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  Minnie wiggled in her chair. “So I parked my car behind the oil change place. It’s right next door to the strip club,” she explained. “Guess my instinct for investigation comes from working in police dispatch. It’s in my blood.”

  “You caught him coming out,” Gloria prompted.

  Minnie nodded. “Yep. Sure as sugar. He was drunker than a skunk, too, swaying and staggering. He climbed into his truck and I thought for sure he was gonna get into an accident so I followed him home.”

  This woman was a girl after Gloria’s own heart. Not the food part, the investigating part.

  Minnie tsk-tsked. “He got home alright but only by the grace of God.”

  Minnie swirled the melting ice cubes around in her glass. “Anyhoo, I told Captain Davies and next thing I know Alex is gone.” She thumbed her finger out. “Lickety-split.”

  Ruth drummed her fingers on top of the table. “It could be Alex believed Paul had turned him in and decided to get even with him by setting him up.”

  Gloria picked up. “So he blackmailed Cal Evergreen, City Commissioner, along with Mitzi Verona and made it look like Paul did it.”

  Minnie nodded. “The case is bigger than Commissioner Evergreen and Ms. Verona. There were several other people blackmailed.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Not that you heard me say anything.”

  Gloria shook her head and made a zipping motion. “Mums the word.”

  This meant the investigation - and Paul’s suspension - could go on indefinitely. Gloria’s dream of a beautiful winter wedding was slipping away.

  Ruth noticed the look on Gloria’s face. She reached out and patted her hand. “Don’t worry, Gloria. We’re gonna kick this investigation into high gear.”

  Minnie pushed back her chair, grabbed the leftover pizza and reached for her purse. “I best get going. I have to let Jupiter out and make my lunch for tomorrow.”

  Gloria could only imagine what Minnie ate for lunch. She probably needed a U-Haul® truck to get it to the station!

  The trio watched Minnie as she walked to her car.

  Judith turned to Gloria. “What do you think?”

  “I smell a skunk. Maybe it was Alex. Maybe it wasn’t.”

  “It sure sounds like Alex,” Ruth said.

  “True,” Gloria admitted. “Minnie seemed determined to pin it on him.”

  Minnie backed her car out of the drive and onto the road.

  Gloria crossed her arms in front of her. “There’s something Miss Minnie isn’t telling us. I can feel it.”

  Chapter 7

  Gloria left shortly after Minnie. She wandered into the kitchen and walked over to the home phone, anxious to see if perhaps Paul had called. It had been two days since he had hinted that they might need to postpone the wedding.

  Lucy and Margaret told her earlier they had stopped by his place to try to talk to him. They found his truck parked in the drive but no one answered when they knocked on the door.

  The light on the machine was blinking red. She pushed the button and listened to the first message.

  “Hi Mom. I wanted to remind you about tomorrow night and the boys’ Christmas program at church. You can meet us there around quarter to seven. It starts at seven.”

  Gloria tilted her head back and closed her eyes. She had completely forgotten Tyler and Ryan were in their church’s Christmas play, “One Starry Night.”

  She slid open the silverware drawer and lifted the tray. She had tucked the invitation in a safe place and then completely forgotten about it.

  Gloria pulled the colorful Christmas invitation out, slipped her reading glasses on and studied the front. Sure enough, the program started at seven the following evening at Pilgrim Bible Church in Green Springs!

  She quickly called Jill back. “Yes, dear. I forgot all about the program,” Gloria told her daughter.

  “I hope you can make it,” Jill replied. “The boys are practicing their little hearts out and they asked me to call you to make sure you would be there.”

  Gloria wouldn’t miss it for the world! She didn’t care what kind of personal crisis she was smack dab in the middle of. There was no way she would let Ryan and Tyler down.

  “I’ll be there,” she answered firmly. She promised to meet Jill and Greg in front of the church entrance at 6:45 the following evening and then hung up the phone.

  There was one more voice message on Gloria’s phone. It was Margaret.

  “Hi Gloria. I stopped by earlier but you weren’t home. Lucy and I ran by Paul’s place again this evening and his truck was gone. It looks…”

  Margaret paused. “Look, give me a call. I want to stop by and talk to you.”

