Home for the Holidays by Hope Callaghan Page B

shower stall and pulled the curtain shut.  “We should make a run for it.”
    “How will we get the cleaning cart out?” Margaret mumbled.
    Gloria frowned.  There was no way they could make it out without drawing attention to their presence.  “I guess we will have to wait for him to leave.”
    Margaret nudged forward.  “Can you see anything?”
    The only thing visible was the towel and the shower curtain.  Gloria squeezed her eyes shut and prayed he would hurry up.  The man was in no hurry as he took his sweet old time.
    Gloria’s foot cramped.  She lifted her leg and shook her foot, kicking Margaret in the shin in the process.
    “Ouch!”
    “Shh!”
    “Stop kicking me,” Margaret hissed.
    Finally, the man emerged, grabbed the towel from the hook, wrapped it around his body and stepped over to the lockers. 
    It seemed like an eternity before the young cop finished changing into street clothes.  He rolled up his uniform, shoved it in his duffel bag and strolled out of the locker room. 
    He turned the lights off on his way out. 
    When the outer door closed, Gloria swung the closet door open.  “Let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up.”
    Using the light from the closet as a guide, Gloria made her way across the room.  She flipped the main light switch back on, reached for the cart and pulled it toward the exit.  When they were safely out in the hall, she turned to Margaret.  “Did you see anything?”
    Margaret stiffened her back. “I’m a married woman, Gloria Rutherford!  Of course I didn’t see anything!”
    Gloria rolled her eyes.  “Not the nudist…a clue!”
    “Oh.” Margaret shook her head.  “Nope.”
    The girls pushed the cleaning cart to the supply room in the back, carried two large garbage bags full of trash to the dumpster and headed out to search for Kim.
    The night wasn’t a total loss.  Commissioner Cal Evergreen was in contact with Captain Davies. Gloria guessed it had something to do with Paul.
    There was also the government vehicle parked alongside the cop car, after hours, in the back of the station.  Why there?  Why after hours? 
    Gloria swung by a fast food restaurant before heading toward Belhaven.  The girls ate in the car and discussed the case. 
    “What’s the next step?” Margaret asked.
    Gloria needed to do a little research, try to find out who owned a license plate with “DED.” She hoped that perhaps Joe would be able to tell her who had worked tonight’s evening shift. 
    Gloria also planned to do a little research on the suspects, although it was tough finding anything on cops.  Their home addresses, their spouse’s names, anything.  Paul would know, but Paul was MIA.
    Well, sort of MIA.  He was in Lansing doing who knew what.
    Gloria dropped Margaret off at her house.  She backed out of the drive and headed toward the farm.
    She pulled Annabelle into the garage, climbed out of the car and exited through the side service door. 
    She had remembered to leave the porch light on and it was a good thing. 
    A thin layer of snow covered the deck.  She unlocked the back door, tossed her purse on the chair and held the door for Mally.
    Mally raced out the door and darted past Gloria.  She was growing accustomed to the snow and frolicked around in the fluffy white stuff while Gloria shoveled the fresh layer of snow off the porch, the steps and the sidewalk.   
    Gloria frowned as she thought about her children’s upcoming visit.  She still hadn’t told any of them the wedding might be delayed, hoping against hope she could somehow figure out who was setting Paul up so they could move forward with the wedding.
    The case was harder to crack than she thought.  The biggest obstacle was getting close to the suspects.  She knew so little about any of them. 
    Gloria thunked the snow off the shovel and propped it against the wall in the corner of the porch. 
    Inside the house, she unbuttoned her jacket, hung it and her scarf on the