Thirty-Six and a Half Motives: Rose Gardner Mystery #9 (Rose Gardner Mystery Series) (27 page)

I smiled. “I know you will, Joe. You’re nothing like your father.”

He grimaced.

“I talked to Kate about an hour ago.”

Joe momentarily froze, then stabbed his meatloaf. “How did that go?”

“It was rocky, but she confided a few things.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about
my sister
?”

“Yeah,” I said, chuckling. But then I sobered, reminded that he had another sister. I hoped he wouldn’t reject her when he discovered the truth. I wasn’t sure Neely Kate could handle any more rejection.

Joe leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table. “And what did Kate confide?”

“That she was in love with a man named Nick Thorn.”

He shook his head. “Kate told you that? I find that hard to believe.”

“She didn’t share it willingly,” I confessed. “There may have been some bargaining involved. Did you know about him?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Rose,” he sighed. “When you and I were together, I told you that Kate and I were never close. Our relationship was turbulent at best. But she’d been making an effort before she took off a couple of years ago. She hinted that she was seeing someone, and she seemed . . . happy.”

“And then she disappeared?”

“Yeah, which is why I was especially worried. She’d been happier than I’d seen her since she was a kid.”

“Joe, I asked her what happened to Nick, and she said your father didn’t approve of him. She says he tried to pay him off with hundreds of thousands of dollars, but her boyfriend turned him down. So your father had him eliminated.”

His face paled as he sat up. “Oh, God. Why didn’t she tell me?”

“I don’t know, but she said that when she found out about me, she thought I might have a shot at standing up to your father—hence her obsession with getting you and me back together.”

He looked lost in thought. “If she wanted us back together, then Mason would have been a roadblock.”

Oh, my word. Why hadn’t I thought
that
part through? “Road block enough to hire Sam Teagen to hire Eric Davidson to run Mason off the road?”

His eyes narrowed. “
What?
”

“I’m 99% positive Kate hired Sam Teagen to do her dirty work.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Rose?”

I put my hand on his. “Joe. Listen to me. You know Neely Kate and I saw those files in Kate’s apartment—”

“But there was nothing there when I went to check.”

“That’s because she moved them.”

“Moved them where?”

“To the shed on top of the antique store. The one that burned.”

He cocked his head and gave me a suspicious look. “And how would you know that?”

“I saw them in there.”

He gave me a dubious look.

“Not to mention I heard Sam Teagen talking. He said he was hired by a woman to kidnap me, then kill Mason.” Which brought up another issue. She’d obviously hired Teagen, but he also answered to J.R. How did
that
work? Was she planning to double-cross him?

“When and where did you hear him talking?”

“I . . . uh . . .”

“
Rose.
Quit playing games and answer the question.”

What were the ramifications of telling him everything? “When I was kidnapped, I reached up and scratched the cheek of my capturer. Then I saw a suspicious character watching me last Friday. But I thought I was paranoid. Until I saw Sam Teagen yesterday with healing scratch marks on his face.”

“How do you know his name?”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him everything. “I heard his friend call him by name.”

“And he just happened to confess to kidnapping you?”

I cringed. “It was last night. I was in my office when I saw Sam Teagen outside the front window with a gun in his hand. I think he was there to kidnap me and take me to your father. His friend told him they wouldn’t have to have been there if Teagen had gotten it right the week before.”

Joe sat back in his seat with a pained expression. “Shit. How’d you get away?”

“The explosions scared them off.” Not exactly true, but I didn’t want to drag Merv into this. “But not before he told his friend he was hired by a woman—a woman who wasn’t happy with the way things were going. They knew about the files in the shed, Joe. The same files that were in Kate’s apartment.”

Joe got a far-off look in his eyes, then rubbed his mouth with the side of his hand. “You realize you’re accusing my sister of some very serious crimes?”

“I know, Joe, and I’m sorry, but there’s more.”

He shook his head. “Go on.”

“Before Kate left this afternoon, she mentioned how much she hated Hilary. We asked her about Roberta, and she said she hadn’t been sorry to see your housekeeper go. Hilary was devastated when Roberta left, so that made Kate happy.”

“She said that?”

I nodded. “Then she said that Hilary was going to get what was coming to her.”

“That could mean anything.”

“I know, but I really feel like we need to warn Hilary. I’d do it myself, but she’ll think I’m trying to trick her. Will you talk to her?”

“Yeah.” He ran his hands over his head, still looking dazed. “I guess I should talk to my sister again, too.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shook his head.

“This isn’t your fault,” I insisted.

But he looked devastated. “My father’s a piece of shit. My mother is a manipulative bitch. My sister . . .” He looked into my face. “I have no one, Rose.”

