Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies (18 page)

“That’s a good idea,” Neely Kate finally said, standing and picking up her plate. “I’d like to drop in on Carter Hale myself.” Her next words caught me off guard. “Would you be willing to teach me how to make your famous white bread?” she asked, looking at Maeve. “Tonight?”

Maeve’s despair seemed to lift a little. “Of course. Why don’t you come over for dinner? We can make it a girls’ night.”

Neely Kate smiled. “Sounds fun.”

I headed for the door, and Maeve called out, “Why don’t you leave Muffy here while you run your errands? She can keep me company.”

“Thanks. Carter might not appreciate having her in his office. I can take her to mine, but I’m not sure if Bruce Wayne is back yet.” Not to mention he probably wasn’t too eager to see me. “Say, do you know where Violet was this morning?”

Maeve shook her head. “No, she didn’t mention it, and neither did Anna.” Her eyes lit up. “Anna’s such a sweet girl. I’m glad your sister hired her. She’s had a hard life.”

“Really?” I asked. “She barely talks to me.” Maybe because she was always too busy glaring at me.

“If you’d like, you can leave Muffy here while you and Mason go on your date. She can either spend the night, or you can pick her up before you go home. I can make a fresh batch of Muffy’s biscuits.”

“Okay …” I looked down at Muffy, who almost looked like she was grinning in anticipation. Maeve had recently begun baking her doggie treats that seemed to make her existing gas problem even worse. But since Maeve loved to make them and Muffy loved eating them, I didn’t have the heart to tell either of them no. I bent down and rubbed her head. “I’m gonna leave you with Maeve tonight, but I’ll come get you tomorrow.”

She jumped up and licked my cheek in response.

Neely Kate and I said our goodbyes and headed out to my truck. Letting it run for a moment, I grabbed my burner phone from my purse. Still nothing. Maybe Jed had sent them the wrong number. I texted him my concern, and he answered back within seconds.

I know how to text a damn phone number.

Somebody was crabby today.

“Why are you frowning?” Neely Kate asked.

“I still haven’t heard from J.R.”

“It’s J.R. You know he’s gonna string you along and make you suffer.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“Besides, you don’t want it to happen tonight, do you? Not if you and Mason are goin’ out.”

“True.” But the sooner this meeting happened, the better.

“Where’s Mason taking you?”

“Jaspers.”

She smiled, but it looked wobbly. “The last time I was there I barfed all over Samantha Jo Wheaten’s ex-husband.”

“That’s a sight I’m not likely to forget anytime soon.” It was also the night Mason had punched Joe. Maybe going there wasn’t such a good idea.

“My life was so different then.” Her voice was so quiet it could have floated away on a cloud.

“Neely Kate. Call Ronnie. Please. You miss him something fierce, and I know he’s missin’ you.”

She sucked in her bottom lip. “I was thinkin’ about seein’ if I could stay with Maeve tonight.” She gave me a wink. “Give you and Mason some privacy.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

Her eyes glistened with held-back tears, but she forced a grin. “I know. But I really do want to learn how to make Maeve’s bread.”

“I thought your granny made white bread.”

“She does, but Maeve’s is different.” There was a hint of desperation in her words, and I sensed she needed to soak up some of Maeve’s nurturing.

“You know, now that I think on it, it’s a great idea for you to stay at Maeve’s. Then Mason and I can have sex on the kitchen table again.”

She scrunched her eyes closed. “I can live without that visual.”

“Ha!” I shot her an ornery look. “If you really do make bread, be sure to give me one of those loaves.”

“Deal, but if you eat too much of it, the table’s liable to collapse from all the weight.”

“Neely Kate!”

We drove downtown, and I parked outside of my office, but the closed sign was in the window. Given where I stood with Bruce Wayne right now, I wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. I got out of the truck, and someone with black hair and purple streaks caught my eye down the street.

It was Kate. She was walking toward the dry cleaners—wearing a dress and nice boots, no less. Why was she wearing something nicer than usual, and where was she headed on foot?

“Why do I keep seein’ Kate downtown?” I said absently.

“Because she’s renting an apartment over the antique shop.”

I spun to face my friend. “You’re kidding.”

“No. I thought you knew.”

“No.” But I could only handle one thing at a time. “We’ll deal with her next. First let’s pay a visit to my second favorite attorney.”

