, Colton’s Honda was gone and Lacy was inside, sprawled out on the couch eating ice cream and wearing shorts and a sleeveless blouse. “What happened to the hoochie outfit?”

  Lacy looked up from the television, a spoonful of ice cream halfway to her mouth. “Phew! I almost suffocated in that thing! You must’ve washed it and it shrunk.” She stared at her sister accusingly.

  “I didn’t touch your dress. Maybe you’re putting on a few pounds,” Loretta said.

  “I hardly ever eat,” Lacy argued.

  “Really?” Loretta stared pointedly at the bowl of ice cream her sister was devouring.

  “What? I was so nervous, I couldn’t eat my dinner. I had to wait until Colton left.”

  Loretta rolled her eyes.

  Lacy hopped off the sofa with her empty dish and took a closer look at her sister. “What happened to you? You got a big ole bullseye on your forehead.”

  “Thanks for noticing,” Loretta frowned and touched the bump. “Some moron shot me with a BB gun or air gun. Officer Gatlin came by and looked around. He found this.”

  Loretta reached down and pulled the BB gun from the bottom of the laundry basket.

  “You had Officer Gatlin come here?” Lacy shrieked. “What if he saw Colton’s car parked outside?”

  “So?” Loretta shrugged. “You’re dating Colton. I needed a cop. He showed up.”

  “Ugh!” Lacy plodded to the kitchen. “Why does everything always have to be about you? I think you were trying to sabotage my date with Colton, hoping Officer Gatlin would knock on the door and embarrass me.”

  “That’s absurd,” Loretta argued, but she may as well have saved her breath.

  The least of Lacy’s concerns was how someone had shot her sister, even if it was a BB or pellet gun.

  Uncle Ichabod placed the leftovers in the fridge, shook his head at Lacy and turned his attention to Loretta. “I have a feeling the thug will be back, looking for his weapon. Maybe we could turn the tables and give him a little surprise of our own.”

  “Be right back.” Uncle Ichabod darted down the hall and disappeared into the basement, returning a couple minutes later with what looked to Loretta to be a high-powered rifle.

  “You’re gonna shoot someone? I was hoping to wound them and capture them,” she said.

  “Nah! This is a night vision air gun. I only plan to nick ‘em, just enough to cause a little pain.”

  Loretta ran her hand across the smooth surface of the gun. “I’m in. Let’s go.”

  ***

  Loretta crept around the back of the clubhouse and watched while Uncle Ichabod dropped the BB gun in the bushes close to where Officer Gatlin had told them he had found it.

  Uncle Ichabod tiptoed across the pool deck and eased in behind the small storage shed, which held the pool chemicals. He gave Loretta the thumbs up and disappeared from sight.

  Loretta shifted the empty gun her uncle had given her. She had asked him to remove the bullets for fear she might panic and actually shoot someone, which was not the plan. She only wanted to catch them and give them a good scare.

  She eased down onto her knees and peered between two hedges as she kept a close eye on the BB gun lying on top of a nearby bush.

  What if it was too late and the vandal / shooter had already searched for the BB gun and given up? She hoped not.

  Uncle Ichabod and Loretta had decided to give it at least an hour before heading home.

  The ground was hard and Loretta’s knees began to ache from remaining motionless in the same spot. She glanced at her watch. It had been almost an hour.

  Loretta started to stand when she heard a rustling sound. Someone was searching the bushes!

  Loretta stiffened her back and peered over the top of the bush.

  A darkly clad figure stood no more than twenty feet away. She shifted her gaze, hoping Uncle Ichabod had noticed.

  “Tink…tink, tink!”

  “Ouch!”

  Loretta smiled evilly. Uncle Ichabod was on top of his game and had hit his intended target.

  “Tink…tink!”

  “What the…” a male voice groaned.

  Loretta sprang into action. “Freeze!” she shouted as she pointed the empty gun at the dark figure. “Or I’ll shoot.”

  The figure froze, lifting his hands in the air and a young voice cracked as it spoke. “Don’t shoot. I’m not armed.”

