Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy (15 page)

Ryan finished his food and started to chase Mally around the yard.  Tyler took his final bite of sandwich then wadded up the wrapper and tossed it in the empty bag. He had watched as Gloria told Paul good-bye. “Is that your boyfriend, Grams?”

Gloria studied the serious expression on his face.  “Yes, Tyler.  Paul is my boyfriend.”

He nodded.  “Are you going to marry him?”

The talk at the table stopped.  Everyone turned to look at Gloria.  Lucy.  Jill. She stared at the road where his car had just been.  “Maybe, Tyler.  Maybe.” That was the best answer she had to give.

Ruth was inside the post office, waiting on a customer when Tammy returned.  She wandered in the back door and hung her jacket and purse next to Ruth’s.  The customer left. Ruth focused her attention to Tammy.  “Did you have a nice lunch?”

“Yeah.  Just had to run a few errands.” She quickly turned her back to Ruth and began to sort through the packages that had accumulated throughout the morning. 

Ruth turned back to the lobby when she heard the front door chime.  It was Detective McIntyre.  She walked to the counter.  “How are you today, Ruth?”

Ruth smiled cautiously.  “Great.  Busy,” she added.

While they made small talk, a plainclothes agent stepped in through the back door.  The man made his way to the center of the room and nodded at Sharon.  “Unfortunately, I’m here on official business,” Sharon announced.

Ruth caught a glimpse of a sneer on Tammy’s face when she heard the detective’s words.  Sharon stepped back over to the front door.  She flipped the lock and switched the door sign to “Closed.”

She stepped through the small half-door that separated the lobby from the employee area.  She nodded to the detective, then pulled a computer from the bag that was slung over her shoulder.  She set the laptop on the mail sorting counter in the rear.  She looked at Ruth and then waved Tammy over. 

The two women peered over Sharon McIntyre’s shoulder and at the computer screen. The back of the post office came into view.  Detective McIntyre pressed a few buttons.  Tammy backed up a bit while Ruth moved closer.  Close enough to have a clear look at the screen.  She motioned Tammy forward.  “You need to see this.”

Tammy swallowed hard and shuffled closer.  The detective pressed one more button.  Suddenly, there was an unobstructed view of Tammy. They all watched as she waited on a customer.  Moments later, the customer exited the post office.

Tammy glanced around the room and out the window.  She disappeared out the back screen door before returning seconds later.  She was wearing latex gloves and had a small packet in her hand. 

She glanced around the room before she walked over to Ruth’s purse that was hanging on the hook.  She opened the purse and dropped the small packet inside.  She snapped the purse shut, peeled off the gloves and dropped them in a nearby trash can.  For good measure, she reached down and sifted through the trash until the gloves disappeared from sight.

Detective McIntyre stopped the recording and turned to Tammy, whose face was pale as a ghost.  “Go get Ruth’s purse,” she instructed in a quiet voice.

Tammy dropped her eyes and shuffled over to the bag.  She lifted it off the hook and returned to where Ruth and the detectives were waiting.  She set it on the counter next to the laptop.

The male detective nodded.  “Open it.”

Tammy wiped her brow with the back of her hand.  “Do I have to?”

Sharon McIntyre nodded.  “Yes.”

Tammy reached down and unclasped the hook.  She opened the purse then slid it towards Ruth.  Ruth peeked in.  The plastic bag they had all watched Tammy drop inside was still there, sitting on top. 

Detective McIntyre grabbed a thin, plastic glove from her case and slipped it on before she reached in and pulled the small packet out.  She turned to Ruth.  “Is this yours?”

Ruth shook her head.  “I’ve never seen that before in my life.”

The detective turned to Tammy.  “What’s in the bag?”

“I-uh.  I don’t …”

Sharon McIntyre cut her off.  “You’re under arrest for drug trafficking, drug possession, possession of an illegal substance.”

The other detective took over. “You have the right to remain silent…”

“You can’t arrest me!” Tammy turned on Ruth.  “There’s the criminal!” Tammy started to bawl. 

Ruth almost felt sorry for her.  Almost.  She watched as Tammy was handcuffed then led out the back door to the unmarked police car. 

