“Only strangled?”
I ignored him, remembering my recording. “Where’s my phone?”
“Your phone?” he asked, incredulous.
“I recorded their confession. They killed Sarah, and Emmitt Lincoln too. They admitted to the whole thing. We need the proof.”
He shook his head. “I don’t see your phone.”
I started to get to my feet, and he grabbed my arm to help me.
“I have to find my phone!” I said, becoming hysterical. “Their confessions are in that video!” I jerked out of his hold and started manically searching the ground.
“We’ll find it. More deputies are on the way, and the forensics team too.”
I spun around to face him, the ground beneath my feet suddenly unsteady. “I have to find it, Joe!” My breath was coming in quick pants.
He pulled me into a hug. “Rose. Breathe, darlin’. Just take a second to breathe.” His arms wrapped around me, and I realized I was shaking.
I took a deep breath, and even though everything inside me quaked, Joe kept me grounded.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered into my ear. “Just breathe. I’ve got you.”
Something inside me cracked and my pain and fear burst through the fissure. I felt as though I’d been through an 8.2 earthquake and the very foundation I’d set my life upon had shifted, but I couldn’t figure out what was different, only that it was. I sobbed noisy, body-shaking sobs into his chest, feeling my old self disintegrate and fade away. The new, post-earthquake me was only held together by Joe’s tight embrace.
He stroked my head and held me close until my knees buckled, then swooped me up into his arms and carried me, still sobbing, to the ambulance that had just pulled up to the back of the building.
The paramedics hurried to get the back doors open, and Joe lifted me inside, setting me down on the gurney. He seemed unsure of what to do, so he sat next to me, his leg touching mine, his arm wrapped around my back as I buried my head into his chest.
After another minute, my sobs started to subside, and when I glanced up at him, he gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be okay, Rose.”
Was it?
He started to get out, and panic filled me again. I needed to get ahold of myself. I’d been through worse than this, right?
But something in me felt broken, and I didn’t think I could do this alone.
“Joe.”
He turned back to face me, worry in his eyes.
“Don’t leave me,” I pleaded, hating myself for being weak. “Please.”
The worry on his face deepened, and he got back inside, telling one of the paramedics to bring Deputy Morgan over so Joe could brief him and have him take over.
He sat next to me and pulled me as close as possible. He kissed my temple and stroked my hair as I cried again, and when I settled down, he held me for another minute before he said, “You’re scarin’ me, Rose. What happened?”
I turned to look up at him. “Have they found my phone yet?”
“Not yet. But if it’s out there, they will.”
If it’s out there. And suddenly I knew why my world felt tilted, the pieces of my last moments of consciousness coming back. My phone wasn’t out there. Denny Carmichael had picked it up to hide the evidence.
The two Sugar Branch police officers had killed Emmitt Lincoln. Why? For his money? James had found out that Carmichael had brought me to his property looking for his missing money, then sent Denny Carmichael to kill them instead of coming himself. How long had he known that they were involved in Lincoln’s murder? Or Sarah’s for that matter?
I couldn’t trust him, despite everything we’d shared. It was one betrayal too many.
I took a deep, heartening breath, already feeling more like myself. “I’m ready to give my statement now.”
Joe noticed my abrupt change and said, “Maybe we should get you checked out first.”
I shook my head, pain shooting through my neck. “I want to give it once, and that’s it. Then I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
The paramedics found a deputy to take my statement, and Joe sat next to me as I told them everything, leaving out only two things—the fact that the officers clearly answered to someone outside of the law and any mention of Denny Carmichael, including the fact that he’d shown up at the scene. I said one of the men had strangled me until shots rang out and I lost consciousness.
When I finished, my voice was so hoarse that Joe insisted that I go to the ER to have my neck examined. Joe never left my side. Once there, the medics insisted that I take my shirt off and put on a gown. I wasn’t sad to see the shirt go since the side was now stiff with dried blood, but I noticed Joe’s gaze lingering on my back, and I realized he was looking at the marks James had left earlier.
I was discharged a few hours later, sent home in a spare T-shirt Joe had in the trunk of his car. They’d given me a prescription for pain medication I had no intention of taking, plus instructions to eat soft foods until it no longer hurt to swallow.
It was three in the morning before Joe pulled up to my farmhouse, and the house was dark except for the lamp we always left on in the living room. Joe got out of his car and walked around to help me out. “You don’t have to help me out, Joe.”
“I’m moving in tonight, Rose.”
I stared up at him in shock. “What about Dena? She probably wants you to get back to…”
Home? Her place?
His eyes shuttered. “Dena and I are done.”
And I was to blame. More guilt roiled in my gut. Hadn’t I known my request would hurt his relationship with Dena? And yet I’d asked him anyway. “Joe. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not.”
The certainty in his voice helped ease my guilt. I gave him a teasing grin. “You were too good for her.”
He chuckled. “I’m not so sure about that, but it was the right thing to do. Neely Kate was right. She’s too much like Hilary.”
“Wait for the right woman,” I said. “You deserve that.”
He gave me a warm smile. “Good advice.” Then his smile faded. “Where does Malcolm fit into all of this?”