I ached to tell him about Neely Kate, but it wasn’t my secret to share. At least not with him. Instead, I covered his hand with mine. “No. That’s not true, Joe. You and I may not be together, but I’m still your friend. I care about you. And you have other friends. People who would do anything for you.”

He stood and grabbed his coat and shoved his arms into his sleeves. “I need to go.”

“Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.”

A sad smile lifted the corners of his lips. “No. Thanks for this. It’s given me the closure I needed to move on.”

I stepped toward him and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you seems so inadequate. When we met, you saw the potential in me that no one else could see.” I pulled back and smiled even though my eyes burned. “You were with me when I started this crazy journey.”

He grinned. “You and your wish list.”

I wiped a tear from my cheek. “There were so many firsts with you, Joe.”

“You have no idea how much I loved watching you break free.” He wiped another of my tears. A soft smile lit up my face “You gave me the courage to believe I could be happy and free from my father. I will always love you for that, Rose, but I’m ready to let you go.”

I nodded through my tears, shocked at how much this hurt.

He pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead, then stepped away. “Lock the door behind me. And please, for the love of God, go sit with Mason in the courthouse. I have a feeling something big’s going down tonight, and I don’t want you to be in the middle of it.”

I nodded again, then pushed past the lump in my throat, “Be careful, Joe.”

Joe walked out the front door, and I followed behind and turned the deadbolt. As hard as that had been, I knew it was only the prelude to the big finale.

I
sent Neely Kate
a text to let her know that Joe had left. When she still hadn’t responded a full minute later, I was starting to get worried, but then I heard banging at the back door.

“Rose!” Neely Kate called out, her voice muffled by the door. “Let us in!”

I ran to the back door and unlocked it. Neely Kate and Jed tumbled in, and I shut the door behind them. “What in tarnation are you two doin’?”

“We’ve been digging in the Pelgers’s office,” Neely Kate said.

“Without me?”

Jed grinned. “Don’t sound so disappointed.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Yep. Twenty-five years ago, the Pelgers rented the apartment and the storage building to Allen Steyer.”

I tilted my head. “Why would the owner of the fertilizer plant rent an apartment on the square? Wouldn’t he own his own house?”

A smug grin spread across Jed’s face. “Skeeter thinks he rented it for J.R.”

“What?”

“Your momma’s journal said he stayed somewhere,” Neely Kate said. “Skeeter says it makes sense that J.R. wouldn’t rent a place under his own name. But one of his Twelve could rent it for him.”

“That’s great and all,” I grumbled, “but again, it’s not very useful for tonight.”

“I disagree,” Skeeter said, strutting in through the back door like he owned the place. “You can never have too much information. You never know when you’re gonna discover something that will save your ass later.”

I knew he had a point, but it still felt hopeless. “So we’re just walking into a trap?”

“No.” The amusement bled from his face. “I’ve got men surrounding that barn even as we speak. I’ll have my own show of force waiting for the bastard.”

“And what?” I asked. “They’ll ambush them?”

“No, they’ll let Simmons do his thing, but I’ll be prepared to face him.”

“Just you?” I asked.

His eyes hardened. “This is between him and me. I’ve always been one to cut through the shit, but we know J.R. likes pomp and circumstance.”

“You know it won’t be that easy.”

“Nothing worth fightin’ for ever is.”

Neely Kate’s cell phone started to ring. She dug her phone out of her coat pocket and pressed it to her ear. “Hey, Granny.” She was silent for several moments, then said, “Okay. See you soon.” As she hung up, she glanced over at me. “Her second fortune-telling appointment cancelled.”

“And she didn’t see that coming?” Jed asked, his face splitting into a grin. “What kind of fortune teller is she?”

Neely Kate put her hands on her hips. “She can only read other people’s futures, not her own. And besides, she has to look for it. With tea leaves. We’ll have her read your future before we leave her house.”

“Me?” He sounded horrified.

“You might as well come inside with us,” she teased. “And Granny
loves
doing tea readings.”

“Do her predictions ever come true?” Jed asked, sounding fearful. Smart man.

“Sometimes.” Neely Kate’s eyes clouded over. I knew she had to be thinking about her granny seeing the miscarriage of twins—even though Neely Kate’s doctor hadn’t seen her ectopic pregnancy in her early ultrasound.

Skeeter grinned. “Jed, you take the ladies to see Neely Kate’s granny, and I’ll head out to the barn to check on things.”

The thought of him going out there alone scared the bejiggers out of me, but then, he wouldn’t really be alone. He’d have the company of his gun-toting loyal employees.

Jed nodded and motioned for us to head toward the front door, but I looked back at the man still standing larger than life in my short hallway.

“James, be careful.”

