“And what he did to her before she killed him,” Joe added.
“You’ve seen it?” Witt asked.
“No,” Joe answered. “She only told me about it and that it’s locked up in a safe-deposit box at Henryetta Bank.”
“The money’s not in the safe-deposit box,” I said.
“Then where is it?” Joe asked.
I waited for Jed to answer. He’d taken it with him when we’d come back from Ardmore, and we hadn’t discussed it since. But Jed wasn’t talking, so I took his lead. “Somewhere safe.”
“You didn’t spend it, did you?” Joe asked.
Witt snorted. “You think she’d be driving that piece of shit car if she had any money to spend?”
Joe looked chagrined. “I had to ask. But I still need to know where the money is.”
“I have it,” Jed said. “I went through the bag, but all I found was the ten thousand dollars, a video camera, and a couple of blank tapes.” He paused. “Nothing that would provoke Hardshaw to track it down.”
“Did he have anything on his person they might want?” Joe asked.
“No,” Jed said. “I checked.”
Witt’s eyes grew as large as silver dollars. I knew what he was thinking—if I killed Pearce Manchester over five years ago, how would Jed have been able to search his clothes?
“Someone pointed Chad Manchester to Ardmore,” Joe said. “Someone pointed Neil Franken to Branson to tell him about Neely Kate. Someone told Alonzo Adkins that a woman in Fenton County had Pearce Manchester’s money. Who orchestrated all of this?”
“Kate,” Jed said.
I shook my head. “When I saw her yesterday, she said she hadn’t told anyone.”
“You can’t believe a word she says,” Joe said in disgust.
Maybe I was stupid, but I believed most of what she’d told me. I hadn’t caught her lying yet. “We know she hired someone to look into what I did in Ardmore, but she only found the basics,” I said. “What if she had them do more diggin’?”
“That seems likely,” Jed said. “She knew enough to get you flustered, but we figured out she didn’t know much else. She liked playin’ the game, so she had someone try to find more.”
“She must have found something,” Joe said. “She knew enough to put Franken’s body in your basement with a note.”
“And she knew about the hotel room he or Chad Manchester were stayin’ in,” Jed added. “She knows more now than she did before.”
“She called Franken a peace offering,” I said. “And in the hotel room note, she said she was lookin’ forward to a family reunion. Maybe she’s tryin’ to help me.”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t count on that,” Joe said in disgust. “I still think she’s jealous, which means she’s got some master plan to try to destroy you.” His eyes widened. “Tomorrow night.”
“You think she’s gonna show up at the benefit dinner and embarrass me?” But even as I asked, realizing I already knew the answer. More like kill me.
“There’s no way in hell we’re goin’ to that thing,” Joe said.
“Agreed,” Jed said.
“What benefit dinner?” Witt asked.
It was time to tell him everything.
“I’ve got to go,” Jed said, “but if you need me for anything, you call me, you hear? I’ll drop everything and come runnin’.”
“Thanks, Jed.”
He hesitated. Then he choked out a goodbye and hung up.
I sat back in my chair. “Joe, I have to tell Witt about Ardmore.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t know.”
“I hadn’t told anyone until I told Jed a month ago.”
He gave me a thoughtful look, then turned to my cousin. “I think it’s better if I step outside.”
“Can it get worse than what you already told me?” Witt asked.
Neither Joe nor I said anything, and Witt sat back, rubbing his chin. “You got anything to drink in this place?” A wry grin lit up his eyes. “Kiddin’.”
Only I suspected he wasn’t.
“I’ll head down to the coffee shop and pick up some coffee,” Joe said. “It’s close enough to come runnin’ if someone shows up.”
I nodded.
He took Witt’s drink order—coffee, black—then walked out the front door.
“Tell me, little cousin,” Witt said in an unusually somber tone.
I told him everything, from when I left Henryetta to go to Ardmore, getting stuck there, getting a job as a stripper, then going from being Branson’s girlfriend to his prostitute. I told him about the abortion and then about Branson’s client from Dallas, then about killing him, burying the body, and hightailing it home.
