She got to her feet. “I’ll go sit with Vi.”
As I followed her out, I sent Neely Kate a text, telling her I was picking up the kids but I wanted to get her first. A minute later, she sent back:
That’s good. We need to talk.
I froze, my heart kicking into overdrive. What if she needed a break from our friendship? I wasn’t sure I could take it, but it was her right to take time for herself if she needed it.
I grabbed my purse and the keys to the truck, but I also grabbed a burner phone I’d purchased a month ago in case I needed to contact someone with an untraceable line. I realized now that I should have used it the night before to call James, but I obviously hadn’t been thinking clearly.
I was thinking clearly now.
As I drove into town, I tried to set aside my worry about Neely Kate and deal with something I could control.
I called Dermot.
After three rings, I didn’t think he was going to answer. I didn’t want to leave a message, but he surprised me with an abrupt “Who is this?”
“Dermot?” I asked to be sure. “It’s Lady.”
There was a long pause before he said, “I didn’t recognize your number.”
“I know. I’m usin’ a burner.”
“Smart.”
“I’m tryin’,” I said.
“I heard about your grand jury testimony.”
“That’s why I’m callin’,” I said. “I want you to know you don’t have anything to worry about.”
He paused again, and I was surprised at the warmth in his voice when he said, “I know.”
I released a nervous chuckle. “Try tellin’ that to the other people in the county.”
“I figured Carmichael was responsible for the broken window in your office. You prepared to answer that question, which will undoubtedly come up?”
“I have no idea what happened,” I said. “Some random man came in and threw a chair out the window, then left.”
“You think Deveraux’s gonna believe that?”
“Probably not,” I said, “but he can’t prove otherwise.”
“It might make him dig deeper.”
“Then I’ll just keep on keepin’ my nose clean,” I said. “I haven’t been involved in anything since the incident with the Sugar Branch police.”
“What about last night?”
Of course he knew about last night. “That was a fluke of fate.”
“And Malcolm’s men?” he asked. “Has Malcolm turned on you?”
“No,” I said, hoping to God it was true. “That was an unfortunate misunderstandin’.”
“He told you so?” Dermot asked, sounding suspicious.
I could have lied, but if James really had turned on me, Dermot deserved to know. And a small part of me couldn’t squash the hurt that he hadn’t bothered to check on me. He’d claimed he couldn’t contact me in any way, but he could have had Carter call for him. “No. I haven’t spoken to him.”
“When was the last time you spoke to him?” The wariness in his voice made me nervous.
“Recent enough to know he hasn’t turned on me.” I took a breath. “I happened to be in the pharmacy when his men showed up. They only knew I was a witness. One they likely decided to eliminate.” Which, again, begged the question of whether James would condone such a thing. The man I knew would never consent to the murder of an innocent witness.
“This is bad, Lady.”
“I know.”
He was silent for a moment before he asked, “Who’s the father of your baby?”
So he knew. I wasn’t surprised, yet I hadn’t expected him to confront me with it. “Does it matter?”
“If it’s Simmons, that explains Malcolm’s sudden change of heart.”
“James and I are done,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. “He broke things off after the Sugar Branch incident, but we ended our friendship amicably.”
“Like hell I believe any of that,” he sneered.
“What do you want me to say, Dermot?” I shot back. “I never took you for a gossip.”
“I want you to tell me the truth. I need to know if Malcolm has a beef with you or not.”
“So you know to turn your back on me?” I demanded, my temper rising.
“No,” he snapped. “So I know whether we need to take a side. Your side.”
My mouth dropped open, and I was in so much shock, I slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. “What?”
“Things are changin’, Lady. The winds are turnin’. I can feel it. I’m sure everyone else can feel it too, and they’re gettin’ antsy.”
“Because of my grand jury testimony?”
“No. This has been comin’ before that even popped up on our radar. Somethin’s afoot and Malcolm is losin’ support.” He paused. “But if you broke it off with him, that might explain some of his recent erratic behavior.”
My heart leapt into my throat. “What erratic behavior?”
“He’s meaner than usual, and it’s causin’ dissension in his immediate ranks.”
“You mean they’re turnin’ on him?”
“Some are jumpin’ ship, but the men he’s replacin’ them with are more volatile.”
“Like the men who almost shot me last night.” The ones who’d been willing to murder a potential witness without a second thought.
“Exactly. Now, who’s the father of your baby?” he asked.
“James knows about my pregnancy,” I said. “I told him last night.”
“Before or after his men tried to kill you?”
“James wouldn’t kill me,” I protested. “He wouldn’t.”
“Did you tell him he was gonna be a daddy or that Simmons was?”
I felt like I was going to throw up. “Honestly, Dermot, he wouldn’t have been happy with the news regardless.”
“That doesn’t answer my question, does it?”
“That information is confidential,” I barked.
“You have confidential information about me. I’ll keep confidential information about you. But I need to know your answer before I declare myself on your side. You owe me that, Lady.”
My heart sank. He was right. “I may never openly admit who the father is,” I said, my voice tight. “Are you prepared to take this secret to your grave?”
