His phone vibrated in his pocket. He shifted his hips, and I rolled off of his lap so he could pull it out. He checked the screen, then turned it off. “The sheriff,” he said as he reached forward to set it down on the coffee table.
“Shouldn’t you answer that? I’m sure they have questions. Your resignation was pretty sudden.”
“It can wait,” he said, turning on the sofa to face me. “This is more important.” He caressed my cheek. “How long have you been carryin’ this load alone?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “What?”
“I know there is so much more that you’re not tellin’ me. So much more that you’ve dealt with. You’ve got Mason and others as secret sources, and all while you were juggling Malcolm.” He paused. “I’m presuming you didn’t tell him everything.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t.”
“Have you shared everything with Neely Kate?”
“No.”
He gave me a soft smile. “From here on out, you’re not shouldering this alone. And don’t worry about me tryin’ to take over. I’m here as your rock, your protector, your support.” His grin turned cheesy. “You’re the queen, Rose, and I’m the knight who does your bidding. I will never try to usurp your power, because it would be pointless.” He picked up my hand and placed our palms together, linking our fingers. “Where you go, I go. Just tell me what you need.”
I kissed him, relief and gratitude stealing my breath. “Thank you.”
He leaned back and held my gaze. “Now tell me why Denny Carmichael was in our house and why I shouldn’t hunt him down and kill him.”
I sucked in a breath. I couldn’t tell if he was being literal or metaphorical. “That was a sudden change of sides.”
His eyes darkened. “I’m doin’ this to protect you and Hope, Rose.”
That was what I was afraid of. I had another flash of my vision, of James looking Joe in the eyes and pulling the trigger. I couldn’t stop the pool of dread from rising inside me. What if their face-off was at the Hardshaw meeting?
“I need to have another vision,” I said, squeezing his hand. But I didn’t wait for his approval or acknowledgment—I just closed my eyes and asked, Will Joe die if I tell him about the Hardshaw meeting?
Gray murkiness engulfed me, so I shifted the phrasing—Where will Joe be when the meeting happens? This time I was in a car, sitting in the passenger seat and pounding the dashboard of a car with my palm. “Make this thing go faster. We have to get to her before it’s too late!”
I opened my eyes and stared into his. “You have to get to me.”
It wasn’t exactly a reprieve, but I hadn’t seen his death either. Instead, he seemed to be racing to prevent mine.
I could live with that for now.
Chapter 19
“What did you see?”
“I didn’t see you murdered this time, so maybe this changed things.”
His eyes brightened just as my stomach released a loud growl.
“When was the last time you ate?” Joe shook his head as he got up and tugged me off the sofa. “Never mind. We need to feed you. You’re still eating for two.”
Holding my hand, he led me into the kitchen, then pushed me to sit in a chair while he grabbed the chicken and some leftover vegetables out of the fridge.
“There’s something you should know,” I said, watching him. “It’s one of the things I told you I was working on.” Despite the vision I’d just had, I was still scared to tell him, but if he was in my inner circle, he needed to know.
“Okay.”
“There’s a big meetin’ this week…between Hardshaw and a South American drug cartel, and it’s takin’ place somewhere here in Fenton County.”
“Shit.” He stopped dishing the veggies onto two plates and turned to face me. “Just when I think you can’t surprise me anymore, you come up with that. How do you know about this? I didn’t even know that. I only knew something was coming.”
“I didn’t think you did,” I said, my guilt sweeping in. “And you know I can’t tell you where the info came from. It was given to me second or third hand, but it’s reliable.”
He placed a plate in the microwave. “I don’t think I’m out of line askin’ why you told me the other things this afternoon, but not this.”
“The number one reason was because I saw you dead in visions with Jed and Witt, and your death was a result of me telling you about the meeting. So I kept it to myself until I could sort things out.” I gave him a pleading look. “I hadn’t ruled out tellin’ you, because I thought it was important for you to know, but after my visions, I decided it would cause harm for absolutely no purpose since I had no real information to give you. I still don’t know the time or place, not even the date. Just that it’s supposed to be this week.”
