Thirty-Six and a Half Motives: Rose Gardner Mystery #9 (Rose Gardner Mystery Series) (13 page)

“That almost makes her sound like a bystander,” I said. “Not an instigator.”

“Not true,” Skeeter said. “J.R. specializes in setting wheels in motion, then sitting back and watching his plan unfold. If Kate Simmons set this in motion, she is most definitely gonna stick around to see how it plays out.”

“But why would she warn me that I was about to get arrested?” I asked. “When she knew I’d have no idea what she was talkin’ about until after the fact.”

“It’s all part of the game,” Skeeter said.

“Let’s move onto something else,” Jed said, speaking for the first time since we’d sat down for breakfast. “Tell us what you know about Sam Teagen’s friend—Marshal, was it?” he asked me.

“Yeah, he seemed like an older guy, scratchy voice. But it was clear Teagen was in charge.” I took a sip of my coffee and then set it down as another thought struck me. “Oh! And unless they’re really fast at pickin’ a lock, they had a key to the shed.”

I gasped, overcome with horror as I remembered the few words Maeve had been able to translate from shorthand. “Oh, my word.”

“What?” Neely Kate asked.

I turned to her. “Key. Shed. Sound familiar?”

Her eyes flew wide. “The journal page.”

“Whatever was hidden in there would have been destroyed in the fire.”

Skeeter set down his fork. “Even if it’s the same shed, you’re presuming that whatever Dora was referring to was still in there.”

“Let’s assume it was,” I said. “Whoever owned that building twenty-five years ago would have owned the shed, too, right? They either put something in that shed or rented it to someone who did.”

“If they’re still alive,” Jed countered.

“True.”

“I can find out who owned it,” Neely Kate said. “I still have my sources at the courthouse. We could know by lunchtime.”

“Back to Teagen and Marshal,” Jed said. “We need to figure out more about their connections.”

“I know I’m stating the obvious,” I said, pushing my plate away. “But Sam Teagen’s dangerous. He not only kidnapped me to have me murdered, but he was going to kill Mason. And I think he killed Eric Davidson.”

“Why would he have offed Davidson?” Jed asked.

“Neely Kate and I talked to a kid at Burger Shack, where Eric worked. He remembered Teagen comin’ in to meet with Eric. After that, Eric started tellin’ everyone who’d listen that he was workin’ for someone big. A few days later, Mason was run off the road and his phone was stolen. Mason remembers seeing a gun pointed at him, but someone else approached the car to check on him, and the gunman hightailed it out of there. Eric was found dead in his garage soon after. They said it was suicide, but I never believed it.”

“You’re right,” Jed agreed. “If Davidson chickened out and didn’t finish his job, it makes sense that Teagen would try and cover his tracks.”

“Eric couldn’t be the one who ran me off the road last month. He was already dead.”

Skeeter’s lips pinched. “It could have been Teagen or his friend. What do we know about Teagen?”

Jed studied his fork. “Not much. Teagen’s done some petty theft of his own, but he’s never really tied himself to anyone before. As for Marshal? Never heard of him.” He lifted his gaze to me. “Did you get a look at him?”

“I saw them from a distance when they were running down the alley to my back door. He was wearing all black and had a hat on. I only saw their legs in the shed. And then when I was about to jump off the building—”

Jed and Neely Kate stared at me like I’d sprouted snakes on top of my head.

“—I only saw Teagen,” I continued. “Oh! Marshal thought he broke his ankle when he jumped. And I noticed he was the one who picked the lock on the back door to my office. They had high-powered rifles, so they weren’t playin’ around.” I gasped, remembering what they’d done with those high-powered rifles. “How’s Merv?”

Skeeter’s eyes hardened. “It’s touch and go.”

“Who’s runnin’ things while you two are holed up here?” I asked.

“That’s none of your damn concern!” Skeeter shouted.

Jed turned to face me and lowered his voice. “We don’t have to be out in the open to run things. We can work remotely for a few days, and we’re hoping it won’t take longer than that to flush Simmons out.”

“I would suggest usin’ me for bait again, but I suspect it won’t go as smoothly as it did last time.”

“No one is gettin’ used as bait,” Skeeter said in a tone that suggested he expected our full cooperation.

Lucky for him, I agreed. “I’ll talk to Anna, see what I can find. And I’ll also see about retrieving the bag. I suspect the page you found from Dora’s journal might be a dead end, but I’ll talk to my bookkeeper about finding someone to translate it. Leave no stone unturned, my great-grandma used to say.”

