Come Rain or Shine: Rose Gardner Investigations #5 (Rose Gardner Investigatons)

by Denise Grover Swank

  “Tabby?” His gaze shot up to the starry sky, then narrowed back on me. “That’s why you’re here? You’re jealous?”

  “No, you moron! I’m here because I’ve got something important to tell you and you changed your number, Carter wouldn’t call me back, and you wouldn’t take my call to the pool hall.”

  “Fine,” he said with exasperation, holding his hands out at his sides. “You’ve got me. What the fuck do you want?”

  My mouth dropped open. “Why in the hell are you acting like this, James? What if I’m in trouble? What if I need your help?”

  “I told you to call Jed if you need help. What. Do. You. Need? I’m in an important meeting, and each second I’m out here is putting everything at risk.”

  I shook my head in disgust. “So why not lead with that, James Malcolm? Why not say, ‘I’m sure you must have a very important reason for being here, because you know what’s at stake, but I’m in the middle of something important. Can we table this for later?’”

  Some of his irritation faded.

  “Yeah,” I said, my anger building. “The possibility never occurred to you because you have the emotional IQ of a toddler.” I shook my head. “Fine. You don’t have time to talk to me—I’ll just let you hear about it from the town rumor mill.” I flung a hand toward the back door. “Go on. Get back to your meeting.”

  I turned to stomp back to my car, but he reached out and grabbed my arm, hauling me back.

  “Get your hand off me,” I said under my breath, in no mood to be manhandled.

  He dropped his hand as though my arm were a white-hot poker. Surprise filled his eyes.

  I took two jerky steps away from him. “This isn’t love, James. Treating me like I’m an annoying gnat isn’t love.”

  He closed the distance between us, his anger fading. “I know. I’m sorry, Rose. I’m in a very tense meeting, but I shouldn’t be takin’ it out on you. I’m sorry.”

  My heart softened slightly. James Malcolm had never been in love before. It was like Carly had said about Violet—he’d never had a role model to teach him how to love. His world was full of violence, and his emotions reverted to anger whenever he was challenged.

  A sudden gust blew across the parking lot, and I wrapped my arms across my chest to hold my chunky sweater in place. “I’m sorry I interrupted you, but this is important, and I’m insulted that you would treat it as anything other than that.”

  His eyes flashed with anger again. “Can we have this discussion about feelings later? Just tell me what you need to say so I can get back to my meeting.”

  While some part of me knew he was likely in the middle of something dire, another part of me was pissed at the way he’d reacted—and the impossible situation it had put us in. How could I drop a bombshell on him and send him back to his meeting?

  Shaking my head, I shot him a glare, then said, “It can wait. Come on, Muff.”

  Muffy was still standing at attention, ready to attack, but she reluctantly turned and fell in beside me, casting a suspicious glance back at him.

  I opened my car door and he shouted after me, “Are you fucking kidding me? We went through all that for you to just stomp off without tellin’ me why you’re here?”

  Standing next to the open door, I said, “Maybe you should have started with that question.”

  “We’ve been over that,” he said as I climbed in. “I fucked up.”

  I got inside and closed the door, but he marched over and pounded on the window. “Rose. Open the goddamn window.”

  I cranked the window down about six inches.

  “Why the fuck did you come here?” His anger was back and in full force.

  My mouth dropped open. Was this the real James Malcolm? Was the man I’d come to love a lie? No, I knew it was much more complicated than that. All of these many parts were him. The good…and the bad. And yet, I’d needed something else from him just now. I’d needed to see his soft side, and I’d gotten Skeeter Malcolm instead. My temper got the best of me. “How dare you?” I said through gritted teeth. “How dare you talk to me that way! You want to know why I’m here? Fine!” I got out of the car and slammed the car door shut. “I’m pregnant!”

  His eyes flew open and he rocked back a step, pure terror washing over his face.