“That one and plenty more.”
“James. It’s James’s baby.”
He was silent for several seconds and I began to grow nervous. Finally, he said, “Simmons is lettin’ people think it’s his.”
“He’s tryin’ to protect me.”
“But Simmons knows it’s not?”
I’d already shared my big secret with him. Why hold back now? “There’s absolutely no way the baby could be his. Joe and I aren’t sleepin’ together. He’s there to protect us from Carmichael and help with my dyin’ sister.”
“I heard about Carmichael buyin’ the police department in Sugar Branch, and we all figured Malcolm killed them for darin’ to touch you. But then things cooled off between you, so now I’m not sure what to believe.”
“That’s not my secret to tell,” I said, my exhaustion bleeding through. But it was interesting to know the criminal world thought Carmichael had purchased the police, not James. What I couldn’t figure out was why Carmichael hadn’t set people straight. Did it have something to do with Collard’s assumption that the two were working together? “Joe’s not confirming he’s the father, but he’s not denyin’ it either. When I was confronted this afternoon, I reacted the same way.”
“And does Malcolm know this is goin’ on?” he asked. “Those of us who suspected or outright knew there was something between you two might think he’s a cuck, which honestly won’t reflect well on him.”
Well, crap. I hadn’t thought of that.
I let out a sigh and rubbed my forehead. “I’m tryin’ to protect my baby the best way I know how, Dermot,” I said. “If I admit James is the father, my baby will become a potential target to ev
ery criminal who holds a grudge against him.”
He was quiet for a moment. “You’re certain he wouldn’t kill you?”
I thought about the cold, hard look in his eyes when he’d insisted that I get an abortion, and for a moment I almost believed he was capable of it. But only for a moment. Call me a fool, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that James would never hurt a hair on my head. “Positive.”
“Maybe he sent those guys after you last night knowin’ they’d get taken down. That way, at least it would look like he’d tried to kill you.”
My heart skipped a beat. “That would be a risky move. Me against two hardened criminals? No, I don’t think it went down that way. They were surprised to see me in the store, and besides, they almost did kill me.”
“Obviously you took care of them.”
“I didn’t shoot them, Dermot. Someone else did.”
“Who?”
“Let’s just say Carmichael wasn’t the only man to send someone with a message for me.”
“Who?” he demanded, his voice rising.
“It doesn’t matter, and it’s confidential to boot. Rest assured, I put their worries to rest and made an ally.”
“An ally?”
“Let’s just say I can call upon this person one time to help me.”
“Do you have their loyalty, or was it a grudging agreement?”
I considered his question. “It started off grudgin’, but I think I worked them around to loyal.”
He was silent for a moment. “Damn. You’re doin’ what Malcolm couldn’t.”
My heart skipped a beat at his implication. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“Malcolm’s spent the better part of a year tryin’ to pull these men into his fold, and you’re spinning your web, drawin’ them in one by one without even tryin’.”
I sucked in a breath of panic. “It’s not like that, Dermot. They all came to me, not vice versa.”
“Nevertheless, how many big players do you have now? Countin’ Carlisle?”
“Only three.”
“Only three loyal men, who likely come with men of their own,” he said quietly. “One of them is Malcolm’s onetime right-hand man. That’s three more than he has right now. Think on that.”
“I don’t understand,” I said in barely a whisper.
“Yeah, you do. You’re a smart woman. Just watch your back. And let me know if you need help.” Leaving me with that to chew on, he hung up.
I sat on the side of the road as a light drizzle began to hit the windshield, contemplating our conversation and trying to process it all as my horror began to grow.
Had I made James my enemy?
CHAPTER 23
Before I pulled back onto the road, I placed a call to Jed with my real phone.
“Rose, everything all right?”
I hoped someday people would stop asking me that the second they answered their phone, although I doubted it would happen anytime soon. “How many people are loyal to James?”
He was silent, and for a moment I wondered if he’d heard me over the roar behind him. From the sound of it, he was at the shop. Finally, he said, “We need to talk about this later.”
Was he saying that because I’d called him on our real phones or because he didn’t want to be overheard?
“I’m goin’ to pick up Neely Kate from the nursery,” I said. “We’re goin’ to get the kids from the daycare and take them to see Violet. I’ll swing by the shop afterward so we can talk.”
“How about this?” he said, the sounds behind him becoming quieter. “I’ll call Neely Kate and tell her to drive over here. That way it will be easier to reunite her with her car later.”
“Good idea,” I said. “I should have thought about that.”
“You’ve got a lot on your mind, and besides, we have plenty of other things to discuss.”
I tried to ignore the tightening pit in my stomach. He was right. I hadn’t told Neely Kate yet about my plan to have her and Jed take care of the baby should anything happen to me.
“Thanks, Jed. I’ll see you in a bit.”
When I hung up, I saw I’d gotten a text from my new attorney.
We got a new prosecutor, but they brought someone in immediately. Your testimony is still scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll be at your farm first thing in the morning to prep.
