Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans (19 page)

“
What?
”

He pulled out a black handkerchief from his coat pocket. “It’s for our protection as well as yours. If you confess what you’ve been doing to the Assistant DA, you won’t be able to show him where you’ve been.”

I stared at the cloth in his hand. It made perfect sense, but it made me nervous nonetheless.

He leaned closer. “Rose, I swear to you that I’ll keep you safe.”

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you saved Skeeter’s life.”

“So you’re doing it out of loyalty to Skeeter?”

“He took a chance on me when no one else would. He’s like a brother to me. You didn’t have to help him, but you did.”

“It wasn’t altruistic, Jed. I did it to get my money back.” As soon as the words tumbled out, I wondered if I should have admitted that.

He chuckled. “I don’t believe that for one minute. You could have let him get killed, no skin off your nose. But you didn’t.” He gave me a grin. “I’ll look out for you.”

I took a deep breath and glanced down at the handkerchief one more time before looking up into his face. “Okay.”

“Turn around.”

I faced the car as he put the folded fabric over my eyes and gently knotted it in the back, trying not to catch my hair. He took my arm and helped me into the backseat.

When I heard his car door shut, I asked, “Will it take long to get there?”

“Skeeter said to tell you not to worry. That you’ll get back in time for your dinner.”

I couldn’t hold back my snort. “Of course he did.”

“I’m gonna turn up the music pretty loud. Skeeter doesn’t want you to know where you are from the sounds.”

“This feels an awful lot like a kidnapping. How do you know I won’t just rip off this blindfold?”

He laughed. “Because I’m pretty sure
you
don’t want to know where you are.”

He had a point.

Loud country music filled the car, and four songs played before Jed turned the music down.

“Can I take my blindfold off now?”

“No, I’m gonna lead you in.”

Jed got out, and then I heard the back door open. He guided me out of the car and took my elbow, coaching me on where to walk and telling me when we came to a step. My heels echoed off wood slats under my feet as we moved along, but after a few moments, Jed pulled me to a halt.

“Lady,” Skeeter said. “Thanks for coming.”

I raised my hand to the side of my head. “Can I take this off yet?”

“I’d prefer for you to keep it on until we go inside.”

I lowered my hand.

“I’d like you to talk as little as possible once we’re in there. I’d prefer for him to not even know you’re there.”

“You know I’m gonna blurt something out about the vision I have. I can’t stop that.”

“I know, but we’ll keep the talking in his room to a minimum, and even if he hears you, he won’t be able to see you.”

“You were serious about the hood.”

“Yes.”

“I really don’t want to see anything kinky, Skeeter.”

He laughed. “You won’t. He’s drugged, so he won’t remember much. He’ll wake up next to a blonde with big tits and think he partied too much. He’ll get pissed because he won’t remember screwing her.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay.”

He led me through a door, and I entered a room that smelled like mildew and pine.

“You can take your blindfold off now,” he whispered next to my ear.

I tugged it off and blinked as I took in the living room covered in paneling and green shag carpet. It looked like a house straight out of the 1970s.

Skeeter motioned to the dark hall, and I followed him to the last door. He opened it and stepped inside, giving me enough room to walk past him.

A guy lay on the bed, dressed in a white T-shirt and green plaid boxer shorts. His legs and torso were pale, but he had a fading tan on his arms that ended at his biceps. He wasn’t obese, but he had a bit of flab on him. He was on his back with his arms all akilter over his head. A pillowcase with a kitten pattern on it covered his head, making it hard for me to guess his age. I knew he wasn’t a teenager, but he didn’t look too old either.

I leaned close to Skeeter, suddenly realizing he smelled really good. Maybe it was because the rest of the place smelled like dirty socks original to the 1970s decor. “Can he breathe with that thing on his head?” I whispered.

“Yes. We’ll take it off after you’re done. It’s for your protection.”

And yours
, but I kept that to myself. At the moment, it didn’t matter why he wanted to hide me—it just mattered that he did.

