Death of a Garage Sale Newbie (28 page)

Movement down the main corridor of the mall caught Ginger’s eye. Tammy and a tall man dressed in a policeman’s uniform rounded the corner by the sporting goods store. Trevor trailed behind them.

Ginger ran toward them. Now that she was safe, the full force of what she had been through hit her. She wanted her husband, to be held by him. “How did you get in? The place was locked.”

Tammy held up her hands. “Misspent youth. It took us quite a while, but I picked the lock to a back door. A little trick my ex-husband taught me.” She turned toward the tall man with rimless glasses. “Ginger, this is my boss, Paul Stenengarter.”

The man in the uniform touched the gun on his belt. “If I’m still her boss. I’m afraid I abused my power.” He tilted his head toward the man writhing on the floor. “A practice I learned from my father.”

Ginger’s purse made an electronic scratching noise.

“We can help you mop up this mess. We’ve got patrol cars outside.” Tammy placed a hand on Ginger’s shoulder. “Suzanne will have some news for you tomorrow.”

Ginger pulled the walkie-talkie out of her purse and pressed the transmit button. “Hello.”

“Hey, I was worried about you.”

Earl’s voice made her warm all over. “Me?” She walked a distance from the others so she could hear more clearly. “Are you still back at the shop? Does this thing work that good?”

A static-filled chuckle came across the line. “It looks like you can handle yourself just fine. You are quite adventurous.”

Ginger surveyed the length of the mall. He was here somewhere. A calm surrounded her like a down blanket on a winter’s day. Her Earl was here. “You forgot to say
over
.”

Earl stepped out from behind a kiosk that sold jewelry and waved. He pulled the walkie-talkie away from his mouth and said, “It’ll never be over.” His gaze dropped to her feet. “That’s quite a pair of shoes you got there.”

Ginger put her hands on her hips and sauntered toward him. She did a pinup girl pose, placing one hand on the back of her neck and the other on her hip. “Thanks, I’ve been getting comments about them all night.”

He gathered her into his arms.

She held up the pepper spray/flashlight. “I hope you don’t mind. I field-tested your invention.”

“And?” He held her close, swaying from side to side.

She tilted her head toward the writhing Stenengarter Senior, who was brought to his feet and handcuffed by his son. “It stops the bears in their tracks.”

She tossed her purse and wrapped both arms around his shoulders. “This should be the one you get the patent on. I’ll help you come up with a name and market it.”

“Thanks for being my cheerleader.”

She stared into the brown eyes she had fallen in love with thirty-eight years ago, the eyes that would remain the same no matter how old they both got. “Earl Salinski, you are one clever fellow.”

“I have good taste in women, too.” He leaned in to kiss her.

Ginger glanced over at Kindra
, who stood at the entrance of Macy’s. Kindra bounced three times and waved. “Looks like my support is in place at checkpoint one.”

“You can do this, honey.” Earl offered her a salute from the bench outside the store. Tammy sat beside him. “If you can track down three criminals.” He held up the newspaper. The front page featured a picture of Ginger and a very somber-looking Keith Wheeler. He pointed to a smaller article on the bottom of page one. “And see to it that Keaton Lustrum never works as a lawyer again.”

“Renata did that. The last straw was when he wouldn’t let her show me Wheeler’s house. She squealed to the paper about his illegal activities and hypocrisy.”

“What she saw and heard will be invaluable at Wheeler’s trial,” Tammy added. “Paul’s dad confessed to chasing you down in his car.”

Earl tossed the paper on the bench and leaned back. “After what you did five nights ago, this will be a piece of cake.”

Ginger’s stomach tightened. “I don’t know. Buying a dress at full price is a lot harder.”

He slipped the walkie-talkie into her hand. “You’ve got your support team in place, and I’ll talk you through it.”

Ginger took the walkie-talkie and sauntered the thirty feet to the store entrance.

Kindra gave her the thumbs-up. “Go for it, Ginger. Full price, you can do it.”

She spoke into the walkie-talkie. “I’m at checkpoint one.”

Earl’s voice came through loud and clear. “Looking good, hon.”

Ginger adjusted her purse strap on her forearm. “To think I spent all this time teaching other people to buy stuff on sale.”

“Some of us needed to learn that, but you need to learn to treat yourself once in a while. You are so worth it.” Kindra pointed toward the rack of beautiful summer dresses. “Suzanne is waiting for you at the next checkpoint.”

Suzanne, with a baby sling cutting a diagonal across her torso, twisted and swayed. She tilted her head toward the rack. “I think the pink ones look pretty.”

Ginger touched the sling, feeling the warm, still body beneath the fabric. “How is little Natasha?”

“She is enjoying her first shopping excursion.” Suzanne folded back the sling, revealing a fuzzy black head. “This is the last baby.”

“You say that every time.”

“Yes, but I mean it this time.” Suzanne had pulled her hair up. Wispy brown curls framed her face. Her cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink. She looked pretty, serene. “I’m not getting another license plate.”

Shaking her head, Ginger pulled a dress with a floral print off the rack.

“Remember, you can’t look at the price tag.”

“I know the deal.” Her heart beat a little faster at the thought of holding a dress that had to be priced through the roof. “None of this means I am cheap, you know.”

Suzanne nodded. “Arleta is waiting for you at the checkout.”

Ginger spoke into the walkie-talkie. “I’ve just left the second checkpoint. Over.” Earl offered her more affirmation.

“We’re all behind you.” Tammy chimed in.

