“You haven’t happened to come across the necklace we were looking for, have you?” I asked. It was a long shot, but it was worth asking. For all we knew, Kip kept him in the dark.
His humorless laugh proved me wrong. “If I did, don’t you think I’d have given it to Buck already? He’d rip me a new one if I found that damn thing and didn’t return it to him.” Then he hastily added, “Excuse my language.”
We needed to assume he knew everything.
Neely Kate lifted her eyebrows. I wondered if she was thinking what I was thinking: Hugh sounded scared of Buck and more than a little bitter.
“Hugh,” I said, my voice sounding more resolved than I felt. “We need your help.”
“What do you need help with?”
I took a breath. “You know that Raddy’s dead—Buck told me this afternoon that he was the one who killed him—but Buck still expects Neely Kate and me to find the necklace for him. If we don’t turn it over by eight tonight, we’re in big trouble.”
“I haven’t seen it. I swear.”
“We believe you. But we have no idea what to do. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Me?” he screeched. “How would I know?”
“You don’t have any idea who might have it?” I asked.
“If I did, I’d have already given the info to Kip and Buck. They’re countin’ on the money to . . .” His voice trailed off. “You say you don’t work for Malcolm, but I know you’re helpin’ him. You’re finding the necklace for him.”
I leaned my head back and stifled a groan. “Believe it or not, Hugh, all I want to do is give it back to Buck. This county can’t handle another war.”
Hugh was silent long enough that I looked down at my phone in Neely Kate’s hand to see if he’d ended the call. But maybe his silence confirmed what I’d sensed in my vision. “Hugh, I think you can help stop this.”
“Me?”
“Do you know Buck Reynolds at all? Is he a fair man? Will he listen to reason?”
“Buck Reynolds is nothing but trouble,” he said in a sneer. “Kip has always skirted the line, but he was never this ambitious before he became friends with Buck this past winter.”
“So are Buck and Kip equals?”
“They say they are, but I think Buck’s planning to take charge. Right now Kip’s providing the funds for their takeover, but once Buck gets that necklace, he’ll have more capital . . . and more say.”
Potential power grab within a power grab. That was good to know.
Neely Kate leaned closer to the phone. “Maybe Kip has the necklace. Surely he’s not gonna just sit back and let Buck take over.”
“Buck’s got him hoodwinked good. When I tried to warn Kip, he told me I was too stupid to understand syndicate politics.” Hugh’s voice was tight. “The damn fool thinks Buck’s loyal and they’re equals. But he’s wrong. There’s something in Buck’s eyes. He’s gonna pull a fast one on my brother. All he needs is the necklace to do it.”
“Are you hiding the necklace?” Neely Kate asked softly.
He paused. “I swear on my momma’s grave that I’ve never laid eyes on it.” He paused again. “But I sure wouldn’t give it to you either. If Malcolm gets that necklace . . .”
I ignored his intimation that James wanted the necklace. “So the whole takeover is hinged on getting that necklace back?”
“Hell, no,” he said in disgust. “They’re goin’ through with it no matter what. They’ll do away with Malcolm and his top men. Then Kip and Buck will have their own takeover war between themselves. Things are only gonna get uglier.”
I suspected he was right. “Do you know what they’re planning with Skeeter Malcolm?”
He was silent for several beats. “I think I’ve said too much already.”
“Hugh, please,” I pleaded. “I know you don’t want Kip to get hurt, but if they follow through with this takeover, you know people are gonna die. Kip might be one of them.”
“I don’t know what they’re doin’. Kip won’t tell me. I was pretty sure they had something planned for next week, but I think they might have moved it to tonight.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Are you sure it’s tonight?”
“Yeah. Positive. I heard Kip talking to Buck earlier today about some plan to get it from Malcolm. He said they’d have just cause to force a takeover either way.”
I shot a worried glance to Neely Kate. We were part of that plan. Even if we showed up with the necklace, they’d assume we’d gotten it from James. We were damned either way.
