Thirty-Six and a Half Motives: Rose Gardner Mystery #9 (Rose Gardner Mystery Series)

by Denise Grover Swank

  “Oh, Mason.”

  “You don’t have to give me an answer. Just please give me updates, no matter how vague. Otherwise, I’ll go crazy.”

  I could give him that. “No specifics.”

  “I can live with that.” He paused. “I love you, Rose. I want this to work, but I know we need to fix some things. That’s what I wanted to talk about last night—only, I did a piss-poor job of articulating myself yesterday afternoon. I want to fix us, so go get the bastard and come home to me so we can get started.” Then he hung up before I could say another word.

  Muffy started to whine, and I leaned over and rubbed her behind the ears. “Don’t give up on us yet, Muff.”

  I felt like crying, but I smiled when she licked my nose.

  Neely Kate appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said, standing. I slid the phone into my front jeans pocket, then set Muffy on the floor. “I think I am.”

  Skeeter and Jed were already seated at the table with empty plates in front of them, and with heaping plates of pancakes and bacon in the middle. I got situated in one of the empty seats, and Neely Kate handed me a cup of coffee, giving me a worried look. I wanted to reassure her that I was fine, but I really didn’t want to tip Skeeter or Jed off about my breakup with Mason. I needed to be on top of my game, and I sure didn’t want them worrying that I would be distracted.

  “We need to get the bag,” I said, looking at Skeeter. I’d filled Neely Kate in on most of the details before we’d gone to sleep the night before. I could only presume Skeeter had done the same with Jed.

  “I’ve already had one of my boys drive by the alley. It’s still under surveillance. There’s no way we can retrieve it yet.”

  I sighed as I took a sip of my coffee. “What are we gonna do?”

  He grimaced as he heaped three pancakes onto his plate. “Seems to me that the most important file in the stack—or at least the most intriguing—is the one about the Simmons’s housekeeper.”He returned the platter to the middle of the table. “You’re sure you didn’t see it before in Kate Simmons’s apartment?”

  I looked at Neely Kate. “You saw more files than I did. Do you remember anything like that?”

  She shook her head. “Nuh uh. I would have remembered because everything else had a direct connection to Mason.”

  “And you’re sure you saw them all?” Skeeter asked. “Do you think you could have missed it?”

  “Well, I suppose,” Neely Kate said. “But I don’t think so.”

  Skeeter nodded, then turned to me. “Do you remember what you saw?”

  “Not much. I was running out of time, so I just stuffed it into the bag. I made the connection because I recognized the address of one of her previous employers as Joe’s parents’ house.”

  “So Kate’s interest in Roberta is new?” Skeeter asked as he attacked his pancakes. “Maybe because Anna showed up? The real question is why she showed up.”

  “And also why Roberta left the Simmons’s house in the first place,” I added. “Do you think she told her granddaughter why she left?”

  “No.” Skeeter shook his head. “Not a chance. But I know someone we can ask.”

  “Who?” Neely Kate and I asked at the same time.

  “Hilary Wilder. She might know something.

  “I guess they grew up together, huh?” I asked.

  “The way I heard it, Hilary spent more time at the Simmons house than her own,” Skeeter confirmed. “I’m not surprised. Her momma was a conniver and a schemer. She was a difficult woman to be around for any length of time.”

  Neely Kate curled her upper lip. “Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  Skeeter shrugged. “Hilary was different back then—sweeter and naïve, as hard as that is to believe—and she took to Roberta, too. Everyone did.”

  I had a hard time envisioning a non-conniving Hilary, but it gave me hope that there was still a good person buried deep down. If her mother had been terrible, it was no wonder she’d grown attached to Roberta.

  “Kind of like Maeve,” I said to Neely Kate. “Everyone loves her like they loved Roberta.”

  “Hilary might know something,” Skeeter said. “I think you should talk to her.”

  “Me? You knew her. You talk to her.”

  Skeeter shook his head. “Hilary’s smart. She was always at the Simmons’s house, and she saw me there with J.R. plenty of times. I wouldn’t put it past her to recognize me. And if she does, she’d be too scared to tell me anything. It has to be you two.”

