A Hoe Lot of Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page B

and Stanley Mack's green Dodge was parked in front of that, its tailgate open.
    Stanley was one of the contractors I often used. His carpentry skills were unparalleled. I'd hired him for this job to construct an arched arbor, and I was eager to see how it turned out.
    Hammering echoed as I walked up the front path and skirted the perimeter of Mrs. Krauss's condo, er, lando.
    I paused at the corner, hid behind the brick façade. Everything looked to be well under way.
    For the most part, TBS focused on full garden transformations, productions that took months of planning and coordinating. However, about six times a month, we fit "minis" into the schedule. A smaller version of a full TBS makeover, a mini usually had only one or two landscaping elements and was perfect for people with smaller yards or who wanted to focus on just one problem area.
    For the most part, after designing the mini, I left the ac tual completion of the project to Kit Pipe, my foreman and head landscaping contractor.
    I saw him now, hard at work wrestling pond liner into a six-foot-wide, freshly dug hole. Kit had been my very first employee, long before TBS had ever seen the light of day. Over the years we'd become close friends, and I trusted him completely. I didn't think for a minute he was involved in the thefts of my garden equipment.
    He paused in the wrestling, took off his hat and wiped the top of his head with his forearm.
    I squinted, the glare from the sun bouncing off his bald head, highlighting the skull tattoo on his scalp, before he replaced his hat.
    Behind him, Coby Fowler, one of my part-timers, was helping Stanley Mack assemble the arbor.
    I smiled, already able to envision my design coming to life. It was going to be fabulous. I almost hated to waste it on Brickhouse Krauss.
    "Nina!"
    I jumped, cursing under my breath as Claudia Krauss came up behind me. "Hey, Claudia."
    Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she beamed at me. "Everything's going so well, Nina. Thank you so much for doing this. I know it can't be easy, with your hard feelings for Mamma and all."
    I wouldn't have done it at all except I'd felt sorry for Claudia. She was due to be married in December and her mother had been threatening to move in with the newlyweds.
    "That's in the past," I said, hoping the words rang true.
    "Ever since she moved in here after Dad died, a garden is all she's talked about." Her curly reddish blonde hair bounced as she talked. "She's been so lonely since he's been gone. Maybe this will give her something to do." A scared look came into her bright blue eyes. "We really, really want her to love this garden, Nina."
    "She will," I assured her, even though with Mrs. Krauss you could never be sure about anything.
    Claudia pulled me toward the backyard. Kit looked up, the brim of his hat shading his eyes. He didn't seem the least bit surprised to see me.
    Panic laced Claudia's tone as she said, "Your design did have flowers, right? I don't see any flowers."
    "Deanna's bringing them later. The yard is too small to have everyone working here at once."
    "Oh, thank God. Mamma loves flowers. I don't think she could have a garden without flowers."
    Her cell phone rang, and she scurried away to answer it.
    Kit lumbered over, all six-foot-five, 250 well-muscled pounds of him. "Hey, boss. Whatcha doing here?" he asked, though by the glint in his eye he knew darn well why I was there.
    I hedged. "Just thought I'd stop by and check on things."
    A smile curled up one corner of his mouth. "A hoe lot of things?"
    "Ha-ha." I pulled him aside. Thankfully, he went willingly or I wouldn't have been able to budge him. "You notice anything else missing?"
    "Not since this morning."
    "Any idea what's going on?"
    His eyes narrowed. Long ago he'd had them lined with black ink. He looked scarier than a pit full of vipers, but it was all for show. "Yeah," he said, folding his massive arms across his chest. "Someone's stealing the equipment."
    I rolled my eyes. "You're a big