She shot me a dazed look. “She’s here.”
“Who?” I whisper-shouted. “Roberta?” I resisted the urge to turn around and look.
She nodded as she moved the cup to the Coke dispenser and began filling it. “She’s working the register.”
I took a breath. “Do you think she knows?” But how could she not? Maeve had heard about a murder, which suggested it was public news, or becoming that way, and based on what Mason had said, Roberta and Rufus had been serious about each other.
“Yeah. Her eyes are puffy and bloodshot, and her nose is red as though she’s been crying.”
“Why on earth is she still here?” I asked. “Why didn’t she go home?”
Neely Kate shot me a dark look. “Maybe her boss wouldn’t let her go, and she needs the job. If she’s workin’ here, she’s not makin’ much, and who knows how much her boyfriend was bringin’ in. Even if he was makin’ good money, that income source is gone, so now she needs this job more than ever.”
Her outrage felt a bit too personal, but now didn’t seem like the best time to bring it up.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “You make some very good points. And,” I added, so I didn’t look totally judgmental, “maybe she thinks there’s nothing she can do. Maybe she’d rather keep busy than go home and stare at his spot on the bed.”
Neely Kate’s gaze held mine. “Or maybe she’s here because it’s a public place and safer than being alone at home.”
She had a point there.
“Okay,” Neely Kate said, sliding over to the counter and grabbing a lid. “There’s no one at the counter. Let’s head over.”
She plucked a straw out of the holder and marched up to the counter, leaving me to follow.
There was only one woman at the counter. She looked young—in her early twenties—and had short dark hair pulled back into a stubby ponytail at the base of her neck. Her blue polo shirt had a Stop-N-Go logo on the chest, right below a name tag that said, Bobby.
Neely Kate put her drink on the counter. “When did y’all restart the bottomless drink promotion?”
“It started last week,” Bobby said, punching buttons on her cash register. She didn’t glance up as she slapped a sticker on the cup and said, “That sticker lets you get refills for the rest of the day. That’ll be a dollar and ten cents.”
Neely Kate put a couple of dollar bills on the counter and slid them over, then glanced back at me.
“Bobby,” I said softly. “You don’t know me, but I heard about Rufus, and I wanted to extend my sympathies.”
Her head jerked up. Fear covered her face, but anger drove it out. “How do you know about Rufus?”
I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you, Bobby, but I’m worried someone else will.”
“No shit,” she muttered as two streams of tears slid down her cheeks. “I know they’re comin’ for me.”
“Who?” Neely Kate asked. “Denny Carmichael?”
“He’s not the only one,” she said, her body starting to shake. “Skeeter Malcolm’s comin’ for me too.”
Chapter 6
“You think Skeeter Malcolm is after you?” I asked in shock. “Didn’t Rufus work for him?”
Bobby shook her head, panic filling her eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that. Forget I said that.”
“It’s okay,” I said gently. “I’m a friend. I want to help you.”
“Why would you want to help me?” she asked, anger in her voice. “You don’t even know me.”
“Because that’s what I do.” I glanced around, noticing no one except a man scratching his crotch as he studied the selection of Slim Jims in the snack aisle. “I’m the Lady in Black.”
Her eyes grew huge. It was obvious she knew exactly who I was and what it meant. “Why would you help me?” she whispered, her gaze shifting from me to Neely Kate, then back again.
“I already told you,” I said. “I help people. People come to me when they’re stuck in impossible situations, and I try to find them a way out.”
“She’s very good,” Neely Kate said.
“I’ve heard of you,” Bobby said. “You used to work for Skeeter.”
I started to correct her and say we’d partnered together, but it felt like semantics. “I have a foot in the criminal world, and I’ve negotiated truces between warring factions.”
She snorted. “Then why haven’t you negotiated one with Malcolm and Carmichael?”
She had a point. “Because neither party is interested in a truce.”
“You’ve got that right,” she scoffed. “They both want total dominion.”
“You’re in danger,” I said. “And I want to help you.”