I decided to take a chance. “I’m trying to figure out a way to make sure everyone’s happy and no one dies,” I said. “Buck seems unlikely to negotiate, but what about Kip? What does he ultimately want?”
Hugh didn’t answer.
“What does he see in Buck?” Neely Kate asked. “Why did Kip get in cahoots with him?”
“Because he’s ruthless. Buck’s willing to burn it all down to get what he wants.” He paused. “But I think what Kip likes best is that he’s getting respect from people with power. He was always a minor player. Now he’s aiming to be king.”
And it all hinged on killing James.
I swallowed my fear. It wouldn’t help me accomplish anything. “Thanks for your help, Hugh,” I said. “If you think of anything else, will you give us a call?”
“Sorry. My part is done.” Then he hung up.
Neely Kate and I sat in silence for several seconds. “What do we do now?” I asked, wondering if this was hopeless. Could the two of us really stop a war?
“I think we should try to talk to Leah,” Neely Kate said. “What do we have to lose?”
“Does it even matter?” I asked. “Buck thinks James has it. Even if we bring it to him, he’ll think James had it all along. That he was playing him.”
“But at least we’ll have it. I say we keep trying.”
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re right.”
Neely Kate’s phone rang, and she grimaced when she looked at the screen. “Hey, Joe,” she said, picking up the call. “Are you back in town?” She paused and listened for several seconds before she said, “Now’s not a good time. Can you come over later?” She glanced at me. “Okay. Give me a call before you come.” She gave me a grave look as she hung up. “Joe’s back in town, and he wants to talk.”
How had I forgotten about Joe?
“Did he say what he wanted to talk about?” I asked carefully, trying to hide my anxiety. I could only think of one reason why Joe would insist on talking to Neely Kate as soon as possible, and while I wanted to know what he’d discovered in New Orleans, I could only handle one crisis at a time.
She shook her head. “No, he was totally evasive, but he said we needed to stay home tonight and he’ll be over later to talk to me.”
I wondered if we should tell Joe what was going on. Would I prevent more bloodshed, or be the cause of it? It was more likely to stir things up even more and potentially add to the evidence that James was weak. Besides, Neely Kate couldn’t handle losing Joe, and he’d definitely be in the thick of it.
No Joe.
“Let’s find Leah.”
Neely Kate made a few phone calls to find out where Leah was living now. I almost teased her about not knowing off the top of her head, but I was too nervous.
Several cars were parked in front of Leah’s, and when we knocked on the front door, a young woman opened it. “We don’t need any Avon or Mary Kay, or whatever the hell it is you’re selling.”
Neely Kate’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What on earth makes you think we’re selling makeup?”
She pointed from Neely Kate to me. “You’re like before and after pics, right? You’re the pretty one, and she’s the one who gets the makeover.”
I gasped.
“What?” Neely Kate screeched. “No! We’re here to see Leah.”
“Leah?”
“Leah Dyer. Is she here?”
“Hold on.” Then she shut the door in our faces.
Nearly a full minute passed, and I was about to knock again when Leah opened the door.
The look she gave us suggested we were as welcome as rotten eggs. “You got a hell of a lot of nerve showing up here, Neely Kate Colson. What do you want?”
“We want to ask you about the necklace.”
“What necklace?”
“The one Raddy hired us to find,” Neely Kate said.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know nothing about it.”
“Did you see it in your mother’s drawer?” Neely Kate asked.
“I never saw nothin’.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“I’m gonna tell you the same damn thing I told my father and that guy who showed up at One Eyed Joes yesterday asking questions. I don’t know where it is.”
My mouth gaped open before I came to my senses and asked, “A man asked you questions at One Eyed Joes?”
“Yeah, right after you left, and I’m gonna tell you the same damn thing I told him—go to hell.” Then she slammed the door in our faces.
Neely Kate gave me a fierce look. “I can make her tell us more.”
