“You’re kiddin’,” Witt said.
“I told him I suspected Denny Carmichael might be responsible for it all—Rufus Wilson, the guns, Margi. All of it. I offered no proof, just my gut reaction.”
Everyone was silent for a few moments, and the only sounds were Hope’s happy coos as Jed swayed her from side to side.
“I’ll do some diggin’,” Dermot said. “Because while I think Carmichael has his hands in this, I’m not ruling out the Collards.”
“Have you heard anything about Brox?” I asked. “Last I heard, he was still missing.”
There was a note of concern in my voice, and Dermot shot me a surprised look.
“It’s just that he’s helped me on two occasions. I have trouble believing he would be part of this.”
“He wasn’t arrested,” Neely Kate said. “Just his dad and two brothers.”
“And his other brother is dead,” Witt added.
But where was Brox? Had he run off to avoid retribution from his own family?
Dermot’s phone vibrated. He checked the screen, then got up. “Gotta go. I’ll let you know if I find out anything. Y’all do the same.”
Jed nodded, and I said, “Yeah.”
Dermot gave a short wave and walked out.
“Well,” I said, picking up the diaper bag. “I think we’ve covered everything.”
“What are you planning to do now?” Jed asked.
“Hope’s almost out of diapers, and I think things are about to get crazy. I should probably go buy some.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea right now?” Witt asked.
“The world may be spinning out of control, yet my daughter still pees and poops,” I said sarcastically.
“Witt can get them,” Jed said, but Witt gave him a look of terror, as if he might get a girl pregnant by buying diapers.
“No need for that,” I said. “I’ll be fine.” I patted the outside of my left leg.
“You have your gun,” Jed said solemnly.
“Someone dug up my barn, and I’m expecting Bobby Hanover to show up at my doorstep at any moment. I want to be prepared if someone comes after me and my family.” But it occurred to me that my vision had shown Bobby at my front door. Which would be a moot point if I wasn’t home. Still, my yard was swarming with deputies. I couldn’t see her risking that.
“Do you want to leave Hope with me?” Neely Kate asked hopefully. “I can take her to my house, and then you can come back and hang out.”
“Actually, Neely Kate,” Jed said, “with Kate millin’ around, I think you and Hope should stay here until I finish with the car I’m workin’ on. It should take another hour or so.”
I gasped. “We didn’t tell Dermot about Kate.”
Jed’s mouth twisted to the side. “I’d like to keep it from him until we know what she’s up to.”
Neely Kate hung her head slightly, and I realized she and Jed had had this discussion at some point. “Now, we all know she’s here to cause trouble. He deserves to know.”
“Kate is a family matter,” Jed said.
“I’m not buyin’ that for a hot minute,” I said, getting pissed. “Just this morning we discussed how her arrival can’t be a coincidence.”
“Nevertheless,” Jed said.
Neely Kate didn’t say anything; she was still hanging her head as though she couldn’t bear to meet my eyes.
What was going on here? Then it hit me.
“She texted again.”
Neely Kate’s chin finally lifted, her eyes wide.
“What did she say?”
She took a breath, then said with a shaky voice, “She said her appearance in Fenton County was a family matter and that our birth mother was lovely.”
“It was a threat, Rose,” Jed said. “And yes, it was vague, but that doesn’t change the intention behind it.”
“This isn’t like you, Jed,” I said insistently. “You don’t hide from danger. You stand up to it and shout in its face.”
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “That was when it was just me. I’d do anything to protect my family.”
Which meant they could be used against him. That scared me more than I liked.
I stared at him for a long second. “So what do you think her end game is?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but it won’t change a thing if Dermot knows she’s around.”
“I disagree,” I said with a lifted chin. “We all know she intends to interfere, but—” I took a breath, wondering if this was a huge mistake, “—I’m willing to keep this from him for now. However, if I feel like something has changed, I’m tellin’ him.”
Jed nodded.