  He blinked and started to say something, but I held up my hand and snarled, “I swear to God, James Malcolm, if you ask me if you’re the father, I’ll run you over with this car then back up and run you over again.”

  His mouth snapped shut. Confusion and some of the softness I’d hoped to see washed over his face for barely a second before his eyes turned hard. “Jed can deal with this. Go to him. See? You didn’t need me after all.” Then he turned and started to head back inside.

  I gaped at him in shock. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  He turned back to face me, his jaw tense. “Jed knows a doctor in Little Rock. He’s called her before for a couple of the girls at the Bunny Ranch.”

  My eyes about popped out of my head. “You’re tellin’ me to get an abortion.”

  “You sure as hell can’t keep it.” He nearly snarled the words.

  Tears stung my eyes and I swallowed the lump in my throat as he stomped back inside without even a goodbye.

  Numb, I got back inside and sat behind the steering wheel, trying to sort out what had just happened. James had reacted badly to seeing me, and I’d met him at his level, handling it just as badly, and then…

  He wanted me to get an abortion.

  You sure as hell can’t keep it.

  No, he expected me to get an abortion. No discussion. No asking what I wanted. Just an expectation that I’d bow to his wishes.

  My anger rose anew.

  So he wanted nothing to do with the baby. I was doing this alone.

  A wave of sadness quickly followed as I stared at the metal door he’d disappeared behind. When it came to the two of us, I’d always been doing this alone. I’d just been too stupid to realize it.

  CHAPTER 15

  A s I drove through town, I passed the only twenty-four-hour pharmacy in Fenton County and decided to stop and get prenatal vitamins. I was worried about all the caffeine I’d consumed and figured some vitamins ASAP might help counterbalance it—although to be fair, a good portion of those cups of coffee had been left untouched due to my upset stomach.

  Though there was less chance of me being seen at ten thirty at night, I scanned the parking lot to see if anyone was around, and then decided it didn’t matter anyway. People were going to find out.

  I told Muffy to wait in the car, and she sat in my passenger seat at full attention as I walked inside.

  Sure enough, the pharmacy was empty except for a woman who was restocking the candy shelves and a middle-aged man behind the pharmacy counter.

  The woman looked up as I walked in.

  “Welcome to Beacon’s. Can I help you find what you’re lookin’ for?” She was a lot more cheerful than I’d expect of someone working so late.

  “I’m lookin’ for vitamins.”

  “Aisle twelve. If you need help choosing what to get, Harvey can help.”

  “Harvey?”

  “The pharmacist.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”

  I wandered toward the back and found aisle twelve, searching for prenatal vitamins.

  “Do you need any help?” the pharmacist asked, leaning over the counter. The vitamin display was toward the front of the row, only ten feet away from him.

  I flashed him a warm smile. “I’m looking for prenatal vitamins. I suppose they’re all the same?”

  “Actually, they’re not,” he said, then opened the door and walked toward me. “We carry some without omega-3 fatty acids, but you’d be better off getting these.” He plucked a bottle off the shelf. “This has a good dose of omega-3 for your baby’s brain development, along with folic acid, calcium, and vitamin D. Those are important for the first trimester.”

  I
swallowed hard, fighting my panic. “What happens if you don’t take them the first trimester?”

  His eyes widened and he leaned back. “Ohh…you don’t want to skip them.” He shook his head, wearing a look of doom. “You run the risk of birth defects.”

  I took the bottle, very close to a panic attack. Had I screwed up my baby already? “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” He started humming as he walked over to the blood pressure machine and stuck his arm through the cuff.

  “Checkin’ your blood pressure again, Harvey?” the woman called out.

  “Yep,” he said, pressing a button and turning it on. It seemed like an odd form of entertainment, but they clearly didn’t get much business at this time of night, so I supposed they had to pass the time somehow.

  I started toward the checkout, but an endcap display of diapers caught my eye, and I found myself wandering over to them. Studying the display, I bit my lip when I saw the price. I remembered Ashley and Mikey going through mountains of them when they were tiny. I walked down the aisle to look at the baby bottles and pacifiers, bibs and teething toys. I started to add up the price tags and grew more anxious by the second. I would need to find more landscaping jobs to pay for all of this.

