“Shit,” he grunted, half turning from me. “We really can’t tell him, Rose.”
“No,” I said. “I have to protect him.”
“Which brings us back to Dermot. And no, Jed won’t agree with roping him in, which is why we can’t tell him yet.”
I tried to pull myself together, but seeing Joe’s lifeless body had rocked me to my core. Witt was right. There was no way in hell I could tell Joe, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t warn Dermot.
A fire filled Witt’s eyes. “You won’t have Jed as your muscle, but you have me.”
I gasped. This was Witt, who was rarely serious about anything, but then again, that wasn’t fair or true. He’d done a lot of growing up over the past year. This wasn’t the same man-child I’d met back then. This was a man who wanted to protect his county, who wanted to protect his family, and would risk everything to do it.
“Think about it, okay?” he said. “We’ll talk later.”
Everything in me screamed to tell him no, but a fire burned within me too. There was nothing that would convince me to sit back and let Hardshaw lay claim to the tattered soul of Fenton County in the hopes that Kate would take care of the problem for us. Kate was untrustworthy and psychotic. Literally.
But if I acted behind Jed’s back…
Betrayal always started with a tiny step, but that one step could easily turn into a deep, gouging channel that could never be filled, never be repaired.
Tell him no.
Hope’s face filled my vision. She was so tiny, so innocent. I wanted nothing more than to protect her, but wouldn’t it be best for her in the long term if this deal didn’t go through? If Hardshaw didn’t take our home from us and poison it?
I’d spent the first twenty-four years of my life waiting for something to happen to me. But Witt wasn’t the only one who’d grown up—I had too, and I was no longer content to let fate make my decisions. I was taking charge of my own destiny.
I lifted my gaze to Witt’s, fully aware of the path I was choosing, and said, “Okay.”
Chapter 8
Witt had already gone back to the garage, and I was out standing next to the truck when Neely Kate finally came out, her eyes red from crying.
“You ready to go back to the office?” I asked.
She nodded but didn’t say anything as she got into the truck.
I started the engine and turned to face her. “Talk to me, Neely Kate.”
“I’m scared,” she said, looking over at me, fresh tears tracking down her cheeks.
“Kate’s scary as hell,” I said. “And then everything else goin’ on…I’m scared too.”
“Jed wants to go away for a few days. Until all of this dies down…or until the baby’s born.”
That caught me by surprise. “Oh.”
“I told him I’d think about it.” She gave me a pleading look. “You could come with us. You and Hope.”
“What would I tell Joe?” I asked.
Her face fell. “I’m not sure. Promise me you won’t tell him the truth, okay?” Her voice rose in panic. “I can’t lose him, Rose.”
I grabbed her hand. “I won’t. I can’t lose him either.” The image of Joe in a casket popped into my head, and I fought the urge to cry. “I can’t live without him.”
“So you’ll think of something else to tell him,” she said. “And we’ll get far away from here.”
“Let me think about it, okay?” I asked, already knowing my answer.
“Okay.”
We drove in silence for a bit before Neely Kate asked in a hopeful tone, “Do you want to get lunch before we pick up Hope?”
While I would have loved to get lunch with her, I really needed to see my daughter and reassure myself that she was safe. But it wasn’t just that…guilt coursed through my blood because I knew I couldn’t let this go, even if that was exactly what Jed was asking me to do. I struggled to meet Neely Kate’s eyes.
“Rain check?” I asked. “I think I’m going to get Hope and head home.”
“Yeah,” she said, trying to cover her hurt. “Of course.”
I reached over and grabbed her hand again, squeezing so hard I was sure it hurt, yet she didn’t pull away. “I love you, Neely Kate. Your sister’s right. You deserve to be happy.”
“But at what cost?” she whispered. “Runnin’ off like a scared nitwit.”
“You’re not a nitwit,” I insisted. “And sometimes runnin’ is the best course of action.”
“But you don’t intend to run, do you?” she asked quietly, pulling her hand away.
“No,” I admitted.
She was quiet until I pulled up in front of the office. I put the truck in park, but she didn’t reach for the door handle. “You’re not gonna go do something crazy like head over to the pool hall, are you?”
I smiled. “No, Neely Kate. I promise, my plan is to get Hope and go home.”
“But you’re not rulin’ it out.”
“Honestly, I’m not rulin’ anything out.”
Staring out the windshield, she shook her head. “We should stay.”
“Why?” I asked. “What purpose would it serve? If you stay, you run the risk of losin’ your baby and any hope of adoptin’ future babies. You’d be foolish to get involved in this.”
She turned to me in surprise.
“You want a baby, Neely Kate,” I said emphatically, “and there is absolutely nothin’ wrong with doin’ everything possible to make that happen.” Tilting my head, I gave her a sly grin. “Within reason, of course.”
She released a bitter laugh. “Of course.”
“So if makin’ sure you’re nowhere close to what’s about to go down is what helps achieve that goal, then that’s what you need to do.” I leaned closer. “And make sure you have a water-tight alibi.”