“But I have one condition,” I added. “If she texts again, you have to tell me. No secrets.”
He hesitated, then nodded again.
“Neely Kate?”
When she looked up, there were tears streaming down her face, and she was clinging to Hope. “I can’t lose my baby, Rose.”
“I know,” I whispered. But I suddenly didn’t feel comfortable leaving Hope with them. Not if Kate was playing her games…and they were playing them with her.
“I think I’ll just take Hope home and ask Joe to pick up diapers on the way home,” I said, forcing a smile as I lifted Hope from Neely Kate’s arms.
She nodded, still crying, but neither of them said anything as I placed Hope in her car seat and buckled her in.
“No,” Witt blurted out. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what he was objecting to, and maybe he wasn’t so sure either, but he added, “I am going to get you those diapers, Rose,” shooting a furious look at Jed. Then he walked out of the room.
I wasn’t long in following him, and as I carried Hope out to the truck, I couldn’t help thinking that we might win this war but destroy each other doing it.
Chapter 15
A couple of minutes after I pulled out of the parking lot, I got a call from Dr. Newton’s office.
“Hey, Rose,” Loretta, the receptionist, said. “I’m just callin’ to inform you that Dr. Newton has to go out of town tomorrow, so we’re gonna have to cancel your appointment.”
“What?” I groaned. “When can you reschedule me?”
“Not until the week after next,” Loretta said. Then she added, “Unless you can make it here by four.”
I glanced at the clock on my dashboard. It was 3:45. Heart racing, I said, “It’s gonna be close, but I can make it. Is it okay if I have my baby with me?” Did I risk turning around and leaving her with Neely Kate?
“Don’t you worry about that,” Loretta said. “New mommas bring their babies in all the time. If she gets fussy while Dr. Newton’s doin’ your exam, then we’ll hold her until you’re done.”
We made it just in time. Hope was an angel, but the staff insisted on holding her anyway. Dr. Newton declared me healed and healthy, and we discussed my birth control options. I told her Joe and I had already discussed it, and he’d said he would cover it. Literally.
I thought about stopping at Walmart for diapers on the way home—Witt had said he’d pick some up, but I couldn’t tell if he’d meant it literally or if he’d just said it as a statement against Jed’s attitude—but I was suddenly anxious to get home. Because Bobby might show up, and I needed to be there if she did. And I was suddenly anxious to see Joe. The doctor had given me the all-clear, and if Joe came home at a decent time, we could finally celebrate our engagement the way we both wanted to.
The deputies were still at the barn when I got back, but they looked to be packing up. I let Muffy out front on her leash and carried Hope in her car seat. She was starting to get restless, and I didn’t need a vision to see another nursing session and nap were in our immediate future. I stepped into the shade of the oak tree and lingered there for a moment, Muffy tugging on the lead I’d wrapped around my wrist, to text Joe.
Hope and I are back at the house and safe. See you soon?
He didn’t immediately respond,
so I knew he had to be tied up with official business.
After I put her down for her nap, I set the monitor on my desk in the sunroom and tried to get some work done. The county was falling apart, but my business would soon be in shambles if I didn’t start making the designs Bruce Wayne needed to install the plants.
But there was crime scene tape strung around my barn and at least eight deputies still inside. The horses were skittish in the field, and the woman who’d brought them here was dead.
Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t be getting any work done.
I started to Google “Hardshaw Group” and even James’ name, although nothing came up that I hadn’t seen already the last time I’d tried. Next, I Googled Rufus Wilson and found several results that mentioned his arrest for breaking into a safe in Oklahoma City. The article said he was originally from Dallas, where he was suspected of more break-ins, although he’d never been charged due to lack of evidence. In Oklahoma, he’d plea bargained down to less than a year of jail time. There was nothing on him after that.
Next, I searched for Roberta Hanover. There was an article in the Henryetta Gazette mentioning a shoplifting charge last fall. The only other thing I found was her name mentioned in a list of graduating seniors from Fenton County High School four years ago.
