Jed shook his head. “No. I’ve got it covered. Happen to know anything about who checked out the room and how long they had it for?”
“If it’s Adkins, he didn’t check in usin’ his name and he must have an accomplice. We thought he’d used an alias, but the guy who checked in had Kansas plates. The owner checked them himself. Also the guy didn’t match Adkins’ description. Not big enough, but like I said, could be an accomplice. They have it until Sunday morning.”
“So we’ve got a bit of time,” Jed said, then looked up. “The name used—was it Branson Desoto?”
“That would be the one,” Dermot said. “So you do know the poor bastard?”
Jed’s eyes hardened. “Branson Desoto deserves every ounce of pain Kate gave him and more. I take great satisfaction knowing he’ll never rape another woman again.”
Dermot’s gaze drifted to me, and I could see the curiosity in his eyes, yet he was wise enough to keep silent. Jed was likely to punch him if he dared to ask if I had been one of those rape victims.
Nicholson emerged from the bathroom, looking a lot paler than when he’d gone in.
Dermot rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.”
“How’d you get in?” Jed called out to him while studying the clippings.
“Key’s on the dresser. Bill’ll keep it on the down low if you hand him enough cash.” Then Dermot walked out, leaving me and Jed in a motel room with Branson’s testicles.
Chapter 25
“We have to call Joe.”
Jed shook his head. “No. Involving Joe is what got us even deeper into this mess. He’s bound to the law. I can operate a lot more efficiently outside of it.”
“There’s a reason the laws exist, Jed,” I said, getting irritated.
He gave me a hard look. “And those same laws and their bias are why you’re in this situation in the first place. Why didn’t you go to the police after you killed Pearce Manchester?”
“You know darn good and well why I didn’t! Because I didn’t kill him in self-defense!”
“You really think you could have gotten out of that room alive?” he asked in a deadly calm, expressionless voice. “He had his back turned, restin’ up for his next round. Was he facing the bedroom door?”
The horror of that night sprang up, sucking the breath out of me.
“Was he facing the door?” Jed demanded, fire in his eyes.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“How the hell were you gonna get around him to get out?” He sounded pissed.
“I… when he went to the bathroom.”
“Did he look like he was about to go to the bathroom?”
“No.” I started to cry.
He moved closer and grabbed my arms, bending at the knees to hold my gaze. “He would have killed you, Neely Kate. Even on the off chance you made it out the bedroom door, he would have hunted you down and beaten you even worse.” His expression softened. “I’m not telling you this to make you second-guess yourself. I’m tellin’ you that you did exactly what you should have. Only one person was getting out of that room alive, you or him. You had to kill him for survival. But your instinct to hide it was the right impulse. He was a rich oil man from Dallas. You were a stripper from Ardmore. You would have gotten an underpaid, overworked public defender, while his family would have provided all the resources the DA needed to send you to prison for life, if for no other reason but to clear his reputation. You had to hide it. Was that workin’ with the law?”
I shook my head, my cheeks wet with tears.
“No, it wasn’t. The law and justice are not the same thing.” He lifted a hand and wiped the tears from my cheek. “Say the word, and we’re gone.”
I blinked. “You mean gone gone?”
“You’ve suffered more than a person has a right to, Neely Kate, and as the man who loves you more than life itself, it’s killin’ me to see you keep hurtin’. So say the word, and we’ll go. New names. New place—hell, new country if you want. I hear Costa Rica’s pretty nice. I’ll make sure you’ll never get hurt again.”
“But no Rose. No Joe. No Witt.”
He gave me a solemn look. “Everything comes with a price.”
Joe had said he and I had suffered plenty for our mistakes, and that as far as he could see, Jed hadn’t suffered at all. But he was suffering now for mistakes that weren’t his own.
“What do you think Kate is up to?” I asked.
“Nothing good, because despite her note, Kate does not have your best interest in mind. Not a chance.”
“Agreed.”
“But as far as what she’s doin’? I haven’t got a clue. And that scares me.”
“What are you gonna do about this place?”
“Part of me would like to leave it, but I’m scared the sheriff’s department will catch wind somehow—even if it’s an anonymous tip from Kate.”
“You want to clean it now?”
He nodded. “But you’re not gonna be any part of it, so I want to send you back to Joe.”
I didn’t answer, just nodded. I agreed with him, but I still felt like a toddler being handed back and forth between divorced parents.
“You’re okay with that?”
“I’ll only be in the way here. And I understand why I need constant protection, even if it’s irritating as hell.”
He kissed me. “I don’t want to let you out of my sight, but this will go faster if you’re not here.”
“Okay.”
Pulling out his phone, he quickly called Joe. “A situation has arisen that I need to handle without Neely Kate around,” he said without salutation. “I’m gonna send her to you.” He paused for several seconds, then said, “Are you sharin’ everything with me, Simmons? No, I didn’t think so… Yeah, we’re on the same page here—protect Neely Kate—but we’re operating out of different books, and it’s time for me to diverge.”