  Lacy, who had been inside watching, hit the lights and illuminated the entire pool area.

  Loretta came face-to-face with the little…well, not that little, terror who had been vandalizing their home and property.

  “If it isn’t Jeremiah Bureaux,” Uncle Ichabod said. “Does your momma know what you’ve been up to?”

  Chapter 8

  Jeremiah Bureaux, or as Loretta had nicknamed him, the holy terror, confessed to not only spraying graffiti on the back of the clubhouse, sticking a dead rat inside the mailbox and cutting the hose on the washing machine, he had also shot Loretta with a pellet gun.

  When Lor
etta pressed him about poor Barkley, he claimed to have seen the pup wandering around the trailer park but swore up and down he hadn’t put him in the dumpster. Jeremiah later admitted that one of his friends had been with him for part of the day and he wasn’t sure if perhaps his friend had placed Barkley in the dumpster.

  Loretta wondered how such a young man could go so wrong until Clairee Bureaux arrived to pick up her son and she had a chance to chat with her.

  Clairee refused to listen to Loretta when she told the woman Jeremiah had confessed to vandalizing the property. Instead, she blamed not only Uncle Ichabod, Loretta and Lacy for her son’s delinquent behavior, but also the entire town of Misery, claiming if they had a youth center for the kids, they wouldn’t wander aimlessly around town and get into trouble.

  There was some truth to what she said and Loretta vowed to talk to Pastor Jessup…Alex, to see if they could put their heads together to come up with a safe place/plan for the area teens.

  Uncle Ichabod and Loretta watched as Clairee tossed Jeremiah’s skateboard in the back of the car and the two of them climbed in the front seat and drove off.

  “Well, I was off on that one. I could’ve sworn it was a Breezy Point resident.” Loretta sighed heavily. “I guess this isn’t going to make me any more popular around the post office.”

  Uncle Ichabod placed his arm around Loretta’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Loretta. She’ll forget all about it soon enough and your mail will be safe once again. Until then, maybe I better be the one to drop off the mail.”

  Loretta leaned her head against her uncle’s shoulder and then suddenly lifted it. “Hey, would you mind giving me some pointers on how to shoot that air gun?”

  The end.

  *The recipe for the baked cream cheese spaghetti is available on Hopecallaghan.com website under the recipe section!

  Book 12: Fatal Frolic

  Sweet Southern Sleuths Cozy Mystery Series

  Hope Callaghan

  hopecallaghan.com

  Copyright © 2016

  All rights reserved.

  ***

  This book is a work of fiction. Although places mentioned may be real, the characters, names and incidents and all other details are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

  ______________________________

  Visit my website for new releases and special offers: hopecallaghan.com

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Sweet Southern Sleuths Short Stories Box Set III

  Free Cozy Mysteries Newsletter

  MAIN CONTENTS

  Meet The Author

  Foreword

  Book 9: Secrets of a Stranger

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Book 10: Library Lockdown

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Book 11: Vandals & Vigilantes

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Book 12: Fatal Frolic

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Box Set Savings (Read Free in Kindle Unlimited)

  Get Free Books And More

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Sweet Southern Sleuths Short Stories Box Set III

  Free Cozy Mysteries Newsletter

  MAIN CONTENTS

  Meet The Author

  Foreword

  Book 9: Secrets of a Stranger

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Book 10: Library Lockdown

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Book 11: Vandals & Vigilantes

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Book 12: Fatal Frolic

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Box Set Savings (Read Free in Kindle Unlimited)

  Get Free Books And More

  Chapter 1

  Loretta Sweet scribbled furiously on the piece of yellow pad paper, tore it off, and then slid it across the kitchen table to Uncle Ichabod. “Well, what do you think?”

  Uncle Ichabod adjusted his glasses and picked up the sheet. “Fifty dollar gift card to Thrift-Co., twenty-five dollar gift certificate to Corner Café, a twelve month supply of jam from the “Jam of the Month Club” and one month free lot rent or teepee rental.”