His lips pressed together, but he remained silent as he turned the microwave on. “You’re right. Without more information, all I would have been able to do was put out a few feelers and hope we got some information.” But he still didn’t look happy, not that I blamed him. “And if you thought tellin’ me instigated my death, I’m even more understandin’ of you withholdin’ it from me.”
“But we can’t ignore that there’s still dirty people in the sheriff’s department. There are too many leaks. You could have been killed from within your own department, Joe.”
His eyes hardened.
“There’s something else,” I said carefully. “James is facilitatin’ the meetin’.”
He nodded slowly. “I guess I’m not surprised.”
“Denny Carmichael doesn’t want Hardshaw here in Fenton County either, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he caught wind of the meeting and captured Rufus Wilson in an attempt to find out the when and where.”
Joe rested his butt against the kitchen counter and gave me a pensive look. “That makes sense.”
“I’m guessing he also knew Rufus was responsible for the safe break-in. Someone was trailing Rufus’ girlfriend this morning. We think it was Hardshaw, but it could have been Carmichael. She was worried about him and also about James. The question is whether Carmichael found out about the safe before or after he captured Rufus. Was he tortured?”
“You know I can’t tell you…” His voice trailed off. “Just because I no longer work for the Fenton County Sheriff’s Department doesn’t mean I can leak all their secrets.”
“Okay,” I said, shifting my position in the chair. “So tell me this: is it possible that he was tortured?”
He hesitated, then said slowly, “No comment.”
It wasn’t a no, so I’d take it as a yes.
I sat upright. “So what if Carmichael didn’t know about the safe before he got his hands on Rufus, and he found out while he was tryin’ to get other information out of him? Otherwise Carmichael would have gone after Rufus earlier, right?”
“Yeah,” he said. The microwave dinged, and he grabbed a fork. He set the plate and fork in front of me, then put the other plate in the microwave. “That’s a logical presumption.”
“Someone suggested to me that Rufus’ girlfriend might know a thing or two about what was in the safe, so Neely Kate and I went to talk to Bobby—Roberta Hanover—at the Stop-N-Go. She was anxious and scared, so I gave her my card and told her to come see me if she wanted help.” I held up a hand. “And before you ask, no, Hope was nowhere near the situation. She was with Maeve and Anna.”
“Rose,” he said tenderly. “I know you would never do anything to put Hope in danger.” He started to walk over to the microwave, then stopped and turned back to face me. “You have Lady in Black business cards?”
I laughed. “No. RBW cards with my cell phone number.”
He scowled. “You shouldn’t be usin’ your personal cell phone. You need a burner. Something harder to trace. I’ll get you one tomorrow.”
I stared at him in surprise.
“What?” he said. “I can’t believe Jed or Dermot didn’t think of it sooner.”
“I do
n’t usually text incriminating things on my phone.”
“They can link numbers, Rose. Guilty by association. You need a prepaid burner. And if you’re handin’ out cards, I’ll work on that too.”
“What?”
“No more legit business cards bein’ handed out to people of questionable character.”
“Hey,” I protested. “Not all of them are questionable.”
His brow shot up as he gave me a pointed look. “Plain white card with the number. Or maybe they should be black.” He took the plate out of the microwave and sat down across from me at the table. “The number will periodically change, depending on use.” He nodded to my plate. “Eat.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doin’?”
He picked up his fork and stabbed several vegetables with the tines, then held my gaze. “I’m doin’ my job, Rose. Protectin’ you.” He waved his fork in a slow arc. “Every single person before me has had their own agenda. Sure, Jed was guardin’ you, but worked for Malcolm for most of that time, then he was with Neely Kate and she became his priority. Dermot saved Hope’s life and yours, probably on more than one occasion, but he works for himself. You need someone who’s one hundred percent behind you.” He shook his head and stuffed the vegetables in his mouth. “Hell, I can’t believe I never questioned this before. Now, tell me why Carmichael was here tonight.”