“Carter Hale is your second favorite?” Neely Kate murmured. “You’ve reached a new level of desperate.”

That was putting it mildly.

W
hen we walked
into the law office of Carter Hale, the proprietor himself stood at the corner of his assistant’s desk. He grimaced when his gaze landed on me, but his demeanor changed the moment his eyes shifted to Neely Kate.

“Ms. Gardner,” he drawled. “Did we have an appointment? I
do
have other clients that require my attention, you know.”

“I want to know what you’ve dug up since I saw you last.”

“Not nearly as much as you have, apparently.” He winked. “The crime world’s all abuzz.”

Greta glanced up at him with a look of confusion.

The blood rushed from my head. “I have no earthly idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” he teased. “Why don’t you girls come back to my office?”

His assistant stayed at her desk, though she looked mighty curious now, and Neely Kate and I followed him down the hall. He shut the door behind us, then headed behind his desk while we took the chairs in front of him.

“So the Lady in Black is back.” He kicked back in his seat. “And without Skeeter Malcolm this time. I thought I told you to keep a low profile.”

“Really?” Neely Kate cooed. “You don’t say.”

“And she had a new handler with her.” His eyes bored into hers. “A woman.”

Neely Kate leaned to the side and crossed her legs, still holding Carter’s gaze. “That’s
amazin’
. I had no idea the Fenton County crime world was so forward-thinking.”

“I know, imagine that,” Carter said with a sly grin. “We’re so cosmopolitan now.”

I groaned. “Cut to the chase, Carter Hale. What’s goin’ on in the rumor mill?”

“Well … first of all, criminals don’t admit they listen to rumors.”

Neely Kate pursed her lips and nodded her head, both in an exaggerated fashion. “Criminals pretend they don’t gossip. Got it.”

He chuckled.

“Can we get back to my case?” I asked, getting irritated.

Carter kept his gaze pinned on my friend. “Is she always this narcissistic?”

“Her life
is
hanging in the balance,” she retorted.

“What have you found out about Glenn Stout?” I asked.

When Carter didn’t answer, Neely Kate said, “That’s a trick question to test your investigatin’ skills.”

His playfulness fell away. “I don’t know squat about Glenn Stout, but I take it from Neely Kate’s smug response that
you
do.”

“Not enough,” I said. “We only know that the courier who deposited the money at the courthouse met Eric Davidson a few days before his death. And that he won first place in the calf-roping competition at the Fenton County Rodeo last year. Oh, yeah, and his name is Sam Teagen.”

A grin spread across his face as he studied us. “You ladies are in the wrong profession. Your skills are wasted in landscaping.”

Neely Kate whacked my arm. “That’s what
I
keep saying.”

“Ouch.” I rubbed my sore bicep. “We were just lucky.”

“You get lucky a lot,” Carter said.

“Mason gave the name to a source we have in the sheriff’s department, but I haven’t heard anything yet. Now tell me what you know.”

He frowned. “I know my appeal to postpone your trial has been rejected.”

“Of course it has been.” I’d expected as much, but it was still disappointing.

“Simmons has it out for you.”

“Lucky me. Good thing I’m taking things into my own hands.”

“And this has something to do with the infamous Lady?”

“The less said, the better.”

“And what does Skeeter think of this?”

“Skeeter’s not here.”

“Yet Lady’s still takin’ meetings?”

“Mr. Hale. What exactly are you doin’ to save me? Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like I’m doin’ all the work.”

He laughed, but it was a short, abrupt sound. “I’m doing what little I can. Skeeter has assured me he’s on this.”

“Forgive me, but Mason and I seem to be the only ones makin’ any progress.”

He didn’t respond.

“What information have you dug up from all those leads you were bragging about? Finding out who bribed the judge and the DA?”

He made a face, and if I hadn’t known any better, I would have suspected he’d made the mistake of eating the jumbo wing special at Big Bill’s and was now desperate for the restroom. “My usual sources are keepin’ mum about the instigator of the bribes.”

“So you’ve got a big fat nothin’.”

“Everybody’s runnin’ scared right now. This potential war between Gentry and Skeeter … there’s a general feeling of overall impending doom. Everyone’s takin’ cover.”

This was a waste of my time.

“If you’ve got absolutely nothing to report to me, I might as well be goin’.”

