Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies (16 page)

“Like hell I’m leavin’ it be! You’re playing with fire, and you’re about to get burned to a crisp.”

That was exactly what I was worried about, but I couldn’t let him know that. “I’ll keep your concerns in mind.”

He was silent for several seconds, but his voice was cold when he responded. “So you’re just blowin’ me off?”

I tried to keep my voice steady and sure. “No. But I know what I’m doin’. You have to trust me.”

“
No
. I
don’t
.” He sounded hurt and angry. “I think you’ve crossed a line this time. You need to stop this
right now
.”

“I can’t.”

“You mean you
won’t
.”

“
Bruce Wayne
.”

“You won’t listen to me because you think I’m feeble-minded and stupid.”

“What?
No!
”

“I expected better of you, Rose Gardner. I thought you were different than everyone else.”

“I swear to you that’s not it. How can you believe I’d think such a vile thing?”

But he didn’t respond because he’d already hung up.

I sat down at the kitchen table, feeling sick to my stomach. My heart was bursting with the pain and guilt of hurting him, but I had no idea how to fix this. I considered calling him back and telling him everything, but he’d insist on helping, and this was just too dangerous for him. He’d finally gotten his life together. I couldn’t let him throw that away. Especially not for me. Even if I broke his heart.

Neely Kate found me still at the table, alone in my despair. She set down the shopping bags of food and listened as I told her about my conversation with Bruce Wayne. “If it makes you feel any better,” she said with a tight smile, “I think you did the right thing.”

“He’s certain that I think he’s stupid,” I said in defeat. “He’s spent his whole life hearing that very thing from people, and he was just finally starting to crawl out of the hole of believing it. What am I gonna do?”

She patted my free hand. “You can tell him everything after this is all said and done. I know it sucks, but if you tell him now, he’s gonna wanna be in the thick of it, especially since he got you into this in the first place. But his loyalty to you is gonna get him arrested or worse. Keepin’ him safe is more important than protectin’ his feelings right now.”

While what she said made sense, hurting him didn’t settle well on my soul. “But that makes me no better than Joe.
He
says he’s keepin’ everything to himself to protect me. How is this any different?”

It gave me a whole new appreciation for Joe’s reaction to my anger toward him.

She cringed. “Oh, honey. When you put it that way, it does sound the same, doesn’t it? But what else can you do?”

My heart ached so bad I could hardly breathe. The only thing I knew to do was go with my gut, and it told me to keep Bruce Wayne as far away from this situation as possible.

But I wondered how much I was going to lose to take down J.R. What would be the ultimate price for my lies and deceptions? Would the outcome be worth the risk?

It was far too late to ponder that now.

I sucked in a deep breath and stood. “We have work to do, so let’s get to it.”

After we put away the groceries, we stepped out into the crisp cool morning. It was Muffy’s perfect kind of day, so she protested vehemently when I made her stay inside. But I worried that the noise from gunshots would spook her enough that she’d run off.

In addition to picking up food for us to eat, Neely Kate had bought some cheap canned vegetables to use for targets. We carried them out behind the house, and she set four of them up on the wooden fence posts lining the pasture on the right side of the barn. In days past, I was certain it used to contain Dora’s horses, but now the field was overgrown and full of weeds.

Neely Kate paced us about fifty feet back, then explained that my gun was a semi-automatic and hers was a revolver. Mine held more ammunition than hers, but she said it didn’t matter to her.

“It’s important to be comfortable with your weapon. This was my grandfather’s gun, and I learned to shoot with it. I’m a pretty accurate shot, so I make each one count. But you definitely need the practice.”

She showed me how to line up the gun with the target, then gave me tips on how to try to make my shots more accurate, since Mick Gentry’s men weren’t going to stand still and let me get them lined up before I fired on them.

“You killed Daniel Crocker with a pretty accurate shot. How’d you do it?”

“He was lunging at me. He was close, and I pulled the trigger in self-defense.”

Her lips pressed together as she gave it some thought. “If it makes you feel any better, if you end up shooting anyone, it will probably be up close. Jed and I will take care of anyone who threatens you from a distance.”