  The front door to the pharmacy dinged and the woman stocking shelves said, “Welcome to Beacon’s Pharmacy.” But her cheerfulness had faded by the last word.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and instinct told me to duck behind the shelves just before a man said, “Where’s the pills, Harvey?”

  A wheezing sound came from the blood pressure machine and Harvey forced out, “Dr. Arnold left town. I don’t have anything for you.”

  I carefully set the bottle of vitamins on the floor, trying to keep them from rattling, then pulled my gun out of my purse and clicked off the safety.

  The deep male voice said, “I know for a fact that Arnold wrote a bunch of new scripts before he left. So where are they?”

  “Wendy…” the pharmacist said, his voice high-pitched in his panic.

  “We can’t find the bitch.”

  “I don’t know where she is either,” Harvey said. “I haven’t seen her since last week.”

  “The boss’ll be none too happy about this,” another man snarled. He sounded younger than the first, although I couldn’t see either of them from my vantage point.

  “I can’t fill prescriptions I don’t have,” Harvey said, his voice shaking. “The authorities will catch on. The FBI already came around askin’ questions.”

  “You have until tomorrow night,” the first guy said. “Because we’ll be back.”

  I heard a loud crash, followed by heavy footsteps and the dinging of the bell.

  I stayed squatted for several seconds, waiting to make sure the coast was clear, then ran to the end of the aisle to the back of the store. I’d just rounded the endcap when the bell dinged again.

  “Someone else is in here,” the booming voice said at the entrance to the store.

  How had he known I was here?

  Terror squeezed my heart. Muffy. She was probably barking her head off. Had they hurt her?

  I was in serious trouble. I suspected they didn’t want some random witness left behind.

  I quickly pulled my phone out of my back pocket and sent a text to Joe.

  Trouble at Beacon pharm. Dangerous men. Need help.

  After I pocketed my phone, I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart, not that it did much good.

  “Who’s in here?” the burly voice demanded.

  The woman clerk stuttered. “I…I…”

  “I know you saw them walk in,” the man said. “Tell me now or I’ll blow your head off.”

  The woman started to sob uncontrollably.

  The man grunted, and then I heard heavy footfalls heading toward the pharmacy counter. “Who’s in here?”

  “No one,” Harvey said. His voice still shook, but he sounded more confident.

  “There’s a car out there with a dog in it. Someone’s in here.” When Harvey didn’t answer, the man shouted, “Come out now or we’ll kill your dog.”

  Terror squeezed my throat. These guys might think twice about killing a person, but a dog? I suspected they would do it in the blink of an eye.

  What should I do? I couldn’t let them shoot Muffy, but I had no doubt they planned to kill me too. Why else would they have come back?

  Squatting next to an endcap for hemorrhoid cream, I glanced at the back wall for an emergency exit. They’d still follow me outside, but at least I’d have the dark night on my side.

  There was an exit in the back corner, opposite of the entrance. Perfect. Saying a quick prayer, I grabbed a can of athlete’s foot medication, rose slightly, then threw it toward the front of the store in the hopes it would redirect the bad guys’ attention. Only I threw it with my left hand, and my aim was off. It hit the top of the shelves in the aisle I was in, then bounced off and hit something else that made a loud crashing sound.

  Deciding this might be a better distraction, I ran for the back door, keeping my head down, hoping they couldn’t see me over the five-foot-tall shelves. I shoved the bar across the door, and nearly cried with relief when it swung open, even though an alarm announced what I’d done.

  Once I got outside, I ran around the corner to the front of the store, glancing back for the pursuer I knew was coming.

  I’d made it to the car when a man with long, scraggly hair and dressed in dark clothes came out the front door with his gun drawn and pointed right at me.

  Muffy barked like a crazed beast, trying to get out of the car.