A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. “Jed, you have our sources look into Kate Simmons’s finances, specifically if she made a million-dollar withdrawal recently, and see if the investigator can find out what she was doing in California for two years . . . if she was even there.”

Jed nodded.

“Rose, you and Neely Kate find out who used to own that building, and then talk to Hilary and see what you can find out about Roberta. Jed’s gonna drive you, and I want you both in the backseat.
Do not stand out.
We don’t want to make it easy for Simmons to up and snatch you.”

“Okay,” I said. “Then we’ll meet back here and share what we’ve learned.”

Skeeter stood and placed his plate in the sink. “Let’s get goin’. We have things to do, and they ain’t gonna get done on their own.”

Then he went out the back door, slamming the door behind him.

“
Y
ou realize
this will never work,” Neely Kate said.

“Hey, you’re the one who always tries to convince me that we’re capable of uncovering anything.”

“I still say we should get Violet to do it before she leaves on her trip.”

Jed glanced back at me in the rearview mirror, narrowing his eyes, but I beat him to it.

“No. We leave Violet out of it. She has enough on her plate right now.” Not to mention I refused to put her in any type of danger. If Kate realized we were talking to Hilary, who knew what she’d do. “We’re two smart women. Surely we can come up with something.”

Neely Kate tapped her finger to her lips as she stared out the window, then turned to face Jed. “Stop by Dena’s Bakery.”

“We just had breakfast,” Jed said. “You really think you need cupcakes right now?”

“No. It’s for Hilary.” Her eyes glittered with excitement. “We take her cupcakes as a truce gift. Tell her we’re sorry that we got off on the wrong foot and want to be her friends since she’s here all alone and Joe won’t give her the time of day.”

I narrowed my gaze. “Did you hit your head sometime after breakfast? Maybe while I was outside with Muffy? Because there’s no way in tarnation she’s gonna buy
that
.”

“Well, do you have a better idea?” She cocked her eyebrow, giving me attitude.

I scowled. “No.”

“Then we’ll try my plan.”

“We might only have one shot at this.” I thought for a moment. “Maybe I should call Joe. I could ask him.”

“You always said he was tight-lipped about anything from his past. What did he tell you about Roberta?”

“That she was like a surrogate mother to him. They were very close. He never said why she quit, just that she left abruptly and that he felt like he’d lost the one person who kept him grounded.”

“Wait a minute.” She held up her hands. “If Joe’s part owner of the nursery, how does he not know Roberta’s granddaughter is working for him?”

I shrugged. “Violet did the hiring, and he’s hardly ever there.” I pushed out a breath. It terrified me that I had no idea when I’d see my sister again . . . if ever again. “I have to stop to see Violet.”

“Why?”

“She’s leaving tomorrow.”

“So? It’s not like you two are on the best of terms right now.”

Violet didn’t want people to know about her illness, but I couldn’t keep this from my best friend. “Because I don’t know when I’ll see her again.”

Neely Kate’s eyes sparked with anger. “You stop talkin’ like that, Rose Gardner. You’re gonna survive this.”

“Not me, Neely Kate. Violet.” I licked my bottom lip. “She’s sick. That’s why she’s goin’ to Texas. For treatment.”

She gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just found out yesterday after lunch, and I was still processing it all. She doesn’t want people to know.”

A hurt look filled her eyes.

“Neely Kate, of course I was gonna tell you. I just did. It’s not something you just blurt out like the weather. ‘It’s gonna be cloudy today with a chance of rain. Oh, by the way, my sister is dying of cancer.’”

“Dyin’?”

“It’s bad, Neely Kate. She needs a bone marrow transplant. Before I came back to the office yesterday, I went to have a blood test to see if I can be a donor.”

“But you . . .”

“I know.” I sighed, leaning back in my seat. “We might not share the same father.”

“Did you tell her?”

“I had to. And no, the answer to your next question is that she did not take it very well. She’s already worried that she’s going to leave Ashley and Mikey without a mother. Now she thinks she’s all alone in this world. I told her we’re sisters no matter what, but we’re not as close as we used to be. I can see why she would think that.”

“It was her own doin’, Rose. Don’t you dare feel guilty about that.”

“She’s still my sister, and she’s hurting.” We drove in silence for several seconds before I remembered my purse was at the office. “Oh crap.”

“What?” Neely Kate asked.

Somehow I’d forgotten that the office that had been broken into last night. “Oh! Double crap! Was Bruce Wayne coming into the office this morning?”

“No. He was going to help out at the nursery for a little while. Oh.”