His grin widened. “You don’t have to tell me to be careful, Lady, or wish me luck. I make my own luck.” Then he took off out the back door.

“Cocky bastard,” Neely Kate murmured.

I grinned. She was right, but he had the brute strength, both his own and his men’s, to back it up. His cockiness gave me confidence.

Neely Kate’s granny lived southwest of town. I had never been to her farm, although I’d heard plenty about it. Neely Kate’s cousins ran the cattle she kept there, but from everything Neely Kate had told me, they could have been more profitable if they’d put some gumption into it. If the Rivers family had been known for trouble when Jenny Lynn Rivers had haunted the county, they were better known for their laziness now. While they did stir up plenty of trouble, they were just as likely to let someone else do the dirty work for them.

With that in mind, I wasn’t all that shocked to see that Granny Rivers’s farm looked like an abandoned homestead rather than a working farm. It was hard to see it all in the dark, but the shoddily mended fences lining the gravel drive were proof that Neely Kate’s cousins only did what they absolutely had to.

“Your grandmother lives here?” Jed asked in disbelief, parking the car in front of the worn one-story house. While my farmhouse had a wrap-around porch, this one had a stoop without even an overhang to protect against the rain. So little remained of the white peeling paint that the house looked brown from the underside of the clapboard siding.

“Yeah,” Neely Kate grumbled as she climbed out of the car. “Let’s get this over with.”

We followed her to the door, and I heard a dog howl in the distance. I flinched and Jed glanced down at me, not looking very relaxed either. I held my purse tight to my side, and then as an afterthought, I pulled out my gun and put it in my pocket. Something didn’t feel right, even if I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Jed caught the movement, lifting his brow, but Neely Kate was too focused on knocking on the door to pay me any mind.

“Granny?”

“In the kitchen.”

We walked through a room that looked be a makeshift mud room, filled with muddy rain boots and coats. It was also full of an array of gardening tools—a few rakes and shovels, a hoe, and a pitchfork.

Neely Kate glanced over her shoulder. “Home protection.”

“From zombies?” Jed whispered to me with a smirk.

“I heard that,” Neely Kate said dryly.

We entered a small kitchen, the counters stacked high with dirty dishes and pots. A small round table covered with a lace tablecloth was pushed close to the wall, and three empty mismatched wooden chairs were gathered around it. A fourth chair was occupied by Neely Kate’s grandmother, who wore a brightly colored turban on her head.

She held her hands out when she saw us. “Welcome to your future.”

“We’re not here for a reading, Granny,” Neely Kate said, looking back at us and gesturing to the chairs.

Jed’s eyes widened, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. I had my doubts one of those rickety chairs would hold his bulky frame.

Neely Kate plopped onto the chair next to her grandmother. “Jed, you sit in the corner. I need Rose over here.” She pointed to the chair between them. When he hesitated, she grumped, “Oh, have a seat, you big baby.”

I couldn’t say I blamed her poor attitude, and I also understood why she was so eager to stay with me out at my farm. Five minutes in this place would make me grumpy, too.

Jed scooted between the table and the wall, his legs bumping the edge, pushing it toward Neely Kate’s granny. He shot my friend a look that said she was a dead woman when we left.

Neely Kate just chuckled.

“You did that on purpose,” I whispered.

“Paybacks bite you in the keister. We’ll see if he ever suggests I’m incapable of a little light burglary again.”

This obviously had something to do with their visit to the Pelgers’s office, but I knew better than to ask now.

Neely Kate’s grandmother stood, and her gazed flitted around the table before coming to rest on Jed. “And who might you be?”

“Granny,” Neely Kate said, “this is Jed.”

“Jed what?”

Jed gave her a wary smile. “Jed Carlisle, ma’am.”

“Well, Jed Carlisle, this is your lucky day. I’m gonna tell you your future.”

Jed’s eyes flew wide open. “That’s not necessary ma’am.”

“Nonsense,” she said, moving over to her stove and grabbing a worn red tea kettle. She hobbled over to the sink and pushed a pan out of the way to fill the pot. “Have you ever had your tea leaves read before?”

“No, ma’am.”

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Then today really
is
your lucky day. I’ll even do it at a discount price.”

“You’ll do it for
free
, Granny,” Neely Kate said, shooting her a warning look.

“You don’t need to do it at all,” Jed insisted.

Granny shot Neely Kate a frown before putting the kettle on the stove. “Of course I’ll do it for free. My introductory special.”

It was obvious Jed did
not
want to know his future. I found it amusing considering all the dangerous situations I’d seen him navigate without so much as breaking a sweat, not to mention the fact that I’d told him his changeable future many times.

