Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy (3 page)

Ruth had never married, never had any children.  A long time ago, she admitted she’d been engaged and the guy jilted her just hours before the wedding.  Apparently, it crushed her to the point where she never wanted to try again. 

Gloria couldn’t imagine not having her children, and even though her husband, James, was gone now, she wouldn’t trade the years they shared together for anything.  Even the pain and heartache she went through after he died.

But Ruth filled her life with her friends and her work.  She never complained about being lonely, although Gloria was certain there were times that she had to be.

The only family that Ruth ever talked about was her niece, Sarah, who lived in Green Springs, the neighboring town. 

Gloria knew Sarah quite well.  When she was younger, she would stay with Ruth for a week or two in the summer.  Ruth would bring her to the post office and put her to work, sorting mail and such.  Sarah hadn’t been around in a while now.  She’d just finished college and had a steady boyfriend.  According to Ruth, there was even talk of a wedding in the near future.

Sarah’s mother, Lois, which was Ruth’s only sister, had moved to Florida a few years back with her new husband.  Ruth was the closest thing to family Sarah had left in Michigan.

Mally wandered around the yard as Ruth and Gloria sat in the porch rockers and watched the sun sink down behind the farm field across the street.

Gloria glanced at Ruth.  She would be bored out of her mind here at the farm.  Gloria had a sudden thought - something to keep Ruth busy while she was here.  Something to take her mind off the investigation and the post office.

“Now that summer’s here, I’ve been thinking about having a yard sale,” Gloria announced.  Gloria had tossed the idea around for a few days now.  It was high time she cleaned out the basement and the upstairs bedrooms and got rid of some stuff.  She still had toys from not only when her grandsons were little, but toys and clothes from when her own children were young. 

James used to tease Gloria that she was a bit of a pack rat. Gloria had to admit it was hard for her to part with certain things.  Especially the stuff that held sentimental value.  But it was time to sort through it and tidy the place up.  She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gone upstairs.  It had to be before Christmas!

Ruth stopped rocking.  “That’s a great idea, Gloria!  I have a bunch of stuff I need to get rid of, too.”

She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. “We could have it on Monday, when the flea market is going on.”

Gloria had to agree.  That would be the perfect time!  The drive into town – and the road to the flea market – went right by Gloria’s place.  Sometimes in the summer if she had an excess of goodies in her garden, she would haul the old hay wagon to the road and set up a little farmer’s market.  She would fill baskets full of fruits and vegetables and then sell them.   

Every week she did it, she’d sell out and have a tidy stash of cash to boot.  Yes, her place would be a great location for a yard sale!

“Maybe we should ask the other girls if they want to clean out their houses and sell some stuff,” Ruth suggested.  The other girls being the Garden Girls.  Their small group of friends.  Lucy, Margaret, Dot, along with Gloria and Ruth.

Gloria nodded.  That was a great idea!  She added that to her to-do list for tomorrow.  That way, it would give all the girls some time to get everything together and marked. She pointed to the barn.  “We can start storing the sale stuff in there until we’re ready.”

Mally was back on the porch now.  She sprawled out on top of Gloria’s feet.  Gloria pulled herself from her chair and patted her tired pooch.  She lifted her hands above her head in a long stretch.  Tomorrow was shaping up to be a very busy day.  The first thing on her to-do list was head to the post office and try to find out what in the world was going on.

Gloria pulled into the post office early the next morning. The first thing she noticed were the two unmarked police cars parked off to the side.  They were in the spots that Ruth normally parked her own car.  Gloria hoped Ruth hadn’t noticed, but she probably had.  Ruth had gotten up early and headed out right after breakfast. 

She told Gloria she was going to get busy on sorting through her stuff.  But Gloria knew what she really planned to do was drive by the post office to see what was going on.

Gloria slid out of the driver’s seat and made her way in through the front door.  Behind the counter was the woman – Sharon – and a tall, thin man with wire-rimmed glasses.  The two of them were back behind the counter talking in low voices.

Gloria dropped her envelopes in the mail slot and then peeked around the side of the mail slots.  She spied Kenny Webber near the back.  He was sorting through the packages and dropping them into various bins.  “Good morning, Kenny,” she said.

Kenny whirled around.  A smile lit his face when he saw Gloria.  “Good morning, Mrs. Rutherford!”

Gloria glanced at the two detectives.  They had their backs to Gloria.  She nodded her head towards the door and mouthed the words.  “Meet me outside.”

Kenny nodded.  He dropped the package in his hand and headed for the back door.  “I’ll be right back,” he announced. 

The woman looked up and nodded.  She continued her conversation as Kenny stepped outside.

Gloria met him in the rear, near the dumpster.  They stood behind the bushes, out of view of the door.  “You have any idea what they’re investigating?” There was no need to beat around the bush. Gloria had a reputation around town for her sleuthing. 

Kenny grinned.  He figured Gloria would be along shortly and he wanted to help Ruth in any way he could.  And that meant keeping his ear to the ground.  Or in this case, his ear to the back of the post office. 