Ginger turned back toward Suzanne. “’Course someone who wasn’t cheap wouldn’t need a whole support team just to pay full price for a dress.” Ginger put her hand on her hip. “I am a tightwad, aren’t I?”

“You are the only person I know who uses paper towels twice and washes dental floss.”

“Cheap comes in handy once in a while.”

“I wouldn’t have a zero balance on my credit card if it wasn’t for your cheap skills.” Suzanne twisted side to side. “Now get on up to the checkout counter.”

Ginger lifted the dress, touching the cool fabric. She fanned herself. “I only feel a little dizzy.” She lay a hand over her churning stomach. “I feel like a teenager right before her prom date shows up, excited and a little scared.”

“Go.” Suzanne pressed Ginger’s shoulder and waved her forward.

The distance from the full price rack to the checkout was approximately a million miles. Arleta, with her coat folded over her arms, stood straight as a metal pole at the cashier counter.

Ginger’s pace slowed from a brisk walk to a trudge.
This isn’t for Earl. It’s for me.
I
have something to prove to myself.
She was about twenty feet from the checkout. Her feet dragged.

Arleta offered Ginger a reassuring smile. Yup, this was for her. It was about letting go of irrational fear that if she paid full price for something, there wouldn’t be money for food. She was about three feet from the checkout. The saleswoman wasn’t the same pouty girl who had been there before. This one had a soft smile.

Small talk would keep her mind off of what she was doing. “You know what I’ve been thinking?”

“What’s that?” Arleta adjusted the moss green moleskin jacket on her arm. Ginger had helped her pick that out, along with the matching pants.

“I’ve been thinking that if you keep your fist closed too tight, God can’t put the good things in it that He wants to give you. You have to live life with open hands, let Him control the money.”

Arleta turned so she stood shoulder to shoulder with Ginger. “I’ve been thinking about that God fellow quite a bit myself. Even old women can change their habits.”

Ginger smiled at her new friend. She hadn’t even talked about her faith. Who would’ve thought that coupons and half price sales would bring someone closer to the Savior? “You got that right.” She placed the full price dress on the counter. “Arleta, there have always been four of us in the Bargain Hunters Network.”

“Where is the membership application?”

“It’s a little less formal than that.” Ginger raised a warning finger. “But if you see a sale and don’t tell us, we’ll write you up a citation.”

The saleswoman flipped the dress over to find the price tag. Ginger turned sideways so she wouldn’t have to look. The woman scanned the bar code. Ginger winced.

She stared at the ceiling and took several deep breaths.
Breathe in. Breathe out.

The saleswoman chirped, “That’ll be eighty—”

Arleta made a shushing noise. Then she waved her hands, crisscrossing them in front of her. “We are not to know the price.”

The woman behind the counter let out a perplexed, “Oh.”

Sweat droplets formed on Ginger’s forehead. She swung around to face the salesclerk. “Eighty what?”

“Ginger, just hand her the credit card.”

Her heart squeezed. “Eighty what?” she squeaked.

Arleta steadied Ginger’s trembling hand with her own. “Stick to the plan. Just hand the lady your credit card.”

In between pulling her credit card from her pocket book and handing it to the saleswoman, Ginger dropped the card twice.

The woman stared at the credit card.

“Is something wrong?”

She waved the card. “It’s just that it’s kind of wet from sweat.”

Ginger peered into her purse. “Maybe I should give you a different one.”

“No!” Four voices, one male and three female, spoke in unison behind her. Her support team had closed in. They knew her too well.

Ginger tilted her head coyly. “Guess I better just use that one.” She giggled. “After all, it’s just money. There are more important things.”

The clerk wiped the card on her sleeve and swiped it. Ginger touched her palm to her chest. Earl’s hand rested on the middle of her back.

The clerk handed the card back, put the eighty-plus-dollar dress into a bag, and pushed the bag across the counter.

“You did it.” Kindra clapped her hands together and bounced three times.

Ginger turned around to face her support team—the BHN, Tammy, and Earl. Arleta squeezed her shoulder.

Earl tilted his hat. “To our life of adventure.”

“To our life of adventure, good friends, and good deals.” Ginger lifted her bag. “And all that God provides.”

Don’t miss the next
Bargain hunters mystery
coming January 2008

About the Author

Sharon Dunn can’t recall ever paying full price for anything. She inherited all her bargain hunting skills from her mom, whose most famous purchase was three grocery bags of cheese because “it was on sale.” Mom froze the cheese. Thawed cheese crumbles and tastes, well…previously frozen. Like Ginger, Sharon had to learn that God was a better financial manager then she was. Giving Him control of the checkbook allows her to operate from a place of gratitude instead of fear. Sharon clips coupons and haunts the clearance racks, where she buys things for her three children and very tall husband. She would love to hear from readers—visit her at
www.sharondunnbooks.com
. It won’t cost a dime. Such a deal.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products
of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to
actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEATH OF A GARAGE SALE NEWBIE
Published by Multnomah Books
A division of Random House Inc.

© 2007 by Sharon Dunn

Scripture quotations are from:

The Holy Bible,
New International Version © 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Multnomah
is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.

For information:
MULTNOMAH BOOKS
12265 ORACLE BOULEVARD, SUITE 200
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO 80921

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunn, Sharon, 1965-
Death of a garage sale newbie: a novel / Sharon Dunn.
p. cm. — (A bargain hunters mystery; bk. 1)
1. Garage sales-Fiction. I. Title. PS3604.U57D43 2007
813′6-dc22

2006031463

eISBN: 978-0-307-56198-5

v3.0