I grabbed his phone out of his hand, ignoring his look of shock, and pressed the speaker button. “I’m a grown woman and deserve to be part of this conversation.”
“Are you okay?” Joe asked, sounding exhausted.
“I’m fine, but I’m almost as tired as you sound. Where are you?”
“Finishin’ up at your house and about to head home.”
“Then I’ll have Jed’s guards bring me to your house. I should be there in about twenty minutes. Sound good?”
“Sure,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy to be the one taking orders instead of issuing them.
“I’ll see you soon.” I hung up and handed Jed back his phone with a raised brow.
He looked embarrassed. “You’re right. I should have included you at the start of that call.”
“It’s okay. Just don’t make a habit of it or we’ll have a problem.” I glanced toward the open drawer. “Do you think Kate killed Branson?”
“No. I think she’s playin’ with him somewhere, and my gut tells me she’s gonna give him to you like a cat tryin’ to woo a human with a mouse.”
I shuddered, mostly because I suspected he was right.
“What are you gonna tell Joe?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet. I want to tell him something, but I won’t tell him enough to get you into any kind of trouble.”
“I trust you, Neely Kate, but he’s close to cavin’ and involvin’ the sheriff’s department. You may have told him you’d consider it, but I won’t. I’m not gonna stand back and let you get railroaded for this. I’m about to start covering all of your tracks.”
“Joe won’t agree with that.”
“And there lies our problem,” he said. “He has a lot of faith in the legal system because he has money and clout. Not to mention his daddy got him out of most of his prior legal troubles. But we’re not lookin’ at Arkansas politics here, Neely Kate. We’re lookin’ at a crime syndicate that is ruthless. In no way, shape, or form will I let you become a sacrificial lamb.”
I gave him a soft smile. “I love you, Jed.”
“And I love
you. I didn’t just get you to lose you. So tell Joe as little as possible, and as soon as I get this cleaned up, I’m actively lookin’ for Kate.”
I pulled my hood back on, and he walked me out to his car. After I grabbed my phone and my purse out of his sedan, he ushered me into the backseat of the security detail’s car. “Call me when you get there—don’t forget. What percentage is your phone battery at?”
I glanced at the screen. “Fifteen percent.”
He made a face. “Plug it in as soon as you get to Joe’s. We’ll arrange for that new phone as soon as the store opens.” He leaned in and gave me a warm kiss. “Be safe, Neely Kate.”
“You too.”
He shut the door, then banged the top of the car. As the driver backed out of the space, I opened Granny’s voice mail message.
“Hey, Neely Kate. I’m not sure if I’m doin’ this message thing right, but I’m gonna give it a try. You said to let you know if anyone came lookin’ for you, and right after you called, two people showed up askin’ about you. They said they knew you from Oklahoma. I told ’em to get the hell off my property, and my shotgun helped convince them.” Then she hung up.
If two people from Oklahoma had been lookin’ for me, I’d bet good money it was Branson and Stella.
The man in the passenger seat glanced over at me, and I realized he was the guard who had prevented me from walking out of Jed’s house. “We can plug your phone in to charge it if you’d like.”
I almost told him no, but I’d left Jed’s charging cord in his car, and I remembered that Joe had a different type of phone. “Thanks.”
The driver headed north, toward Joe and Rose’s farms. The car was stuffy, so I pulled off the hoodie and laid it down in the seat next to me. The movement of the car made me sleepy, yet I refused to go to sleep with these two strange men, especially since the driver kept sneaking glances at me in the rearview mirror.
“Could you hand my phone back?” I asked, my anxiety ratcheting.
“We’re almost to your destination, Ms. Rivers,” said the guy in the passenger seat. “Why don’t you take advantage of the time to charge it longer?”
He was right, but my instincts were pinging. Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what. “I need to text my brother to make sure he’s gonna be there to meet us.”
He pulled it from the charger and handed it to me.
“Thank you . . . what’s your name?” I asked.
“Chuck Miller.”
I took note of that. “Thank you, Mr. Miller. And I appreciate you and your colleague going to such lengths to protect me.”
“Just doin’ our job, miss,” the driver said.
“And what was your name?” I asked him.
“Justin Walsh, miss.”
I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or concerned that they were so freely giving me their names. I unlocked my phone and texted Jed.
How carefully did you screen these security guards?
He texted back almost immediately.
Very. Do you feel unsafe?
I responded, I’m probably being paranoid.
You’re not paranoid. I’m on my way.
The turn off to Joe’s house was just up ahead and Justin was slowing down to make the turn, making me feel ridiculous.
Wait. I’m pulling into Joe’s farm. I’ll call you when I get inside.
Love you, he sent back.
Love you too. I was never gonna get tired of hearing Jed tell me he loved me, or of saying it back.
Justin drove down the short road to Joe’s house, pulling up in front, and I realized his car wasn’t parked out front, though his sheriff’s car was. Both men seemed to take notice. “Your brother’s a sheriff deputy?”
“The chief deputy sheriff,” I said, hoping if they were traitors, my brother’s position might make them think twice. “Joe Simmons. Have you heard of him?”