Kenny nodded.  “Yeah.”  He looked around to see if anyone was in earshot.  “Narcotics trafficking.”

Gloria’s eyes widened.  “Drug trafficking?  Here, in our little town of Belhaven?”

Kenny lowered his voice.  “Yeah!  From what I overheard, there’s some big drug ring in Lakeville and they were using this post office to move the drugs from South Florida to here.”

“But why here?”

“Well, if you think about it, Belhaven’s smack dab in the middle of the state.  What better place to distribute illegal drugs than from here?  Plus, this place is – you know – off the radar.  Who’d ever suspect little old Belhaven as being a drug haven?  Belhaven, drug haven, get it?” He chuckled at his comparison. 

Gloria gave him a dark look.  This wasn’t one bit funny.  What would people think if they found out Belhaven was some major distribution center for illegal drugs?  Why, their property values would plummet!  Who’d want to live here?

Gloria envisioned drug lords roaming the streets in expensive vehicles with tinted windows, walking main street with thick gold chains around their necks and guard dogs…

“Look, I gotta get back to work!” Kenny turned to go.  “Stop back later if you want.  Maybe I’ll have more info.” He winked. 

“Thanks, Kenny.  I’ll have to do that.” 

Gloria wandered to her driver’s side door and then stopped.  She glanced across the street at Dot’s restaurant.  Maybe Dot had heard something. 

She crossed the street and headed in through the front door.  She nodded to a few of the locals as she made her way to the back.  Dot was at the sink, rinsing dishes.  She wiped her hands when she saw Gloria in the doorway.  “I heard Ruth was staying at your place,” she said.

Gloria nodded.  “Yeah.  She’s shook up about this whole investigation and didn’t want to be alone.”

Gloria jerked her head in the direction of the post office.  “You hear anything from the diners about what’s going on?”

Dot nodded.  “They’re saying it was some kind of fraud or money laundering or something.”

Gloria furrowed her brows.  She didn’t want to tell Dot what Kenny had told her.  At least not yet.  She changed the subject.  “Ruth and I are going to have a yard sale next week out at the farm.  On Monday.  We were wondering if you or any of the other girls have stuff you want to get rid of…”

Dot swiped at a stray strand of hair.  “Boy, do I ever!  I have tons of junk.  Funny you should mention that. I was thinking of having a sale myself.”

“Just bring it by my place when you get ready.  We’re going to store it in the barn.” Gloria turned to go.  “And if you hear anything else about the post office, let me know.”

Dot winked.  “Gotcha!  Say, is Ruth going to stay with you until they let her go back to work?”

“Yeah.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her no.”

Dot wrinkled her forehead.  “I’m not sure I could do that.  Aren’t you afraid she’s going to start snooping through your stuff?”

Gloria’s shoulders sagged.  It wasn’t that she had anything to hide or some deep, dark secret she kept from the world.  It was more a sense of invasion.  Plus, Gloria was used to living alone…

Gloria hopped back in Anabelle and headed home. She breathed a sigh of relief that Ruth hadn’t come back yet.  Hopefully, the whole yard sale project would keep her busy.  Gloria herself could see the days ahead would be dizzying.  Between trying to get ready for the yard sale and working on the new mystery, she would have her hands full.

Gloria stepped in to the kitchen and pulled her cell phone from her purse.  The battery was low and needed a charge.  She plugged it into the wall charger when she noticed she’d missed a call.  Her brows drew together. 

Paul had called, which was a bit odd.  He never called her in the morning. She knew he had worked the night shift the night before.  He should be home.  In bed.  Sleeping.  The call came in not long ago.  She dialed his number, hoping she wasn’t going to wake him up.

Thankfully, he picked up on the first ring.  “I thought for a minute you were avoiding me,” he teased.

Gloria fiddled with the end of the charger.  “Of course not!  Something’s wrong with my phone!  I didn’t even hear it ring.”

Gloria’s hearing wasn’t all that it used to be, either.  Lately, she had to turn the volume up on the TV to full blast just to hear what was being said. 

She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to feel her age.  Of course, she still felt good.  It was just the little things, like not being able to see to drive at night any more, that seemed more noticeable.

She loved these golden years and the detective work that gave her purpose.  The visits to the shut-ins that she and the Garden Girls did every Sunday gave her purpose.  On top of that, she had Paul in her life.  She smiled into the phone.  No.  Life was good for Gloria.  The Lord had really blessed her.

“….the investigation over at the post office.”  Gloria had been so distracted with counting her blessings, she missed half of what Paul had just said.

“The Montbay Sheriff’s Department isn’t helping with the investigation?” Gloria wondered.

“Nope,” Paul replied.  “Must be something big.  What with them bringing in the big guns.  The FBI.”

Gloria’s heart sank.  She hoped Paul had a little insider information he could share, but it was apparent he wouldn’t be able to help much on this one.

“There’s another reason I called,” he said. “I have houseguests now.  Temporarily, I hope.”

“You mean living with you at the farm?” she asked.