The gun shook in my hands. “How can you say that so casually?”

“What do you want me to do? Whine and cry about it? I put myself in this position, and I know what I’m doing.”

“But how?
How
do you know what you’re doin’? You would have killed that man last night if I hadn’t forced a vision.”

“There are things about me you don’t know.”

“Obviously.”

She stared at me for a moment. “I lived a hard life. Before and after I went to live with my granny. I’ve seen things. I’ve done things. I’ve had things happen to me.” She lifted her chin. “We’ll just leave it at that.”

She had hinted that life with her mother had been awful, but I’d never known
how
awful it had been. I reached out and put a hand on her arm. “
Neely Kate
.”

Determination filled her eyes. “My cousins taught me how to defend myself. I can bring a grown man to his knees and then shoot his acorns off without even aiming.” She took a step away. “But
you
need practice. So let’s get to it.”

Turning into a no-nonsense drill sergeant, she taught me how to load the chambers of both of the guns. Then, without any warning at all, she lifted her gun and shot the can of green beans clean off the fence post. She turned to me with a grin. “Your turn.”

I moved to the next fence post and lifted my gun, aiming for a can of corn. I fired off several shots, but the can was still in pristine condition. Well, as pristine as a can of corn could be.

“Hmm …” she murmured, glancing from me to the post. “Maybe you should move closer. Especially since we’ve already established that if you shoot someone, you’ll be within a short distance.”

“I don’t want to shoot anyone at all.”

“And I don’t want to take Granny to Bingo next Tuesday night, but we all have our crosses to bear. So be that as it may, you need to be prepared in case you do.”

I let her drag me closer. “After I get J.R. to confess, I’m going to leave my short foray into a life of crime behind.”

“That’s probably for the best, but we still gotta survive this adventure. So shoot that can of corn.”

“I’d rather shoot the lima beans. I hate lima beans.”

“Fine,” she huffed, moving us over to the post that held the hated vegetable. “Now show me how much you hate these suckers.”

She moved back behind me, and I lifted my gun, standing about twenty feet from the target. I fired five shots before I nicked the side of the can.

“Okay …” she drawled. “So you need a little work …”

I put my hand on my hip. “You
think?
”

She laughed and picked up another can from the bag she’d set in the middle of the backyard. She set the sauerkraut on the empty fence post where the green beans had been, then started stomping toward me. “Come on. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

I stood behind her as she lifted her gun and shot all four cans off their posts—one right after the other, all in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, my word,” I murmured in amazement. “Why did you never tell me you were like Annie Oakley?”

“Because I don’t want Ronnie to know.”

Given Neely Kate’s family history, it wasn’t all that odd that she knew how to shoot a gun. And being a great shot didn’t seem like any cause for shame. So why was she keeping it from Ronnie? I started to ask her, but my heartbeat kick-started into a gallop when I heard a siren approaching from a distance.

Neely Kate gave me a perplexed look, and we both turned to face my driveway as a sheriff’s car came barreling toward us, shooting gravel and dust out behind it.

What were they here to arrest me for this time?

“Oh, my stars and garters,” Neely Kate sighed. “It never occurred to me. Give me your gun.”

“What?” I asked, watching in disbelief as the sheriff’s car ignored the end of my driveway and continued to tear through the yard toward us.

“Joe’s farm is close enough to hear the gunshots.” She took a step toward me and grabbed the gun I still held at my side, then took a couple of steps away from me. She looked wild and untamed, both guns at her sides, her long blond and pink and purple streaked hair blowing slightly in the wind. There was an edge in her eyes I wasn’t used to seeing, and I had to admit she was a bit scary.

The car stopped about twenty feet in front of us, and Joe climbed out, wearing a look of frustration along with his uniform and coat. “
What the hell are you doin’?
You scared the ever-lovin’ shit out of me!”

“Why do you even care, Joe-traitor-Simmons?” Neely Kate shouted. “It looks to me like you’re trespassing. Now go the hell away!”

“Trespassing?” he shouted back. “I damn near got in a wreck trying to get here in time to save you!”