But whatever his reason, I decided to help him out. Lord knew he’d helped me plenty. “Ms. Rivers, can you read my tea leaves instead?”

The older woman moved closer, putting her gnarled hand on my cheek. “No, your future is too uncertain.”

Neely Kate looked alarmed. “What does that mean, Granny?”

Her grandmother’s back stiffened. “It means just what I said.” She picked up a tea cup and rinsed it in the sink.

“Why would her future be uncertain?” Neely Kate asked.

The older woman put the cup and saucer on the table. “Because she’s a seer. All seers’ futures are unclear because they carry the futures of so many others.”

I shot a questioning look at Neely Kate, but she shook her head.

“I didn’t tell her,” she said.

Neely Kate’s granny laughed. “She didn’t have to tell me. I can see it in your aura.”

“Granny, we’re not here for you to read either of their futures. I’m here because I need to ask you a few questions about Momma.”

The older woman’s smile fell, and she suddenly looked nervous. “Oh.”

“Momma was seeing someone before she left. Do you know anything about him?”

She waved her hand in dismissal, but she wouldn’t look her granddaughter in the eyes. “That kid in the band.”

“No, Granny. She was seeing someone else.”

Her grandmother froze. “What makes you say that?”

I cast a glance at Jed to see if he’d picked up on her strange behavior. His previous anxiety was gone, replaced with the face he used to face Skeeter’s adversaries in meetings.

“I found out some information about Momma . . . before she left,” Neely Kate said. “She was pregnant. You always told me she got pregnant later.”

Her grandmother sat in her chair and covered Neely Kate’s hands with her own. “You don’t know what you’re messin’ with, baby girl. You need to leave this alone.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Neely Kate asked.

“You just accept that fool boy as your father and go on with your life.”

“Momma never told me who my father was. She always said it didn’t matter.”

Her grandmother nodded, but I saw the fear in her eyes. “This is the one time your Momma and I agree on somethin’, and given what a rarity that is, you should listen.”

“No, Granny. I need to know.”

Anger flashed in the older woman’s eyes. “No, you don’t! You just let sleepin’ dogs lie, Neely Kate Rivers. Your very life depends on it!”

We were all silent for a moment before Neely Kate said in a calm, clear voice. “I know that J.R. Simmons is my father.”

Her grandmother shook her head violently. “No, Neely Kate. No.”

“Yes, Granny,” she continued. “It’s true. Now I need you to tell me what you know.” Neely Kate grew impatient when her grandmother didn’t answer. “Granny!”

“There was a woman here . . . recent. She was asking about you.” She started to shake. “You’re not supposed to know about it.”

Neely Kate gasped. “What? Who?”

My heart slammed into my chest. Had Kate been to see Neely Kate’s grandmother?

Neely Kate looked over her shoulder at me, then back at her grandmother. “Just tell me what she looked like, okay?” Neely Kate asked in an amazingly calm voice. “What color was her hair? That couldn’t hurt anything, could it?”

The older woman was clearly flustered. “She told me not to tell anyone. She told me not to say.”

“Granny, this is important. I
need
to know.”

“No!” Granny Rivers’s face turned red. “She said she’d kill you if I told! I failed Jenny Lynn. I’m not failing you, too.”

The older woman clearly knew more about what had happened to her daughter than she was letting on, but I was worried she wouldn’t tell us anything.

Neely Kate stood and began to pace, and Jed’s eyes had darkened. “Ma’am, I know you think you’re protecting Neely Kate,” he said, “but she’ll be in more danger if we don’t know who came to see you and why.”

She pressed her lips together and shook her head.

“Granny Rivers,” I said softly as I slid over to sit in Neely Kate’s vacated chair. “She said not tell us what she said, right?”

She nodded.

“How about I ask you a few things, and you only answer if you feel comfortable?”

She hesitated, eyeing me closely as though trying to figure out if it was a trick.

“I won’t force you to tell me anything you don’t want to. Can we just try it?”

She nodded.

“Okay.” I smiled. “Let’s talk about the time before Jenny Lynn left.” When she didn’t protest, I continued, “Did you know she was seeing an older man?”

“I knew she was hiding something, but I didn’t know what. She wouldn’t come home for days, and she’d show up with things—once a necklace and another time a pair of earrings.”

“From him? The man she was seeing?”

Granny Rivers shrugged. “She never said. I almost accused her of stealing, but I knew better. Jenny Lynn was a lot of things before she left, but a thief wasn’t one of them.”

“Did she ever act scared of him?”

“She was jumpy at the end. Easily spooked and lookin’ out the windows at night. The last week was the worst, and that’s when she finally told me the whole story.”

“And can you tell me the whole story?” I asked.

“No. She told me not to.”

“The woman who came to see you?”