Fall Girl (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Book 9)

by Hope Callaghan

  She was too far away to see Lucy’s house, hidden by a row of tall trees that lined the edge of the farm field.

  Gloria studied the edge of the field. She had two choices: either she could take to the field and chance stumbling on a rock and injuring herself, which wouldn’t help Lucy at all, or she could walk along the edge of the road.

  She opted for the path of least resistance…the road.

  “Please God. Protect Lucy,” she whispered. “And me,” she added.

  Gloria jogged down the road as fast as she dared. When she reached the corner, she made a sharp right and headed to the house.

  She could see the corner of Lucy’s house now and she slowed her pace, just a little. Gloria knew the layout of Lucy’s place almost as well as her own.

  She tiptoed to the edge of the yard and prayed that Jasper, Lucy’s dog, wouldn’t spot her and start barking.

  She let out a sigh of relief that the front of the house was dark.

  Gloria snaked around the back of the house and darted to the shed…Lucy’s weapons shed. Gloria knew that the shed was loaded with guns. Gloria just needed one.

  When she got to the edge of the shed, she dropped to her knees and turned to face the kitchen window.

  Lucy passed in front of the window. Gloria narrowed her eyes and studied the pinched expression on her face.

  Lucy turned to face whoever was in the kitchen with her and her lips moved. She shook her head violently.

  Gloria’s blood grew cold. If she had to guess, Lucy was pleading for her life!

  With renewed determination, Gloria hustled around the side of the shed and over to the entrance door. She grabbed the handle and turned the knob. The door was locked!

  She rattled the handle in desperation and prayed that somehow God would unlock the door for her.

  Frustration spilled over and Gloria whacked her open palm on the door.

  “Dummy!” she scolded herself…nothing like drawing attention to herself.

  She crept to the back corner of the shed and began to pace. “I need to find a way into that shed!”

  Gloria remembered not long ago that Max, Lucy’s boyfriend, had accidentally shot out one of the shed windows. Lucy had boarded it up and was now waiting for repair people to install a special order piece of glass.

  Gloria retraced her steps and made her way over to the boarded up window. With both hands, she pressed against the thin piece of paneling that covered the opening. It bowed under the pressure. She pushed harder and it gave a little more.

  Gloria closed her eyes, offered up a prayer and pushed with all of her strength.

  Pop!

  The flimsy piece of material popped out and clattered on the cement floor inside the shed. Gloria frowned at the square window frame and then looked down at her body. It would be a tight fit but she had to try!

  Gloria placed both hands on the windowsill and pulled herself up onto the frame. Her feet dangled in the air while her head tottered back and forth inside. I really need to hit the gym.

  Finally, gravity took over and Gloria landed on the cement floor of the shed with a loud thud. Her knee cracked. She gingerly rubbed her kneecap and hoped the noise was a joint and not a bone.

  She scrambled to her feet and limped to the other side of the room. The only light was the light from the window she had just come through.

  “Handguns, Gloria. Where does Lucy keep her handguns?” She forced herself to focus on the task at hand, as she reached for the large upper cabinet. Although there was a lock, it wasn’t latched.

  She quickly slipped the lock from the door latch bracket and set it on the workbench. She opened the cabinet door and peered inside. It was too dark to see anything.

  Gloria stuck her hand inside the cabinet and felt around. The shelf was full of guns! How was Gloria to know which one would work best? The only gun she’d ever handled was the one small handgun she had at home. Lucy’s guns seemed a whole lot bigger!

  She didn’t have time to decide which gun would work best. Any gun that would fire would have to be good enough. She reached for the nearest gun, ejected the clip and checked for bullets. The gun was loaded.

  She snapped the base back in place, shoved the gun in the waistband of her pants and glanced around. There was no way was she going to crawl back out the window. Instead, she unlocked the shed door and slipped outside.

  Gloria inched along the side of the shed and around to the back. She lowered down and tiptoed across the open yard until she reached the edge of the house. She dropped to her knees and crawled along the white lattice that covered the bottom of the porch.

