Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies (5 page)

“I didn’t just watch you get out of jail only to turn around and put you in a dangerous situation.” His eyes widened. “In fact, we still need to investigate who this Glenn Stout person is.”

“I thought Carter’s receptionist was doin’ that.”

“Like I trust him to tell me the full truth.” He snorted and pulled a pair of jeans from the closet. “I’ll head out to the plant. You stay here and research the man who bailed you out.”

“I have a better idea. We’ll go out there together, and I can start lookin’ him up on my smart phone while you drive.”

He shot me a look of frustration.

“I’m goin’ with you, Mason Deveraux, so do us both a favor and just accept it.” When I noticed the worry in his eyes, I softened my tone and grabbed his hands. “You have to know by now you can’t treat me like some china doll. You’ve trusted me to do some behind-the-scenes investigations before, and you yourself have said I’m good at it.”

“But this is different. This is physically dangerous, Rose.”

“So why should you take the risk alone? I know you want to protect me, but this involves me too much for me to hide from it. So please just accept that we’re in this together and treat me as an equal.”

His eyes widened. “Of course I see you as an equal. I’m just scared. If something were to happen to you …”

“You’re in just as much danger as I am. Probably more so, since someone wants you dead. J.R. just wants me in prison. So no more bickering about it. From this moment forward, we’re doin’ this together.”

He searched my eyes, then his gaze drifted down to my naked body. A grin lit up his face. “You know it’s hard to argue with you when you’re so damn sexy without clothes on.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that piece of information for future negotiations.”

His smile turned slyer. “Why do I think I’ll regret admitting to that?”

“Because you, Mason Deveraux, are a very intelligent man.” I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss.

“If you’re going with me, you’d better get dressed. I’d prefer for you to use your naked wiles on me alone.”

“Me too.” I couldn’t hide my smile. Mason wasn’t going to fight me on being an active part of his investigation.

Too bad he had no idea how useful I could be.

B
efore we left
, I grabbed my phone and hid in the bathroom. There were several missed calls from Violet and Bruce Wayne and—just as I’d expected—a message from Skeeter. Rather than leave me a possibly incriminating voice message, he had sent a vague text.

Take care of yourself. Before everyone and everything else. Go to J if you need help
.
I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Was he hunting for a way to bring down J.R. or had he fled to save himself? The answer was most likely both
.
Still, he needed to tell me what he was up to instead of flying solo. We had a better shot of succeeding if all of us pooled our resources, but I suspected I’d have a hard time convincing him of that.

I needed to call Jed, but this was not the time for a long chat, particularly if I wanted it to be private, so I settled for sending him a quick text telling him I was fine and I’d call as soon as possible.

While we drove to the factory, Mason gave me more details about his meeting the previous Friday. He and Joe had come up with multiple pieces of evidence to bring charges against Mason’s corrupt boss. The case had looked pretty solid, so Joe had convinced Mason to call in the special prosecutor. But as soon as the meeting had started, the investigator turned the tables and presented concocted evidence against Mason—all while Joe sat quietly and listened. When the investigator asked if Joe cared to refute the claims against Mason, he merely shook his head and said he had nothing to add.

It was compelling proof of something I still couldn’t bear to believe: Joe had sided with his father. I was equally furious and heartbroken.

Mason finished just as he pulled into the parking lot of the plant, parking in almost the same spot my truck had occupied only days ago.

“Why in God’s name did you agree to meet Hattie here?” Mason asked as he put the car into park. “This place is beyond creepy.”

I had to agree. The building was blackened and partially caved in, the glass busted out in many of the windows.

“I thought she had answers. Besides, she seemed harmless enough. I had no idea Beverly Buchanan and Dirk Picklebie were followin’ us.” I patted his arm reassuringly. “Besides, I’m fine, thanks to that Taser you got me. It saved my life.” I had it in my coat pocket now, mostly because of Mason’s insistence that I continue to carry it, but also because it gave me a small sense of security.