I frowned. “You need to work on some of your people skills. No. She’s not going to tell us anything. What I really want to know is who approached her, and I suspect she doesn’t know. She called him ‘that guy.’ If she knew him, she’d have used his name, and we don’t know Buck’s guys well enough to recognize them by description.”
“Unless it was one of Skeeter’s guys.”
I shot her a glare, and she gave me a half shrug.
“Now what?” she asked. “We’re back to square one.”
It sure felt like it. “Let’s go to the office and see if we can come up with something.”
It seemed unlikely at best, but I didn’t have a better idea. I only hoped Jed wasn’t there, although at this point, it might not matter.
We were silent the entire way there. It was close to six when I drove around the now-quiet square to make sure Jed wasn’t watching before I parked in front of the office. Even if Jed drove by, he wouldn’t recognize the car and put it together that we were in the office.
I put the key in the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. “We locked up this morning, didn’t we?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Neely Kate said. “I did. Maybe it’s Marci again.” But she looked as queasy as I felt.
Just to be safe, I pulled my pepper spray out of my purse as we walked into the office, which was completely undisturbed.
“Maybe we just thought we locked up,” I said, not quite believing it.
“Or Jed came in lookin’ for us,” Neely Kate said. “And he forgot to lock up.”
That seemed even less likely.
I set my purse on my desk and was so engrossed in checking the back door, I wasn’t prepared for the man standing behind the screen I’d set up for Jed earlier that day. And I definitely wasn’t prepared for the gun in his hand. But I shouldn’t have been surprised at the face.
“Rose Gardner,” Homer Dyer snarled. “You owe me a necklace.”
Chapter 28
Well, crap. We didn’t have time for this.
“Homer,” I said, closing my hand around my can of pepper spray. I tried to sound nonchalant. “Hey.”
He took a step toward me. “Don’t hey me. I want my necklace.”
Had he seen Neely Kate? Maybe she could escape. But he stepped around the screen and pointed the gun at her. He’d caught her with her hand in her purse.
“Take your hand out of the purse—slowly.”
She stared at me with fear in her eyes.
We really were in trouble.
Neely Kate did as he said, putting her hands in the air. “What do you want, Homer?”
“You damn well know what I want, and now I’m good and pissed that you stood me up. Hand over the necklace.”
“We don’t have it,” Neely Kate said.
“Bullshit. You told me you were gonna give it to me.”
“We thought we’d found it,” I said. “But we were wrong.”
He pointed the gun at me. “I don’t believe you.” He motioned to the chairs at the table behind the screen. “Both of you sit down.”
Neely Kate looked at me, and I gave a slight nod.
Homer hadn’t noticed the pepper spray in my hand. We could still get out of this.
We both sat in chairs, and he angled the screen to hide us from any passersby on the street. When he was certain we were on our chairs, he walked over to my purse and started digging around.
“Somebody’s a bad girl,” he said, pulling out my gun and holding it up for me to see.
Oh my word. Was he going to shoot us with my own gun?
I pushed out a breath of relief when he set it on the desk, then pulled out my Taser. “A very bad girl.” He dumped the contents of my purse onto the table, scowling down at it. “Where’s the necklace?”
We kept quiet and he moved on to Neely Kate’s purse, pulling out her gun, Taser, pepper spray, handcuffs, her pink sparkly notebook, and nunchucks before dumping her bag onto the table. Several tubes of lipstick rolled off the desk and onto the floor.
Homer stomped over toward us. “Where is it?”
“We don’t know,” I said. “We thought we’d—”
My words were cut off when he slapped me across the face.
“Now I ain’t messin’ around. The last woman who lied to me ain’t around to tell no tales,” Homer said with an evil glint in his eyes. “So let’s try this again.”
“Rayna?” I choked out in shock. “You killed her?”
“It was an accident.” His evil smile returned. “Let’s hope I don’t have another accident while I’m talkin’ to you girls.”