  When she reached the other side, she slithered to a standing position and peeked in the corner of the window.

  Lucy was still standing near the window, her face pale and her lips drawn in a tight line.

  Gloria’s eyes widened when the barrel of a gun came into view. The gun was pointed right at Lucy! A tall shadow flitted back and forth but Gloria couldn’t see who it was.

  There was no way Gloria could sneak in, not with the killer guarding the door.

  Gloria bit her lower lip. In the back of the house was a set of steps that led to the basement. It was Gloria’s only hope!

  She crept along the side and then the front of the house until she reached the steps. Gloria leaned against the side of the house and plucked her cell phone from her back pocket.

  She turned her cell phone on and it gave off just enough light for Gloria to creep down the steps to the basement door.

  Gloria had been nagging Lucy for months to get the basement door fixed. The door lock was broken and if you wiggled the knob just right, the lock would pop. She prayed that Lucy hadn’t gotten around to fixing it yet.

  Gloria grasped the handle and jiggled it back and forth. She prayed that Lucy and whoever was upstairs wouldn’t hear.

  Woof! Woof! Off in the distance, Gloria heard a dog bark. It was Jasper! Lucy’s dog, Jasper, had heard her!

  Desperate to get inside, Gloria frantically twisted the handle and finally, it popped. She turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open.

  The mixture of garlic and mothballs assaulted Gloria’s nose. Lucy had had a problem with mice a short time ago and read online that if she combined the two smells, it would drive out any rodent. Or vampires.

  She waved her hand across her face. Gloria took a step across the threshold when something dark and moving at the speed of light crashed into the side of her leg almost knocking her over. It was Jasper. Lucy had let him outside. He wagged his tail and nudged Gloria.

  Gloria knelt down and patted his head. “Good doggie, Jasper. Don’t bark at Auntie Gloria,” she warned.

  Jasper licked the side of her face and then darted back out into the dark yard.

  Gloria let out a sigh of relief, stepped inside the basement and quietly closed the door behind her.

  Lucy’s basement was crammed from floor to ceiling with boxes and discarded furniture. Storage shelves lined an entire wall. On those shelves were tidy rows of canned goods.

  Centered between two shelves was the door leading to the upstairs. The door was ajar.

  Gloria stepped over to the door and gently pushed. She slipped through the crack in the door and pressed her body against the wall.

  She pulled the gun from her waistband and put one foot on the bottom stair tread. “Dear God, protect us!”

  Chapter 18

  Gloria dropped down on all fours and crept up the steps. The safety was still on the gun and she was careful to keep the trigger away from her trembling fingers.

  The old shag carpet, threadbare in spots caused Gloria’s knees to ache. Or maybe it was the tumble she had taken while breaking into the shed.

  A sharp nail jutted up from one of the steps and stabbed her thumb.

  Gloria lifted the wounded digit for a quick inspection. A small trace of blood appeared and she wondered how long it had been since her last tetanus shot. She briefly decided that if she couldn’t remember, it w
as probably time for a booster.

  This would only matter if Lucy - and she - made it out alive.

  She had a fleeting thought that Paul should only be minutes away. Would Paul come in, guns blazing? Would he decide to surround the place and the girls would end up in a hostage situation? She hoped not.

  Gloria was halfway to the top when she heard the sound of voices as they drifted down the basement steps.

  It was Lucy’s voice and a male voice. The two of them were arguing.

  As Gloria neared the top, she realized she recognized the deep voice. It was a voice from beyond the grave!

  At the top of the stairs, Gloria eased along the far wall as she made her way through the pantry and peeked around the edge of the door and into the kitchen.

  Bill’s back was to Gloria as he faced Lucy, his gun pointed at her chest. “There’s no point in discussing this any further, Lucy. I already have blood on my hands. The FTA was hot on my trail. The only loose end right now is you.”