He scowled slightly. “Joe’s the one who got you the Taser.”

“At your insistence.” I’d had plenty of alone time to think about that as well. “I’m having a hard time understanding why Joe would follow through with arresting me, especially when only the day before he was thanking Neely Kate for watching out for me.”

“There’s no denying he loves you. Even if it’s in his own selfish way,” Mason said, looking out the windshield at the plant. “But he’s a slave to his father’s whims.”

Which meant I couldn’t trust Joe. Ever. “No more talk about Joe. If I ever see him again, it will be too soon. Right now we need to concentrate on his father.”

“And we still need to figure out who’s behind the alias Glenn Stout.”

I’d spent the entire twenty-minute drive searching the Internet for any information about the man. The only real hit I’d found in the Little Rock area was a Glenn Stout who had been thirty-two years old in the 1940 census. It was a pretty safe bet that the guy had been dead for a few years.

“Do we have any way of knowing whether the person who created the alias actually lives near Little Rock or has ties to it?”

Mason shrugged and grabbed his backpack from the backseat. “Not really. But I plan to talk to the clerk at the courthouse to see what she remembers about the man who posted the bail.”

“You think she’ll remember?”

“Without a doubt. One-million-dollar bail bonds are pretty rare, let alone ones that are delivered in cash. She’ll be talking about it for years.” He paused and turned to me. “In fact, maybe we should ask Neely Kate to talk to her.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She’s good at getting information, and besides, she probably already knows the clerk from working at the courthouse herself. Why don’t you get her started on it before we go inside?”

Looking at him in disbelief, I picked up my phone.

“Don’t look so surprised,” he said. “You’ve heard of the phrase ‘it takes a village.’ Well, I’m beginning to suspect it’s going to take a village to get you out of this mess.”

“Us,” I said, searching his face. “Someone is still after you, and I am
certain
J.R. is behind it. So it’s get
us
out of this.”

His gaze held mine and he nodded. “Okay. Us.”

He was usually so quick to deny that Joe’s father was as much a danger to him as he was to me. It felt like a huge step forward.

“Promise me you won’t pull any more chauvinist crap,” I said. “We’re partners all the way in this.”

His face softened. “Rose, I didn’t mean to come off as chauvinistic. And as far as I’m concerned, we’re already partners in this and everything else.”

I leaned over and gave him a kiss. “I can’t think of a single person I’d rather have as a partner.”

“Me either.” He gave me another kiss and then leaned back. “Now go ahead and call Neely Kate, then we’ll go inside and find this safe.”

I wasn’t surprised that she was short with me when she answered the phone. “Well, imagine that,” she grumbled. “You finally got around to calling me.”

“I’m sorry, Neely Kate. I should have called you sooner. There’s no excuse. I just wasn’t thinkin’ straight.”

“Obviously.” But the teasing tone in her voice let me know I was off the hook.

“I have a lot to tell you, but it will have to wait until later. Right now Mason and I have a request.” I shot a glance at him, and he nodded. “We’re trying to figure out who posted my bail. You would think a man who could post a million dollars would show up on an Internet search, but I can’t find anything about Glenn Stout from Little Rock. Can you look into it?”

“Mason asked for my help too?”

“He knows you’re good at this kind of thing. He’s the one who suggested it.”

“Oh, my stars and garters. Wonders never cease. Someone finally appreciates my skills. When this is all said and done, we really need to open our own detective agency.”

“One thing at a time,” I said with a grin. “Let’s get Mason and me out of this predicament first.”

“Fair enough. I’ll let you know when I find something.”

“Thanks, Neely Kate. For everything … including Carter Hale.” Carter may have ultimately decided to take my case because of Skeeter, but I was pretty doggone sure Neely Kate’s intervention hadn’t hurt.

“What are best friends for? He has his shortcomings, but he came highly recommended.”

She hung up before I had the chance to ask where she’d gotten her references. I stuffed my phone into my pocket as Mason and I climbed out of the car.

An eerie sense of déjà vu washed over me as we walked toward the warehouse.