  Gloria had a gut feeling whatever Margaret had to say was not good.

  She immediately picked up the phone and called Margaret’s cell phone.

  Margaret picked up on the first ring. “You at home?”

  “Yeah. What is going on?” Gloria asked.

  “I’d rather not talk on the phone,” Margaret replied. “Can I come over?”

  Gloria paused for a brief moment. On the one hand, she wasn’t in the mood for company. On the other hand, there was no way she would be able to sleep, wondering what Margaret deemed important enough to drop everything she was doing to come over.

  The latter won out. “Sure. I’ll be here.”

  “I’m on my way.” The line went dead and Gloria stared at the phone in her hand. Her heart began to pound and her pulse raced as she paced the kitchen floor.

  It was as if she were in the middle of a bad dream. She pinched her arm and winced at the pain. Nope. She was wide-awake, unfortunately.

  Mally scrambled out of her doggie bed and trotted to the door. Mally was the unofficial doorbell.

  Gloria flipped on the porch light and peeked out the window. Margaret had brought reinforcement. Lucy was with her. The feeling of dread turned to impending doom. It was going to be worse than Gloria thought, of that she was certain.

  She unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open.

  Gloria held the door as Margaret and Lucy wiped their shoes on the rug before stepping into the kitchen. “Should I make coffee?”

  Margaret nodded. “Got any Captain Morgan to throw in it?”

  Lucy whacked Margaret’s arm. “Margaret!”

  Margaret shrugged. “She might need it.”

  Gloria turned her attention to the coffee pot. “You’re scaring me. What is going on?”

  Lucy unwound the scarf from her neck and laid it in the chair. She slipped out of her coat and slid into a kitchen chair before casting Margaret an uneasy glance.

  Gloria measured out the coffee, put it into a filter, poured fresh water into the reservoir and flipped the switch to “on” before settling in at the table and fixing her gaze on her two friends. “This has to do with Paul. What happened?”

  Lucy tugged on the collar of her shirt. “We, uh, stopped by Paul’s place earlier.”

  “Did you talk to him? I haven’t heard from him since the day he left here.”

  “No,” Margaret admitted. “We didn’t.”

  “His truck wasn’t there?” Gloria probed. Getting these two to talk was like pulling teeth.

  “Uh-uh. Paul’s son, Jeff, was there.” Margaret popped out of the chair and headed over to the coffee pot.

  “Did you talk to him?” It was twenty questions…going nowhere. “What did he say?”

  Margaret poured three cups of coffee, carried two to the table, set one in front of Lucy and the other in front of Gloria before returning for the third.

  Margaret grabbed her cup and eased into the chair next to Gloria. “I don’t know how to say this.”

  “Spit it out,” Gloria said.

  “Paul left town,” Lucy blurted out.

  ***

  Gloria’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Left town?” She blinked rapidly as she tried to digest the news.

  Margaret nodded uneasily. “Jeff told us Paul packed a large suitcase
, tossed it into his pick-up truck and drove off. He wouldn’t say where he went.”

  “W-when did he leave?” Gloria had officially been jilted! Her world tumbled around her. Was he guilty, after all? Why else would he turn tail and run?

  Here Gloria was, trying to clear his name and he wasn’t even around! Never in a million years would she have guessed him to be not only a criminal, but also a quitter!

  Gloria shook her head, as if to clear it. “Well, I guess it’s settled, then. If he’s not interested in clearing his name, why should I?”

  Lucy waved her hand across the tabletop. “We don’t know he isn’t interested. We don’t even know where he went,” she argued.

  “You would think he would’ve at least told his children where he was going,” Gloria pointed out.

  Margaret shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe he did and told them not to tell.”

  Gloria’s brows formed a “v.” It was possible he had stumbled onto something. Still, wouldn’t he have at least had the common courtesy to call Gloria to let her know he was leaving town? After all, they were engaged to be married! Or had been, she reminded herself.

