Joe was quiet for a moment. “Which Sugar Branch recreation area?”
“The one on north 85,” Neely Kate said. “The one most people don’t use.”
“Shit,” Joe said, sounding concerned. “How far away are you from there?”
Neely Kate shot me a questioning glance. “I don’t know, about fifteen minutes?”
“Meet me there.”
And suddenly our missing person case took an unexpected turn.
Chapter 24
Joe was waiting on us when we got there. He stood next to his car, staring out at the creek.
Neely Kate parked next to him and popped the trunk, and we both got out and met him at the back of the car.
“I take it that’s her purse?” Joe asked, pointing to the Ziploc bag containing the small brown purse.
“Yeah,” Neely Kate said. “We weren’t sure what to do with it when we found it. Rose saw me hand it to Sarah’s mother in a vision, but it seemed like evidence, so we decided to bag it instead.”
Joe gave me a pointed look. “You’re sure this is hers?”
I nodded. “Her mother confirmed it in the vision, but Neely Kate put on a pair of gloves after we found it and looked inside. She found a wallet with Sarah’s driver’s license.”
“And you didn’t call me?” he asked, but for once he didn’t sound angry.
“No,” Neely Kate said. “We figured this was probably still in Sugar Branch city limits, and even if it’s not, it was a missing person with no body. I wasn’t sure you’d come. You said the sheriff’s department couldn’t look into the case.”
He frowned. “Thank God you had the presence of mind to treat it like evidence. Can you show me where you found it?”
I noticed he didn’t address Neely Kate’s statement.
We led him into the woods and showed him where we’d found the purse and told him we’d taken photos of it on the ground.
“I’m gonna need you to send me those photos. You didn’t find anything else?” he asked as he peered at the ground.
“No,” we both said.
Joe pulled out his cell phone and placed a call asking for a forensics team to be sent to the recreation area.
I shot Neely Kate a surprised look.
Joe must have noticed because he ended his call and said, “I couldn’t get involved before, but now I have evidence and a hearsay confession of violence if not murder. We’ll go over this area with a fine-tooth comb to see if there’s additional evidence of foul play.” He paused. “Would you two mind givin’ your statement to a deputy when more of them arrive? I’d take it, but I want to supervise the search. Still send me the photos though.”
“Sure,” I said, lifting my phone. “I’ll do it right now.”
Neely Kate quickly agreed.
“Neely Kate,” he called after us.
“Yeah?”
“Just so we’re all on the same page, you two are officially done with this case. I’m takin’ over now. Got it?”
I expected Neely Kate to protest, but she merely nodded and said, “Yeah.”
More deputies showed up a few minutes later, and the forensics team arrived soon after that. Deputy Randy Miller was one of the first to report to the scene, so Joe told him to take our statements.
We sat at the concrete picnic table where Neely Kate had told me the story of her past, only this time we were sharing everything we’d discovered during our investigation and telling him about each of our other suspects. I watched the forensics team get started, realizing our job might be done except for telling Marsha what we’d learned.
When we finished giving our statement, I asked, “Should we tell Sarah’s mother or will y’all?”
Randy frowned. “I’m guessin’ Joe’s gonna want to keep this on the down low for now. He’ll want to question the main suspect first and try to find out where she put the body if she really did kill her.”
I shuddered. “I can’t help feelin’ like we failed her.”
“If she’s dead, she was likely killed way before you and Neely Kate got involved,” Randy said. “And you may have helped Sarah’s mother get justice.”
I nodded, but it didn’t feel right. If Sarah was dead, and it was feeling more and more like a certainty whether Karen actually did it or not, this was our second dead client case in a row.
“You girls are free to go,” Randy said. “I’ll give you a call if we have any more questions.”
“Thanks, Randy,” I said as I got to my feet. Then I remembered my vision of Levi and asked, “Hey, are you still datin’ Margi Romano?”
“Sure am,” he said, his face beaming.
“Do you know where she works?”
“For her brother.”
“At the vet clinic?” I asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her there.”
“That’s because she doesn’t work at the clinic,” he said, “although she helps out when he’s in a pinch.”
“What does she do?” Neely Kate asked. “Is she a bookkeeper or something?”
He laughed. “Not Margi. She hates workin’ with numbers or inside even. Levi has a barn where he boards sick animals so he doesn’t have to traipse all over the county. Margi helps take care of them. She’s more into big animal medicine than small. She also runs his horse barn.”
“Levi has horses?” I asked in surprise. We’d gone out on a few dates, but he’d never mentioned it.
“Levi doesn’t have a horse, and the barns are a fairly new addition. The property he bought had two barns, so he started usin’ one to board horses. He and Margi are doin’ pretty well with it.” He gave me a knowing look. “He bought it after you dated him, which is probably why you don’t know about it.”
I grimaced, feeling slightly embarrassed, although I wasn’t sure why. “You know that I dated Levi?”
He made a face. “Margi might have mentioned it.”
Code for she thought I was a bitch for dumping her brother, which was fair, I guessed. In hindsight, I wished I’d handled a few things differently.
“Thanks, Randy,” Neely Kate said. “We were just curious.”