He sighed in exasperation and held his hand out at his side. “I’m not the one who suggested you drop by.”

“I have to do
something
, Carter! I feel like I’m stuck on the tracks, just waiting for a runaway freight train to slam into me. I have to stop this!”

His expression softened. “I know. And for what it’s worth, you’ve already accomplished quite a bit.”

Neely Kate jumped out of her seat and pointed her finger in his face. “That’s not acceptable, Carter Hale! You get off your lazy ass and
do
something, or I’m gonna cut off all your toes and feed them to the squirrels that live under the park bench across the street.”

He lifted his hands as if in surrender, but a grin tugged at his lips. “Better my toes than another appendage I’m quite fond of.”

“
Get busy
.” She spun around and stomped out of the office, leaving me to trail behind her like a baby duck.

She didn’t stop until she was on the sidewalk, and I didn’t try to stop her because I’d taken to storming out of places too.

A mischievous grin slid across her face. “Do you want to spy on Kate?”

I blinked and shook my head. “You’re gonna give me whiplash, Neely Kate. I’m still reeling from your mutilation threat.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Well, do you or don’t you?”

It was definitely tempting. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

She pursed her lips and lifted her shoulder into a half-shrug. “I figured we could make it up as we go along.”

“Code for you have no idea what you’re doin’.”

“Hey.” She cocked her head. “Do
you
have a plan?
No? I didn’t think so. Besides, I
do
have a little bit of a plan. Come on.”

I walked beside her as she headed toward the antique store. “So what are we doin’?”

“I’m thinkin’ this through. She moved into her apartment a couple of weeks ago. But why would she want to live here on the square? There are plenty of places to live in Henryetta. Rumor has it the apartment over the antique store is nasty.”

I shrugged. “Well, there’s no denying she’s the polar opposite of Hilary, who rented the absolute nicest house in town. That place wasn’t even for rent.”

She stopped in front of the antique store and looked up at the windows above the storefront. After shifting her gaze to survey the area around us, she peered back up at the apartment windows. “Hmm. Maybe the location of her apartment has
everything
to do with what she’s doin’ here in Henryetta. She rarely sees Joe.”

I turned to look at her and lifted my eyebrows.

“What?” she asked, sounding defensive. “Deputy Miller tells me things.”

“Maybe she happens to like living on the town square. Maybe she’s into quaint towns. Or maybe she wants to be close enough to my office to spy on me.”

She released an exaggerated sigh, then waved her hand toward the center of the square. “She’s spyin’ all right, but I don’t think it’s just on you. She’s directly across the street from the courthouse.”

“Why would she be spyin’ on the courthouse?”

Neely Kate pointed to the apartment windows and then trailed her finger through the air and pointed at the old stone building. “Those windows. Whose are they?”

“Mason’s.” A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. “The district attorney’s office takes up that block of windows, and Mason’s old office is directly across from her apartment.”

“What if Kate is the person trying to kill Mason?”

My head felt fuzzy, and I lifted my hand to my temple. “That’s plum crazy, Neely Kate.”

“Is it? She’s made no effort to hide the fact that she wants you and Joe back together.”

“Wanting us back together and trying to kill the assistant district attorney are two
very
different things. Besides, she’s J.R. Simmons’ daughter. She has people she can call to take care of that for her.”

“Exactly. She’s J.R. Simmons’ daughter. Why’s she here all of a sudden? Seems like awfully convenient timing.”

“She told me just yesterday that all of this trouble has been brewing for some time and she came here to watch it go down.”

“Even if she’s not the one tryin’ to kill Mason, maybe she was spying on him to get information for that meeting that ended with him gettin’ fired. Maybe she and Joe aren’t seeing each other in public to throw everyone off the fact that they’re working together. Shoot, for that matter, maybe she’s doin’ the same thing with Hilary.”

I felt like I was about to be sick. “Their hatred for each other seems pretty genuine.”

“You know what they say—conspirators make strange bedfellows.”

I shook my head. “I have never once heard that, but you could be right. They might have agreed to join forces for the greater good.”

“But what exactly is the greater good?” Neely Kate asked, staring up at the windows. “There’s a few big pieces missing from this puzzle.”

