A soft smile lit up her eyes. “You’re a liar. You’re the biggest believer in fairy tales I know. Look at the kid upstairs.” She pointed to the ceiling. “Most people would have turned him away or called the sheriff. They sure as shooting wouldn’t have assisted with his surgery. You want to save him. You want to turn him to the straight and narrow, and truth be told, you want to turn Skeeter Malcolm to the straight and narrow too. I think we both know that’s what you’re holdin’ out for, but it will never happen.”
“How do you know?” I asked before I could stop myself. “Jed’s changing for you.”
“Jed and Skeeter aren’t even close to the same man,” she said, although not unkindly. “Can you imagine Skeeter Malcolm workin’ a nine-to-five job, or any job for that matter?”
While he made more money on his legitimate businesses than his dealings in the criminal world, he’d made no bones about his unwillingness to leave that life behind. Part of me was willing to accept that if only I could have him, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted what Neely Kate had, even if Jed hadn’t quite figured things out yet. I wanted us to have a real chance.
“I should tell him no,” I said in a whisper.
“I just want you to be happy, Rose,” she said, meeting my eyes and holding them. “You keep tellin’ me that I deserve a man who is there for me through it all, the good and the bad, but so do you. And we both know that Skeeter Malcolm will never be that man. Not only is he incapable of it, but he plain doesn’t want it.”
There was no denying she was right. If we were together, I’d always be worried someone would find out. Yet I still couldn’t make myself pick up the phone and tell him no.
Maybe that did make me exactly like Patsy Sue Clydehopper.
Neely Kate reached out and squeezed my hand, and I knew she’d said her piece.
“What about Marshall?” she asked. “We can’t babysit him all day.”
“Crappy doodles,” I said with a sigh. “You’re right.”
“I’m sure he has a cell phone,” Neely Kate said. “He can call us if he needs us.”
I set my coffee cup down and Muffy perked up. “If he’s going to stay here, we need to set some ground rules. But first I need more answers. And I’m going to go get them.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” she said, getting to her feet. “I made him some scrambled eggs and bacon. I’ll take them up with you, and we can ambush him together.”
“He probably needs to go to the bathroom,” I said.
She made a face as she walked over to the toaster. “I’m not goin’ in there with him.”
“Surely he can pee by himself.”
Her cringe suggested she had her doubts. Great. I wasn’t helping him pee either.
Marshall was dozing when I opened the door, but his eyes cracked open when we walked into his room, Muffy following behind us. She wasn’t growling, but she wasn’t relaxed either.
“We brought you some breakfast,” Neely Kate said, “but you have to earn it first.”
“Neely Kate,” I admonished under my breath.
She jerked her gaze to mine. “What? We need to know what he’s doin’ here, bleedin’ on your guest bedsheets.”
“I’ll pay for the sheets, Lady,” he said with a sheepish look.
“You’ll do no such thing,” I said. “That’s nothin’ a little bleach won’t fix, but I do need to know what happened to you.”
He pressed his lips together and gave a tight shake of his head. “You’re better off not knowin’.”
“I take it you’re running from Skeeter Malcolm,” I said, trying to sound tough.
“If I can just stay here for a few days, I promise I’ll leave and won’t come back. I’ll even leave you plenty of money for your inconvenience.”
“And where did that money come from?” Neely Kate asked with her hand on her hip.
“I can’t say.”
“And can you say which bad guy’s gonna show up at our front door lookin’ for ya?” she asked.
He looked torn, then finally said, “I thought you were neutral. I thought you were Sweden.”
“Switzerland!” Neely Kate said in exasperation, but I knew she was more frustrated by his failure to talk than his weak grasp of geography.
I couldn’t help wondering if I should try to force a vision. It would be the smart thing to do. But what if he was right? What if I was better off not knowing anything? I could legitimately plead innocence—with both James and the sheriff’s department, if it came to that.
I pushed out a breath. “We have to go into town to do some work, which means we have to leave you alone. Here are the rules if you’re gonna stay with us. One, you don’t tell anyone you’re here. Two, don’t go callin’ your buddy who dropped you off to come hang out with you. Three, you stay in your room and don’t answer the door should someone come callin’.”
He frowned. “My friend ain’t comin’ back, if that’s what you’re worried about. Rusty done left town.”
“Without you?” Neely Kate asked in disbelief.
“He couldn’t take me with him. I was bleedin’ all over his truck.”
“No honor among thieves,” Neely Kate grumbled, and the look on Marshall’s face suggested she wasn’t far off.
“I’m going to leave your cell phone,” I said, “but I mean it. No callin’ anyone except for me or Neely Kate.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And I’m gonna need your number before I go.”
He gave it to me, and Neely Kate and I both texted him so he’d have our numbers.
“We’ll help you get to the bathroom before we go,” I said, “but we draw the line at goin’ in there with you.”
His face turned red. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay then,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”
His IV bag was empty, so I steadied my nerves and pulled out the needle. After covering the needle wound with a bandage, I checked his not-so-small wound. Thankfully, I’d gotten over my initial reaction, and I could examine it without feeling like I was going to have a panic attack. The fact that he wasn’t covered in blood probably helped. After I rebandaged him, Neely Kate and I helped him hobble to the bathroom.