“They’re doin’ so well that Margi said Levi’s gettin’ ready to hire a new vet.”
I offered him a warm smile. “That’s great. Levi’s a great vet, and better yet, he’s kind to his patients, four-legged and two. He deserves success.”
I pushed away from the table. “It was great seein’ you, Randy. Let’s do it under different circumstances next time.”
“Sounds good,” Randy said with a huge grin. “Maybe we could all go out to dinner sometime and you can meet Margi. Are you girls datin’ anyone?”
My tongue became lodged to the bottom of my mouth, but Neely Kate covered for me. “Rose is still happily single, but we’d love to have dinner with y’all sometime.” She looped her arm through mine. “I can be her date.”
Randy laughed. “Sounds like a plan. You girls take care.”
We gave Joe a wave goodbye as we passed him, and he barely waved back, caught up in conversation with one of the lab techs in white jumpsuits.
We were silent for the first ten minutes of our drive back to Henryetta.
“That seemed too easy, didn’t it?” Neely Kate asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “But they won’t all involve days and days of searchin’ for clues. If Karen really did kill her, then thankfully we found out sooner rather than later, and if she didn’t, Joe’s officially takin’ the case. He has better resources than we do to solve it.”
“Yeah,” Neely Kate said half-heartedly.
Silence drifted between us again. I was mulling over the case when Neely Kate’s phone rang, and Jed’s name came up on the screen.
“Where are you girls at?” he asked in a tight voice as soon as Neely Kate answered over the car’s speaker system.
“Headin’ back to Henryetta,” she said. “We handed off our case to Joe.”
“You did?” He sounded cheered by that. “What happened?”
&
nbsp; “We still don’t know,” Neely Kate said, “but we found a woman who said she messed Sarah up with a knife. Joe’s takin’ over since it looks like she might have been murdered.”
Jed was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry, NK. I know you were hopin’ to find her alive.”
“Well,” she said, her voice cracking. “We can’t save them all, can we?”
“No, babe,” he said softly. “You can’t.” Then his voice took on a serious tone. “I had a reason for callin’… Carly’s been officially listed as a missin’ person.”
“Oh, my stars and garters,” Neely Kate gasped. “Does she know yet?”
“I’m not sure. I just found out and called you straightaway, but I suspect she won’t take it well.”
“We’re headed to the nursery now.”
We pulled up to the nursery fifteen minutes later, and found Carly standing outside with a customer who was loading a cart full of yellow and orange mums. Carly had a huge smile on her face as she and the woman chatted. She saw us and gave us a wave before turning back to her customer.
“Why do you think she’s runnin’?” Neely Kate asked. “I get that she called off the wedding because she caught her fiancé doin’ something that broke her trust, but why run? Why drive a clunker car and try to hide?”
“I don’t know,” I said, watching as she pushed the cart of flowers to the woman’s car. “The only thing I can think of is she saw something bad. This seems like more than just a reaction to catchin’ your fiancé cheatin’ on you.”
“Agreed.”
We got out and headed inside. Maeve was behind the counter, straightening a stack of sales bags, when she greeted us with a warm smile. “How are you girls today?”
“We came by to check on Carly,” I said. “Has she had her lunch break yet?”
“No, but she offered to run to the café down the street to pick up lunch for us.” She lowered her voice. “She’s a very sweet girl. Violet and I both absolutely love her. Do you plan to keep her on after Anna comes back? I suspect we could use the help.”
“I’ve thought on it, but I suppose that’s up to Carly,” I said. “I wonder if we could steal her away for a short bit? We need to talk to her about the reason she’s runnin’.”
Maeve’s smile fell. “Oh dear. I hope she’s not in trouble.”
“Definitely not with us,” I assured her. “But we need to figure out how to help her.”
“Of course,” she said. “And don’t worry about lunch. Did you know we have an Uber Eats now?”
“In Henryetta?” Neely Kate asked in shock.
Maeve nodded. “We’ll just have them pick up our lunch and drop it by. Would you girls like something?”
Carly was our priority, but we still needed to eat. I cast a quick glance at Neely Kate, who rattled off an order to Maeve. I did the same.
“Is Violet in the back?” I asked. I needed to pin her down on a move-in date.
“She’s in the greenhouse. When she’s not in the back room making flower pot arrangements, she likes spendin’ her time outside with the sunshine and the plants.”
Which only confirmed that I’d made the right decision to put her in my room.
As I headed out the door, I glanced over my shoulder at Neely Kate. “Don’t talk to Carly without me. I’ll only be a minute.”
“Okay.”
I gave Carly a wave as I passed her on my way to the greenhouse. She was still talking to the woman as she shut the mums in her trunk. Carly had great customer service skills, which only made me more curious about her real profession.
Violet was watering some begonias in the back of the greenhouse. She glanced up when she saw me, then quickly turned her attention back to the plants. “Hey, Rose.”
“Hey,” I said, walking closer. “How are you feelin’ today?”
“I’m still dyin’,” she said good-naturedly, keeping her gaze down. “Are you ready to give me my dyin’ request and let me meet who you’re seein’?”