“Yeah. I have no idea what the inside of our office looks like. Jed, do you know if the police checked out my office?”

Jed looked at me in the mirror. “Did you hear from Joe Simmons?”

I cringed. “I had some missed calls from him, but I didn’t check my messages.” I grabbed my phone out of my purse. He’d left me two voicemails. I played the oldest one first.

“Rose, I’m just checking to make sure you’re okay. Mason said you’re not with him. Call me.”

The next message came after my call to Mason. “Rose, I need you to tell me where you are. Mason says you’re safe, but I want to know where, because you’re sure as hell not at the farmhouse. And by some coincidence, Skeeter Malcolm is laying low, too.” He paused. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but my father is not to be messed with. He will chew you up and spit you out for dinner. Back off, Rose, before you get yourself killed.”

I replayed the last message on speakerphone, looking into the rearview mirror.

“Your call, Lady,” Jed said. “We can hide you somewhere in Louisiana until this mess is over. Just say the word, and Skeeter will make it happen. Neither Simmons would ever think to look for you there.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m tired of backin’ down to bullies, and that’s exactly what J.R. Simmons is—a bully. We’re gonna finish what we started.”

An idea sparked in my head. I knew it wasn’t the best or brightest, but I decided I didn’t much care. “I need to stop by the office to get my purse, Jed.”

His eyes darkened. “They’re bound to be watchin’.”

“Let ’em watch. Do you think they’ll try to abduct me in broad daylight? No. And we know they won’t flat-out kill me. So we’re going to waltz into the place like nothin’ ever happened. It’ll piss them off even more.”

“And you plan to let them follow us all over town?”

“Not if I can help it.” I turned to Neely Kate. “I hate to ask you this, but I need you to be prepared to shoot your gun if necessary.”

“That’s not a problem,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

Once again, I had to wonder about her past, but now was not the time to ask.

“This is not a good idea,” Jed said. “They’re bound to be watchin’ your office. They’ll be less likely to be watching the bakery. Why not send Bruce Wayne to get your purse?”

I knew he was right, but there was something about flipping off J.R. that appealed to me. “Maybe it’s not very smart, but I think we can make it work. If it pisses off J.R., I call it a win. Besides, you know they’ll never expect it.”

“Skeeter’s not gonna be happy.”

“Once it’s done, he’ll appreciate the gesture.”

Jed’s eyes held mine in the mirror. “I suppose there’s no chance of changin’ your mind?”

“Not even a little one.”

He cursed under his breath. “I’m going in with you.”

“You can go into the bakery, but you can’t follow us into the office. That’s where we’re going to lose them.”

“And just how do you propose to do that?”

“We’ll slip out the back door and walk down the alley toward the county jail.”

“That’s blocks away. And you’ll be crossing two streets.”

“If you’re out front watching the office, they’ll be watching
you
.”

Jed pushed out a long breath. “This is crazy.”

I grinned. “And that’s why it’s gonna work.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Fine. But if anything goes sideways, you’re both staying with me.”

“I can live with that.”

Jed parked across the street from the landscaping office, then followed Neely Kate and me into the bakery. Dena’s eyes widened when she saw him trailing behind us. I cast a glance back at him, realizing what a formidable presence he was—tall, broad-chested, a no-nonsense look on his face. But she wasn’t looking at him with fear, I realized. No, it was pure, unadulterated lust.

“Rose, Neely Kate,” she said, her gaze still on Jed. “You brought a friend.”

“Yeah . . .”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

I looked back at Jed, unsure if he wanted me to share his name.

He shrugged, leaving it to me to decide.

I wasn’t ashamed of him, and I wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. “Dena, this is my friend, Jed.”

“Your friend?” I heard the unspoken question in her voice. “What kind of friend? I thought you were with Mason.”

Instant pain shot through my heart, but I managed not to cringe. “No, Jed’s just hanging out with me and Neely Kate today.”

“Like a bodyguard?” When I gave her a questioning look, she added, “I heard about J.R. Simmons bustin’ loose, and I know you helped put him behind bars. If I were you, I wouldn’t mind having someone like Jed around to protect me.” She winked at him. “Of course, I wouldn’t mind havin’ you around anyway.”

Jed’s only visible reaction was to narrow his eyes.

“Um . . . we’re here for some cupcakes,” I said.

“Are they for Jed? Because I have a special recipe I’d like to share with him.”

My eyes widened as I cast a glance at Neely Kate. I never would have expected Dena to lose her head like this over a man, let alone my friend. The shrug Neely Kate gave me told me she was surprised, too.