  Bill’s hollow laughter filled the room and sent a shiver down Gloria’s spine. “Now that you’ve written your suicide note, explaining that you killed yourself because you were so distraught over my death, the only thing left is for you to finish the job.”

  Bill pulled a handkerchief from his front pocket and wrapped it around the metal grip. He lifted the gun and pointed it at Lucy’s head.

  At that precise moment, Gloria launched her body at Bill.

  Bill lost his balance and stumbled forward.

  Lucy lunged at him as she reached for the gun, which fired into the air.

  Bill staggered to the side, the gun still tightly gripped in his hand.

  Lucy dove for his knees.

  Gloria lifted her own gun and flipped the safety lever. She pressed the barrel against his temple.

  “Freeze!”

  “Drop the gun!” she shouted. “Drop the gun or I’ll shoot you dead! I swear I’ll do it!”

  Bill dropped the gun and it clattered to the floor.

  Lucy dove for the gun.

  Bill kicked it away and at the same time, kicked Lucy in the head.

  For a brief second, Gloria shifted her attention to Lucy.

  Bill, seeing that Gloria was distracted, seized his opportunity to overpower Gloria and swiped at the gun in her hand.

  The two of them struggled for the weapon. Bill was bigger and stronger than Gloria and although she fought with all that she had, she was no match.

  Gloria’s grip loosened, and Bill started to get the upper hand when the kitchen door burst open and Paul plowed in. “Freeze!”

  Bill let go of the gun.

  Gloria quickly stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

  Lucy lay on the floor, curled up in a ball, her head in her hands. When she pulled her hands away, Gloria could see a large smear of blood near her temple.

  Two uniformed officers stormed into the kitchen and quickly handcuffed a very-much-alive Bill Volk.

  Gloria crawled over to her friend. “Lucy! Lucy, are you okay?”

  The crimson blood was a stark contrast to Lucy’s ghostly white complexion. “I-I think so.”

  The two crawled over to the cabinets and leaned against them as the shock of what had just happened began to sink in.

  The two officers led Bill Volk out of the house. Paul followed behind.

  It was several long moments before Paul appeared back inside the kitchen. “You could’ve been killed,” Paul said.

  “Lucy was almost a goner,” Gloria argued. “A few more seconds and she would have been dead. Bill was cleaning his prints off the gun when I surprised him.”

  Paul bent down to examine Lucy’s injury. “Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

  Lucy slowly shook her head. “Nah. My noggin is thicker than that.”

  “I’m just glad it’s finally over,” she added.

  “Me too.” Gloria couldn’t agree more.

  The girls slowly rose to their feet and made their way over to the kitchen table. It was still hard to believe that Bill was alive…and a killer. A killer who had staged his own death.

  The police questioned Lucy at length and then asked Gloria several questions. After they left, Paul stayed behind. “You’ll need to come by the station tomorrow to fill out some paperwork.”

  Lucy nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  “I’ll be with you,” Gloria reassured her friend.

  Paul stayed long enough to check the entire house and grounds to make sure there wasn’t another person hiding out, waiting in the wings to finish the job.

  When he finished his search, Gloria walked Paul out to his patrol car. “Thank you for saving my…saving our lives.”

  Paul pulled Gloria close and set his chin on top of her head. “Why can’t you take up something safe like origami or stamp collecting,” he groaned.

  “Or pottery,” she reminded him.

  Despite the gravity of the situation, Gloria giggled. “Maybe I’ll take up martial arts instead.”

  Paul snorted. “Well, that would at least be useful.”

  He kissed her tenderly and then made her promise to give him a call when she was safe and sound at home.

  Jasper had wandered back in the kitchen and looked up at Gloria when she stepped inside. She reached down and hugged his neck. “Good dog. You didn’t even bark at me.”

  “He didn’t?” Lucy turned to Jasper. “What kind of watch dog are you?”

  “The best,” Gloria said.

  Lucy fixed a pot of tea while Gloria hovered over her. After what had happened to Margaret earlier, she wanted to make sure her friend was all right before she left.