So she was a local girl, which meant she’d met Rufus after he came to town. Where would they have met? At a bar?
There were only a couple of bars that catered to the rougher crowd—The Wagon Wheel and One-Eyed Joes—and I had half a mind to drop by one of them tonight, but I cast a glance at the wall connecting the sunroom to my daughter’s nursery. A year ago, that might have been an option. Now it was out of the question.
Hope started to stir, so I went to her room, scooped her up, and headed downstairs. The deputies had all left, although the crime scene tape was still up. It was late enough I could start dinner, although I had no idea when Joe would be home. I decided on a pasta salad—something he wouldn’t have to heat up when he got home. I filled a pot of water to boil and carried Hope back outside so we could check on the horses.
Muffy took off running once we were out of the house, enjoying the freedom of her yard again. Both horses came up to us, and I told Hope all about them even though I’d told her multiple times. She seemed fascinated by them, and they needed some attention. I was about to text Madison and ask her when her friend was picking them up when a car turned onto my driveaway, heading toward the house.
I froze. There was no way we’d make it back to the house in time to hide, and I was considering taking Hope behind the barn when I realized it was Witt’s car.
I headed toward the house and met him in front. He stood at the base of the steps holding a package of diapers.
“I told you I was going to do it. Size one,” he said with a grin. “I even asked the sales lady at Walmart to make sure it was right.”
Groaning, I walked over to him and pulled him into a sideways hug. “I’m sorry I was such a witch earlier.”
He laughed. “You were right. If I hadn’t asked for help, I probably would have brought back a package of adult diapers.”
“Liar,” I said, pushing Hope toward him as I grabbed the package.
He took her with her butt resting on one hand, her head on the other while he held her at arm’s length. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
I laughed. “You hold her.”
“You better take her back,” he said, still holding her with his outstretched arms. He looked like a half-hearted reenactment of Mufasa presenting Simba to his kingdom in The Lion King. “I’m gonna drop her.”
“You are if you keep holding her like that,” I said, resisting the urge to rescue her. I’d made up my mind that a village was going to raise my daughter, so if anything ever happened to me, she would never lack love and affection. Witt included. “Hold her closer. Against your chest.”
He pulled her closer but still looked awkward. “Like this?”
Shaking my head, I grinned and said, “Close enough. You won’t break her, and it’ll get more natural the more you do it.”
“If I had known I was gonna have to hold a baby, I wouldn’t have come over,” he teased.
“Why did you come over?” I asked, balancing the diaper package on my hip.
His smile faded. “I figured Joe was still workin’, and I didn’t like the idea of you and Hope bein’ out here by yourself.”
“You came to stay with us?”
He squirmed, unable to look me in the eye. “I wasn’t doin’ anything else.”
“Have you eaten?” I asked. “I have a pot of water on that has likely boiled half away, but I was plannin’ on makin’ a pasta salad. I can cook some chicken breasts too.”
A hungry look filled his eyes. “I don’t want you to go to any trouble…”
“How good are you at grillin’?”
“No one’s complained yet,” he said with a grin.
“No one would have complained if you’d never cooked on one before.”
He laughed, starting to look more comfortable with my baby. “I’ve grilled. Are you sayin’ I have to earn my supper?”
“I’m sayin’ it will be a team effort.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We went inside, and I set the diaper package on the bottom step before heading into the kitchen. Sure enough, half the water was gone, so I filled the pot with more before heading out back to start the grill Joe had brought with him when he moved in.
When I came back in, Witt was sitting in a chair with Hope lying down on his legs, staring up at him. He was smiling back, but his smile was a bit nervous.
“That’s Uncle Witt,” I told her as I walked by. “You’re gonna have so much fun with him.”
He stared up at me in surprise.