I put my fork down, suddenly losing my appetite. Although I’d told him so much tonight, this revelation was somehow the hardest. Voice shaking, I told him about Denny’s visit, leaving out nothing.
I ended with a shaky, “Carmichael could have killed our daughter, Joe.”
“But he didn’t. She’s asleep upstairs with Muffy watchin’ over her. Now tell me what he wanted.”
He was far too calm about this.
“He said I owed him for what happened in Sugar Branch, and he was there to collect. There was a lot of posturing, mostly on my part to get him to behave, but I told him that I’d end him if he hurt Hope, and I meant it. I refused to discuss his request tonight since he’d treated me so disrespectfully, and after some threats of his own, he told me to come to his property at nine tomorrow morning. I told him I’d be bringing backup. Then he left.”
“Respect. You mentioned that before.”
I drew a deep breath. “I’ve demanded it from every person I’ve come across since entering this world. It’s all I have for protection. I’ve refused to deal with anyone who treats me disrespectfully, James included, unless they change their tune. Carmichael showed up actin’ like he had the upper hand, and I had to put him in his place.”
His face paled. “He could have killed you, Rose.”
“If I hadn’t demanded respect, he would have thought I was weak. He doesn’t suffer the weak to live.” I paused, meeting his eyes. “Do you think tonight was the first time I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun? I’ve pretty much told you otherwise.”
His jaw set. “He pulled a gun on you tonight?”
“Not when he first showed up. He was weaponless at that point, even if Clyde had a shotgun. But if I let Carmichael get away with actin’ the way he did, I knew I’d lose any hope of controlling the situation. I can’t be his puppet, Joe. I have to face him as his equal. He’s a dangerous man, and he thinks I owe him a favor.”
He nodded slowly, still looking terrified.
“But I put Hope at risk,” I said, my voice breaking again. “It could have all gone wrong.”
He got up and walked around to me, pulling me out of my seat and into his arms. “But it didn’t. She’s fine, and you are meeting Carmichael as his equal because of it.” He held me closer. “Yeah, it could have gone horribly wrong, but it didn’t.”
“She’s in danger, Joe. It’s not safe for her to be around me.”
“No,” he said, tucking my head beneath his chin. “Between the two of us, we’ll keep her safe.”
“But if it gets too dangerous, we need to send her away,” I said, forcing the words past the lump in my throat.
“If Jed’s gonna sit this out, then maybe the safest place for Hope would be with him and Neely Kate.”
I shook my head. “Not with Kate around. I don’t trust her.”
“Kate.” He frowned. “If there’s a big Hardshaw deal going down this week, then that has to be why she’s here.”
“But she won’t miss the opportunity to torment Neely Kate at the same time.”
“My sister has always been a great multitasker,” he said wryly.
“We can send her to Aunt Bessie.”
Pushing out a loud sigh, he led me out of the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s sit in the living room while we sort this out.”
We sat down on the sofa, Joe settling me in his lap. “My aunt’s is far enough away that Hope would be safe.” I glanced back at him, looking him in the eye. “But if we send her away, I want you to go with her. I want you here with me, obviously, but at least I’m capable of protectin’ myself. Hope is defenseless.”
He met my gaze unflinchingly. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. The more immediate concern is who is going to watch her tomorrow when we pay a visit to Carmichael.”
“I want to leave her with Maeve at the nursery, which reminds me. I need to send her a text lettin’ her know.”
Joe frowned. “Maeve can’t protect Hope, Rose.”
“No, but Dermot’s men will. He told me to meet him at the nursery and he’ll have his men ready.”
He pondered it for a moment. “Like they did when Vera snatched you? Fat lot of good that did you.”
“I think they underestimated Vera.”
Then again, we all had. Were we doing it again?