Mason sensed a shift in my mood and reached for my hand. “Is it hard coming back here after what happened?”

I nodded. “Sorry. I’m trying not to be a baby.”

“Rose.” He held on tighter to my hand. “People died in front of you in this place, and a crazy woman tried to strangle you. It’s perfectly normal to be anxious. I sure as hell would be.”

I led him past the front door covered with police tape and around the back. “I went through the front door last time, but it’s dark and cluttered with metal junk. Since we’re goin’ to the back, we can walk around and climb through a busted out window close to the office area.”

I couldn’t tell him that Jed, who had been at the warehouse with me as my bodyguard, had climbed out that same window before the sheriff’s deputies arrived. But thankfully, Mason didn’t question how I knew to use that as an entrance.

He climbed through first and offered me his hand as I straddled the three-foot-high window frame. Once I was inside, I took a moment to look around. The office Hattie had taken me to was about thirty feet away, on the other side of a mess of metal desks, but directly in front of me was the open space where Beverly had shot Hattie, Dirk, and Jed. A wave of anxiety washed through my head, but I pushed it down.

I could do this. I
had
to do this.

“Are you all right?”

I gave Mason a tight smile. “I’m okay. Let’s go find that safe.”

He pulled a flashlight out of his bag and handed it to me. “Lead the way.”

I avoided the open space, feeling sick to my stomach when I saw the blood staining the floor. Mason moved next to me, blocking my view. We exchanged a grim look.

“Let’s find this thing and get the hell out of here,” he said.

He didn’t have to tell me twice.

I entered the small office Hattie had gone into, paying more attention this time. A desk and a couple of chairs were shoved against the wall. But Hattie had gone straight for the closet. Since she’d said the safe was still in the office, it seemed like the logical place to look.

Mason stopped behind me as I stood at the entrance to the walk-in closet and shined the flashlight around the space. The walls were lined with shelves, but any office supplies that might have filled them were long gone. A small square wood panel was on the left wall, about five feet off the ground, and a shelf was built in directly underneath it. It would have been an excellent hiding spot for a secret safe, perfectly hidden by stacked office supplies.

I pulled the panel open and found a gray metal safe with a numbered wheel. I tugged on it, not surprised to find it locked.

“Do you remember anything in the journal that looked like it could be a combination?” Mason asked.

“Honestly, I hardly looked at it at all. Besides, it was filled with numbers and shorthand. Even if we had it, it would probably take us days to find the code.” I shook my head. “It took me long enough to find the secret message in the original journal.”

Mason pressed his chest to my back, his breath gently blowing my hair over my ear. “I’m so sorry I didn’t make time to listen to you.”

“It didn’t seem pressing. It was a twenty-five-year-old case.” I heaved a sigh. “Coming out here to see the safe was a total waste. I have no idea what I hoped to find.”

Mason pulled his phone out of his coat pocket. “I wouldn’t say that. Knowing the combination isn’t the only way to get a safe open.” He took several photos. “You just need the right tools.”

“You mean a locksmith? Hattie said she couldn’t get one out here because it’s private property.”

“She’s right. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get someone else to do it.”

I gasped in utter shock. “Are you proposing that we do something illegal?”

He grimaced. “One could argue that if the owners wanted the contents, they would have gotten them by now.”

My eyes widened. “Mason Deveraux, I never expected to hear such a thing come out of your mouth.” I leaned closer and whispered in a sultry voice, “Who knew you could be such a bad boy?”

“I can be very, very bad,” he teased. “As bad as you want.”

Before this was done, I had a feeling I was going to need to ask him to be a whole lot badder than he planned.

“
L
et
’s get out of here.” He turned around and headed toward the door.

“I want to look through the desk first.” Its drawers were facing the wall it was shoved up against. I started to scoot it out, but Mason was there in seconds, pulling it out with me.

“You know there’s little likelihood that anything useful is in there.”

I glanced up at him. “I know, but we’re already here, so why not look?”