The two men shot each other a long look that made me uncomfortable.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said as I opened the back door, digging deep in my purse for my keys as I hopped out and shut the car door.
Chuck Miller opened his car door and got out, hollering at me. “We’re supposed to walk you to the door.”
“Sorry.” I was already on the steps and had my keys in hand. “I won’t tell Jed if you don’t.”
The guard started to protest when my phone rang, and Jed’s name popped up on the screen.
“Hey, Jed,” I said as I inserted Joe’s key into his lock. “I was just about to call you. Mr. Miller and Mr. Walsh just dropped me off, and I’m goin’ inside Joe’s house.”
The doorknob unlocked, and I quickly pushed the door open, giving them a wave goodbye, then shut it behind me.
“What happened?” Jed asked.
I locked the door and set my purse on the floor by the entrance of the dark house, purposely leaving the lights off. “I think I’m just spooked. They must have heard our conversation, because one of them offered to charge my phone, and when I asked for it back, he tried to convince me to leave it be. See? I told you I was bein’ paranoid.”
“But you’re at Joe’s now, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I peeked through the blinds of the living room window and watched the security detail car drive away. “And the security detail just left.”
“Let me talk to Joe.”
I held back a groan. “I thought we already had that disagreement.”
“I want to ask him whether he’s still plannin’ on goin’ to that benefit dinner.”
“Why don’t I get back to you on that?”
“Neely Kate. Put me on speaker if you’re worried about how the conversation’s gonna go.”
Damn it. I was gonna have to confess. “He’s not here.”
“What the hell do you mean he’s not there?” he shouted.
“Jed, calm down. He said he was at Rose’s house and that he was on his way.”
“I trusted him to be there.”
I trusted him too, and as paranoid as he was, I couldn’t come up with a single good reason for him not being here. My chest tightened. “I’ve gotta go. I’m gonna call him.”
Thankfully, Jed hadn’t picked up on my anxiety. “Call him, then call me back immediately. In the meantime, I’m on my way.”
“Jed. Just wait until—”
I heard the ding of his car door. “This is not debatable, Neely Kate. I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
“But it takes almost twenty to get here.”
“I’ll see you in ten,” he growled, then hung up.
“Twenty minutes is plenty of time,” a woman said from the back of Joe’s living room.
I flipped the switch by the door, expecting to see my sister.
I was very, very wrong.
Stella sat in Joe’s recliner, the footrest kicked up and a gun pointed right at me. “Welcome to your payback, bitch.”
Chapter 26
“Stella,” I gasped.
“Surprise,” she said in a singsong voice as she pulled the lever to lower the footrest and got to her feet. “Where’s Branson?”
My heart sank. “I don’t know.”
“That’s bullshit,” she spat out, then fired her gun into the ceiling.
I involuntarily ducked down, my heart racing. I had my gun at the small of my back, but she would shoot me before I could get it out and point it at her.
“That’s right, you bitch,” she said with a sadistic laugh. “I’m in charge.”
I held my hands out at my sides. “You’re in charge, Stella.”
“Damn straight.” She took a step toward me. “Was that your man on the phone?”
“How did you get here?” I asked. There was no car parked out front. Had she parked behind the house?
“I asked you a damned question,” she snarled as she moved closer, pointing the gun at my chest. It was a .45 and the likelihood of me surviving a shot to the chest this close was unlikely. Her eyes were wild, clueing me in that she was hi
gh, and I knew I had to tread lightly.
“Was that your man on the phone?” she repeated.
“Yeah,” I said. “That was Jed.”
“He’s the one who butt his head into my business, ain’t he?”
I shook my head, trying to keep it together. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“The fuck you don’t.” She pistol-whipped me in the side of the head, dropping me to the floor. “Answer the question, bitch.”
The room spun, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I thought about trying to get my gun, but I was too uncoordinated, and she was too close. She’d shoot me before I even got it out of the holster.
She kicked my side. “Answer me!”
“Yes,” I grunted out through the pain. “He called DFS.”
I expected her to kick me again, but instead she laughed. “Stupid bastard.”
I pushed to a sitting position, feeling hopeful that Jed would be here sooner than Stella expected. Hopefully Joe would show up even sooner.
A phone started to ring from across the room, and I realized it was mine—I’d dropped it when she’d hit me.
Stella wandered over to it and picked it up. “Jed. The boyfriend.” She pressed a button on the side, and it stopped ringing. “We’ll see him soon enough. But we’ll have a chat before he gets here. Where’s Branson?”
“I don’t know. When was the last time you saw him?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Neely Kate. I know you took him, only you were wearin’ a wig.”
I shook my head, sending a shooting pain from one temple to the other. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t even know he was here in town.”
“I never said he was kidnapped here, Neely Kate. How’d you know we were here in town?”
Thankfully, my head was clearing. “Jed caught wind of it. He heard Branson was out at the Broken Branch Motel.” I paused, hoping I didn’t look too suspicious. “Where was Branson taken?”
In High Cotton: Neely Kate Mystery #2 Page 25