When I finished, he couldn’t look me in the eye. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he blinked back tears, and I expected him to get up and take a moment to recover, but he turned to me with an intense gaze. “I will never leave you alone like that again.”
I shook my head. “You never left me Witt.”
“I did. When I went to prison. If I’d been around, I would have gone to check on you. I would have brought you home.”
I gave him a sad smile. “You don’t know that. If you’d have called, I would have pretended like things were okay, and toward the end, Branson never would have let me talk to you without him eavesdroppin’.” I took a breath. “You couldn’t have changed it, Witt. Thinkin’ that you could have will only eat at you. You need to let it go.”
“How the hell do I let it go? I failed you, Neely Kate. When your worthless momma dropped you off, Granny told me it was my job to look after you.”
I never knew that, but I’d suspected. “And you did,” I insisted. “You were like a big brother to me, but once I became a grown woman, your job was done.”
“You think eighteen is a grown woman?” he asked bitterly. “You were still a baby.”
“And you were a baby when you got arrested and tossed into prison.” I sighed. “We made stupid mistakes when we were kids. There’s no changin’ them. We can’t go back. All we can do is move forward.” I narrowed my eyes and turned stern. “But you need to leave that life behind, Wittman Rivers. I know you’re disappointed about the garage, but promise me that you’ll stay away from a criminal life. Jed’s leavin’ it behind. So can you.”
His nose wrinkled with confusion. “I’m not goin’ back to anything illegal, Neely Kate. Why do you think I am?”
“It’s just that Rose and I have exposed you to…” I shook my head. “Never mind. Just trust that something great is right around the corner. I know it.”
He studied me, then smiled. “You’re an amazing person, Neely Kate. Jed’s lucky to have you.”
I laughed. “You’re lucky to have me too.”
“I know that’s right.”
We settled back into searching the phone and the laptop. Joe came back soon after, handing us our coffee cups and searching our faces to make sure we were both okay.
An hour later, Dena showed up with dinner for all four of us that she’d gotten from a new home-cooking-style restaurant in the newer part of town. She stayed while we ate, and I could see she was dying to ask what we were all working on, but she had the good manners not to ask.
As soon as we were finished eating, Witt, Joe, and I all returned to our work. Dena took the hint and made some excuse about having some place to be and after planting a quick kiss on Joe, she quietly left.
I hadn’t heard from Jed after our earlier phone call, and I was worried about him meeting Gerard. What if Gerard took out his frustration on Skeeter out on Jed? Just when I was about to text him, he called and told me to put him on speakerphone.
“I met with Collard,” he said once he knew all three of us were listening. “I didn’t learn shit, but he’s definitely up to something.”
“What makes you say that?” Joe asked.
“Just a gut feeling,” he said. “Still, I don’t think he knows anything about Hardshaw making a push into Fenton County.”
/> “So they’re not?” Joe asked.
“I don’t want to rule it out. I have one more person to check with, but I can’t do it until tomorrow. Have y’all made any more progress?”
“Not much,” Witt said. “Not on the important questions.”
Joe’s phone buzzed. He glanced down with a grimace. “It’s the sheriff’s department. This might be about Adkins.”
He rolled his chair over to Rose’s desk and spoke in a low tone, but I could tell the conversation wasn’t going well. Jed, Witt, and I remained silent while we waited to hear the news.
Joe hung up and cursed. “We just ran out of time. Someone discovered Chad Manchester’s body.”
Chapter 20
The blood left my head, and I tried to catch my breath.
“Carlisle, I really hate to ask this,” Joe said. “Do you know if Neely Kate can be IDed behind the hotel?”
“If anyone looks at the video, they won’t see any sign of her,” he said.
Joe rubbed his chin for several seconds. “Okay.”
“Who found him?” Jed asked.