  The girls weren’t able to offer any more information. They stayed until they were sure Gloria would be all right and promised to check in with her first thing in the morning.

  Snow began to fall and when Gloria opened the back door, a gust of arctic air and snow blew in. The girls hustled to Lucy’s jeep and quickly jumped in.

  Gloria waved as they pulled out of the drive and then slowly closed the door behind them.

  She leaned her forehead against the coolness of the glass and closed her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. What should have been the happiest time in her life was turning out to be one of the worst. In fact, she wasn’t sure how it could possibly get worse.

  If only she knew…

  Chapter 8

  Gloria climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her head. Puddles wasn’t having any of that as he wiggled his way under the blankets and cuddled up next to Gloria. His purr soothed her frazzled nerves and despite her broken heart, she promptly fell into a deep slumber.

  The next morning, she woke with a renewed determination to clear Paul’s name! Maybe he was onto something and didn’t want to drag anyone else into it, just like he didn’t want to marry Gloria with a black cloud hanging over his head.

  She rolled out of bed, grabbed a pair of jeans, along with a festive red holiday sweater to match the mood she was determined to have and headed to the bathroom.

  In the shower, she plotted her day. She reminded herself she needed to be at Pilgrim Bible Church that evening to watch Ryan and Tyler.

  The first thing she planned to do was drive to Paul’s house and demand that Jeff tell her where his father had gone. She had a right to know!

  Next, she was going to track down Officer Joe Nelson to see if he’d been able to get a picture of the blackmail letters Paul had supposedly written. Maybe he’d been able to glean other information, as well.

  Afterward, she would come home and start her online searches.

  Gloria finished showering and quickly dressed before heading to the kitchen. She sipped her morning coffee and pulled out her handy dandy pad of paper. First, there was Alex. She slid her reading glasses on and leaned in. Alex Tisdale. The young cop who had been fired.

  The next on the list was Paul’s other patrol partner, Stan something “ski.” The name was spelled Woszinski, but Gloria wasn’t sure on correct pronunciation.

  Her eyes wandered down the list. Jason Endres. Gloria tapped her finger on top of the pad. Minnie had mentioned Jason was not a fan of Paul’s. She wondered what Paul had ever done to cause the young officer to dislike him. Maybe he had gotten in trouble…

  Next was Diane Stone, the woman who had been after Paul. Gloria’s eyes narrowed. Four cops. Four possible motives. Three of the four had opportunity and access to the locker room.

  Gloria finished her coffee, forced herself to eat a bowl of cold cereal and headed for the door.

  She slipped into her winter coat, zipped the front, reached for her purse and opened the back door where she came face-to-face with Dot, who stood on the other side, her hand raised in a fist, ready to knock.

  “Where are you going?” Dot blinked rapidly. It was only eight o’clock in the morning.

  “Why are you here?” Gloria asked.

  “To…uh…” Dot fumbled with her words.

  “Lucy and Margaret told you to come over here and keep an eye on me,” Gloria correctly guessed.

  “Well, they were, uh…”

  Gloria stomped her foot. “I’m a grown adult and perfectly capable of…”

  “Getting yourself in a whole heap of trouble.” Dot finished her sentence.

  “So they sent the ever sensible, level-headed, no-nonsense Dot Jenkins to keep tabs on me.”

  Dot shifted her gaze. “Something like that.” She slipped her hands in her coat pockets. “We’re concerned, Gloria.”

  Gloria shouldn’t be mad…in fact she couldn’t be mad. Her friends were only watching out for her. She should be grateful, not grumbling.

  Gloria turned her frown upside down, determined to start her day on the right foot. She patted Dot’s arm. “Well, we aren’t going to sit around waiting for spring to arrive.”

  She sidestepped Dot and pulled the door shut behind her. “We have stuff to do.”

  Dot took a deep breath and braced herself for what was to come. “I can hardly wait,” she groaned.

  Dot waited for Gloria to back Annabelle out of the garage before she slid into the passenger seat and reached for the seatbelt. There was a thick layer of snow on the grass but the air had started to warm and although the roads were wet, they weren’t covered in snow or ice.