“Actually,” Neely Kate said, as she moved in front of the glass case, “we’re taking cupcakes to a friend of ours. You might know her, actually.”

Dena crossed her arms over her chest. “This isn’t like the time you wanted to accuse poor Marta Gray of murder but decided to butter her up with her favorite cupcakes instead, is it?”

“For the record,” Neely Kate said with a hint of sass, “we never accused her of murder.”

“That’s right,” I added. “It was easy to see she couldn’t hurt a fly. In fact, we offered to be her friends.”

Dena uncrossed her arms, but she still looked suspicious. “So who are you trying to butter up this time, and why?”

“Maybe we’re just trying to be nice,” Neely Kate said.

“Not likely,” Dena retorted.

“No,
really
,” I said, crossing my fingers behind my back. “We’re trying to cheer someone up. We heard poor Hilary Wilder was feeling under the weather, and what pregnant woman doesn’t like cupcakes?”

Neely Kate flinched enough for me to know it still stung that Hilary, who was the source of so much contention, still carried her baby while Neely Kate had miscarried her twins and most likely would never be able to get pregnant again.

Dena looked like she was almost convinced.

Neely Kate pushed out an exaggerated breath. “Of course, we could always go to Ima Jean’s shop.”

Dena snorted. “Sure you will. If you want to give her cupcakes that taste like dirt. Besides, she shut down her shop after her daughter died. Even if she opened it back up, I suspect she wouldn’t want to see
you
there.”

I sighed. She was right. Not only had I been there to witness her daughter’s death, but there was a chance she might be my grandmother. I wasn’t up to dealing with that right now. “We want a dozen cupcakes,” I said. “But I need two of them in a separate box. For Hilary. One vanilla bean and one chocolate.”

Dena pursed her lips and shook her head.

“Wrong choice?”

“Are you really trying to cheer her up?”

I couldn’t make myself lie, not even with my fingers crossed. “We—”

Neely Kate butted in front of me. “What pregnant woman wouldn’t want cupcakes? And yours to boot! What kind should we bring her?”

Dena studied the two of us for a moment, then sighed in defeat. “She’s been craving raspberry lemon.”

I smiled. “Then we’ll take two of those.”

Dena boxed those up before grabbing a bigger box for the rest of our treats. “And the others?”

Neely Kate and I selected an assortment, and then Neely Kate paid since I didn’t have my purse.

“I’ll pay you back,” I promised.

Neely Kate shot me an ornery grin. “You sure will.”

I was in a heap of trouble. And it wasn’t just from J.R. and his nonsense. Neely Kate would find a way to make me pay, all right.

Dena gave Jed a final lingering look as we walked out of the bakery.

Neely Kate laughed as soon as the door shut behind us. “If you’re lookin’ for a girlfriend, Jed, looks like you have someone jumpin’ at the bit to apply for the role.”

“Not interested,” he grunted.

She laughed as we walked over to his car. “It’s good to have options.”

“Not interested.”

“You got a girlfriend?” she asked. “Significant other?”

He gave her a look that suggested he wanted to swat her away like a fly. Instead, he grunted again. “No. Now drop it.”

Obviously he didn’t know my best friend very well. His comment only encouraged her to run through a list of the available women in a twenty-mile radius.

“Maddie Hershey is cute, but she’s more gossipy than a hen house. I don’t suppose that would work with your career choice. Then again, it
might
as long as the information had a one-way valve, if you know what I mean.”

His glare only made her laugh.

“You need a woman, Jed. And I’m going to find you one.” She held up her hands as though viewing a sign. “Neely Kate Colson, woman of many trades: landscape designer, detective, and matchmaker.”

She turned to me. “Do you think any of those will make me rich?”

“Not unless you can make matches for millionaires,” I said, looking around for suspicious characters. The square seemed pretty innocuous, but I knew better than to accept that at face value. “But you won’t find many of those here in Fenton County. You might have to branch out.”

She pursed her lips. “No, if Kate really bailed Rose out, she’s lost her million, and Skeeter seems to have his hands full with strippers and bimbos.”

Jed gave her questioning glance.

“What? It’s not hard to figure out he has money. He was gonna bail Rose out, right?” she whispered. “And everybody knows he goes through strippers at his club like a crying woman goes through tissues.”

While I had no doubt that was true, I hated that she thought she had him pegged. The man I knew was more than the sleazy kingpin she was describing. Then again, that was probably the perception he wanted the world to have of him. It was so much easier to underestimate him that way.