Read Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 03 - Smoky Mountain Mystery for Free Online Page A

she checked the balance in the machine.  Five dollars and ten cents left.  No way do I want to carry around a little piece of paper with a measly five dollars on it, she decided. 
    On impulse, she hit the max button and stood up.  All of the sudden, the machine went dark, just before it started making a weird bubbling noise.  Great, I broke it.  She shook her head in disgust and pushed in the chair.  She turned to go when the woman next to her put out her hand to stop her.  “You just won a jackpot.”
    Gloria looked back at the screen skeptically.  “I thought I broke it.”
    The woman was getting excited.  “No, you won!” she insisted.
    Gloria pulled the chair back out and plopped down.  “What did I win?”
    The woman studied the chart at the top of the machine as she tried to figure out the amount.  “I think you won at least a thousand dollars!”
    Gloria’s jaw dropped.  A thousand dollars?  Before she could wrap her mind around the fact that she’d actually won something, a casino attendant carrying a clipboard materialized out of nowhere.  “Can I get you to get up for a minute?”
    Absolutely!  Gloria hopped out of the chair and let him at the machine. He opened the front and jotted down some numbers on a piece of paper before closing it.  Another employee came up beside him.  Mr. Clipboard pointed to Gloria.  “She’s the winner.”
    The young lady pivoted on her heel, a stack of bills in her hand.  “Hold out your hand.”
    Gloria whipped out her hand as the woman began counting.  “One hundred, two hundred, three hundred…”  When she got to a thousand, she stopped.  By then, a small circle of people surrounded Gloria.  Margaret was one of them.  She tapped her shoulder. “You won?”
    Gloria was beaming.  She nodded.  “Dinner’s on me!”
    The girls quickly decided a dinner celebration was in order and one of the hotel’s fancier restaurants would do just fine.  By the time the steak and lobster arrived at their table, they were famished.  The food was delicious.  The steaks grilled to perfection and the lobster rich and buttery, something Gloria normally wouldn’t order since she considered it way too extravagant.  She carefully wrapped a generous-sized piece of steak in a paper napkin and dropped into her purse.
    Margaret was giving her that look like what’re you doing?
    “For Mally,” Gloria explained.
    After the meal, they made their way out of the hotel lobby and began a leisurely stroll down the sidewalk in the direction of their hotel.  The street lights cast a warm glow and there was just enough light shining down on the sidewalk to light the path. 
    When they hit the cross street, Gloria came to an abrupt halt.  Her arm shot out as she stopped Margaret.  “Did you hear that?”  She swung her head around just in time to catch a glimpse of a shadowy figure out of the corner of her eye. 
    Margaret followed her gaze.  She shook her head.  “No.  What?”
    “It sounded like someone following us.”  She strained to listen but didn’t hear the noise again.  She shrugged her shoulders and continued walking, keeping one ear open. 
    Thump, Thump. 
    Margaret clutched her purse and picked up the pace.  “I heard it that time,” she whispered furiously. 
    Out of nowhere, a dark figure sprinted towards Gloria.  In a flash, the attacker grabbed hold of her purse and yanked on it hard.  She wasn’t about to let go as she wrapped both arms tightly around it and tried desperately to pull it towards her body.  “Help!  I’m being robbed!” she screamed.
    It was useless.  The thief was much larger and stronger. She was quickly losing the fight. 
    From the opposite direction, a hulking shadow vaulted over the low chain link fence bordering the casino parking lot.  He tackled the purse snatcher, who was caught off guard and easily tumbled to the ground.  The second figure quickly jumped on top and the two began to wrestle violently on