His brow shot up. “You think?” His expression turned hard. “They can guard from the outside, but I want Witt inside the nursery with Hope.”
“He won’t want to do it,” I said. “He feels like he failed her tonight.”
He leaned over and kissed me. “Which is exactly why I want him guarding our daughter. He won’t let it happen again.”
Chapter 20
Turning off his phone hadn’t been the best way for Joe to handle his resignation. The sheriff and DA had shown up at our doorstep at around nine thirty, and after Joe introduced me and Hope (who had woken) as his fiancée and daughter, he took them into his office and shut the door.
I took the opportunity to check my own phone. Madison had sent a text that the horses had been picked up and would be taken care of until we figured out what to do with them. Maeve sent a text to both Joe and me saying she was sorry she’d missed his call and would love to watch Hope tomorrow. But it was the text from Neely Kate that tripped my heart.
Witt told us what happened. Please don’t let anything happen to Joe, Rose.
I could have been offended, but I knew she was scared. I was too. I won’t. I swear.
They’d been in there a good fifteen minutes, half of which included plenty of shouting, mostly from the sheriff, when Randy Miller showed up at the front door. He didn’t say anything, just stood there looking forlorn. Something told me this was his way of replying to my check-in text earlier. I had Hope in my arms, but I pulled him into a sideways hug and then immediately led him back to the kitchen.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, latching on to the one thing I could do to help him besides listening. “Thirsty?”
“Uh…” He stared at me as though he wasn’t sure.
“Did you have anything for dinner?”
He paused again, then shook his head. “No.”
“You sit down, and I'll get you something.”
I considered asking him to hold Hope, but he looked so out of it that I worried he’d forget he was holding her and drop her. Muffy whined as his feet, and he absently picked her up and set her on his lap, stroking her head. At least if he dropped her, she’d likely land on her feet.
Holding Hope in one arm, I found a container of leftover spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge and dumped what was left onto a
plate, then put it into the microwave.
“I was so sorry to hear about Margi,” I said as I grabbed a glass and filled it with ice. “It all came as a complete surprise.”
“I just can’t believe it,” he said, dry-eyed but sounding like he was in the middle of a nightmare.
“I can’t either,” I said, pouring him a glass of sweet tea and setting it in front of him. “I’m still in shock.”
He turned his gaze to me. “Do you think she knew about something being buried in your barn?”
I took a seat next to him and set Hope on my lap, her back to me. “Honestly, Randy, I don’t know. I’ll admit that I got some strange vibes from her in the beginning, but ultimately I figured she just had an abrasive personality and, like she said, lacked some social skills.” I cringed. “Sorry, Randy. The last thing I need to be doin’ is besmirching your ex-girlfriend the day she was killed.”
He shook his head. “I know she rubbed people the wrong way sometimes. Hell, she did with me too in the beginning. But after you got to know her, you could see the softer side of her.”
“She was very good with the horses,” I said. “It was obvious she had a passion for them.”
“They were her life. She said she’d learned you couldn’t count on people, but animals were always loyal to the people who treated them right.”
I tilted my head. “I thought she was close to her brother.”
He gave me an odd look, like he wanted to contradict me, then said, “I think she was talkin’ about her old boyfriends. She never wanted to talk about her past.” He wrapped his hand around his tea glass but didn’t pick it up. “Most of her stories were from her childhood, before she left high school.”
“If you don’t mind me askin’,” I said, “why did you break up?”
“She broke up with me,” he said, “but I could see there was more she wasn’t tellin’ me.”
“And everything had been goin’ okay until that point?”
“I thought so,” he said mournfully, staring at the glass in his hand. “We’d been together since last summer. I’ll admit we were movin’ slow, but I was okay with that. When we broke up, we were seein’ each other five or six days a week and spendin’ the night together most of ’em. But she always wanted to stay at my place. Never hers.”
It All Falls Down: Rose Gardner Investigations #7 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 17