  “Where we headed?” Dot asked.

  Gloria looked both ways and pulled the car out onto the road. “First, we’re going to Paul’s place to find out where he went.”

  Dot gazed at her friend. Lucy and Margaret had filled her in on their visit to Paul’s and how his son couldn’t - or wouldn’t - tell them where his father had gone. “You think he’ll tell you?”

  Gloria gripped the steering wheel with both hands, her mouth set in a grim line. “I give it a 50/50 chance he’ll spill the beans. If he even knows,” she added.

  “True.” Dot stared out the window. She wasn’t nearly as hands-on in Gloria’s investigations as the others were. She had a sneaky suspicion the other Garden Girls had sent her because Dot had a softer approach versus some of the others who were a little more outspoken.

  The drive to Paul’s farm didn’t take long. Gloria pulled into the drive and noticed an older minivan she didn’t recognize.

  Paul’s truck was nowhere in sight.

  Gloria pulled off to the side and slid out of the driver’s seat. “I’ll be right back.”

  Dot watched through the front windshield as Gloria walked around the front of the car and up the side steps to the porch door.

  Gloria rang the bell and waited. Moments later, the door inched open. Jeff, Paul’s son, took one look at Gloria and swung the door open. “Gloria.”

  Gloria shifted her feet. “Hi Jeff. I, uh, know your father is gone and was, uh, wondering if you could tell me where he went.”

  She could tell from the expression on his face he was torn.

  Gloria pressed on. “He may be in some kind of trouble or walking into a dangerous situation.”

  Jeff twisted the doorknob in his hand as he weighed his options. He would never forgive himself if Gloria was right and his father was in trouble. “He went to Lansing.”

  Gloria frowned. Lansing, Michigan was Michigan’s capital city. What in the world would he be doing there? “Did he say how long he’d be gone?”

  Jeff shook his head. “Nope.” He leaned against the doorjamb. “In fact, he didn’t tell me where he was going. He was in kind of a hurry to leave and left a computer screen open. He had made a hotel reservation.”


  “Do you remember the name of the hotel?”

  Jeff nodded. “Yep, in fact, I wrote it down, just in case. Hang on.” Jeff disappeared inside the house and returned a few moments later. He handed Gloria a slip of paper.

  Gloria glanced at the paper and shoved it in her jacket pocket.

  “Thank you, Jeff.” Gloria impulsively reached up and kissed her soon-to-be (at least she hoped) stepson’s cheek.

  Jeff blushed. “You’re welcome Gloria.”

  Gloria turned to go.

  “My dad. He’s stubborn as a mule sometimes,” he called out.

  Gloria turned, a half-smile on her face. “That’s okay,” she said. “So am I.”

  Back inside the car, Gloria turned the GPS on and punched in the address. “Paul is in Lansing,” she told Dot.

  The GPS calculated the location and informed them it would take over an hour to get there.

  Dot squinted at the screen. “This is a hotel. Maybe we should call to make sure he’s there,” she pointed out.

  Gloria nodded. “Good idea.” She turned the car onto the road and headed back home.

  Gloria pulled Annabelle into the drive, parked off to the side and wandered up the steps with Dot.

  “What is that?” Dot reached out and plucked a folded piece of paper tucked in the doorframe. She unfolded the piece of paper and stared at the words.

  Gloria shoved the key in the lock and twisted the knob. “What does it say?”

  “It’s a note from Officer Joe Nelson. He said he sent you a text. He wants to talk to you ASAP. He left a number.”

  Gloria turned the knob and pushed the kitchen door open. She promptly dropped her purse on the chair, reached inside and pulled out her cell phone. Sure enough, there was a new text message.

  She pressed the message button and tapped the screen.

  Gloria looked up at Dot. “He got it! He sent me pictures of the extortion notes Paul had supposedly written!”

  There was also a missed call…from Paul. Her heart sank when she realized he hadn’t left a message.

  Gloria quickly dialed his cell phone and it went right to voice mail. She had no idea what to say so she didn’t leave a message, either. Her lower lip quivered. “I missed Paul’s call.” At least he had tried to call.