“Kate said she’s here as an observer, but she has at least some knowledge about what’s going on. She called me a few hours before my arrest—right after Joe took the journal—and told me to mind my P’s and Q’s. I confronted her about it yesterday, and she pretty much admitted she was trying to warn me about the arrest.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure that works with my theory that she might be here to kill Mason or set him up.”

A vein in my temple began to throb. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s into games. She
is
a Simmons.”

“True.” She gave me a long look and then walked into the store directly below Kate’s apartment without another word.

“Neely Kate!” I murmured, but she was already inside the Henryetta Found Treasures Antique Emporium.

Calling Henryetta Found Treasures an antique emporium was like calling a rusted 1972 Cadillac a luxury car. And that was being generous. The entire store was basically a thrift store. The items were supposed to be antiques, but the majority of the merchandise only looked old.

Neely Kate made a play of browsing. When I moved up behind her, she picked up a chipped blue pottery bowl and held it out toward me. “Didn’t you say you were lookin’ for one of these?”

I tilted my head to the side. “Hmm … I think I need one in tangerine.”

A woman stood behind a small counter, watching our every move as though she suspected Neely Kate might stick the bowl in her purse and run out the door.

Neely Kate turned to her and smiled. “Do you have this in tangerine?”

She shook her head, her mouth puckered in disapproval. “All we have is what you see. And if you drop that bowl and break it, you buy it.”

Neely Kate turned her back on the sour woman and put the bowl down, then glanced at me and rolled her eyes. I had no idea what she was scheming.

I followed her as she made her way to the back, past a wooden high chair with three legs, an old-fashioned phonograph like my grandma used to have in her parlor, and a whole host of junk. Neely Kate stopped in front of a velvet-covered chair with dark wooden arms and legs.

“Is this Victorian?” She turned to me. “This looks Victorian.”

I wouldn’t know Victorian if Queen Victoria rose up from the dead and hovered in front of me. “Maybe … ?”

“Is this Victorian?” Neely Kate called over to the woman.

“Yeah … sure it is.”

Neely Kate looked at the price tag. “Two hundred? Would you take one-fifty for it?”

My eyes bugged out. Surely she wasn’t really gonna buy that rickety chair for that much money. The thing would collapse if Muffy sat on it, let alone her.

“I don’t know …” the woman hedged. “It’s pretty valuable. It came over on the
Mayflower
.” She circled the corner and limped toward us, moving as stiffly as if
she
had come over on the
Mayflower
.

Neely Kate’s eyelashes fluttered, and she touched a hand to her chest. “Oh, my stars and garters. You don’t say?”

I turned my back to the saleswoman and mouthed to Neely Kate, “The
Mayflower?
” I wasn’t a history buff, but I was fairly certain the
Mayflower
predated the Victorian era by a couple hundred years.

But Neely Kate ignored me. “Wow. Here in Henryetta, Arkansas? I think I’m gonna have to have it.”

The saleswoman laughed, but it sounded more like an evil cackle. “Will you be taking it with you?”

Neely Kate’s smile faded. “Can you hold onto it? I’m lookin’ for a place first.” She lowered her voice. “I’m leavin’ my husband, and I haven’t gotten everything arranged just yet.”

A burst of shock jolted through my body. I knew she was play-acting, but something told me there was a truth embedded within the lie.

First Violet and her husband Mike had split up, and now Neely Kate and Ronnie seemed like they were on the verge of a divorce too. Two marriages I’d previously thought were perfect had been shot to heck. In hindsight, I had to admit I’d seen the cracks in my sister’s marriage, but this trouble between Neely Kate and Ronnie had blindsided me. Would I feel the same way when Mason left me?

I fought the rising panic, shoving it back down into my chest of locked up feelings. Mason loved me. We were gonna be fine. Mason would never know about my deception. I’d pull off my last performance as the Lady in Black, and then I’d burn all my hats in a roaring bonfire.

While I was all wrapped up in panic and self-doubt, Neely Kate had moved on with her story. “It’s hard for a single gal, you know? Rent’s pretty doggone expensive. But it’s just me—not even any pets—so I don’t need anything too big.” Her face lit up. “Say! Henryetta Found Treasures! Don’t you have an apartment over your store?” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I work down the street at the landscaping office, so I’d love to live close to work, you know?” Then she winked. “I’d be willing to pay a little extra on the deposit.”