Sighing, I walked over to the steps and sat down.
Joe sat beside me and waited.
I thought about what Denny Carmichael had told me—that James and I both owed him—and the implications. Fear seized me as I realized I’d told Mason to investigate the Sugar Branch police. “He doesn’t fit into this at all.”
“He had no part of tonight? He didn’t shoot those two officers?”
“I can most certainly assure you that he did not kill those men.”
“Off the record, do you know who did?”
I leaned my temple into his shoulder. “I think I’ll go to bed. I’m supposed to be at Vi’s house at nine.”
“You’re still helpin’ her move in tomorrow?”
I sat up and stared at him. “You don’t think she should move in now?”
“No, I think you should take it easy tomorrow. Let me move her in.”
“You can help if you want, but I’m moving my sister home.”
He gave me a sad smile. “We’ll do it together.”
The next evening, I sat in one of the wicker chairs on my front porch. Violet sat beside me wearing a contented smile as she sipped a glass of tea and watched Ashley and Mikey play in the front yard with Muffy and Carly. My brother-in-law had taken the news that she was moving out better than we’d expected, which I found surprising since he’d been so adamant that I stay away from the kids, but I wasn’t about to question it. Not yet.
Carly was throwing tennis balls for Muffy to chase while simultaneously kicking soccer balls to the kids, which Muffy chased too. Neely Kate and Jed had eaten dinner with us but were planning to leave for Jed’s house soon. She seemed hesitant to leave me after my traumatic night, but I thought there might be more to it than that. We’d lived together for six months and now that was all changing.
A car pulle
d down the drive, and I tensed until I saw that it was Joe. He parked on the side of the house, then got out, carrying an overstuffed duffel bag.
Carly glanced over at him, looking less nervous than she had when I’d introduced her to him in the morning. He hadn’t recognized her, and he didn’t seem threatening, both of which seemed to have set her at ease.
“Looks like I missed supper,” he said with a grin as the kids rushed for him.
“Uncle Joe!”
They threw their arms around his legs and he dropped his bag and picked them both up in his arms and spun in a circle. Giggles erupted and they begged him for more, but he put them down and said they’d play later.
“We’re havin’ a sleepover, Uncle Joe,” Ashley said. “Aunt Rose says Muffy can sleep with me and Mikey.”
Mikey squinted at Joe’s bag. “What’s in there, Uncle Joe?”
“That’s my stuff. I’m havin’ a sleepover too.”
“Yay!” they shouted, and Ashley smiled from ear to ear. “Are you sleepin’ with Aunt Rose like you used to?”
He laughed. “Nope. I get my own bed this time… or more like the sofa.”
I stood and moved toward the front door. “We saved you some food. I’ll go heat it up.”
“I’ll come with you.”
We went into the kitchen, and I pulled the container of leftovers from the fridge. “Have you heard if the DA is going to file charges against me?”
He pulled a plate out of the cabinet. “No one doubts your story, so I wouldn’t worry about it, but there’s a chance Mason’s gonna call you to testify in front of a grand jury about the Sugar Branch officers in a few weeks.”
A cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
“It’ll be fine, Rose.”
I nodded, hoping he was right.
Joe lowered his voice. “I didn’t want to bring this up in front of everyone else, especially the kids.”
I gave him my full attention.
“We found Sarah’s body this afternoon at a junkyard west of town. She was in the trunk of her car, and she’d been shot. Just like you said. They’ll check to see if the ballistics match the officers guns.”
A lump filled my throat. We’d been working under the assumption that she was dead for a while now. Maybe I should be happy her mother would have closure, but I hated to think about what that monster had done to her. “Emmitt Lincoln?”
“Not yet. They’re still lookin’.”
“And my phone?”
“No sign of it.”
I nodded. “I hadn’t expected it to be found, but I wanted to ask one last time. I’ll get a new one tomorrow.”
The next morning, I got a new phone as soon as the store opened. The first thing I did was check my messages, looking for a message from one person in particular, but nothing popped up. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. He’d abandoned me. He’d made his choice. So why was I so desperate to hear from him?
I was a fool.
Yet I had to admit it didn’t add up. Why hadn’t he come?
I finished in time to make it to my consultation appointment at ten. I’d wrapped a scarf around my neck to avoid questions, and my voice was better if still slightly raspy. When I was on my way back to the office, a message popped up on my screen.
I need to see you.
I didn’t respond. As soon as I walked into the office, Neely Kate instantly knew something was wrong, not that I was surprised. She’d been babying me like a mother hen since she’d woken up the day before and found out my night with James hadn’t gone as planned. (She’d slept through my text.) Not that she knew about the argument that had sent me running home. I’d just told her we’d argued and I’d left, and she hadn’t pressed for details. There’d been plenty of other revelations to capture her attention.
But I had told her and Jed the entire version of events of everything that had gone down outside Tiggy’s. Jed hadn’t known about any connection between James and the Sugar Branch Police Department, and he was about ready to hunt James down and rip his head off for not showing up to save me when he’d told me he was on his way. Then there was the fact that he hadn’t reached out to any of us… Well, Jed had half a mind to disown him.