“Out of the kindness of your heart,” Bobby said with a sneer.
This would only work if I was honest with her. “I think you might have information that will be useful to me.”
Disgust filled her eyes. “I knew it. There’s always strings attached.”
“That’s not entirely true,” I said, lowering my voice as a woman walked through the door holding a preschool-aged boy’s hand. “You fell onto my radar because of your boyfriend, but I’ll help you whether you know anything or not.”
“Why?” Bobby demanded. “And even if I buy the good Samaritan act, what do you plan on doin’ for me?”
“I can offer you protection,” I said. “And a place to hide.”
She glanced from me to Neely Kate again. “I think I’ll take my chances.”
I couldn’t force her to talk to me.
“Okay,” I said, pulling a business card out of my purse. I placed it on the counter and pushed it toward her. “My name is Rose Gardner, and my cell phone number is on the card. Call if you need me, and I’ll find a way to get to you.”
She stared at the card so hard I expected it to burst into flames, then picked it up and tossed it into the trash can behind her. “I don’t need your help. Now, get the hell out of my store.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Neely Kate said, leaning forward. “We can help you.”
Bobby’s eyes narrowed. “You have three seconds to get out before I call the cops.”
“That’s not necessary,” I said, then reached for her hand and forced a vision, asking, Will Bobby be okay?
Everything went black, and I found myself at my front door, staring at the fake dogwood wreath Joe had gotten me for Mother’s Day. Then the door swung open, and vision Bobby was face to face with me.
“Hey, Bobby,” Vision Rose said. “I’m glad you called. Come on in. You’re safe here.”
The vision faded, and I found myself standing face to face with an irate woman, blurting out, “You’re gonna be okay.” I wrapped my hand around Neely Kate’s arm. “We’ll go.”
As soon as we walked out, Neely Kate asked, “Did you have a vision?”
“I asked if she’d be okay, and I saw myself letting her into the farmhouse.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” I continued to drag Neely Kate across the parking lot, but she stopped in her tracks. “Hey. I didn’t get my change.”
I tugged her arm, forcing her to continue walking. “I’ll buy you lunch to make up for it.”
“That’s okay,” Neely Kate said, taking a sip of her drink. “I’ll make up for it in refills.”
“That’s thirty-two ounces of diabetes in a cup,” I said. “Why on earth would you need a refill?”
“A girl can use options.”
We got into the truck, and my gaze was drawn to a car parked at the end of the strip. A man sat in the front seat, making no move to get out. “That car was here when we pulled up.”
“So?” she asked, then took a sip of her drink before putting it into the cup holder.
“So, he’s just sitting there. Doing nothing.” I turned to Neely Kate. “He’s watching her.”
She sat upright and leaned forward. “Oh my stars and garters. I think you’re right.”
I grabbed my phone out of my purse. Opening the camera app, I took a ph
oto, then zoomed in to get a closer look at the guy.
“Do you recognize him?” I asked, snapping a couple of pictures.
“No, but you’d have a better chance of knowing him than me.”
“If he’s James’ guy, then not so much,” I said. “I hear all the old guys are gone.”
“He could be with Carmichael. If he killed Rufus for information about the safe, it stands to reason he’d go after Bobby, even if she’s more scared of Skeeter,” she said.
“I feel like we should warn her,” I said. “But she came to me in my vision. I don’t think I should mess with anything. If I go to her again, it might piss her off enough that she doesn’t come.”
“Agreed,” Neely Kate said. “Besides, that guy saw us goin’ in and comin’ out. If we go back in, it’ll draw more attention to us, and whoever sent him might put it together that it’s us. Shoot,” she said, motioning to her window. “The name of the landscaping company is on the side of the truck.”
“And if there were any doubt, you’re wearing the name on your bedazzled shirt,” I said. “But he hasn’t so much as glanced at us. Don’t you think he’d be checkin’ us out too if he thought we were involved in this?”
“I don’t know, but I do think it’s time to take this to Jed.”
