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

  Sweet Southern Sleuths Short Stories Box Set III

  Books 9-12

  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

  A special thank you to Peggy Hyndman and Cindi Graham for taking the time to read and review the twelfth book, Fatal Frolic, in my series, Sweet Southern Sleuths and offering all of the helpful advice!

  Free Cozy Mysteries Newsletter

  Sign up for my Free Cozy Mysteries Newsletter to get free and discounted books, giveaways & soon-to-be-released books!

  MAIN CONTENTS

  Free Cozy Newsletter

  Meet The Author

  Foreword

  Book 9: Secrets of a Stranger

  Book 10: Library Lockdown

  Book 11: Vandals & Vigilantes

  Book 12: Fatal Frolic

  Box Set Savings (Read Free In Kindle Unlimited)

  Get Free Books And More

  Meet The Author

  Hope Callaghan is an author who loves to write Christian books, especially Christian Mystery and Cozy Mystery books. She has written more than 30 mystery books (and counting) in four series.

  Born and raised in a small town in West Michigan, she now lives in Florida with her husband.

  She is the proud mother of one daughter and a stepdaughter and stepson. When she's not doing the thing she loves best - writing books - she enjoys cooking, traveling and reading books.

  Click Here For A Complete List Of Books By Hope Callaghan

  Hope loves to connect with her readers! Connect with her today!

  Visit hopecallaghan.com for special offers, free books, and soon-to-be-released books!

  Email: [email protected]

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopecallaghanauthor/

  Foreword

  Dear Reader,

  I would like to personally thank you for purchasing this book and also to let you know that a portion of all my book sales go to support missions which proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

  My prayer is that you will be blessed by reading my stories and knowing that you are helping to spread the Gospel of the Lord.

  With more than thirty mystery books (and counting) in four series published, I hope you will have as much fun reading them as I have writing them!

  May God Bless You!

  Sincerely,

  Author Hope Callaghan

  Book 9: Secrets of a Stranger

  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

  Chapter 1

  The young girl’s tattered shirt and ripped jeans were the first things that caught Loretta Sweet’s eye as she walked down the sidewalk. Her haunting expression when she looked across the street followed.

  Loretta’s eyes squinted and she lowered her gaze in an attempt to read the crude, cardboard sign the young girl was holding. Homeless and hungry. Please help.

  A lump formed in Loretta’s throat and she swallowed hard. Having lived for several years in downtown Chicago, she was accustomed to seeing homeless people standing on street corners begging for money.

  When she first moved to Chicago, she would give a dollar here and a dollar there, until the time one of the “homeless” threw the three dollars, the only cash she’d had on her at the time, back at her and snarled that it wasn’t enough.

  Loretta became jaded after the incident and noticed more often than not, that the homeless had nice, expensive backpacks propped up against streets signs and buildings nearby, not to mention cell phones. Eventually, she stopped giving and even stopped noticing the signs and the people.

  But not this time…there was something different about the girl. Loretta shifted her purse and picked up the pace. She was halfway to town and on her way to the post office, and vowed that if the young girl was still there when she came back through; she would stop to talk to her.

  Misery, Mississippi was busy on this late spring morning and the parking spots in front of the post office were all taken.

  Loretta stepped inside and stood at the back of the line leading up to the counter.

  Vernice LaConte, the postmaster, frowned at Loretta and the growing line.

  “Gimme a hand up here, Clairee. We’ve got a long line,” Vernice shouted to an unknown someone in the back.

  A forty-something woman with long black hair and a look of sheer terror on her face appeared. “Mercy! Where did all these folks come from? I didn’t think there was this many people in the whole town of Misery,” she exclaimed. “Next!”

  The line moved faster and soon Loretta was standing at the counter with Vernice on the other side. “Good morning Vernice.”

  Vernice, who wasn’t a huge fan of Loretta’s after Loretta had gotten her into a smidgen of hot water over an incident involving mail tampering some time back, grunted a
greeting.

  Loretta ignored the grunt. “I need two books of stamps, please,” she asked sweetly as she opened her purse and placed the business’s debit card on the counter.

  Vernice opened the drawer, pulled out two rolls of stamps and slapped them on the counter. “That’ll be nineteen dollars and sixty cents.”

  Vernice snatched the card, ran it through the machine and then handed the card, along with the receipt, to Loretta.