  I held my gun up at the man. “Put your gun down, and I’ll let you get away.”

  The man’s eyes widened slightly. Then he belly laughed. “You’ll let me get away?”

  “And what about me?” the deep-voiced man asked from the corner of the building. “Will you let me get away too?”

  I snuck a quick glance at him out of the corner of my eye. He was holding a gun on me too.

  Crappy doodles.

  I was in serious trouble and there was no way Joe would get here in time to help.

  A gunshot rang out and the deep-voiced guy fell to the ground as I dropped to a squat next to my car. The man who’d followed me out of the back started shooting, and I squatted lower, wondering who had fired the shot and if I was in the line of fire.

  Another shot rang out behind me, and then the shooting stopped as I heard a dull thud against the other side of the car.

  “Put your gun down, Rose,” a familiar male voice called out. “I need to make sure you won’t shoot me.”

  “Who are you?” I asked, tightening my grip. I was a sitting duck. Whoever had just shot those men could take me out in a heartbeat. “Why should I trust you enough to put my gun down?”

  “I just saved your life,” the man said.

  “Thank you,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “I very much appreciate that, but how about we go our separate ways?”

  “No can do, Rose. I need to stay with you until the sheriff arrives. But first I need to make sure you don’t shoot me. So put your gun down.”

  The voice was coming from behind the trees. Although I’d heard it before, I couldn’t put a face to it. I was fairly certain it wasn’t one of James’s men, but the turnover had been so great lately that I was sure I didn’t know most of them. And this man had called me Rose, not Lady. Most of James’s men referred to me by my alter ego.

  “If the sheriff deputies show up and you’re here with two dead men, clutchin’ a gun, you’re likely to be a prime suspect. And that’s if they don’t shoot first and ask questions later. So drop the gun. Now.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance, and for all I knew, they were Henryetta police. They would make my life an ever-loving hell just for the fun of it. This man could have killed me by now if that had been his purpose, and I was still squatted here, still breathing. I set my gun on the ground.

  “Good. Now stand a
nd kick it away from you.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. “Why?”

  A shadow appeared from the trees with a gun aimed right at me. “You so much as reach for that gun, I’ll be forced to shoot you, Miss Rose. I won’t kill you, but it’ll hurt like hell.”

  I stood, facing Brox, the son of a prepper who lived in the hills with his sons. On our last encounter, Brox had brought me to his family’s land for questioning on the orders of his father, Gerard. James had shown up, a bunch of guns had been drawn but not shot, and we’d driven away unharmed. James and Gerard Collard had parted enemies.

  Gerard had thought I had inside information about what had brought Mason back to Fenton County, and I’d had a devil of a time convincing him I didn’t know. What did they want with me now?

  Brox marched closer, his gun still trained on me as he reached out his left hand. “I need you to leave your cell phone here.”

  He roughly patted my hips and butt, obviously feeling for the phone but making a show of not feeling me up.

  Leave your phone here. He was taking me somewhere. Probably not to shoot me in a field somewhere. He would have already done it. No. He planned to take me to his father.

  When he pulled my phone out of my back pocket and dropped it to the ground, I knew I’d jumped from the frying pan and into a roaring bonfire.

  He grabbed my arm and started to tug me across the parking lot toward the trees, but I dragged my feet, trying to get away. The sirens were growing louder, so Brox scooped me into his arms. He took off in a sprint, crashing through the undergrowth, and turned sideways to take the brunt of a low-hanging branch instead of letting it hit me. I tried to squirm out of his arms, but he had a firm grip on me. When he emerged from the woods, I saw a lone pickup truck parked behind a strip mall.

  He stopped at the driver’s side of the truck, then opened the door and set me down on the ground. “I’m sorry, Miss Rose, but he says I have to do this.”

  My heart slammed into my rib cage. What had his father told him to do? “Do what?”

  He grabbed a small bag from the floor in the back and pulled out a roll of duct tape.