Detective McIntyre turned to Ruth.  “You know you’re not supposed to have that in here.” She pointed to the camera.

Ruth nodded.  “I’ll take it down,” she promised.

“That’s what I would advise.  Of course, I can’t force you to do anything.” She winked at Ruth.  “It saved your hide.”

“No kidding!”

A light tap sounded on the front door.  A customer’s face was plastered to the outside of the glass entrance door.  Two eyes peered in. 

Ruth headed to the door. “I better open up.”

Detective McIntyre nodded.  She packed up her laptop and stuck it in her briefcase.  She looked at the wastebasket.  The one with Tammy’s gloves inside.  “I have to take that with me.”

Ruth nodded.  “Be my guest.” As long as she wasn’t going to arrest her, the woman could take whatever she wanted.

She unlocked the front door and let Bea in.  Beatrice or “Bea” as she was called, stepped into the lobby.  Bea was the local hairdresser and a noted gossip.  “I’m so glad to see you’re back.”  She’d been anxiously waiting for Ruth to return to work.  “Say, did you hear that Sheriff Nelson is dating Sally Keane?”

Ruth shook her head.  Right before she closed the door, she looked out at the bright blue sky, took a deep breath and smiled wide.  All was right in Ruth’s world once again. “You don’t say?”  She closed the door.

Gloria watched as the last car pulled out of her drive.  The yard sale was officially over.  Her yard sale helpers had left a short time ago.  Lucy and Jill offered to stay and help clean up but there was little left to take care of.   The place had been cleaned out.  Things that Gloria thought would never sell were some of the first items to go. 

She wandered into the barn and dropped the few remaining items into nearby boxes.  She shoved them to the side and folded the legs on the gray card table.

Back inside the house, she slid the metal container across the table and pulled the stacks of bills from within.  Between Ruth’s investigation and the yard sale, she hadn’t had time to figure out how much money they had made. 

She sorted the piles - $20 bills, $10 bills, $5 bills.  The largest of the stacks was the $1’s.  When she finished counting, she couldn’t believe the amount.  She grabbed her cell phone off the table to make a few phone calls with the good news when she noticed the text message.  Her eyebrows furrowed. Why hadn’t she noticed this earlier? Then she remembered.  Judith Arnett had forwarded her a picture.  The one she had snapped of Tammy and a shadowy figure out behind the post office the other night.

She slipped on her reading glasses and studied the picture up close.  The investigators were convinced someone that worked at the post office was involved in the drug trafficking. 
Was it Kenny? 
She tapped the screen and zoomed in. 

The figure’s arm was lifted and at an angle as the person handed a box to Tammy.  There, on the back of the arm, just above the elbow, was a design.  Gloria walked over to the kitchen sink and flipped on the light.  She held the phone directly under the light.  The design was a tattoo – some kind of snake or dragon. 

She clicked out of the picture and dialed Ruth’s number.  “How did it go?”

“Tammy confessed to everything after she saw that she was caught on camera planting the drugs in my purse,” Ruth said.  “Seems she was determined to get my job since Belhaven post office is bigger and nicer.  Plus, the pay is better than at Fenway.  That was her main motivation for framing me.  Of course, she probably liked the money she was getting as the middle man in the drug ring, too.” 

“Detective McIntyre seems to think there’s still another person involved,” she added. “Someone that works at the Belhaven post office.” She sighed.  “I sure hope it’s not Kenny.”

Gloria nodded.  “I hope not, either.” She told Ruth how Judith had done a little surveillance work and managed to snap a picture of Tammy outside the post office handing a box to someone.  “Does Kenny have a tattoo on the back of his arm?”

“Hmm.  Well, I never noticed.  It’s possible.” 

“Any way to find out?” Gloria asked.

“Kenny’s coming back to work in the morning,” Ruth told her.  “I’ll check it out and get back to you.”

There was another reason Gloria had called.  “I just counted our money.  We each made just over $500.”

“Oh!  Gosh, Gloria. That’s great!”  Ruth could use a little extra cash.  She had her eye on a new surveillance camera.  One that was more powerful and had a better microphone on it.

“I’ll bring it by in the morning,” Gloria told her.

