“And Neely Kate?”
“Will not be present.” The tension in his voice told me that he was worried. I was worried too. The meeting was supposed to start in fifteen minutes, and neither one of us had heard a word from Jed or Neely Kate.
“We’ll wait until they arrive, and then you and I will come in. Jed will greet them if he’s back; if not, Merv will do it.”
James had sent one of his men to check on Jed and Neely Kate, who weren’t picking up their phones. “Have you heard from the guy you sent to the Dyers’?”
He shot me a look. “You’ve been with me every second since you walked down your stairs. When would I have heard?”
“I don’t know. I’m just worried.”
“Jed knows how to take care of himself. I’m more worried about him getting back with the necklace in time. You’re certain Mable Dyer had it.”
“Neely Kate was positive.”
“I’m asking you.”
“Ninety-five percent.”
He took my hand. “Have a vision. See if Jed gets here in time with the necklace.” We had reached the table, and he guided me down into a chair. Then he knelt on one knee in front of me, still holding my hand.
I almost jokingly asked him if he was about to propose, but the worry that he’d take me half seriously stopped me—not that I could imagine him ever doing such a thing. One more dose of reality I didn’t have time to deal with.
I was lost in thought long enough for James to prod, “Go ahead.”
Closing my eyes, I squeezed his hand, focusing on the meeting itself. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
The vision was slow to come, and even then, it wasn’t like a normal vision. Everything was in slow motion and deeper than usual. I sat at this table, facing Buck and Kip. Two men stood behind them. I was seeing this vision as James, and I recognized all the men. I was categorizing their threat level as my gaze wandered. Tim Dermot stood behind Buck. He was always slow to draw and prone to thinking before he acted; threat level five out of ten.
Hugh Wagner was a surprise. He hated violence and barely tolerated fencing stolen goods at the pawn shop. It was a mystery why he’d come. I ranked him at a three.
Kip Wagner looked like he was about to shit himself from either excitement or fear, probably both. He’d waited years to be taken seriously, and after the shit he’d pulled over the last three months, he was finally getting his chance. He wouldn’t screw that up. Six.
But Buck Reynolds was a different story.
The way he studied Rose told me that she was the only reason he’d accepted this parley. Possessiveness washed through me, making my gut clench. My feelings for her confused the hell out of me, or more accurately, I was confused by my inability to shut them down. I’d become adept at avoiding attachments to anyone other than Jed and Scooter, but somehow she’d wriggled in. And I was paying the price.
Reynolds had figured it out, and now he was curious, not that I was surprised, especially since he knew she’d worked with me last winter. Rose had no idea how much of a legend she’d become, and I’d tried to keep it that way. The way the Lady in Black had disappeared, along with her mysterious hat and veil, had only fanned the rumors about her. The mystery. The ambition in Reynolds’ eyes as he studied her told me that he not only wanted my position—he wanted everything he thought I possessed, including the Lady in Black.
My vision turned red with rage, and my hand itched to reach for my gun. Over my cold, dead body.
The vision ended, and I was staring into James’ face, feeling queasy and lightheaded. “Reynolds wants everything you own,” I said in a rush.
James’ expression didn’t change. “Your fingers are like ice. What happened?”
“This vision was different.”
“How so?”
I shook my head, but the movement made me dizzy and I grabbed the table.
“What happened?”
“Usually when I’m in a person’s head, I can get some thoughts, but mostly I sense their emotions. This time I knew exactly what you were thinking.”
The look on his face told me he wasn’t too happy about that. “What did you see?”
“Everything was in slow motion from the beginning. You were sitting at this table.”
“Were you and Jed with me?”
“You never looked to the side for me to know. I know I was there because you didn’t like the way Buck was looking at me.”
His face remained a blank slate, but I heard a hitch in his voice when he asked, “Did we have the necklace?”
“I don’t know. You never thought of it, and I didn’t see it. But you were totally focused on the men who were present. You were ranking their threat level.”
“Who was there?”
“Tim Dermot was with Buck, and Hugh Wagner was with Kip.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Why didn’t you tell me that the Lady in Black legend wasn’t dying down?”
He stood and looked frustrated. “Because I’ve been trying my damnedest to keep you as far away from this world as possible. The less you knew, the better.”
“Five minutes,” Brett, James’ man, called out from the front door.
James reached for my hand and pulled me to my feet. “We have to go out back.”
“I need to have another vision. I thought if I forced a vision of the meeting, I’d know if Jed showed up with the necklace. So now I need to have one focused on the necklace.”
He started leading me to the back door. “No. I don’t want to risk it. If your visions are changing, we need to be careful until we figure out what’s going on.”
“Who said my visions are changing?”
“You had the crossed visions at the pawn shop. Now this.”
I stopped. “Why wouldn’t you really let me have a vision of Raddy?”
Frustration filled his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Do you know what I respect about you, James Malcolm?” I asked. “You’re the only man in my life who doesn’t baby me, so I’m not buying this ‘I’m protecting you’ bullcrap. Please give me the respect I deserve and quit lying to me. Why wouldn’t you let me have a vision of Raddy Dyer?”