  “Bill told me that he was in trouble with the law so he staged his own death. I asked him whose body was discovered in the house across from yours and he mumbled something about a traitor.” Lucy shuddered.

  “He went into great detail on how he had used a gun, just like mine, to kill the guy and then disfigured his face so that he couldn’t easily be identified.” Lucy went on. “In his demented mind, he figured by the time police found out it wasn’t his body, he’d be long gone.”

  Gloria finished her cup of tea. “That is just unbelievable. You think you know someone and then something like this happens.”

  Gloria’s eyes drooped and she began to nod off at the table.

  “You should go home,” Lucy urged. “It’s late.”

  Gloria nodded. She didn’t have an ounce of energy left to fight her. “Can you take me down to get my car? It’s in the field next door.”

  Lucy frowned. “That’s right. I forgot all about it.” She shook her head as if to rid herself of the cobwebs.

  The girls climbed into Lucy’s jeep and headed to the next street. Gloria’s car was where she had left it and Lucy waited until her friend was safely inside the car before she pulled back onto the road.

  Lucy turned off into her drive and Gloria finished the short drive home.

  When she got back to the farm, Gloria let Mally out for a short run.

  She let her beloved pooch back in the kitchen, shut the door and clicked the lock in place.

  Gloria barely had enough strength to brush her teeth. She turned off the bathroom light, stumbled to her bedroom and fell into bed, clothes and all.

  Chapter 19

  Gloria was out like a light. It was 9:45 a.m. before she heard Mally, who stood in the bedroom doorway and began to whine.

  Gloria flung back the covers and reached for her robe. “Okay. I hear you loud and clear.”

  She let Mally out onto the porch and then made her way to the kitchen counter to start a pot of coffee. She added an extra half scoop of grounds. Today would be another long one and Gloria knew she would need that extra shot of caffeine to make it through.

  She had almost finished her first cup of coffee when a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Five eager faces stared at her through the glass pane of the kitchen door: Dot, Margaret, Lucy, Ruth and last but not least, Andre
a.

  She clutched her robe around her and shuffled to the door.

  “Good morning, sleepy head,” Margaret teased.

  Gloria reached out and hugged her. “You’re out of the hospital.”

  “I’m fit as a fiddle,” Margaret proclaimed. “We’ve been trying to call you for over an hour now. We decided to call an emergency meeting what with everything that has happened in the last 24 hours.”

  Gloria swung the door open and motioned them in. “Make yourselves at home. I’ll be right back.”

  She darted into the bedroom, grabbed a pair of blue jeans and purple sweater from the closet and then headed to the bath. She quickly showered, dressed and finger fluffed her hair in place.

  Next, she dabbed a little makeup on. Gloria turned to the left, then to the right as she studied her reflection. Despite the lack of sleep and the stress of the last few days, she didn’t look too shabby, if she had to say so herself!

  The girls had settled in at the table. They were feasting on bagels, muffins and a variety of other baked goodies that Dot had brought with her.

  Dot reached for a pecan swirl. “I made another pot of coffee. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.” Gloria settled into the last empty chair and reached for an “everything” bagel.

  Lucy shifted in her seat. “The girls have been dying to know what happened but I told them they would have to wait until you were here to hear the whole story.”

  Between the two of them, Lucy and Gloria shared the chain of events that had occurred the night before, starting with the moment Gloria caught a glimpse of Bill’s truck as it followed Lucy after she pulled out of the drive.

  Ruth poured a splash of cream in her coffee. “Did you think it was Bill?”

  Gloria drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “No. I thought that whoever had been living in Bill’s place had taken his truck.”

  Lucy shook her head. “All that time, I felt terrible about Bill’s death and here he was, faking his own death and then trying to pin it on me.”

  “When the police didn’t arrest you, he got desperate and decided to take you out,” Andrea guessed.

  “Making it look like a suicide,” Dot finished.