  Loretta tucked the receipt and debit card in her wallet and reached for the stamps. “I saw a young girl standing on the side of the road halfway between here and my place. She’s holding a sign.”

  Clairee, who was standing next to Vernice, waiting on customers, shifted her glasses and gazed at Loretta. “I saw her, too. Poor thing. She looks hungry. I was gonna check to see if she was still there on my lunch break and take her a sandwich.”

  “Don’t be goin’ and helpin’ those kinda folks,” Vernice warned. “They’ll just hang around Misery and never leave. Next thing you know, they’ll be breaking into houses and stealin’ stuff.”

  Loretta frowned. “So you think we should let her starve and die on the roadside?”

  Vernice shrugged. “Not my problem.”

  “Well, I’m going to see if I can somehow help the poor girl,” Loretta vowed. She nodded at Clairee and Vernice and stomped out of the post office. She didn’t have any cash on her but she could stop by the Corner Café and buy some food for the poor thing with the debit card.

  It was midway between the breakfast and lunch crowd, and the Corner Café wasn’t busy. Loretta greeted a few of the diners as she made her way to the back. She spied the top of Fancy Gabardine’s head as she darted back and forth across the server station.

  She stopped when she saw Loretta, placed the half-empty coffee carafe she was holding on the burner and made her way over. “Hi Loretta. Haven’t seen you ‘round here lately.”

  Loretta nodded. “Whew! It has been hectic with the rentals. I guess late spring; early summer is when everyone is on the move.”

  Fancy nodded. “Yeah! Seen quite a few new faces in here lately, which is a good thing if you’re tryin’ to sell food.”

  “Speaking of that.” Loretta gazed around the dining room. “Have you seen the young girl, standing on the side of the road just outside of town, holding a sign?”

  Fancy shook her head. “No, I haven’t but a few of the locals mentioned her. Nobody seems to have talked to her or gotten close enough to try to help.”

  “That’s why I’m here. I’d like to order whatever you have that’s quick to fix so I can stop to chat with her on my way home, if she’s still there,” Loretta explained.

  Fancy nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll see what I can scrounge up in the back.” She disappeared into the kitchen and Loretta waited off to the side as she studied the pictures on the wall behind the cash register.

  Fancy returned a short time later carrying a takeout bag. Inside the bag was a to-go box. “I stuck a couple hotdogs and bacon double cheeseburger along with some french fries inside. We had some leftover quiche from breakfast, but I figured finger food would be best.”

  She went on. “I put in a few packets of wet wipes and napkins, along with a bottled water.”

  Loretta grabbed the bag and reached inside her purse for her wallet but Fancy shook her head. “No charge, Loretta. We gotta help others in need.”

  Fancy’s attitude was a refreshing change and the opposite of Vernice’s. “Thanks Fancy. You’re an angel.” She headed for the front door.

  “Let me know if I can help,” Fancy called out when she made it to the door.

  Loretta nodded as she grabbed the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She hoped the young girl was still there.

  Chapter 2

  Loretta prayed for the young girl as she headed down the sidewalk toward home. Her heart sank as she got closer to the spot where the girl had been standing. She was gone.

  Loretta tightened her grip on the bag of food, looked both ways and crossed the road as she made her way over to the spot where she’d last seen the girl.

  “Hello?” She peered into the thick shrubbery and scanned the side of the road. “I have food.” Loretta felt a little foolish as she held up the bag and waved it at the bushes.

  Loretta heard a small rustling and a movement caught her eye. She stepped closer to the edge. “I’m not going to hurt you. I brought you something to eat.”

  The bushes parted and two solemn blue eyes peered out. It was the girl. “I don’t have any money but I have a cheeseburger and hotdogs if you’re hungry.”

  The girl leapt over a row of vines and came to an abrupt halt in front of Loretta. She stared at the bag in Loretta’s hand.

  Loretta held it out. “This is for you.”

  The girl snatched the bag, reached inside, opened the container and pulled out a hotdog. She shoved half the hotdog in her mouth, her cheeks bulging as she eyed Loretta warily. “Fank you,” she mumbled between bites.

  “You’re welcome.”

  The girl inhaled the hotdogs, a handful of fries and then proceeded to gulp half the bottle of water. She carefully screwed the lid back on the bottle, closed the top on the food container and folded the top of the paper bag.