I pushed out a sigh of relief. I’d bought myself a little bit of time to sort this out. Besides which, if Mason had really stepped down as the prosecutor, the interrogation might be a whole lot more manageable than I’d worried it would be.
I headed to the shop instead of into town and found all three guys working on cars in each of the bays and an older gentleman in the waiting room, drinking coffee from what looked like a Dixie cup. I had a serious case of coffee envy, Dixie cup and all. Neely Kate hadn’t arrived yet.
Jed poked his head around the hood of a car, and he called out, “Let me finish this up and we’ll talk in my office.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t feel like sitting in the waiting room, especially since I hadn’t had much luck with those recently. It was drizzling, which meant standing outside wasn’t an option, but I didn’t feel like sitting in my truck, so I started to walk toward the picnic table, which looked protected under the large canopy of several trees. Just as I started to sit down on the still-dry seat, my phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize.
“RBW Landscaping,” I said since it was during business hours.
“I need to speak to Rose Gardner.” The desperation in the woman’s voice caught me off guard.
I sat up straighter. “This is her.”
“I need help,” she said, her voice tight. “You said you could help.”
“Who is this?”
“Wendy. Wendy Hartman. I think I met you yesterday mornin’.”
“Wendy.”
“Rumor’s going ’round that you help people in trouble. That you’re neutral and don’t take sides. Is that true?”
I took a breath, trying to process what she was saying and keep a level head. “It’s not like I’m base in a game of freeze tag, but yes, I consider my farm to be neutral and several other people of importance do as well.”
What was I getting myself into? If she was seeking sanctuary, I knew well and good who she was hiding from. Should I really be courting more trouble with James? Why was I fretting? I hadn’t agreed to anything yet.
“I heard you were at my work lookin’ for me,” Wendy said, her voice shaking. “So I need to know if you were really checkin’ up on me or if he sent you.”
“He?” The fear in her voice struck a nerve. I’d always told myself James did bad things for a good reason, but if that were so, why would Wendy fear him? Was her life genuinely at risk?
No, surely I was wrong to think so. Wendy was merely uncomfortable with his new men, the new and less controllable ones.
“Skeeter Malcolm,” she confirmed. “He has his men out lookin’ for me too, but then I heard you’d killed ’em last night, so I thought maybe you were safe after all.”
I wasn’t sure her believing I’d killed James’s men was a good thing, but I decided not to correct her for now. “Why did you call, Wendy? What are you lookin’ for from me?”
She paused, and I wondered if my direct question had scared her off, but she said in a tiny voice, “I need you to hide me.”
“You could go to the police.” Even as I said the words, part of me wanted to reel them back in. Going to the police would mean naming names, and Skeeter Malcolm would be at the top of her list. But if her life was really in danger, I couldn’t help wondering if that was in her best interest.
“No,” she said. “No police. Not after I heard the Sugar Branch police had been bought.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to hide my relief. “No police, but I can’t bring you to my farm. Not right now. My sister and her kids are there, and I refuse to put them at risk. Give me a second to think of someplace else.” The ans
wer hit me like a bolt of lightning. “I know a place. I’ll pick you up and take you there. Where are you?”
“Are you comin’ alone?”
“No, my friend Neely Kate will be with me.” No way was I doing this alone. What if it was a trap?
“No,” she protested. “I don’t trust anyone else.”
“I’m settin’ the terms here, and I’m not pickin’ you up and takin’ you somewhere without backup,” I said, not mincing words. “So if you want my help, tell me where I can pick you up.”
She hesitated for several long seconds, then finally said in a defeated tone, “The strip mall on Third Street. I’m at Wash and Suds laundromat.”
“Stay put and I’ll text you when I’m almost there.”
As soon as I hung up, I started questioning my decision. I was in a big enough mess, so why was I throwing myself into Wendy’s problem? Especially since she was hiding from James. If we were really at odds, this was bound to make things worse, yet I couldn’t tell her no. She might be guilty as sin, but I couldn’t let him or any of his people kill or hurt her.
I stopped to consider the implications of that thought—I was saving a woman from the man I loved. The man who claimed to love me. The father of my baby.
Would he really kill her?
Before, I would have said no, but I had no idea what was going through Skeeter Malcolm’s head right now. He’d dug himself into some stinking mess I couldn’t unravel with what limited information he and others had revealed to me, and I wasn’t sure what to think.
Neely Kate’s car pulled into the parking lot, and I walked over to her as she got out.
“Why aren’t you waitin’ inside?” she asked with a frown as she popped open an umbrella. She’d curled her hair today and pulled the sides up and away from her face, letting it hang down her back in soft waves, even in this humidity. No wonder she’d put up an umbrella.
“I didn’t want to be cooped up,” I said as I walked up to her. “Something’s come up that we need to deal with before we get the kids.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Okay.”
I stared at her for a moment. “You just agreed without askin’ me what it is?”
“Well, yeah,” she said in confusion, shifting the umbrella to cover us both. “If you need something, I’m there.”
Come Rain or Shine: Rose Gardner Investigations #5 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 22