I moved closer to the bed, not sure if I wanted to sit on it. It hadn’t been made after its last use, and the man was sprawled over the rumpled sheets and blankets. I decided to squat at the side, and I reached over and grabbed the man’s hand, which currently lay on his pillow.

The man promptly rolled toward me, blindly reaching out for me and grabbing a handful of my hair.

“Mmm, baby,” he moaned. “I love your hair.”

My eyes flew open in alarm, but Jed freed my strands in an instant, all while I still held onto the guy’s hand. I looked up at Jed and mouthed, “Thank you.”

He nodded with a tight smile and stepped away from the bed.

I looked up at Skeeter and whispered, “What do you want me to look for?”

He squatted down next to me. “Let’s start with whatever you see, and then we can discuss whether you need to narrow it down.”

I nodded and closed my eyes, concentrating on the unconscious man. The vision came seconds later with a strong force. I was in a living room I didn’t recognize, looking at a man I didn’t know.

“That’s not how he wants it done,” I said in a deep male voice. “I’m supposed to get his schedule and turn it over. That’s it.”

“Well, things change. This is how it’s going to go down now.”

The vision ended, and I was thrust back into the bedroom with more force than usual. I fell backward on my butt, saying, “You’re gonna do it differently than he wants it done.”

Skeeter lifted me to my feet. I wobbled and almost collapsed. Sensing my weakness, Skeeter wrapped an arm around my waist and held me up. “What did you see?”

I shook my head, feeling drugged. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Tell me, and I’ll see if it makes sense to me.”

After I told him about my short vision, he shook his head. “Schedule? What schedule?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s worthless.”

I wasn’t so sure. I’d now had two visions that had left me with a bad feeling, both of which were seemingly ambiguous. What did it mean? “Then what do you want me to look for?”

“I want to know who he’s selling me out to.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay.”

I squatted next to the bed again and held the man’s hand again, focusing on Skeeter’s question. The next vision took longer. This time I was in a room lit by a bunch of fluorescent lights in a dropped office ceiling. I sat with a group of men around a dark wood conference table. Skeeter was at the opposite end, his face contorted with fury.

“Somebody tipped off Rodriguez, and nobody’s leaving here until I figure out who it was.”

The room was deadly quiet as I hid a phone under the table and wrote a quick text.
He knows
.

My eyes flew open. “Someone tipped off Rodriguez, and you’re gonna text someone.”

I glanced up at Skeeter, whose eyes had turned murderous. “So there
is
a traitor.” He pointed to the man in the bed. “Is it him?”

I stood and whispered. “I don’t know, but he hid his phone under the table and texted
He knows
to someone.” I shook my head in confusion. “I think you were in a conference room. A bunch of you were sitting around a table.”

“Anything else?”

“You said you weren’t going to let anyone leave until you figured out who’d tipped him off. And I think it was night time.”

“Did you recognize anyone else who was there?”

I closed my eyes, trying to recall more details. “Jed and Merv were with you. I didn’t recognize anyone else.”

He was silent for a moment. “Okay, we’re done here.” He led me out to the living room with Jed following behind us. Skeeter picked up the handkerchief and lifted it, but I stopped him before he could put it around my eyes.

“Wait. I need to ask you something.”

A grin teased his lips. “Okay.”

“Do you know the strippers at the Bunny Ranch?”

Skeeter burst out laughing. “What?”

I’d been thinking about it all afternoon. Mud wanted to put the Bunny Ranch out of business because of who owned it. Skeeter already admitted there were unsavory characters determined to bring him down. Skeeter had his hands in all kinds of endeavors, and he seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn’t bat an eye about associating himself with a strip club. In fact, he probably found his dates there. “You own it, don’t you?”

He looked amused. “I do.”

“There was a girl who worked there. Dolly Parton. Do you remember her?”

He shook his head. “Was that her stage name?”

“No. But she goes by Sapphire at Gems.”

His eyes narrowed. “
Gems?
They’re trying to put me out of business.”

That squared with what Sparkle had told me. “What are they doin’?”

“They didn’t need to do much more than open their doors. There’s not enough business to support two clubs. There’s hardly enough to cover one.”