“Chad Manchester booked the room and his car was registered. He was supposed to check out this morning, but the housekeeping staff found his things, and not long after, a hotel guest complained that there was a nasty smell comin’ from the trunk of the car, so they called the Henryetta police.”
“For once, their bungling could be in our favor,” Witt said.
“If Henryetta’s finest is covering, then why’d you get the call?” Jed asked.
“I told my staff if anything unusual happened to let me know. Despite the rising murder rate in the county, finding a body in a trunk’s not all that common. So they called me even though it’s Henryetta’s jurisdiction. However, the sheriff is actually stepping in on this one and throwin’ his weight around sayin’ he wants to take over the case.”
“Why?” I asked. “Sheriff Foster’s as lazy as a hound dog on a Sunday afternoon.”
“The reelection’s comin’ up and Chad Manchester’s from out of town and from deep pockets, to boot,” Joe said. “It’s bad publicity for the county—and for the sheriff—but good publicity if it wraps up quickly.”
“So he’ll put extra effort into solvin’ it,” Witt said.
“Even if he doesn’t, it’s gonna make the news,” Jed said. “He’s Arthur Manchester’s only surviving son. That man’s gonna put a lot of resources into findin’ out who killed him.”
I started to hyperventilate, and Joe covered my hand with his. “I’m gonna take care of it, Neely Kate.”
“Everyone keeps tellin’ me that,” I said. “Maybe it’s time I owned up to what I did.”
No one said anything for a moment. Then Joe said, “You didn’t kill Chad Manchester. It’s likely that Neil Franken did.” He held my gaze. “I think I need to officially find his body.”
I swallowed, my stomach roiling. “Okay.”
“Now hold up,” Jed said in an urgent tone. “The body’s in your basement, Neely Kate. With a note written by Kate and addressed to you pinned to his body.”
“I’m not sure what else to do,” Joe said. “This just keeps getting deeper and deeper.”
Which was likely Kate’s plan—to make Joe choose between doing what was right and protecting me. I couldn’t put him in that position. “That body was a test to see how we would react. I suspect we played right into Kate’s hands. We need to report it.”
“Let’s let it sit for tonight,” Jed said. “We’ll make a decision tomorrow.”
“I like that plan,” Witt said. “No offense, Simmons, but I don’t trust the sheriff’s department worth shit.”
Joe gave him a grim look, then sat back in his seat. “Okay. We’ll wait until tomorrow, but I want to go see what’s goin’ on with this investigation into Chad Manchester’s death, so Carlisle, if you want to take Neely Kate for the night, come pick her up at the landscaping office.”
“I can be there in about twenty minutes.”
I was still lookin’ through the files from Franken’s phone, although I’d stared at the same photo for five minutes, my mind wandering to Kate and what she could be up to. While part of me wanted to buy her sister act, I knew deep down that she was punishing me for usurping her place in Joe’s heart.
Did she plan to hurt him too?
Joe was wrappin’ up one of his several calls when he glanced at me with a frown. “Why don’t you take a break, Neely Kate? We can pick this up tomorrow.”
“I keep lookin’ at these photos, feelin’ like I’m missin’ something.”
“Maybe you are. All the more reason to take a break from it and hit it tomorrow with fresh eyes.”
I nodded, though I hated to admit he was right. I wanted to find all the answers and put this behind me, yet I doubted that was going to happen. This would never be behind me.
Maybe I should confess it all before I dragged everyone else down with me.
The bell on the office door announced Jed’s arrival. When he walked through the door, his eyes locked on Joe’s.
My brother got to his feet and stepped around the edge of Rose’s desk to intercept him. “Just because I’m lettin’ her go with you doesn’t mean I approve of this… relationship, but if anyone’s capable of keepin’ her safe tonight, it’s likely to be Skeeter Malcolm’s right-hand man.”
“Hey,” Witt called out. “I could protect her.”
“You’re not supposed to be carryin’ a gun, now are you?” Joe asked with a glare.
Witt shot darts with his eyes.
“I’ve got it covered,” Jed said. “No one will get to her.”