Paul sighed.  Gloria knew him well enough to know the tone of his voice.  It was the sound of aggravation.  “It’s the kids.  Jeff and Tina.”  Jeff and Tina weren’t really “kids.” They were grown adults with two daughters who had just finished college.  Paul had mentioned a few times that his son and daughter-in-law seemed a bit scatterbrained and were not very good at handling money.

He went on.  “They lost their house.  The bank auctioned it off. They have 24 hours to move out and nowhere to go so they’re moving in with me. Today.”

“Did you know they were having, uh- financial difficulties?”  Gloria wasn’t sure if the question overstepped her boundaries, but Paul was a big part of her life and if it involved him, it involved her - in a roundabout way…

“Hang on a sec,” he said.  She could hear some shuffling around on the phone, as if he was moving out of earshot.  Which was exactly what he was doing.  “I’m on the back porch.  Tina’s upstairs unloading some stuff.”

“Sounds like they didn’t give you much warning,” Gloria replied.

“No warning at all.  They just showed up on my doorstep this morning, asking if they could stay here until they saved up enough money to put a deposit down on a rental property.”

Gloria didn’t say it out loud but she wondered if they hadn’t made the mortgage payment on their house, what did they do with the money and why didn’t they plan ahead, knowing that eventually they’d have to move out?

But she bit her tongue.  It wasn’t her place to point fingers.  Heaven only knew how many foolish things she and James had done when they were younger. 
Older and wiser
, that was the saying…

“I have my own houseguest,” she announced. 

“Don’t tell me it’s Jill and her family,” he quipped.

Gloria laughed.  “Oh, heavens no!”  Gloria could just imagine having her daughter, Jill, her son-in-law, Greg, and her two grandsons underfoot full-time.  Especially her young grandsons, who seemed to get into a pickle more often than not.  No, Gloria would be ready for the funny farm if that happened!

“It’s Ruth.  She’s so rattled about being temporarily out of a job, she’s staying with me.  She doesn’t want to be alone.”

Paul knew all about Gloria’s close group of friends.  Lucy, the wild and crazy one that would try anything once.  Margaret, the one who seemed the most judgmental of others but had a heart of gold underneath her tough exterior.  Then there was Dot, the mother hen of the group.  The one he knew Gloria considered to be the most level-headed.  And then here was Ruth.  Her dear friend that loved a good gossip and always wanted to be in the middle of all the action. 

“So you have a vested interest in getting the post office issue resolved and Ruth back on her normal routine and in her own house,” he surmised.

“You could say that. So keep your ears open and let me know if you find anything out,” she told him.

After she hung up the phone, she said a quick prayer for Paul.  It gave her a bit of comfort knowing that he was going through something similar.  It was tricky having people underfoot after being alone all these years.

A car horn honked and brought Gloria from her deep thoughts.  She glanced out through the kitchen window.  It was Kenny.  He pulled up in the mail truck. 
Maybe he has new information,
Gloria thought.

She met him on the steps where he handed her a packet of mail.  “Here’s your mail.”  He shuffled from foot to foot, as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure he should.

Gloria decided he needed a gentle nudge.  “Did you find anything else out down at the post office?” she asked.

Kenny nodded.  “Yep, sure did.” 

“And?” she wondered.

“Well, another detective came in right after you left this morning.  I think he’s the head guy.  You know, the guy in charge of the investigation.”

“Anyways, I figured whatever he had to say was gonna be important so I pretended like I had work to do over by the bins where they were talking.”

Gloria nodded.  Kenny was turning out to be a good spy, uh – detective, she corrected herself.

“They were discussing something about some guy the DEA.  That stands for Drug Enforcement Agency,” he explained.

“Right,” she agreed.  Gloria was old, but she wasn’t
that
old.  She knew what the DEA stood for.  Every good detective knew what that stood for!

Kenny shoved his hands in his uniform pockets and rocked back on his heels.  “Anyways, the DEA had this guy under surveillance but nothing concrete.  They said he was some kind of king pin and that he ran a drug cartel in our area.”

“How does this involve Belhaven’s post office?” she wondered.

“That’s what I was getting to.  The cops pulled the guy over for some minor traffic infraction and when they searched his car, right there in the front seat was a box full of crank! Not just a little, but thousands of dollars’ worth.”

This one was over Gloria’s head.  She had to ask.  “What’s crank?”

Kenny raised his eyebrows.  “You know.  Methamphetamine!”

Gloria watched almost every episode of
Detective on the Side,
her favorite crime series on TV, and she had never heard the word
crank
used before.  She added it to her mental dictionary.  “You don’t say,” she murmured.

“The box the crank was in – it came through Belhaven’s post office.  That’s when the FBI started an undercover investigation of the post office.  It’s being used to traffic drugs!”

Gloria shook her head.  “That can’t implicate Ruth!  What would that have to do with her?”

Kenny pointed to his chest.  “You wanna know what I think? I think the investigators think it’s an insider job.  Someone inside the post office is involved.”