After she hung up the phone, she decided against calling the rest of the girls.  Instead, she’d surprise them tomorrow.  Today had been a long day and she was exhausted.  All she wanted to do was settle into her recliner with a frozen dinner and watch TV.  Monday nights featured the “Monday Marathons” for her favorite TV series, “Detective on the Side.”

She microwaved her meal, grabbed a jar of treats for Mally and Puddles and headed to the living room.  The three of them settled into the recliner for a cozy evening at home.

Gloria and Mally were up bright and early the next morning.  Gloria had a long to-do list that started with a visit to the post office.  Gloria stepped through the front door.  Ruth spied Gloria right away.  She had that “I’m-about-to-explode” look on her face.  She didn’t wait for Gloria to get to the counter.  Instead, she met her at the door. 

She grabbed her arm and pulled her to the corner.  “Kenny’s here but I can’t see his arm!  He has a long-sleeve jacket on!”

Gloria nodded.  She had an idea.  “Let me handle this.”

Ruth headed back behind the counter and Gloria walked up to the customer side.  She set her purse on the counter and opened it up.  She plucked Ruth’s share of the yard sale money from inside and pushed it across the counter.  “Here’s your share of the yard sale money,” she said in a loud voice.  “You’ll never guess what I’m going to do with my share.”

Ruth answered in the same loud voice.  “What’s that, Gloria?”

“I’m tossing around the idea of getting a tattoo! But I’m not sure how expensive they are.”

Ruth’s eyes widened.  “Really?” she mouthed the words to Gloria.

Kenny dropped three boxes in one of the bins marked, “airport.” He wandered over to the counter.  “Hi Kenny.” Gloria smiled.

“I heard you say you were gonna get a tattoo, Mrs. Rutherford,” he said.  “What kind?”

Gloria’s face went blank.  What kind of tattoo would she get?  She hadn’t the slightest idea…  But the more she thought about it, the more she was intrigued by the idea.  After all, none of her small circle of friends had one.  She wondered if it hurt.

“I wonder how painful it is.”

Kenny shook his head.  “It’s not too bad,” he assured her.  “Here, I’ll show you what mine looks like.”

Gloria’s heart sank as she watched Kenny slip out of his jacket.  She looked over at Ruth.  The color had drained from her face. 

Kenny set his jacket on the counter, then lifted his shirt to show his bare chest.  “I got it a couple years back.  On the front of Kenny’s chest, just under his collarbone was an anchor with an eagle. In the middle was the earth.  Above that were the words
Semper Fi
.

Gloria leaned in for a closer look.  “That’s a military tattoo.”

Kenny nodded.  “Marines.”

Ruth snapped her fingers.  “That’s right.  You were in the Marines.”

Kenny nodded.  “Yep.  This is the only tattoo I’ll ever have or ever want.” He looked up.  “Cool, huh?”

Gloria had to agree.  It was cool.  And Kenny was officially off the hook.

He pulled his shirt back down.  “Now Seth’s tattoo.  His is one I don’t really care for.  Some kind of serpent with a satanic head on it.”

Ruth spoke first.  “I didn’t know Seth had a tattoo.”

“Yep.” Kenny pointed to the back of his arm, above the elbow.  “Right there.  I asked him one time what that meant and he never did answer.” He shrugged his shoulders.  “Course, you never can tell about those college kids.  The things they do after a night of drinking and partying.”

Gloria nodded.  They had their inside man.  Seth Palmer.  Part-time postal worker, full-time student….and drug dealer. 

Ruth gave her a dark look.  “I need to step outside for a second,” she said to Kenny.  She grabbed her cell phone and went out the back door.

Gloria glanced at her watch.  “I better get going.  I have more stops to make.” She headed to the door.  She opened it up and turned around.  “It’s nice to see you back at work, Kenny.”

Kenny looked up from his mail sorting, a huge grin crossed his face.  “I’m glad to be back, Mrs. Rutherford.”

Gloria stopped by Dot’s place where she ran into Lucy.  She pulled out a chair and slumped down.  She peered into Lucy’s mug.  “Is that coffee?”

Lucy shook her head.  “Nope.  I’ve switched over to hot chocolate.”

Gloria rolled her eyes.  “I have never seen anyone with a sweet tooth like yours.”