  “Well, there’s no way she’s talkin’ to me,” I protested. “She hates my guts.”

  “Get Violet to talk to her,” Neely Kate said. “She and Hilary kind of became friends over the whole baby nursery thing.”

  The blood rushed from my face. How could I have forgotten about Violet’s condition? “Violet can’t talk to her,” I said. “She’s leaving for Texas tomorrow.”

  “Texas? What on God’s green earth is she gonna do in Texas?” Neely Kate asked in disbelief.

  “I . . . uh . . .”

  “No,” Skeeter barked. “I want it to be one of us.”

  “I’m telling you,” I said, shaking my head, “she’s never gonna talk to me.”

  “Then you’re gonna have to find a way,” he said, his eyes meeting mine.

  “You’re really gonna send me off to talk to Hilary while J.R. Simmons is on the loose?”

  “Hell, no,” he said with a snort. “Jed’s gonna go with you.”

  “So we figure out how Roberta ties into all of this, then what?” Neely Kate asked. “Kate has to know her old housekeeper’s granddaughter is in town.” She turned her attention to me. “Remember last week when she said she was stickin’ around for the show? She knows.”

  “That almost makes her sound like a bystander,” I said. “Not an instigator.”

  “Not true,” Skeeter said. “J.R. specializes in setting wheels in motion, then sitting back and watching his plan unfold. If Kate Simmons set this in motion, she is most definitely gonna stick around to see how it plays out.”

  “But why would she warn me that I was about to get arrested?” I asked. “When she knew I’d have no idea what she was talkin’ about until after the fact.”

  “It’s all part of the game,” Skeeter said.

  “Let’s move onto something else,” Jed said, speaking for the first time since we’d sat down for breakfast. “Tell us what you know about Sam Teagen’s friend—Marshal, was it?” he asked me.

  “Yeah, he seemed like an older guy, scratchy voice. But it was clear Teagen was in charge.” I took a sip of my coffee and then set it down as another thought struck me. “Oh! And unless they’re really fast at pickin’ a lock, they had a key to the shed.”

  I gasped, overcome with horror as I remembered the few words Maeve had been able to translate from shorthand. “Oh, my word.”

  “What?” Neely Kate asked.

  I turned to her. “Key. Shed. Sound familiar?”

  Her eyes flew wide. “The journal page.”

  “Whatever was hidden in there would have been destroyed in the fire.”

  Skeeter set down his fork. “Even if it’s the same shed, you’re presuming that whatever Dora was referring to was still in there.”

  “Let’s assume it was,” I said. “Whoever owned that building twenty-five years ago would have owned the shed, too, right? They either put something in that shed or rented it to someone who did.”

  “If they’re still alive,” Jed countered.

  “True.”

  “I can find out who owned it,” Neely Kate said. “I still have my sources at the courthouse. We could know by lunchtime.”

  “Back to Teagen and Marshal,” Jed said. “We need to figure out more about their connections.”

  “I know I’m stating the obvious,” I said, pushing my plate away. “But Sam Teagen’s dangerous. He not only kidnapped me to have me murdered, but he was go
ing to kill Mason. And I think he killed Eric Davidson.”

  “Why would he have offed Davidson?” Jed asked.

  “Neely Kate and I talked to a kid at Burger Shack, where Eric worked. He remembered Teagen comin’ in to meet with Eric. After that, Eric started tellin’ everyone who’d listen that he was workin’ for someone big. A few days later, Mason was run off the road and his phone was stolen. Mason remembers seeing a gun pointed at him, but someone else approached the car to check on him, and the gunman hightailed it out of there. Eric was found dead in his garage soon after. They said it was suicide, but I never believed it.”

  “You’re right,” Jed agreed. “If Davidson chickened out and didn’t finish his job, it makes sense that Teagen would try and cover his tracks.”

  “Eric couldn’t be the one who ran me off the road last month. He was already dead.”