His gaze held mine. He looked guarded as he said, “I was worried about what you’d see if you had one.”
“So you were plannin’ to kill him after all?” I asked in a small voice.
“No.”
What else would he not want me to know about? Then it hit me. How had I been so stupid? “You wanted the necklace too.”
He didn’t deny it.
“So when you were questioning Raddy in the barn, you were trying to get information from him. You planned to get it for yourself.”
He reached a hand toward my arm. “Rose . . .”
My anger rose up like an erupting volcano, and I batted him away. “Did you get a good laugh out of me and Neely Kate chasin’ our tails?”
His face hardened. “You were never chasing your tails. And you don’t know me at all if you believe that.”
“But you were sure usin’ the leads I was finding.”
He didn’t deny that either.
“Did Jed have one of your men question Leah Dyer at One Eyed Joes yesterday afternoon?”
More silence.
“And Jed is there with Neely Kate right now because he plans to take possession of that stupid necklace himself. For you. Are you even gonna give it back to Buck?”
His eyes filled with anger. “This is my world, Rose Gardner. You have no right to show up and make demands. I’m the king of this county. I’ll do as I damn well please!”
“Then what in Sam Hill am I doin’ here? Are you even interested in a truce?” Then it hit me. “You’re not here for a truce at all. I’m just the bait. You want to force their surrender.”
“Is that so damned wrong? They threatened you.”
I took two steps away from him. “You’re using me.”
“How is th
is any different than what you did for me last winter?”
“You forced me into it last winter.”
“Not at the end,” he said in a low voice that rumbled through his chest.
“Because we became friends. We were partners. I thought we were partners in this too.” I sucked in a deep breath to regain control. “You should have told me what you had planned.”
“You never would have gone through with it.”
I released a short laugh. “I might have. If you’d discussed it with me.”
The front door opened and Brett leaned inside. “They’re pullin’ up now.”
“Still no sign of Jed?” James called out.
“No.”
“Hold them off for a few goddamned minutes!” he shouted. When the door shut, he turned to me. His face was a blank slate, cold and impersonal. “I can force you to do this.”
I held his gaze. “I dare you to freaking try.”
His eyes darkened.
I could do this his way, but it didn’t sit well. At all.
But I couldn’t leave either. I had a reputation to maintain. I had created the Lady in Black. James Malcolm may have forced my hand and given me the name, but I’d made her into what she’d become. I could use her to avert a disaster, whether James liked it or not. And if there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that this county couldn’t handle another war.
I lifted my chin and gave him a hard look. “We’ll have this meeting, but I called it. Not you. It’s my meeting, and I’ll run it as I see fit.”
He moved closer and towered over me. “Like hell you will.”
“How do you propose to stop me?”
The back door banged open, but I didn’t dare look to see who’d entered. I was in a staring contest with the crime lord of Fenton County, and I’d be damned if I would cave first.
James cursed a blue streak as he turned to face the back door. “Where’s Jed?”
“I’m sure he’ll be comin’ along shortly,” Neely Kate called out. The tight edge in her voice caught my attention. She was a muddy mess, and her hair was drenched. She was wearing a jacket that looked like it belonged to Jed.
“What happened?” I asked in shock, taking several steps away from James.
“It’s a long story,” she said as she marched toward me.
“Do you have it?” he asked.
“Oh, I have it all right,” Neely Kate said, then gave James a dirty look. “And no. You won’t be gettin’ your grimy hands on it.” She turned to me. “Rose, I was right. He wants it for himself.”
“Funny, James and I were just havin’ that very conversation. But I don’t give two figs what he wants right now.” I shot him a dark glare. “I’m here as a mediator, and this parley’s takin’ place because you gave your damn word, Skeeter Malcolm!” I pointed my finger at him to prove my point.
“And I told you that my word doesn’t mean shit.”
“That’s bullcrap if I ever heard it.” I marched over to him. “Lift your arms.”
He gave me a semi-amused look.
“Lift your damn arms!”
He lifted them from his side, and I ran my hands down his side and his back, finding a gun tucked in his jeans.
“If you’d wanted to feel me up, you should have told me in your bedroom,” he said in a voice I wasn’t used to hearing. Dirty and coarse.
I knew what he was doing, and it wasn’t going to work. I knew he didn’t see me the same way he saw the women he slept with. Even if his actions hadn’t convinced me, that vision had. “Stop that right now,” I said as I handed the gun to Neely Kate. I crouched and felt his legs, finding another gun in one of his boots and a knife in the other.
“I can’t protect you if you take all my weapons.” The edge in his voice told me there was some truth in his words. The vision backed it up. But we weren’t doing this his way. We were doing it mine.
I stood and lifted my chin, holding his gaze. “Then we better hope your men do a much better job of searching Buck’s men than they did with you.”
His anger was back, but the front door opened, and Brett stuck his head in. “They won’t wait any longer.”
“Send them in, Brett,” I said as I turned to James, giving him a defiant look. “We’re ready to begin.”