After we got it situated, I held the flashlight while Mason started pulling out drawers and rummaging through the contents. All we found were pens, paperclips, and yellowed paper, but just when I was about to give up, I remembered how I’d found the journal. “Take out the drawers and turn them upside down,” I said.

Mason shot me a look, but he pulled out the middle drawer and dumped the contents on the desk. I searched the bottom with the flashlight, finding nothing. Leaving the drawer where it was, he grabbed the next one and turned it over. This time my flashlight beam landed on something shiny.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Mason muttered. “It’s a key.” He started to peel off the adhesive, but it was so old, the brittle tape broke into pieces. Mason cupped the key in his palm.

“What do you think it goes to?” I asked.

He turned it over in his hand. “It looks like an ordinary house key.” He looked into my eyes. “It could be absolutely nothing, Rose. He might have kept it here as a spare because he continually locked himself out of the house.”

“Taped under his drawer? Not likely.”

“Bottom line is that we have no idea what it opens, so we’ll just be on the lookout.”

“Agreed. Now let’s dump the other three.”

He pulled them out in quick succession, but there was nothing else. “Let’s get out of here.”

We hurried out of the office. The sun had begun to set, so it was getting darker. As we headed for the window, Mason looked over his shoulder. “Wait a minute. I want to have a quick look at the crime scene.”

I tried not to flinch. “Okay.”

I handed him the flashlight and let him take point on this one since it was his idea.

He wandered around the area, then squatted down next to the bloodstains. “There’s an extra one,” he said, his gaze moving from stain to stain before returning to my face. “Do you feel up to walking me through what happened?”

Oh, crappy doodles. “Why don’t you just read the report?”

“I told you. It wasn’t exactly thorough. Besides, at this point, I don’t trust the sheriff’s department to do their job. I want to hear it directly from you.”

“Okay,” I said, trying not to sound breathless. I would just stick to the story I’d told Joe. “I met Hattie here with the secret journal, but I wasn’t sure I trusted her, so I hid it in a desk drawer before I followed her into the office.”

“Which desk?”

My blood ran cold. Mason was going to be very, very thorough. Ordinarily I’d applaud his attention to detail. Today, not so much.

“This one.” I pointed to it.

“Can you literally walk me through it? Do you feel up to it?”

I would have loved to tell him no, but the last thing I wanted was for Mason to think I was fragile. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Go ahead and start.”

“After I shut the journal in the drawer, I walked to the office doorway.” I imitated each step as I described it. “Then I got freaked out about being trapped inside with her, so I decided I needed to be out in the open.”

“Okay,” he said, deep in thought. “Then what happened?”

“So I walked out here.” I made my way into the clear floor space, trying to avoid the bloodstains.

“What made you go with that choice?” he asked. “You usually have good instincts in these situations. It seems like you’d choose to stay between the desks … maybe use them for cover.”

I held my breath. He was right. If I’d been alone, that’s probably exactly what I would have done. The reason I’d stayed out in the open was to make it easier for Jed to serve as my backup, not that I could admit it to Mason. “I don’t know,” I finally said. “I just did.”

“Then what happened?”

“Hattie and I were talking, and there was a gunshot.”

“Someone got shot?”

My pulse throbbed against my temples. “Why do I feel like you’re cross-examining me in the courtroom?”

That shook him up. “I’m sorry if I’m coming across that way, Rose. I’m just trying to piece it all together. Trying to see if there’s anything there to help us.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” I ran my hand over my head. “Hattie. Hattie got shot.”

“And then what?”

“Beverly Buchanan and Dirk Picklebie came out of the shadows. Beverly wanted the journal. I told her it was hidden and if she killed me, she’d never find it.”

“That was good thinking,” he said softly. “What happened next?”

“Uh …” I had to remember to keep all references to Jed out of my explanation, which got tricky since he’d been so much a part of what happened that day. “Hattie was still alive, so she threatened to shoot her again if I didn’t give her the journal.” That part wasn’t true. Beverly had threatened to kill Jed. “Then Dirk got worried she’d kill him too, so he used me as a shield and told her he wanted a bigger split of the money J.R. had offered for the book. He wanted half. Fifty thousand dollars.”