He shut the door, and we waited in the hall while Muffy sat in the open doorway to his bedroom, watching us.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” she said, casting a glance at the door.
“I’m not any more excited about it than you are, but what are our options? Kick him out? Where’s he gonna go?”
“So he’s our new roommate?” she whisper-hissed.
“No. I don’t know . . .” We were definitely in a pickle. “One day at a time. We’ll leave him today and see how it goes.”
Her lips pressed tighter, but she didn’t say anything.
A few minutes later, he emerged, his face so pale I was terrified he’d pass out before we got him back to bed.
“Try not to get up while we’re gone,” I said, tucking the covers around him. “If you pass out on the floor, I have no idea how long you’ll lie there until we get home.”
Neely Kate had run downstairs and returned with his phone and a few other things, including a charger for his phone, setting them up on the bedside table.
“Where’s my gun?” he asked, his gaze darting from the phone up to me.
“Somewhere you can’t find it,” I said. Like in a lockbox in the basement.
“I need it.”
“No guns in my house,” I said.
“Tell that to the guys comin’ after me.”
“I will if they show up. You came here because this place is neutral, right? Others will respect that too.” He didn’t look convinced, so I added, “If I didn’t allow guns at the parley between Skeeter Malcolm and Buck Reynolds, I’m sure not allowing them in my own house.”
Marshall wisely kept his mouth shut.
Neely Kate pointed to the bedside table. “There’s food, water, a thermometer, and medicine. You should
be good until we get back with more bandages.”
“How long will you be gone?” he asked, looking scared.
“I don’t know,” I said gently. “But I meant what I said. Don’t let anyone know you’re here.”
“I’ve got no one to tell.” He blinked to hold back tears and I felt sorry for him. What had he done to end up in this situation?
“I’m gonna leave my dog here,” I said. “Her name’s Muffy and she’ll let you know if someone shows up unexpectedly.” Then I added, “Plus she’s good company.”
Muffy was standing next to me, and he gave her a wary look. “Your dog don’t like me.”
“She’s a good guard dog, and you were trespassin’. But now you’re a houseguest, and she’ll do her best to keep you safe.” I glanced down at her and made a motion toward the bed. “Go say hello, Muffy.”
She leapt up onto the bed, skirting his bad leg and walking up to his chest.
Marshall watched my tiny dog with a look of terror as she sniffed his neck and face, but then she licked his cheek, and he pushed out a breath and closed his eyes.
“See?” I said. “She likes you. No more fuss over Muffy.”
“Thank you, Lady.”
I nodded, and Muffy moved to the end of the bed and sat, watching the door as though realizing her duties were about to begin.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Neely Kate and I stopped by our landscaping office to pick up the folders for the two clients we had for the day. We’d missed seeing Bruce Wayne, who had likely headed out to a job site a good hour or so earlier. After making a few phone calls during the drive in, Neely Kate found out from the rumor mill that the sheriff’s department was looking for Patsy, and Reverend Baker had been sent home from the ER with a lot of pain medication and muscle relaxers.
“So we need to set up interviews with Calvin, then Patsy’s mom and her aunt Lucille,” I said as I unlocked the office door. “But we’ll have to work the interviews around my lunch with Violet and the kids.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Neely Kate said. “While we’re here, I’ll get phone numbers for all of the people we need to talk to. We’ll probably have to stop by Hebert Manufacturing to talk to Calvin. I heard he went into work today.”
“I guess there’d be no point in stayin’ home,” I said.
“I guess not.”
“After I confirm with our clients, I’ll start an internet search on Marshall.”
“Good idea.”
Neely Kate sat at her desk and booted up her computer to look for the phone numbers. I had just finished confirming our client appointments for the morning and had started Googling Marshall when the office door opened, and Joe walked in with a drink tray with coffee cups.
Neely Kate gave him a dark look before returning to her task on the computer.
“Good morning, ladies,” he said in a cheerful voice, only I knew him well enough to know it was a little forced.
“Hey, Joe,” I said, worried about why he was here. The fact that he wasn’t yelling was a good sign.
He handed me a coffee cup, then set the tray on Neely Kate’s desk and sat down next to it. “Neely Kate, I think we both said some things we regret.”
“Speak for yourself,” she said, keeping her gaze on the screen. “I meant every word.”
“Okay . . . ,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I said some things I regret.”
Neely Kate kept typing.
“I screwed up, Neely Kate. I’m sorry.”
Her gaze lifted to meet his and tears swam in her eyes. “I think you should go.”
“Neely Kate . . .”
“You made your choice, Joe,” she said, her voice breaking. “And you chose wrong.”
“It’s not about choosing,” he said. “It was painting, Neely Kate. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
She turned back to her screen and resumed her typing.
“I’ll cancel with Dena.”
“Don’t bother. I’ve already made plans.”
He shot me a glance, then turned back to her. “I’m sure Rose won’t mind if you cancel.”
“They aren’t with Rose,” she said with an uppity air. “It just so happens I have a date.”
His mouth dropped open as though his jaw had become unhinged. “A date? With who?”