Dot sidled over.  She poured a coffee for Gloria.  Gloria reached inside her purse and pulled out two wads of cash.  Each wad had a rubber band around it.  She handed one to Dot and set the other next to Lucy.  “$547 each.”

Lucy’s eyes widened.  “Wow!  Each of us made that much?”

Gloria nodded.  “That’ll buy you a whole lot of hot chocolate,” she teased.

Dot stuck her hand on her hip.  “If I ate half the sweets Lucy ate, I’d weigh a ton!”

Lucy pushed the plate of sweet confectionary treats towards Gloria.  “Here, have one.” 

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass this time,” she said.

Dot nodded towards the post office across the street.  “How’s it going over there? I haven’t noticed any unmarked cop cars so that’s a good sign.”

“I stopped by first thing this morning,” Lucy chimed in.  “Ruth is in high spirits.”

“I predict the investigation will be wrapped up by the end of today,” Gloria said.

Lucy leaned in. Dot leaned over. 

Gloria leaned back.  “What?”

“You know something,” Lucy guessed.

Gloria lifted her coffee cup and peered over the rim. She shifted her eyes to the post office.  They would all find out soon enough.  She didn’t want to steal Ruth’s thunder.  It would be up to her to share the story.  She shook her head at her friends.  “I better go.  I have to stop by Margaret’s place yet.”

She drained the last few drops of coffee from the cup and pushed her chair back. 

“What are you going to do with your little windfall?”  Lucy asked.

Gloria shrugged her shoulders.  “I was thinking about getting a tattoo.”

She turned toward the door and missed the jaw drop on both her friends as they watched her walk out.  Gloria grinned.  She could never envision herself getting a tattoo, but it was fun to tease her friends.

Margaret wasn’t home.  Her husband, Don, answered Gloria’s knock.  Gloria handed him the envelope and told him it was the yard sale money. He took the envelope.  “She should be back anytime.”

Gloria shook her head.  “I’d love to wait but I have one more stop to make,” she explained.  She waved good-bye, then headed to her car.

On the way to Andrea’s place, Gloria cell phone rang.  It was Ruth.  “You’ll never guess what!” she shouted.

“Seth confessed,” Gloria guessed.

“Yep!  Apparently, Tammy was trafficking the drugs through the Fenway post office.  When she got wind the Feds were investigating, she talked Seth into helping her move them to the Belhaven post office.”

Gloria nodded.  That made sense.

Ruth went on.  “Tammy would give Seth a heads-up when a package was coming.  He would intercept it when it arrived at the post office, then hide it in the dumpster before he left that night.  Tammy would come pick it up sometime during the night.”

“Sounds like they had it all figured out,” Gloria said.

“Yeah, that Tammy.  Wow!  She tried to frame me, get me out of the picture so she could continue on with her illegal trafficking PLUS take my job while she did it!”

Gloria shook her head.  You never could tell about people, that’s for sure!

She pulled into Andrea’s and parked behind her car.  “I gotta get going, Ruth.  Call me later,” she said.

She hung up the phone and slid out of the car.  She hadn’t seen her young friend for a couple days now.  Between Ruth’s crisis, the yard sale and last but not least, her grandsons visit, she’d been busy.

Gloria grinned when she looked at the lion’s head knocker.  For some reason, it cracked her up every time she saw it.  Andrea opened the door, a frantic look on her face.  “You got my message,” she said.

“No.  What message?”  Gloria wondered.

“The one I left on your home phone,” Andrea answered.

“I left the house first thing this morning and haven’t been back,” Gloria said.

Andrea waved Gloria inside.  “You’re never going to believe this,” Andrea said.  “My parents are coming for a visit.”

She followed Andrea through the living room and library then out to the kitchen.  “Well, that’s great news!  I can hardly wait to meet your parents.”

Andrea whirled around, her eyes wide.  “You don’t understand.  My parents are
different.
”

They were in the kitchen now.  Andrea pulled out a barstool and slumped down.  She leaned her forehead in the palm of her hand.  “What am I going to do?”

Gloria looked around.  “Wait a minute. Something’s different.” She stared at the gleaming countertop. “The wall!  You took out the wall!”