  Skeeter’s lips pinched. “It could have been Teagen or his friend. What do we know about Teagen?”

  Jed studied his fork. “Not much. Teagen’s done some petty theft of his own, but he’s never really tied himself to anyone before. As for Marshal? Never heard of him.” He lifted his gaze to me. “Did you get a look at him?”

  “I saw them from a distance when they were running down the alley to my back door. He was wearing all black and had a hat on. I only saw their legs in the shed. And then when I was about to jump off the building—”

  Jed and Neely Kate stared at me like I’d sprouted snakes on top of my head.

  “—I only saw Teagen,” I continued. “Oh! Marshal thought he broke his ankle when he jumped. And I noticed he was the one who picked the lock on the back door to my office. They had high-powered rifles, so they weren’t playin’ around.” I gasped, remembering what they’d done with those high-powered rifles. “How’s Merv?”

  Skeeter’s eyes hardened. “It’s touch and go.”

  “Who’s runnin’ things while you two are holed up here?” I asked.

  “That’s none of your damn concern!” Skeeter shouted.

  Jed turned to face me and lowered his voice. “We don’t have to be out in the open to run things. We can work remotely for a few days, and we’re hoping it won’t take longer than that to flush Simmons out.”

  “I would suggest usin’ me for bait again, but I suspect it won’t go as smoothly as it did last time.”

  “No one is gettin’ used as bait,” Skeeter said in a tone that suggested he expected our full cooperation.

  Lucky for him, I agreed. “I’ll talk to Anna, see what I can find. And I’ll also see about retrieving the bag. I suspect the page you found from Dora’s journal might be a dead end, but I’ll talk to my bookkeeper about finding someone to translate it. Leave no stone unturned, my great-grandma used to say.”

  A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. “Jed, you have our sources look into Kate Simmons’s finances, specifically if she made a million-dollar withdrawal recently, and see if the investigator can find out what she was doing in California for two years . . . if she was even there.”

  Jed nodded.

  “Rose, you and Neely Kate find out who used to own that building, and then talk to Hilary and see what you can find out about Roberta. Jed’s gonna drive you, and I want you both in the backseat. Do not stand out. We don’t want to make it easy for Simmons to up and snatch you.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Then we’ll meet back here and share what we’ve learned.”

  Skeeter stood and placed his plate in the sink. “Let’s get goin’. We have things to do, and they ain’t gonna get done on their own.”

  Then he went out the back door, slamming the door behind him.

  Chapter 14

  “You realize this will never work,” Neely Kate said.

  “Hey, you’re the one who always tries to convince me that we’re capable of uncovering anything.”

  “I still say we should get Violet to do it before she leaves on her trip.”

  Jed glanced back at me in the rearview mirror, narrowing his eyes, but I beat him to it.

  “No. We leave Violet out of it. She has enough on her plate right now.” Not to mention I refused to put her in any type of danger. If Kate realized we were talking to Hilary, who knew what she’d do. “We’re two smart women. Surely we can come up with something.”

  Neely Kate tapped her finger to her lips as she stared out the window, then turned to face Jed. “Stop by Dena’s Bakery.”

  “We just had breakfast,” Jed said. “You really think you need cupcakes right now?”

  “No. It’s for Hilary.” Her eyes glittered with excitement. “We take her cupcakes as a truce gift. Tell her we’re sorry that we got off on the wrong foot and want to be her friends since she’s here all alone and Joe won’t give her the time of day.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Did you hit your head sometime after breakfast? Maybe while I was outside with Muffy? Because there’s no way in tarnation she’s gonna buy that.”

  “Well, do you have a better idea?” She cocked her eyebrow, giving me attitude.

  I scowled. “No.”

  “Then we’ll try my plan.”

  “We might only have one shot at this.” I thought for a moment. “Maybe I should call Joe. I could ask him.”

  “You always said he was tight-lipped about anything from his past. What did he tell you about Roberta?”

  “That she was like a surrogate mother to him. They were very close. He never said why she quit, just that she left abruptly and that he felt like he’d lost the one person who kept him grounded.”