  Loretta shifted her feet. “I…” She pointed at the bushes. “Are you living back there?”

  The young girl nodded, a lock of long hair falling across her face and covering one eye. “Yes ma’am.”

  Loretta’s heart went out to the poor girl. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old. Had she run away? Was her family searching for her? She hadn’t seen anything on the local news about a missing child. Maybe her family didn’t care…

  Loretta glanced across the road. They weren’t far from the house. The tenants in one of the teepees her Uncle Ichabod, sister, Lacy, and she owned had just moved out. Loretta had planned to clean it that afternoon and then run a newspaper ad to try to find a new tenant. “I have a place you can stay,” she said.

  The girl’s eyes narrowed, as if she was wary of accepting the generous offer. Her eyes darted to the bushes and quickly turned to Loretta. “I don’t have no money.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Perhaps you can help around the trailer park and office to earn your keep.”

  “I…”

  “It’s settled.” She glanced at the ground and noticed a tan tote bag propped against the telephone pole. “Grab your stuff and I’ll show you where you’re staying.” Loretta waved her arm and slowly began to walk to the edge of the road. She prayed the girl would follow.

  She heard a shuffling and the rattle of the food bag, and when she turned, the girl was standing next to her.

  “Let’s go!” The two of them hustled across the road and onto the sidewalk on the opposite side. The girl kept glancing behind her at the place they had just left. Loretta wondered if perhaps she’d forgotten something.

  “I have some extra stuff if you need it. Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap and other toiletries.” She glanced at the girl and eyed her thoughtfully. There was no way she would fit into Loretta’s clothes. They would fall right off her.

  Lacy, Loretta’s twin sister, was much thinner and close to the same size as the girl, although getting Lacy to part with some of her belongings was another story. She would worry about that when she got home.

  When they reached the house, Loretta led the young girl up the front steps and into the living room.

  Barkley, the family’s part time pooch, greeted them at the door. Loretta bent down and patted Barkley’s head. “This is Barkley and I’m Loretta.”

  The young girl bent down and patted Barkley’s head, a small smile, the first smile Loretta had seen, lit her face. “Hi Barkley.”

  “Barkley, this is…” Loretta trailed off as she gazed at the girl questioningly.

  “Hannah Smo-Smith. Hannah Smith,” the girl said.

  Uncle Ichabod, who had been in the kitchen, peeked around the corner. �
�You’re back.”

  He gazed from Loretta to Hannah and then stepped into the living room. “We have company.” His glanced at her outfit and Loretta could tell he had the same thoughts she had.

  Uncle Ichabod crossed the room and held out his hand. “I’m Uncle Ichabod. Did I hear you say your name is Hannah?”

  Hannah, if that was her real name, Loretta was having doubts, nodded and took the hand Uncle Ichabod extended.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Are you hungry?”

  Hannah released her grip and tightened it on the dirty tote and food bag she was clutching. “No sir. Mr. Ichabod. Loretta gave me some food.” She held up the bag.

  “I’ve offered Hannah a chance to stay in our empty teepee in exchange for help around the trailer park and teepees.” Loretta pointed at the scruffy tote. “Do you have a change of clothes?”

  “Yes.” Hannah gazed at the filthy bag. “The clothes…are dirty.”

  “I see,” Loretta said. “We have a laundry room and showers out by the teepees you can use. First, I’ll see if I can scrounge up a set of clothes you can borrow from my sister, Lacy.”

  “What clothes that you’re going to borrow from Lacy?” Loretta’s twin sister stepped out of the hall wearing a terrycloth robe, her hair wrapped in a towel.

  “Did you just crawl out of bed?” Loretta glanced at the living room clock. It was ten thirty in the morning.

  “No. I’ve been in the bathroom for at least an hour now,” Lacy said.

  Loretta shook her head. “Hannah needs to borrow something to wear and you two are close to the same size.”

  Lacy leveled her gaze on the newcomer and scrunched her nose. “I don’t think we’re even close.”

  Loretta cut her off as she grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her toward the stairs that led to the second floor and their bedrooms. “We’ll be right back,” she told Hannah and Uncle Ichabod.

  When they reached the top of the stairs, Lacy yanked her arm from her sister’s grip. “What’s the big idea of dragging a homeless person into our house and offering to give her my clothes?”