“So why would they have opened up in the first place?”

“Good question.” He looked like he knew something he wasn’t sharing. Not that it was any of my business. He grinned. “You lookin’ for a job? I’ve got another way to put you on the payroll without you resorting to dancing on men’s laps.”

I shuddered. “Gross. No. I’m not lookin’ for a job. I have my own business, thank you very much.”

He chuckled. “Then why are you asking about a girl from my club?”

“She’s my friend’s cousin.”

He leaned his shoulder into the wall and crossed his arms. “You don’t say.”

“She’s missing. She worked a shift on Friday night, and no one has seen her or the bartender since then.”

“Tell your ex-boyfriend and have him look into it.”

“He won’t do anything. She’s taken off before, and he thinks that’s what’s goin’ on this time.”

“But you don’t?”

“Well . . . at first I didn’t. I was just helping out because my friend insisted. But then we went to Gems—”

He held up his hands, his eyebrows shooting up. “You went to Gems?”

“We had to ask around to see if anyone knew what had happened to Dolly Parton.”

“And?”

“And I walked away with a job offer and the information that she and the bartender disappeared after they closed together on Friday night. Oh, and that Mud sent men to Nikko’s house to look for him.”

He stood up. “Mud sent guys after the
bartender
?”

“Yeah, I thought it sounded suspicious too. Someone from your club told me that Mud’s up to no good. I think Dolly and Nikko saw something they shouldn’t have and took off. Mud knows they saw it, and that’s why he sent guys after them . . . unless it’s all a front and he did something to them.”

Skeeter rubbed his stubbly chin. “This is good, Lady. Given how much he’s hurt my business, I’ve been trying to get some intel on him for weeks. This is my first real lead.”

I shot him a condescending look. “You’re
welcome
.”

He laughed and moved closer to me. “So this job offer . . . did you dance for Mud?”

I took a step back. “No! And that wasn’t the offer.”

“Then what was?”

“Bartending.”

He laughed again. “The gateway job to dancing.”

“I didn’t take it.”

“Good.” His voice was hard. “If you need a job, you’ll come work for me.”

“So you can’t help me with Dolly?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just as curious about where she is as you are.”

“Only because of what she might have seen?”

His eyes pierced mine. “I’m not a charity, Rose, so don’t sound so surprised. But let’s just say that tracking her down could be mutually beneficial.”

I steeled my shoulders. “Like our arrangement.”

“They’re your terms, Lady.”

He was right. I couldn’t let myself forget it.

I was back at Maeve’s house before Mason showed up, but I’d chewed up too much time with Skeeter to stop home and get Muffy. I was thankful Maeve didn’t ask any questions about where I’d been. When Mason showed up about fifteen minutes after me, he was subdued, but he loosened up as we ate.

The three of us sat at Maeve’s kitchen table, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how blessed I was to finally have the family I’d always wanted. I insisted on staying and helping clean up the kitchen, and I gave Maeve a long hug before we left.

Both of our vehicles were parked at Maeve’s, but we decided to leave Mason’s car and drive my truck home. He offered to drive.

“Is everything okay, Mason?” I asked after a couple of minutes of silence passed between us. I turned sideways in my seat to study him.

He flashed me a guarded smile. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you had an unexpected meeting with your boss, and you were quiet as a church mouse throughout dinner.”

“I’ve got a lot of pressure on me at work. Nothing to worry about.”

“Don’t do that,” I said. “Don’t dismiss your feelings because they’re related to work. Tell me what’s goin’ on. Why did he want to talk to you?”

Mason took a deep breath. “He’d heard about an investigation I’m working on, and he wanted to know more about it. I told him what I could, but I got a dressing down.”

“Does this have anything to do with J.R. Simmons?” I’d wanted to ask him since I first heard of his troubles at work, but hadn’t been sure how to broach it.

“No.” His voice was hard.

“I’m sorry.” I unfastened my seatbelt and slid into the middle seat, re-buckling and leaning into his side.

He glanced at me and kissed my temple before wrapping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. “What worries me is
how
he found out. Only a handful of people know.”