  He set the sheet of paper on the table. “Sounds good. The Jam of the Month Club is my favorite,” he teased.

  Loretta frowned. “Do you think it’s tacky?” She had gotten a year’s supply for joining South Central Mississippi’s Tourism & Recreation Committee and had no use for it. In other words, she planned to re-gift it.

  “Someone oughta like it. If not, I’m sure they’ll do just what you’re doing and pass it on,” he said.

  Loretta slid the paper inside the manila folder marked, “Breezy Point Appreciation Party” and pulled out the guest list. There were currently thirty mobile home lots in the Breezy Point and all of them were occupied.

  The guest list included the short-term teepee rental residents as well, and out of six teepees, five were occupied, although “short-term” was perhaps not the right term. Most of the teepee renters had been with them for several months now, and none seemed to be in any hurry to move out.

  The only vacant teepee was the unit closest to the street, and not far from Loretta, her sister, Lacy, and Uncle Ichabod’s home. She thought that particular unit was unpopular because it was close to their house and potential tenants might feel they were being spied on.

  Loretta was tossing around the idea of adding a privacy fence, a barricade to give the tenant on the end a little more privacy, but the fence was on the back burner.

  Crews had recently broken ground and were leveling out a section of property in the back of Breezy Point where Uncle Ichabod, Lacy and Loretta planned to add five more mobile home spots.

  They had saved almost all of the money to add the extra lots and once they were rented out, the cash flow would go directly into retirement accounts Loretta had set up for Lacy and her.

  Uncle Ichabod insisted he didn’t want a retirement account since he had retired years ago and received a monthly pension from the Army. He also said Loretta was doing such a great job of caring for him; he had no use for the money. He had everything he needed and more…

  Loretta’s uncle had made the statement a few days ago and every time she thought about it, she felt like bawling. Although Uncle Ichabod was not a blood relative, Loret
ta couldn’t have loved him more. The feeling was mutual.

  She glanced at the guest list and the small check marks she had placed near a handful of names…the residents who had told Loretta they couldn’t wait for the party. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too disappointed:

  Savannah Dogwood, Loretta’s close friend who lived in the cottage next door.

  Jimmy Clay, trailer park resident.

  Bobby Tackett, another resident who was also Uncle Ichabod’s poker buddy. Loretta was convinced Bobby had a crush on Savannah.

  Grace Woodyard, a widow who lived on one of the lots at the end of the trailer park. Grace would be most affected by the ongoing construction and the new residents. Loretta hoped she wasn’t too upset her quiet little oasis would soon be gone.

  Gabe Parks. Loretta didn’t know much about Mr. Parks. He kept mostly to himself but paid his lot rent on time. He hadn’t told Loretta if he would attend the party.

  Graham Steele. Despite the fact Graham was Savannah’s ex-husband and had seemed a little sketchy when she first met him, Loretta had warmed to him and he appeared to be a decent guy.

  There was also Dixie Theroux, one of Loretta’s first teepee tenants and a gal as sweet as a box of chocolates.

  Loretta scanned the rest of the list. Thirty-five invites sent out, not including a couple extras - Pastor Alex Jessup, Fancy Gabardine, a waitress at the Corner Café and Loretta’s friend, and Colton Sheffield, Lacy’s new beau.

  Loretta had slipped in one additional guest, Betty Sue Graybill. She glanced at Uncle Ichabod out of the corner of her eye.

  Loretta had bumped into her on several occasions while running errands in the small town of Misery. Every single time, Betty Sue would ask about Uncle Ichabod.

  When Loretta ran into her at the corner grocery the day before, Loretta impulsively invited her to the party, to which Betty Sue immediately said yes…and then asked if Uncle Ichabod, or “Ick” as he was called, would be there.

  Loretta gave her the date, which was the following weekend and only days away. She was on the fence about confessing it to her uncle, unsure of how he would react. Every time Loretta mentioned Betty Sue’s name, his face would register a blank expression, which was unusual for her uncle. His face normally read like an open book.

 

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