“Save us or arrest us?” she asked, taking several steps toward him, the guns pointed toward the ground.

He glanced down at her hands, then up at her face. “I hope you have permits for those weapons, Neely Kate.”

“You think I’m fool enough to be shootin’ without them?” she fibbed. The ownership of the smaller gun was questionable at best.

He pursed his lips and shook his head, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. “What the hell are you doin’?”

“Target practice.” She waved toward the exploded cans on the ground behind the fence. “What’s it look like?” Her face scrunched in disgust. “No wonder you arrested Rose on the lamest charges ever thought up. You’re just as inept as Officer Ernie.”

His jaw clenched. “Why the hell are you doing target practice here?”

She tilted her head and sneered. “The last time I checked, the Second Amendment was still in place and
this
is private property. But if you must know, I’m practicing to protect my best friend, thank you very much.”

“That’s why I got you Tasers! Why have you resorted to guns?”

She gave him a condescending glare. “I don’t have to answer that.”

He turned to me, anger flashing in his eyes. “Why’s Neely Kate doin’ all the talking? Don’t you have anything to say?”

I put my hands on my hips. “My attorney has advised me not to speak to you outside of his presence.”

His eyebrows rose. “So, you’ve already talked to Carter Hale this mornin’, have you?”

I’d meant Mason, but I saw no sense in correcting him.

He looked across the field toward his house before returning his gaze to me. “I realize this is your property, and Neely Kate certainly has the right to hold target practice on your land, but I formally request that you let me know if you do this again in the future. I think I just aged ten years. I thought you were being attacked.”

Something in me softened, although I wasn’t sure why. If I left my future in his hands, I had little doubt I’d be shipped off to McPherson in a few weeks.

He took a step toward me and stopped. “Rose. Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Didn’t you hear what she said?” Neely Kate sounded incredulous. “She can’t talk to you without her attorney!”

Joe grunted and opened his jacket, jerking his badge off his uniform and tossing it onto his front seat through the open car door. “
Will you talk to me now?
”

Tears filled my eyes. My anger from the previous night had faded … all that was left was a sense of betrayal. “Why?”

“Rose.” The pleading in his voice was nearly my undoing, but why? Why did this man still pull at my heart after everything he’d done?

“Don’t do it, Rose,” Neely Kate warned.

“
Please
,” he begged.

I was such a fool, but I heard myself say, “Okay.”

“Rose!”

My chest heaved for several breaths as I fought tears. “I need your promise you won’t use this against me somehow,” I said to him, ignoring Neely Kate.

He looked more serious than I’d ever seen him. “I swear it.”

Neely Kate stomped toward us, her eyes wide in disbelief. “What are you doin’? You can’t trust a word that man says, Rose! He stood in your landscaping office and asked me to watch out for you. And less than forty-eight hours later he turned around and had you arrested for the most asinine charges in the world.”

But I walked away from her, passing him as I walked toward the tail end of his car. I stopped there and crossed my arms. “What do you want?”

He followed and came to a stop a few feet in front of me. “I think we both said things we regret last night.”

“Speak for yourself.” That caught him off guard, although I wasn’t sure if he was reacting to my words or the tears in my voice. “You can spin it any way you want, Joe, but the bottom line is that you betrayed me,” I said without malice. “As long as I live, I’ll never be able to forget the look on your face as that awful woman manhandled me and shoved me into the back of her patrol car.”

“Rose, I’m sorry.”

“Yet it doesn’t change a thing.” I looked toward the house, wishing things were different. But I’d been wishing that same thing my entire life, and never once had it ever done me any good. “I’m so tired, Joe. I’m so tired of fighting with you. I can’t do this anymore.”

He moved closer to me, standing at my side. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“Me neither, and yet this is how it is.” He didn’t say anything for several seconds, so I turned a little to look at him. “I think you should go.”

“If I hear gunshots again, I’ll be back to check on you.”

I looked away. I knew I should have thanked him, yet I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Because despite his intentions, he’d hurt me. “You do what you need to do … and so will I.”