“Agreed.” I started the truck, then headed toward Jed’s mechanic shop.
“You don’t want to pick up Hope first?” Neely Kate asked, sounding confused.
“Not yet. Let’s talk to Jed first.” Hope was a baby. She wouldn’t understand what we were discussing, but I was reluctant to have her around any of this mess…even if it was quickly becoming obvious this wasn’t going away any time soon.
We rode in silence for a few blocks, both lost in thought, before Neely Kate asked, “Do you think this has anything to do with Kate?”
Her question caught me by surprise. “The murder?”
“We know she was workin’ to double-cross Hardshaw,” she said. “She told me so during our road trip. And then there’s the timin’…”
Kate held Hardshaw partially to blame for the murder of her fiancé, and last summer, she’d kidnapped Neely Kate and taken her on a road trip to help her understand the workings of the group. Or so she had claimed. I’d pointed out that Kate could have just told her everything she’d shown her. Drugging Neely Kate and dragging her around Texas and Oklahoma hadn’t been necessary. It had been an attempt to Stockholm Syndrome Neely Kate into loving her. To cinch the deal, the warped sister bonding trip had culminated with Kate handing Ronnie over like a cat offering a mouse to its owner.
To be fair, we did think Kate was responsible for Hardshaw’s recent hiatus. She’d handed over some dirty money to Neely Kate—money with the fingerprints of Anthony Carson Roberts, one of the Hardshaw Three, all over them. We didn’t know what had happened with it, possibly nothing, but at least they’d backed off for a while. Or maybe they’d only made it seem like they were backing off.
“Rufus likely worked for Hardshaw,” I said. “So it’s not outside the realm of possibility. Let’s just talk to Jed, okay?”
We didn’t waste time getting out of the truck once I pulled into the parking lot of Carlisle Rivers Auto Shop. The garage doors were closed, so we headed into the office waiting room and went through the garage’s side door.
Jed was leaning over the engine of a car, but he glanced up at us, as though Neely Kate’s presence drew his attention. A smile spread across his face at the sight of her, but a frown quickly replaced it.
He walked over and kissed her, then said, “While I’m not going to complain about an opportunity to see you, I take it this isn’t a casual visit.”
“No,” I said. “We have something to tell you.”
Nodding, he glanced over at the other two men working in the adjacent bays, a nineteen-year-old boy named Marshall, and Neely Kate’s cousin Witt.
Witt looked up and did a double-take when he saw Neely Kate and me. Jed motioned for him to come over.
“Let’s discuss this in the breakroom,” Jed said, leading the way.
Once the four of us were inside, Jed shut the door. “Does this have anything to do with the murder of Malcolm’s man?”
“Partially,” Neely Kate said. “We found out that he was arrested a few years ago for cracking open a safe in Oklahoma. And he started working for Skeeter around the time of Violet’s death.”
Jed put his hands on his hips. “And how did you come by this information?”
“That part’s not relevant,” Neely Kate said. “The real question is who killed Rufus? Was it Skeeter because the guy betrayed him somehow?”
“Or was it Denny Carmichael?” I said. “Shootin’ the first volley in their war?”
Jed pushed out a long sigh.
“There’s a third option,” I said, then gave Neely Kate a pointed look.
“And what’s that?” Witt asked, his body tense.
Neely Kate slipped her phone out of her shorts pocket and swiped on the screen. “I got a text from Kate.” She handed Jed the phone.
“Psycho Kate?” Witt asked, taking a step back.
“Yeah,” Neely Kate said.
“No offense,” Witt said, “but your daddy’s side of the family makes the Rivers family reunions look tame.”
I’d been to a mini family reunion where there’d been barbecued squirrel and two cases of moonshine, which had ended with one of Neely Kate’s cousins accusing her fifty-year-old aunt of sleeping with her husband, so that was saying something. But he had a point.
Neely Kate gave him a pointed look. “Just goes to show that you can’t pick your family.”
“Just for that, I won’t walk you down the aisle at your next wedding,” Witt grumbled good-naturedly.
