1 Death of a Garden Hoe Read online

  Pone stood by the door in deep thought. "Yeah, I can't believe he bought it, my dad never believes anything. We must have been really good." He scratched his head. "Or he was giving us a line and knew all along."

  They looked at each other. They broke out laughing and said, "Naw!"

  They laughed again and headed for the greenhouse. Tonight they were planting containers. Shroom and Cash were in charge of mixing the soil. Cash had already hauled the peat moss and Pearlite into the mixing room. The mushroom compost was already there. The fertilizer would go in last.

  Ollie was already there. Spaz placed the plants by each container.

  Ollie was saying, "The peat is for the acid loving annuals. The Pearlite creates space for oxygen, and helps so the soil does not pack in around the roots. The mushroom compost amends, or breaks up the mix, and adds vitamins. The slow-release fertilizer will feed the plants all summer."

  She walked over to Pone and Bean. "Remember, Bean, no stuffing them in there like you did the window boxes."

  He heard Spaz laugh and felt himself turning red.

  "And remember to leave about two inches of space at the top of the container. We don't want to lose soil when we water. That's it, so let's get going."

  "Yes, ma'am," Bean said.

  Pone looked over at Bean. He picked up an impatiens and gently separated the roots before carefully setting it in the container. "That's the way you do it."

  Bean sighed and Pone smiled.

  "Okay, Bean. Let's plan how we are going to make this work. Here's what I think, and we'll pull Cash in on this after we're done here tonight..."

  * * *

  Across town, Big Mike turned off the hall light and crawled into bed. He picked up the latest Clive Cussler novel and perched his glasses on his nose. He read a few pages, but his thoughts turned back to the dead girl and what Mikey found by hacking the Cartier site.

  Franklin B. Hunnicut. Mikey didn't even ask if I knew who he was. Probably thinks Hunnicut is way out of my league. He'd be right. But I was young once. Back then, I mowed lawns in high school. I played varsity baseball. I was on scholarship to the prep school Junior and Senior year.

  I kept my mouth shut when I saw Hunnicut and his friends doing bad stuff. And I still believe he was behind the fire that burned the west wing of the school back in '73. Yeah, I had a butt full of Franklin B. Hunnicut The Fourth when I was younger.

  Rich kid who thought the world bowed down to him. He thought people were his to use and abuse whenever he wanted. Like Mary Lou Putney. Big boobs, no brains, pregnant and alone at sixteen. Daddy Hunnicut bought off the family and Mary Lou had to quit school. Her family moved away. I often wondered what happened to her.

  Big Mike put the file away and turned off the lights. "Frankie Hunnicut, you bastard, I almost hope it's you."

  End of Part 1

  **What happens when Pone, Bean, and Cash start digging for dirt on Franklin B. Hunnicut?

  **If Spaz goes off on her own, will she find herself over the top, or planted six feet under?

  **Will Shroom have the courage to choose what is right over what is easy? Or is he leading his friends down the garden path?

  Find the answers to these questions and more next month

  in Part Two of

  Death of a Garden Hoe:

  Digging up Dirt

  Gale Borger has been involved in law enforcement for over 20 years. This gives Gale an endless source of background material for her books. Growing up in a screwball household also gives her a sense for the zany and the bizarre. Gale writes what she knows, and she knows bad guys and funny stuff—but not necessarily in that order!

  Gale lives in Southeastern Wisconsin with her husband and daughter, a Dogue de Bordeaux, two cats, about 1500 tropical fish, an African Horned Toad, a side-neck turtle, two dwarf hamsters, and a leopard gecko.

  When Gale is not writing, she and her husband breed and swap tropical fish. Gale is also a Master Gardener and after work can usually be found in a flower bed up to her ears in weeds, or volunteering at a local gardening event.

  Totally Buzzed is the first book in the Miller Sisters Mysteries.

  See what’s up with Gale at

  www.galeborgerbooks.com

  check out her blog at

  www.galeborgerbooks.wordpress.com

  or contact her at

  [email protected]