I stared at her with equal amazement. What was she doing? Did she really plan to tell him about Jed?
“No one you need to concern yourself with. In fact, I’ve been seeing him for longer than you and Dena have been together, and it never once interfered with me seeing you. But if that’s the way things are gonna be, I guess I don’t have to worry so much about juggling my schedule.”
Joe’s eyes widened, and I could see he was struggling to figure out what to address first.
“You need to go,” she said. “I have to get my work done if I’m gonna be done in time for my date tonight.”
Joe got to his feet and walked over to my desk. “Who’s she seein’?”
I cast a nervous glance toward my best friend. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
He leaned his hands on my desk. “Not at liberty to say? Why won’t either of you tell me?”
“Because it’s none of your doggone business!” Neely Kate shouted, still refusing to look at him.
I got up from my seat and gestured toward the door. “I think it’s best if you leave.”
He started to protest, but I flicked my eyes to the door—a silent promise that we’d talk—and he nodded. Before leaving, he walked back over to his sister and squatted next to her. “Neely Kate,” he said softly. “Would you please look at me?”
She ignored him, the clacking of her keyboard the only sound filling the room.
Joe pushed out a sigh, then said, “I’m new to this whole brother thing.” He shook his head. “Yeah, I know Kate’s my sister, but we never got along, and truth be told, I was a terrible brother to her too. I know I’ve screwed up several times over, but I’m not goin’ anywhere. You’re stuck with me. And we all know I’m thickheaded sometimes, but I’m gonna get this right with you. I swear.” He stood and leaned over to plant a kiss on top of her head. “If you persist in workin’ with Kermit Cooper on the Patsy Sue Clydehopper case, please be careful, okay? There was another murder last night close to the Columbia County line. Not more than a few miles from your house. I don’t think it has anything to do with Carol Ann Nelson’s death, but we can’t be too careful.”
Then he grabbed his coffee cup and headed out the door. I followed behind him.
He headed down the sidewalk, stopping when he was out of sight of the office. He looked devastated. “What if I’ve lost her?”
“You haven’t lost her,” I said. “But there’s no denying she’s deeply hurt. If it had only happened once, she would have forgiven you—and she obviously did. How many times have you canceled on her because of Dena?”
Embarrassment filled his eyes, and his gaze flicked to the courthouse across the street. “Three times.”
“Three?”
“I know . . . ,” he said, pushing out a frustrated sigh. “I screwed up.”
Three times in less than two weeks? No wonder Neely Kate was pissed. “You broke her trust, and she doesn’t trust easily, Joe.”
“I know.” He looked devastated as he stared at the office entrance.
“Just give her time,” I said. “But don’t betray her again, because I’m pretty sure she won’t give you another chance.”
He nodded. We stood there quietly for a moment before he turned to face me. I’d expected this. “Who’s she seein’?”
Chapter 7
I wasn’t about to answer him, and it occurred to me that Neely Kate was more pissed than I’d realized. Why else would she have told Joe something that was sure to make him ask uncomfortable questions?
“What?” he finally asked, shuffling his feet a little. “Don’t you know who she’s seein’?”
“That’s Neely Kate’s
business to tell you, not mine.”
“Why hasn’t she told me before now?”
“You’ll have to ask her that.”
He was silent for several seconds. “I screwed up big time.”
“Bigger than you know,” I said, then crossed my arms. “People have a habit of running out on her, Joe. Her momma, her boyfriends, her stupid husband.”
“I didn’t run out on her, Rose,” he said defensively. “I postponed painting my house.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Do you seriously still see it that way, or are you just tryin’ to find a way to make yourself feel better about all of this?”
He started to say something, then wisely shut his mouth.
“She treasures every moment you spend together, and if you don’t feel the same way, then maybe you should just leave her be before you hurt her again by picking some woman you just started dating over your sister.”
“Is this over Dena?” he asked, starting to get ticked. “Are you jealous of her?”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
Contrition filled his eyes.
I dropped my arms and took a step toward him. “Look,” I said with a sharp edge. “I realize that you’re still gettin’ used to paying for your mistakes, but you need to admit to your screwup and try fixin’ it, not find someone else to blame.”
He sobered. “You’re right.”
I pursed my lips. “Well, that’s a good start.”
He took a second, then said, “Are you two really working to prove Patsy Sue Clydehopper is innocent?”
“Looks like we are.”
His mouth twisted to the side. “I don’t like it, but I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.” When I didn’t say anything, he said, “And you’re workin’ with Kermit Cooper?”
“Of course we are.”
He shook his head with a frown. “I’d still like to know how that arrangement came to pass. You realize he’s the laziest PI in the history of PIs?”
I lifted my eyebrows. “You don’t say.”
He pushed out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “You two are dead set on becoming PIs?”
I almost told him that Neely Kate was the one who was fixated on it, but that would be a half-truth. She’d dragged me into it, sure, but I’d come to realize that I liked it. “Yeah,” I said with a smug grin. “We are. And turns out we’re pretty good at it.” There was something else I needed to ask him about, but I had to keep it casual. “What were you saying about a guy getting killed north of us?”
Hell in a Handbasket Page 7