She laughed again, this time more genuine. “I love you, Rose, and I love Jed too. So I don’t say this lightly.” She met my gaze and held it. “You do whatever you need to do.”
I stared at her for a moment, wondering if I understood her correctly.
“Yeah,” she said with a sad smile. “You know what I’m talkin’ about.” Sucking in a breath, she sat up straighter. “I’m gonna take Jed up on his offer. I think we should go away. Get out of your hair.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Jed will never forgive me.”
She shook her head, her eyes full of tears too. “Haven’t you learned anything from me? It’s far better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” She squeezed me again. “We all need to find a way to weather this storm. Whether it’s hunker down or stand up and fight. Don’t let anyone make that decision for you. Not even Jed.” A tear slipped down her cheek.
Seeing her tears was what broke me. I started to cry.
“Oh, honey,” she said, cupping my cheek with her free hand. “It’s all gonna be okay in the end.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “Maybe this is all the happy ending I get.”
Her gaze held mine. “Maybe it is. Maybe it’s mine too, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep fightin’ for more. You should too.”
I nodded and pulled my hand from hers, wiping my cheeks with my fingertips. “Where will you go?”
“Jed said something about goin’ to the ocean. I’ve always wanted to see it.”
The wistfulness in her voice broke my heart. “Then you should.”
She stared into my eyes for a long moment again, then turned and got out of the car without so much as saying goodbye. I sat there watching her, though, unable to leave, and when she reached the office door, she turned and lifted her hand in a wave.
I lifted my hand too.
She blew me a kiss, then went inside.
I backed out of my parking spot, fighting my emotions while trying to figure out what to do next. I needed to meet with Dermot. I needed to figure out how to see James.
James.
What I was about to do could get him killed. I was not okay with
that, but I wasn’t sure what else to do other than maybe try to reason with him one more time.
I’d driven away from the square toward the nursery, but I turned the truck around and drove back, parking around the corner from Carter Hale’s law office. Even though I didn’t like or respect Carter, he was my best option for getting a message to James. I doubted he’d put me in touch with him, but he might agree to pass along a message. I’d tell James to meet me in our old spot behind the abandoned Sinclair station. He could pick the time. I’d figure out what to do with Hope later.
I walked into Carter’s office, and a young blond woman peered up at me from the assistant’s desk. She looked to be in her early twenties and wore a tight white shirt with a very low neckline. The fine sheen of glitter on the rise of her breasts suggested the shirt had been chosen for that feature.
I didn’t recognize her, but then Carter seemed to have a revolving door of assistants lately, and their professionalism deteriorated with each new employee.
She eyed me up and down and seemed to find me wanting. Then again, I never seemed to pass muster with anyone’s assistant. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked in a haughty tone. She was trying to be condescending, but it came out like she was a little girl playing dress-up.
“How long have you worked here?” I asked.
She lifted her chin and looked down her nose. “Long enough.”
I shook my head, wanting to tell her that she was more than her breasts, but I only had so much fight in me. Not that she’d likely listen anyway. “Is Carter here?”
Her gaze darted to the hall, then back to me. “You can only see him if you have an appointment.”
I took that as a yes.
“Is he with someone now?”
Her eyes widened with panic. “I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
My heart skipped a beat. While I didn’t know all of Carter’s clients, I only knew of one so notorious.
I started down the hall.
“You can’t go down there!” she shouted after me, but I kept marching.
“Stop!” she shouted as she ran after me.
When I reached the door to Carter’s office, I didn’t hesitate, throwing it open to reveal the shocked faces of Carter and the very man I was looking for.
Carter was behind his desk, and James was in one of the guest chairs. The lawyer, usually so slick and polished, stared at me in open shock, but James had a gun pointed right at me. He’d always been a man of action, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I heard the report of a single gunshot.
Chapter 9
“Rose!” Carter shouted and jumped up from his desk.
I was surprised I was still standing, but then I’d heard it took a moment for your body to register that it had been shot. I’d been grazed with a bullet before, though, and it had hurt like hell. Why wasn’t I hurting now? I glanced down at my torso but didn’t see any blood.
Carter’s new assistant was screaming in my ear by the time Carter reached me, but suddenly James was in the doorway too, pushing Carter out of the way and turning a deadly glare on the assistant. “Shut the fuck up.”
To my surprise, she did, but then she scampered to the front office in a way that suggested Carter was going to have to find himself yet another assistant, and James grabbed my arm and dragged me inside the office. His glare shifted to his attorney. “Leave.”
“This is his office,” I said, outraged. “You can’t tell him to do that.” But even as I said it, I knew it was a ridiculous statement. James owned Carter Hale, and if he said jump, Carter would run off to find the highest bridge. He’d be grumbling as he did it, but he’d be no less dead.
Carter turned to face his client. “Try not to kill her. I don’t want to explain the bloodstains.” He said it flippantly, like he was joking, but there was an edge to it—like maybe he thought it needed to be said. To be fair, James had just shot at me.
When Carter left and shut the door behind him, James dragged me to the desk. Shoving Carter’s things aside—dimly, I noticed papers, a pencil cup, a stapler—he lifted me under my arms and set me on the desk.