“There won’t be a next wedding,” Jed grunted, handing Neely Kate back her phone. “This complicates things.”
“Agreed,” I said. “We went to talk to Rufus’ girlfriend.”
“You did what?” Jed asked.
“Guess that explains why you don’t have Hope with you,” Witt said.
Jed’s eyes darkened. “Where is she?”
He was nearly as protective of her as Joe was. “She’s with Maeve at the nursery. I didn't think it was a good idea to take her with us when we talked to Bobby.”
“I presume Bobby is Rufus’ girlfriend,” Witt said.
“She works at the Stop-N-Go, and I needed gas,” I said.
“And I got a fountain drink,” Neely Kate said. “Did you know they reinstituted their bottomless cup program?”
“What were you doin’ gettin’ a fountain drink?” Witt asked. “You said you were givin’ up Coke because it’s bad for you.”
“I had a moment of weakness, okay?” Neely Kate said in a huff. “And I think we have more important things to discuss than the fact I fell off the no-Coke bandwagon in less than thirty-six hours.”
Which explained why I’d had no idea she’d given up soft drinks.
“Agreed,” Jed said in a deep voice that let us know he intended to get down to business. “Did you talk to her?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She thinks James is after her.”
“So she believes Skeeter killed her boyfriend?” he asked.
“She didn’t say. I told her I was the Lady in Black and offered her protection, but she was suspicious of my intentions.”
“Why would you offer her protection?” Jed said, giving me a dark look.
“Maybe because it’s the right thing to do, Jed Carlisle,” Neely Kate said in defiance, her hands on her hips.
“While that may be true,” Jed said, “I sincerely doubt either one of you heard about Rufus Wilson’s murder and immediately thought, ‘Hey, we should find his significant other and go offer her help.’”
“Okay,” I said. “After I heard about Rufus’ ability with safes, it made me wonder if Carmichael killed him because he wanted whatever was on my sister’s flash drive. If so, he might go after Bobby too, in case she knows
.”
Jed shook his head. “I still feel like we’ve skipped a few steps between you hearing about Wilson’s murder and going to talk to his girlfriend.”
“The female mind is a mysterious thing,” Neely Kate said, her chin lifted. “You’ve said so plenty of times yourself.”
Jed opened his mouth to say something, then promptly closed it.
“Okay,” Witt said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Let’s say Carmichael killed this guy because he wanted to find out what was in the safe, and then let’s say he thinks the guy’s girlfriend knows too. What good is that going to do him? He still doesn’t have the flash drive. I think we all know who probably does.”
“We don’t know anything,” I said. “Which is why we need to talk to Bobby. Oh, and there’s one other thing.”
Jed and Witt gave me questioning looks.
“I’m pretty sure someone is watchin’ her.” I took my phone out of my purse and pulled up my photos. “Do either of you know this guy?”
Jed took the phone, scowling as he swiped the screen to go through them, then handed the phone to Witt.
“That’s a cute photo of Hope,” Witt said with a grin. “She’s gettin’ so big.”
“Those aren’t the photos you should be lookin’ at,” Jed growled. “I don’t recognize him. Did you happen to get the license plate number?”
“Sure did,” Neely Kate said, then tapped into her phone.
“Arkansas plate?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll run it and see what comes back.”
Witt handed my phone to me. “Don’t know him either.”
“He could be Skeeter’s guy,” Jed said. “I don’t know most of his new people. Maybe we should ask Dermot to put a tail on the girl.”
“Rose had a vision,” Neely Kate said. “And Bobby came to her.”
Jed’s scowl deepened. “I don’t like the sound of that.” He hesitated, then said, “But all of these theories could be wrong, especially in light of some information that came my way last night.”
“Jed Carlisle,” Neely Kate growled. “You came across important information and didn’t think to share it with me?”
“I got it after you went to bed,” he said. “And you were so beautiful when we woke up this morning, everything else became much less important.”
It All Falls Down: Rose Gardner Investigations #7 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 5