“J.R. Simmons was willing to pay one hundred thousand dollars for that book? What did Dora find out?” He grunted. “
Dammit
. We need that book.”

“I know. I’m sorry I let Joe take it.”

His expression softened, and he shook his head. “No, sweetheart. You had no say in the matter. Go on. What happened next?”

“Beverly promised to give him more money, so he dropped his hold on me, and Beverly shot him in the head.” I shuddered as I remembered watching him fall to the ground.

A grim expression covered Mason’s face. “Can you show me where Hattie and Dirk were situated at that point?”

I pointed to the spot where Dirk had held me, then to the one where Hattie had lain between two desks. “She threatened to kill Hattie, so I went to the desk drawer and pretended it was stuck. Beverly got frustrated and pushed me out of the way. She got out the journal herself, but when she spun around, I tased her. After she fell, I got the book out from underneath her, then went to check on Hattie.”

“Where was Beverly at that point?”

“Here.” I pointed to the space in front of the desk.

“So you went to Hattie, and then what?”

“I called 911, and then Beverly tackled me. I tried to get away, but she pulled me back down and began to strangle me. Then Joe showed up and shot her.”

“And where did that happen?”

I pointed to the area, but I knew what he was going to ask next … and I had no idea how to answer it.

“So if this blood stain is from Beverly, how did this one get here?”

“I don’t know.” I turned away from him, the weight of my guilt making it difficult to breathe.

“You can tell me anything, Rose. You know that, right?”

Oh, God. He knew I was lying to him, which made it even worse. I wanted to tell him the truth, and he certainly deserved to know, but there was just no way my former assistant district attorney boyfriend would understand why I’d help Skeeter Malcolm. I didn’t think he ever would.

“This place is gonna give me nightmares. Can we go now?”

“Yeah.” The disappointment in his voice was like a knife to the gut, but I was keeping this secret to protect him just as much as myself.

I headed for the window, climbing out before him.

“What should we do now?” I asked. “What we really need is that journal. Where do you think Joe put it after he took it from me?”

“I know he didn’t log it as evidence. Randy already checked on that.”

“Deputy Miller did that? He told me that he believed I was innocent.”

Mason nodded. “He’s been keeping an eye on Joe for me.” He took my hand, and we started walking around the building. “Apparently, Joe practically lived at the sheriff’s office this weekend. He didn’t go home at all on Friday night. Of course, he was busy trying to find Skeeter Malcolm and arrest him for that double murder south of town.”

“Last week you told me that Joe thought Skeeter had done it, but what about you? Do you think so too?”

Mason squinted at me. “Why the sudden interest in Skeeter Malcolm?”

I shrugged. “It’s just a feeling.”

“You have visions, not feelings. Feelings are my mother’s purview, and she seems to be having an awful lot of them lately.”

“You should listen to your mother, Mason.”

He smirked a little at that. “The world’s going to hell in a handbasket. I’m counting on visions and feelings to guide my investigation. What would my law professors say?”

“I think you should use all the resources at your disposal. But you didn’t answer my question. Do you think Skeeter Malcolm did it?”

He frowned. “No. He’s not that stupid, yet Joe seems dead set on arresting him anyway.”

“Could his father be behind that too?”

Mason stopped walking. I turned around to face him.

“Could he be?”

“It crossed my mind this weekend, but since I’m not the ADA anymore and I was so focused on getting you out of jail, I didn’t give it much thought. But yeah, I think there’s a good chance of that.”

I tried to contain my excitement. I had managed to tie us all together without confessing my extracurricular activities. “Why does J.R. Simmons give a fig newton about Skeeter Malcolm?” I pressed.

Mason’s mouth twisted—it was an expression I recognized all too well; he was trying to decide what to tell me. “I don’t know for certain, but I don’t think we’re off in thinking there’s a connection.”