“You can’t manhandle me, James,” I protested, but I was in too much shock to try to resist.
He shot me a dark look that stole my breath. “I could have killed you.” His gaze dropped to my feet and worked its way up my legs.
“What in Sam Hill are you doin’?” I demanded.
“I’m makin’ goddamn sure I didn’t shoot you,” he said with a snarl.
“I’m fine,” I said, finally coming to my senses and pushing him away as I slid off the desk. I walked to the center of the room and drew in a deep breath as the reality of the situation sank in. “You shot at me!”
“I didn’t know it was you until the last instant, when I pulled to the side!” he shouted. “What the hell were you thinkin’, slamming your way into his office unannounced? The assistant was told not to let anyone back.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, starting to pace. “Usually when you walk into someone’s office unannounced, the worst you’ll find is someone in a compromising situation. I didn’t expect to be shot!”
“I didn’t shoot you! I missed!”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I demanded. My legs started to feel wobbly at the thought of what a close call it had been.
He was by me in an instant, taking my arm and guiding me back to the sofa, his touch more gentle this time. He sat on the coffee table in front of me, and I realized his hand was shaking. I stared at it for a couple of seconds before I lifted my gaze to his with a questioning look.
“You just scared the shit out of me,” he said. “Give me a second.”
We both sat there, our breathing rapid as we tried to calm down.
“Well, I guess that answers one of my many questions,” I said dryly.
“Which one is that?” he grunted.
“Whether you want me dead.”
He lifted a hand to my cheek, his eyes softer than I’d seen them in a year. This was the man I’d gotten to know, not the monster who had taken his place, and it cut me to the bone to see a glimmer of him. “If I’d wanted you dead, Rose, you would have been dead long ago.”
It was true. He’d had plenty of opportunity.
“Why are you at Carter Hale’s office?” he asked, his hand still cupping my face.
“Because I wanted to see you,” I whispered.
Something flickered in his eyes, but then his shutters were back, and he dropped his hand. “Well, you’re seein’ me now, so what do you want?”
Tears stung my eyes. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
“What game?” he demanded.
“The game where you lie to me and keep secrets.”
Some of his hardness faded. “I’ve never lied to you, Rose.”
That wasn’t true, but I wouldn’t win his cooperation by saying so. So instead, I said, “But you sure have kept plenty of secrets.”
He got up and moved to the center of the room. “Why did you want to see me?”
I hadn’t put a plan together, other than forcing a vision, but being honest felt good, so I decided I’d do some more of it. I stood, remaining in front of the sofa. It was time for truth. “What’s your endgame?”
He slowly turned to face me.
“Why are you workin’ with Hardshaw?” I pressed. “Do you want money? Power? Do you want to move on to something bigger and better than the king of Fenton County? Have they offered you a position in Dallas?”
“That is none of your fucking business,” he snapped, but it lacked heat.
“Last fall, you told me that this was all for me, which means I have a right to know. So what was your plan?”
He started to say something, then stopped and turned his back on me. “I learned long ago never to trust anyone. My father beat that lesson into me. Literally. Then J.R. turned on me.”
“Jed didn’t,” I said. “I didn’t.”
; “Really?” he demanded, then spun around, the monster back and firmly settled on his face. “Jed chose you over me, and we both know it.”
He was right. The irony that I was now betraying Jed by acting without his knowledge wasn’t lost on me.
“I didn’t betray you.”
“The hell you didn’t,” he sneered, walking toward Carter’s desk. “You chose that baby over me. That was a choice.”
“A baby doesn’t have to be an either-or situation, James. You could have had us both.”
“No,” he snapped. “I can’t, because I don’t want it.”
“Our baby is a she, not an it.” I hesitated, then asked, “Did you really want me to get an abortion?”
“The God’s honest truth?” he asked, his brow lifted.
“That’s why I’m here. I want the truth.”
“Yeah,” he ground out through gritted teeth. He looked feral. “I wanted that baby good and gone.”
I sucked in a breath. Part of me had always hoped it had been his way of protecting me. Protecting us. But that had all been a pretty lie I’d told myself, and I was done with pretty lies. “You obviously don’t want her,” I said evenly, trying to keep the pain out of my voice. “So why won’t you sign the paternity papers and be free of her?”
“Because I’m not stupid. I’m savin’ it for a rainy day. This is twice you’ve come to me wantin’ something. You showed up at my house in April because you thought I knew where your niece and nephew were being held, and I’m not stupid enough to think you don’t have a reason for being here now. Someday I’ll be able to use those papers to get what I want.” He grinned, but there was nothing friendly in it. “Plus, it’s drivin’ you crazy knowin’ I won’t sign ’em. There’s a certain satisfaction to that.”
“So you’ll use our daughter as a ploy?” I asked in disbelief. Somehow, in spite of everyone (myself included) telling me that he intended to do just that, I hadn’t fully let myself believe it. But that was another pretty little lie in a long line of them.
“I’ll use your kid as leverage.”
I stared at him in horror. How badly did he want to hurt me?
It All Falls Down: Rose Gardner Investigations #7 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 7