“I’m not a toddler, you know,” I said getting irritated. “I’m somewhat capable of taking care of myself.”
“We know that,” Joe said. “But we don’t want to take a chance, so humor me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
I had to admit that I felt better knowing they were watching over me. It felt like a step backward from the strong independent woman I’d become, yet I saw no other way around it other than to confess it all, and selfish person that I was, I still wasn’t ready to go there yet.
Jed turned to face me. “You ready to go?”
I glanced down at Joe’s laptop.
“Don’t worry about that,” Joe said. “I’ll take it with me.”
“And Chad Manchester’s computer?” Jed asked.
“I’ll take it too,” Joe said. “I doubt I’ll be getting much sleep tonight. I might try callin’ Kate from the number she called Neely Kate from.”
“You think she’ll answer?” Witt asked.
“Honestly?” Joe asked. “I doubt it. She’s more obsessed with Neely Kate than worried about dealing with me.”
“I want to know what you find out about Manchester’s murder—and if you hear from Kate,” Jed said. “So keep me in the loop.”
Joe gave a curt nod.
Jed reached for me, and when I looked up at him, the concern in his eyes stole my breath. But I quickly recovered and grabbed my purse out of my drawer.
“Is your bag in Joe’s car?”
“I’ll get it,” Joe said, then headed out the door.
Witt stood and closed the laptop lid, then stripped the gloves off his hands and stuffed them in his pocket. “Well, it looks like my work here is done for the night.” He gave Jed a hard stare. “I’d tell you to take care of my little cousin, but that seems redundant, so all I’m gonna say is see you later.”
I shot Witt a parting glance, and he lifted a hand to give a short wave and walked out the door.
Joe grabbed the side of the door as it was closing, pried it back open, and then rolled my bag through the entrance, holding on to the handle. “Take care of her,” he said in a thick voice.
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his back, hugging him tight. “I trust you, Joe. I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”
He squeezed me for several seconds, then let go and headed to
the back of the office and into the restroom.
I glanced over my shoulder as he shut the bathroom door, swamped with guilt. If I were a better person, I’d go turn myself in right now, but I was sure I’d drag him into this too. And Jed… my heart ached at the trouble I could get him into. I hadn’t the foggiest idea what to do to protect them both.
Jed wrapped am arm around my lower back. “Are you hungry? Can you wait a bit?”
I grimaced. “I ate something earlier, so I can wait.”
He gave me a smile that lit up his eyes. “Good. Then the surprise first.”
We walked out of the office, and I quickly locked the front door in case someone tried to go in while Joe was indisposed. I’d given Joe a key, so he’d be able to lock up again.
Jed stood behind me as though he were a human shield. Then he ushered me to his car, where he opened the passenger door and practically shut it behind me as I climbed in.
It wasn’t until he’d driven a few blocks that I noticed the dark sedan behind us. “Jed,” I said in alarm. “We’re bein’ followed.”
He stared straight ahead. “I hired ’em to.”
“You hired someone to follow us? Skeeter’s men?”
“No, although I suspect they would have done it. They’re loyal to me too, but things are still pretty strained between Skeeter and me, so I thought it best to hire my own.”
“You hired security guards?”
“I’ve been planning tonight for two weeks, and nothing or no one’s gonna take that from me—from us.” He shot me a dark gaze, and the lust in his eyes caught me by surprise.
“I almost want to ask what you have planned,” I teased. “But I kind of like not knowin’.”
“Good, because I’m not tellin’.”
“You told me to dress up, but not only am I wearing shorts, I’m covered in gravel dust, to boot. I need a shower.”
“You can take one at my place, but you could wear a paper bag as far as I’m concerned. I only wanted you to dress up to make it more special for you.”
“Are we still goin’ to dinner?” I asked.
“Yeah, but you’ll still be able to change and get ready.”
“Are we goin’ up to Magnolia?” I asked, dubious. I doubted that far enough away to evade Kate.
In High Cotton: Neely Kate Mystery #2 Page 20