  “Wait a minute.” She held up her hands. “If Joe’s part owner of the nursery, how does he not know Roberta’s granddaughter is working for him?”

  I shrugged. “Violet did the hiring, and he’s hardly ever there.” I pushed out a breath. It terrified me that I had no idea when I’d see my sister again . . . if ever again. “I have to stop to see Violet.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s leaving tomorrow.”

  “So? It’s not like you two are on the best of terms right now.”

  Violet didn’t want people to know about her illness, but I couldn’t keep this from my best friend. “Because I don’t know when I’ll see her again.”

  Neely Kate’s eyes sparked with anger. “You stop talkin’ like that, Rose Gardner. You’re gonna survive this.”

  “Not me, Neely Kate. Violet.” I licked my bottom lip. “She’s sick. That’s why she’s goin’ to Texas. For treatment.”

  She gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I just found out yesterday after lunch, and I was still processing it all. She doesn’t want people to know.”

  A hurt look filled her eyes.

  “Neely Kate, of course I was gonna tell you. I just did. It’s not something you just blurt out like the weather. ‘It’s gonna be cloudy today with a chance of rain. Oh, by the way, my sister is dying of cancer.’”

  “Dyin’?”

  “It’s bad, Neely Kate. She needs a bone marrow transplant. Before I came back to the office yesterday, I went to have a blood test to see if I can be a donor.”

  “But you . . .”

  “I know.” I sighed, leaning back in my seat. “We might not share the same father.”

  “Did you tell her?”

  “I had to. And no, the answer to your next question is that she did not take it very well. She’s already worried that she’s going to leave Ashley and Mikey without a mother. Now she thinks she’s all alone in this world. I told her we’re sisters no matter what, but we’re not as close as we used to be. I can see why she would think that.”

  “It was her own doin’, Rose. Don’t you dare feel guilty about that.”

  “She’s still my sister, and she’s hurting.” We drove in silence for several seconds before I remembered my purse was at the office. “Oh crap.”

  “What?” Neely Kate asked.

  Somehow I’d forgotten that the office that had been broken into last night. “Oh! Double crap! Was Bruce
Wayne coming into the office this morning?”

  “No. He was going to help out at the nursery for a little while. Oh.”

  “Yeah. I have no idea what the inside of our office looks like. Jed, do you know if the police checked out my office?”

  Jed looked at me in the mirror. “Did you hear from Joe Simmons?”

  I cringed. “I had some missed calls from him, but I didn’t check my messages.” I grabbed my phone out of my purse. He’d left me two voicemails. I played the oldest one first.

  “Rose, I’m just checking to make sure you’re okay. Mason said you’re not with him. Call me.”

  The next message came after my call to Mason. “Rose, I need you to tell me where you are. Mason says you’re safe, but I want to know where, because you’re sure as hell not at the farmhouse. And by some coincidence, Skeeter Malcolm is laying low, too.” He paused. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but my father is not to be messed with. He will chew you up and spit you out for dinner. Back off, Rose, before you get yourself killed.”

  I replayed the last message on speakerphone, looking into the rearview mirror.

  “Your call, Lady,” Jed said. “We can hide you somewhere in Louisiana until this mess is over. Just say the word, and Skeeter will make it happen. Neither Simmons would ever think to look for you there.”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m tired of backin’ down to bullies, and that’s exactly what J.R. Simmons is—a bully. We’re gonna finish what we started.”

  An idea sparked in my head. I knew it wasn’t the best or brightest, but I decided I didn’t much care. “I need to stop by the office to get my purse, Jed.”

  His eyes darkened. “They’re bound to be watchin’.”

  “Let ’em watch. Do you think they’ll try to abduct me in broad daylight? No. And we know they won’t flat-out kill me. So we’re going to waltz into the place like nothin’ ever happened. It’ll piss them off even more.”

  “And you plan to let them follow us all over town?”

  “Not if I can help it.” I turned to Neely Kate. “I hate to ask you this, but I need you to be prepared to shoot your gun if necessary.”