“You’re terrible,” I said with a soft laugh.
“That’s what everyone says,” she said with a hint of regret, then quickly perked up. “How’s your case comin’ along?”
“Looks like we might have solved it this mornin’. We handed it off to Joe.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” she said with a frown.
“No. It’s not.” I stood next to her now, trying not to stare at the way her bones and tendons stuck out on her neck and shoulders from all the weight she’d lost. She looked like a strong wind could pick her up and carry her off to Oz. “Joe and I talked about which rooms to move you and the kids into out at the farm.”
Her eyes widened. “Joe?”
I almost told her about asking him to remodel the office, but she would have hated that I’d planned to spend money to accommodate her. Instead, I said, “He’s offered to help move furniture or do whatever else needs doin’.”
“Oh.”
“Do you still want to move in with me?” I asked, suddenly worried she’d changed her mind.
“Yeah.” But she sounded less certain.
“Are you worried about the kids?”
“No. They’ll absolutely love it out at your farm.”
“Mike?”
“I’m worried he’ll cause trouble,” she said, avoiding my gaze.
“Vi, let me run interference, or better yet, let Joe. He’ll be more than happy to do it.” I grabbed her bony shoulders and slowly turned her to face me, careful not to hurt her. “This is about making sure you’re happy and comfortable. Nothin’ else matters.”
Tears swam in her eyes, but she nodded.
“When?” I asked softly.
“Is tomorrow too soon? Mike will be gone all day.”
“Do you need help packin’ everything up?”
She shook her head. “I’m barely moved in, and I won’t take much for the kids.”
“I thought maybe we could let the kids pick new comforters for their beds and decorate the room,” I said with a sad smile. “And we can get them toys or anything else they need. Neely Kate wants to help too.”
“Since Carly’s fittin’ in so well, I thought I’d just take tomorrow off. Maybe you could come over after the kids go to school and we can pack up your truck.”
“That’s a great idea. Do you have anything big that we need Joe’s help movin’?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”
“We don’t have any appointments tomorrow, so Neely Kate can help. We’ll have you all settled in no time.”
“Thank you,” she said, starting to cry. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
“I’m your sister. I’ve got your back, Vi.”
I gave her a long hug, then kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The greenhouse door opened, and Carly looked horrified at her intrusion. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll come back later.”
“Don’t be silly,” Violet said, pulling out of my embrace. “We’re done.”
“I was just about to leave to get our lunch, but I thought I’d ask if Rose wanted anything.”
I gave her a warm smile. “No need to pick it up. Maeve’s making the order through Uber Eats, and I already let her know what I want. Actually, Neely Kate and I need to talk to you.”
Worry filled her eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Violet called out behind me. “You’re doin’ everything right. We love you workin’ here and hope you stay on after your car gets fixed.”
“Thanks,” she said, her cheeks turning a little pink. “I love working here too. It’s … quiet in Henryetta.”
Little did she know…
“We’re definitely not upset,” I assured her as I headed toward her. “Now let’s go find Neely Kate and have a chat.”
“Okay.” She sounded worried, not that I blamed her. I was sure I was handling this wrong.
Neely Kate met us by the fron
t door, and we led Carly behind the building to a bench nestled between some potted trees and flowering plants. I sat next to Carly on the bench, and Neely Kate dragged over a large empty pot and turned it upside down so she could sit on it.
“I know I haven’t been very forthcoming about why I’m here,” Carly said in a rush. “And you both have been more than generous giving me a job and a place to stay—”
“Carly,” Neely Kate said with a soft smile. “We’re not upset with you.” She took a breath. “Jed called me. Word’s gotten out that you’re missin’.”
Her face lost color. “You mean it’s made the news?”
Neely Kate nodded. “Yeah.”
“Do you know what they’re sayin’?”
“I pulled it up while Rose was talkin’ to Violet. Your father claims that you’ve been kidnapped.”
Her eyes filled with horror. “Oh, no. Did he mention Austin?”
“No,” I said, “but the police don’t always release all of their leads. They may not want him announcing it to the public.”
She stood. “I have to go back. I have to protect him.”
I grabbed her wrist and gently tugged her back down. “A few minutes isn’t gonna make a huge difference. Tell us why you’re runnin’.”
A guilty look filled her eyes. “I told you.”
“You told us your fiancé betrayed you and your father was part of it. There has to be a whole lot more to it if you’re hidin’ like this,” I said.
She refused to look at either of us. “Maybe I just needed a break. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I need to go back to save Austin.”
“Not yet,” I said, still gently holding her wrist. She didn’t try to pull free. “Let us help you.”
She was quiet for a moment. “I distanced myself from my father years ago, much to his irritation. My mother died when I was in grade school, and my father was too busy with his company to raise me. I had a nanny until I turned thirteen. Then my father said I was old enough to take care of myself. When I went to college, I went away as far as I could go, which my father accepted until it was time to graduate. Then he expected me to come back to Dallas and work in the family business.” A wry grin spread across her face. “Why would I want to work for the very thing that had always kept my father from me?”
Up Shute Creek: Rose Gardner Investigation #4 Page 26