“You better be okay with that title,” I said, pointing a wooden spoon at him. “Don’t forget I’ve seen you with Ashely and Mikey. I expect you to play with Hope too.”
He grinned from ear to ear. “Deal.” He held his finger close to her hand and she immediately grasped it. “She’s got a good grip.”
“That she does,” I said as I pulled a package of chicken out of the fridge.
“I know Neely Kate and Jed seem pretty self-centered right now,” he said, his cheeks flushing. I could see how hard it was for him to talk about her like this.
“I know it looks that way,” I said. “But Neely Kate is scared, which makes Jed scared and anxious. She can’t handle the thought of losing another baby. I understand, trust me.”
“I feel like Jed’s leavin’ you hangin’,” Witt said, looking down at my daughter. “He’s always had your back, and now he doesn’t.”
“That’s understandable too. He has his own family to worry about now.” I hesitated. “But it’s not your responsibility, Witt.”
He glanced up at me. “It takes a village, remember? You said that the other day when we were with Jed and NK. I’m not gonna sit on my ass while someone shows up to take you out and little Hope with you.”
I shuddered, then said, “You’re not supposed to have a gun. Not after your prison time.” He’d served a few years for armed robbery back when he was barely an adult, but he’d left all that behind and now co-owned the garage with Jed.
“I’ll take my chances, Rose.” Then, in a quieter voice, he said, “Have you heard from Carly?”
Neely Kate and I had found Carly stranded next to a broken-down car on the side of the road last August. At the time, Neely Kate and I were living together, and we’d taken her in and given her a job at the nursery. Turned out her father was Randall Blakely, one of the three heads of the Hardshaw Group. She’d gone on the run after learning her father and fiancé had been scheming to murder her. We all would have preferred for her to stay forever, but Hardshaw and her father would have found her in Henryetta. So we’d sent her away with a new hair color and style and a new identity.
We had no idea where she was holed up, but Jed had set up secur
e email accounts on both ends so we could communicate. We heard from her occasionally, but much less than we had in the beginning.
“Not since April.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“I know you liked her,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. She’s gone.” But his glib dismissal had a sharp edge. Despite all of their good-natured bickering—or likely because of it—I suspected he’d started to have feelings for her. I knew he resented that he hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye.
After a few seconds, he smiled at Hope. “You make pretty cute babies, Rose. You gonna pop out any more?”
I laughed. “After her nightmare delivery, it’s probably too soon to ask me that question, but yeah, I hope to have one or two more. I guess we’ll have to see how many Joe wants.”
His brow shot to his forehead as he tilted his face up to look at me. “So you’re really gonna do it?”
“By do it do you mean get married? Yeah, as soon as this mess is cleaned up we’re gettin’ married. And if you mean babies, I’d like to wait at least a year before I do that to my body again.” Then, to see him blush, I added, “And if you mean do it, as in sex, yes, I got the all-clear this afternoon, and I plan on havin’ wild sex tonight.”
His face flushed. “TMI, Rose.”
I laughed, surprised that I could feel happy and hopeful despite the chaos unfurling around us.
We finished dinner companionably, Witt handling the chicken while I made the salad, and when everything was ready, I put Hope in her bouncy seat at the far end of the table. We had just sat down to eat when the doorbell rang.
Witt and I looked at each other with wide eyes.
“You expectin’ anyone?” he asked as he set down his fork, the laidback version of him gone.
I placed my napkin on the table. “No.”
He slowly pulled a gun out of a holster on his ankle.
“Witt,” I whisper-shouted. “You’re not supposed to be carryin’.”
“And I’m not supposed to eat greasy cheeseburgers and french fries, yet I still do.” He stood up. “Let me see who’s at the door.”
“Hold up,” I said, remembering my vision about Bobby. Wasn’t that one of the reasons I’d come right home in the first place? “If it’s not a bad guy or a deputy, you might scare them off.”
It All Falls Down: Rose Gardner Investigations #7 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 13