“What is it?” I genuinely had no idea why Joe’s father cared about Skeeter. I was hoping maybe Mason would.

“Let’s go home and discuss this on the way. I have some things to confess.”

“About your investigation?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” I said, suddenly nervous.

Mason had barely left the parking lot before he began. “You already know that I went to see Joe the night I found out he had paid off the loan for your nursery. You also know we got into a heated discussion and some punches were thrown. What I didn’t tell you was that I asked Joe to help me protect you from his father.”

My mouth dropped in shock.

“He told me no. It was his belief that trying to fight his father would be detrimental to you. But he called me the next day to say he’d changed his mind. He wanted to help, but only on the condition I didn’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I figured he had his reasons, and as long as he was helping, I didn’t care. Still, he didn’t have much information to offer until the day after Christmas.”

“What happened?”

“He had me meet him in secret. I hated not telling you, especially since you were so upset I was keeping things from you, but I figured we could use all the help we could get.”

That disagreement had been a bad one. “What did he say?”

“He said his father knew I’d been poking around in Little Rock. Joe was worried that my investigation would irritate his father enough to put you in danger.” He paused. “But there was more.”

“Okay.”

“Joe’s father wanted him to back off on finding Mick Gentry.”

My blood ran cold. “Why?”

“His reasoning was that if Gentry was still on the loose, he would eliminate Malcolm.”

My stomach clenched. “Why would he want that?”

“The hell if I know, and Joe wasn’t in the mood to volunteer any ideas. The only theory I could come up with is that Simmons has some ongoing business here and Malcolm’s in the way.”

“What kind of business?”

“I have no idea, but there’s more.”

“
More?
Okay …”

“J.R. told Joe that I was pissing off the good citizens of Fenton County. Joe didn’t get into specifics, but I always suspected that meant J.R. knew who was behind the attempt on my life.”

“I’d bet money that person was Mick Gentry. Especially after the fire at Gems. We need to find Gentry to stop him from killing you both. And keep Skeeter from getting arrested for two murders he didn’t commit.”

Mason’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you care about Skeeter Malcolm?”

Crap. “Because Joe’s wanting to arrest him for something he didn’t do. His situation is no different than mine.”

He turned to me in disbelief. “His situation is
entirely
different than yours. Skeeter Malcolm has committed multiple crimes for which he’s never been arrested, and if he didn’t commit these murders, I’m sure he’s guilty of others.”

“Skeeter Malcolm is a person, criminal or not, and Mick Gentry is a despicable man.”

“How do you know Skeeter Malcolm isn’t an even
more
despicable man?”

Crap, oh crap, oh crap. “Look, all I know is that Skeeter took over Daniel Crocker’s place in the crime world and Gentry wants it.”

“How do you know that?” His words were more accusatory than his tone. If anything, he seemed genuinely curious. Besides, he was used to me knowing things, usually with the help of Neely Kate. “The part about Gentry wanting to take over has been purposely been kept out of the media.”

What could I tell him? Then it hit me. “Jonah and all his ties to the criminal element.” Jonah ran a support group for rehabilitating criminals at his church, which meant Jonah was more tapped into the criminal world than most people in town.

Mason was quiet for a long moment, and I had worked myself into a lather of worry by the time he spoke again. But he only said, “We need to figure out the significance of the key and get into that safe. They’re our best leads.”

I wasn’t sure if the change of topic was a good thing or a bad one. But now I worried about the ramifications of Mason getting caught doing something illegal. “Mason, when we get this all sorted out, do you want your job back?”

He shot me a quizzical glance. “Rose, the last thing I’m worried about right now is my old job.”

“Think about it, Mason. If you want your job back, you can’t risk getting caught trespassing and breakin’ into a safe. So do you?”

“Honestly, Rose, I’m not sure. For the most part I loved my job, but I love you a hell of a lot more. Now that I have you, I don’t want to pour all of my time into some office. I’ve been thinking about pursuing real estate law.”