As I sat down in my office chair and told Neely Kate about his text, her upper lip curled in disgust. “You don’t owe that man a blessed thing. He made his bed, now he can lie in it.”
I was inclined to agree, but in the end, I knew I couldn’t tell him no, if for no other reason than that I wanted to see what he had to say for himself.
I texted him back. I’m free this afternoon at four.
He answered immediately. At our spot.
Our spot. Behind Sinclair station.
I was a nervous wreck until it was time to go. Neely Kate had agreed to pick up Carly since Jed and Witt had hit a snag getting the parts to finish her car, and Violet was picking up the kids, then heading home.
At three forty-five, I took a deep breath, grabbed my purse, then headed for the door.
“Rose,” Neely Kate called after me.
I stopped in the doorway, feeling very much like I was about to attend a funeral.
“You’re surrounded by people who love you. Never forget that.”
I wasn’t sure how that applied to the situation I was about to walk into, but I appreciated hearing it just the same. “Thank you.”
By the time I pulled up behind the Sinclair station, I’d forced myself to calm down. I knew how this needed to end—it was the beginning and middle of the conversation that concerned me.
He was waiting for me, leaning his butt on the hood of his car with his arms folded across his chest. He stood when he saw me, and as soon as I parked, he came over and opened my door.
When he reached down to grab my arm to help me out, I pushed his hand away. “I’m here to talk. Let’s make that clear right now.”
Nodding, he moved to the back of my truck and lowered the tailgate, then sat on the end, looking very much like a schoolboy waiting to see the principal. Only we weren’t children, and he was playing a deadly game that had nearly gotten me killed… and might have been responsible for Emmitt and Sarah’s deaths too.
I considered sitting next to him, but I didn’t trust myself and I needed answers too badly.
“I don’t know where to start,” I said, standing several feet in front of him and wrapping my arms over my chest.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his flask, unscrewed the top, and took a long pull. Then he waited.
“You have nothing to say for yourself?” I asked.
He looked up at me with eyes full of regret and self-revulsion.
“When I heard that Sugar Branch had received a grant from someone with money to fund a police department, I just presumed it was Denny Carmichael.” I held his gaze. “But it was you all along, wasn’t it?”
He gave me a half-smile. “You were always too smart for your own good.” Then he took another drink.
Tears flooded my eyes. “Why, James?”
He lifted his shoulder into a shrug and didn’t answer.
“What are you doin’ that you need a police force in your pocket?”
His eyes hardened. “Nothing that you need to know about.”
“I almost died, James! Those men nearly killed me!”
He lifted his chin and gave me a defiant look. “But they didn’t.” He gestured toward me. “You’re standing in front of me right now.”
My mouth dropped open at his cavalier attitude. “What happened to I’ll die before I let anything happen to you? What happened to the man who, minutes before I was attacked, was ready to go hunt Denny Carmichael down for merely insulting me? One of those men nearly strangled me, but only after the first one almost raped me in the back of his police car! Where the hell were you?”
For the first time since I got there, he finally showed emotion—a flash of anger. “I made sure you were saved. What more do you want from me, woman?”
I gasped a
nd I could see a flash of pain in his eyes. He’d never spoken to me disrespectfully like this before, not since the very beginning of Lady.
“What are you doin’?” I whispered in horror.
“I’m sittin’ here lettin’ you give me an ass whoopin’,” he spat out, his face red with anger.
“An ass whoopin’?” I shouted. “Are you kiddin’ me?” I took a breath. Never had I ever seen him act like this. I stepped toward him, searching his face as I pleaded, “James. Please. Talk to me.”
“What do you want me to say, Rose? That I’m a worthless asshole who is incapable of loving anyone but himself? Because that’s the truth, isn’t it?”
I thought about the man I’d come to know. “No. That’s not true.”
“I told you from the beginnin’ that you shouldn’t get involved with me. I warned you that I don’t do relationships!”
“Oh?” I said, holding my hands out at my sides. “We’re moving on to the argument that sent me home that night?”
“No, we’re not rehashin’ that. I’ve decided this is too much trouble and we’re done.”
Tears stung my eyes. I wasn’t buying it. Not for one minute. “You’re lyin’.” I took a breath and tried again, “Why did you pay for a Sugar Branch police department?”
He started to say something flippant, then stopped. His eyes turned glassy. “Everything I do now, I do for you.”
I shook my head, completely confused. “What are you talkin’ about?”
He swallowed hard but didn’t answer.
I gently grabbed his face between my hands and made him look me in the eye. “Why didn’t you come save me?”
His mouth parted as he started to answer. I could tell he was working on some glib answer. Then he said, “I wanted to, Rose, I swear to God, but I couldn’t.”
I started to light into him at that, but his words echoed in my ears, reminding me of something Joe said to me a year ago. I’d been in the thick of the Daniel Crocker mess, and he’d told me he couldn’t help me save myself. Later I’d found out he was working undercover for the state police and helping me would have blown his cover.
Up Shute Creek: Rose Gardner Investigation #4 Page 35