“We hid it,” Neely Kate blurted out.
Homer turned to her with a look of satisfaction. “That’s better. Where?”
“Out at Ted’s Garage.”
“Why’s it out there?”
“It’s where my husband worked,” Neely Kate said. “I know the shop, but no one would think to look for it there. Take me there, and I’ll show you.”
Homer thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “Nope. You tell me where it is, and I’ll go look.”
Neely Kate paused, then said, “In the employee lounge. In the back of the cabinet under the sink.”
“You better not be lyin’ to me,” he warned in a low voice. He moved toward us and picked up a duffel bag I hadn’t noticed before. Fear shot through my veins when he pulled out a roll of duct tape.
“I told you where the necklace is,” Neely Kate said. “Now you need to let us go.”
“Not until I get the necklace. Once I find it, I’ll come back to set you free.” He started taping Neely Kate’s arms behind her back.
This was a disaster.
He soon had our legs duct-taped to the chairs, and our hands wrapped up behind our backs. Surprisingly, he left our mouths untaped. Probably because the downtown square was empty and there was little chance of anyone hearing us. Or maybe he was just too cheap to use any more than necessary.
When he finished, he took his bag and went out the front door, leaving us alone in the now semi-dark room.
“What are we gonna do, Rose? My only thought was to send him as far from the office as possible and hope we either get loose or someone finds us. When he comes back without it, he’s gonna be fit to be tied.”
“I know,” I said. “But you bought us some time. Probably thirty to forty minutes, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. But he taped us up pretty good.”
“I still have the pepper spray in my hand,” I said. “I tried to hide it with my other hand when he taped my wrists. Apparently it worked, but it won’t do us much good in this situation.”
“Maybe not . . .” she said. “Does it still have that key chain attached?”
“Yeah.”
“When you first got it a couple of months ago, the ring had some sharp edges. Do
es it still?”
I ran my thumb over the metal can, trying to find the key chain. Sure enough, I felt its metal edge against my skin. “I know where you’re goin’ with this, but I’m not sure I can maneuver it around to saw through the tape, let alone use it to cut the tape on my wrists.”
“Just try wiggling your hands and wrists to loosen the tape first,” Neely Kate said. “We might not even need the sharp edge.”
We both spent several minutes wiggling the tape, but neither of us made much progress.
“If we were standing, I could break this easy,” Neely Kate said. “I learned how to escape getting tied up when I was a kid.”
I stopped my efforts. “Why were you tied up as a kid?”
She ignored my question. “We need to hurry, Rose. We’ve already lost fifteen or twenty minutes. We can’t be here when he gets back.”
“We can talk while we work on it.”
“No,” she said, her voice tight. “I can’t think about that right now. We need to focus on getting free.”
What on earth had happened to my best friend when she was living with that sorry excuse of a mother? I’d had a heap of my own abuse as a child. The woman who’d raised me used to lock me in the closet whenever I had visions, and sometimes she’d beat me with a wooden spoon, but I was certain Neely Kate’s experiences had been much, much worse.
Within fifteen minutes, I’d gotten my wrists loose enough that I could almost wiggle the hand without the pepper spray through the hole.
“Stop,” Neely Kate whispered. “Listen.”
I paused long enough to hear a car outside the office.
“He’s back,” she said. “Are you free yet?”
“Almost . . .” I said, straining to squeeze my hand through the opening and pull it free. It finally popped loose, and I leaned to the side to try to look around the screen, but I lost balance and my chair fell to the ground sideways.
I hit my head and my shoulder when I landed on the hardwood floor. The impact momentarily dazed me, but then I caught sight of a figure on the sidewalk. The headlights from the still-running car were on, casting the man in a backlight that made it impossible for me to identify him. But it was motivation enough for me to pull my act together and start unwrapping the tape from one of my legs.
Family Jewels: Rose Gardner Investigations #1 Page 28