Chapter 31
I walked over and grabbed the back of one of the chairs on his side and positioned it between the two tables.
James looked like he wanted to wring my neck.
Let him try.
The door opened, and Buck burst through, with Kip following behind. The glare on Kip’s face told me he was furious. There was already turmoil between the partners. I could use that to my advantage. Hugh and the other man from my vision trailed them.
“I don’t like to be kept waiting, Malcolm,” Buck said as he strutted toward the table, looking like he wanted to wrestle a bear.
“It was me who kept you waiting,” I said, standing at the end of the table.
A lusty grin spread across Buck’s face. “Darlin’, you clean up nice. If you needed a few extra minutes to slip into that dress, I’ll be more than happy to give them to you if you’d let me help you out of it.”
The dress James had chosen had a deep, plunging neckline, and the lacy push-up bra was doing its job. Maybe a little too well.
Neely Kate marched right over to him and grabbed his crotch. “Apologize to Lady.”
His eyes bulged and he reached for her neck, but I lifted the hem of my dress and pulled my gun out of the leg holster Jed had given me last winter. I aimed it right at his head. “I think it’s the perfect time to set a few ground rules.”
Neely Kate released her hold and stepped back as Buck bent over coughing and groaning.
Kip turned to James and demanded, “Why does she get a gun?”
“This is her damn meeting,” James grumbled. “Her rules.”
“If she’s your woman, then she’ll do as you say.”
“Let’s get this perfectly straight,” I said, walking between the tables. “I am no one’s woman. I am no one’s property or possession. I am my own person, and I don’t follow anyone’s orders, including Skeeter Malcolm’s.” I stared Kip in the eye. “Have I made myself clear?”
“But Malcolm—”
“Is here because I insisted. I assure you, he’s just as unhappy about this as you are.”
The back door opened, and Kip and Buck jumped.
A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed my suspicion. “Glad you could join us, Jed,” I said. “Neely Kate’s going to check you for weapons.”
“What the hell?” he muttered.
“Do it,” James barked, and when he looked at me, the pride in his eyes made my heart skip a beat.
You are not affected by that man. He was going to use you.
Too bad my heart wasn’t listening.
Lordy, I really was a fool.
Neely Kate patted him down and removed two guns and two knives, setting them on the chair I’d dragged over.
“Gentlemen, take a seat.”
They all sat, although there were some grumblings, especially from Buck, but I wondered if some of his grumbles were a lingering effect of Neely Kate’s punishing grip.
“Okay,” I said, lowering the gun to my side. “Now that we’re all here, let’s set the rules. Rule number one: You will treat me with respect. You will get one warning, and then if there’s another instance, you will be removed from the meeting. Rule number two: in this room, tonight, you will treat each other with respect. You will not shout over each other. You will listen to what the other side has to say. You will be offered the chance for rebuttal.”
“What the hell is this? A damned presidential debate?” Buck demanded, finally able to speak. “I’m here for my damned necklace.”
“And you’ll get it when we’re done.”
“How do I know you even have it?”
“Neely Kate?”
She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out
the gaudiest necklace I’d ever seen. “This proof enough?” she asked.
Buck reached for it. “Give me that.”
I pointed the gun at him again as she tucked it back into her pocket. “Like I said, you’ll get it when we’re done.”
The look in James’ eyes told me there was gonna be a skirmish over it. Had I been foolish to try this? Maybe so, but I had to give it a shot.
“I thought this was a damn parley,” Buck muttered. “What the hell are you doin’ with a gun?” He’d probably been chewing on that since Neely Kate had quieted him.
“How many weapons did Skeeter’s man pull off you when you came in?” When he didn’t answer, I lifted my eyebrows. “Well, there you go. I have a gun because I’m the mediator and it’s my job to make sure none of you kill each other. We’ll stay here as long as it takes to come to a resolution that keeps peace in this county.”
“I only agreed to an hour.”
“Well, then maybe you should start first,” I said, “because, as I said, no one’s leaving until you reach a resolution.” I decided to start with the lesser of the evils. “Kip. What’s your beef with Skeeter Malcolm?”
He started gabbing about how he wanted to expand his business to include prostitution, and while I had to bite my tongue—and reprimand James several times for interrupting—I let the man have his say.
I swiveled to face James. “Your turn.”
James told Kip he’d put a ban on prostitution after the deaths of two prostitutes in March. While they’d died of drug overdoses, he suspected their pimp was the one who’d provided them with lethal doses.
I’d been oblivious to it all. He hadn’t shared a word of it with me during our weekly meetings, and while I was fit to be tied, he’d been dishonest with me, my respect for his rule over the county increased.
“Any time the law’s looking into an illegal venture,” James said, “it puts anyone associated with the person being investigated at risk. But more importantly, most pimps are selfish pricks who treat women as property. I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior in this county.”
“How’s it any different than you havin’ the Bunny Ranch?” Buck asked with a sneer. “I see. It’s a case of do as I say, not as I do.”
Family Jewels: Rose Gardner Investigations #1 Page 30