Hell in a Handbasket

by Denise Grover Swank

  “What if you turn him down?”

  “What?” I asked, certain I’d misconstrued his question.

  “You said he wants you back. What if you tell him no?”

  “No, I can’t believe he’d try to hurt me. Not even then.”

  “But he might drag you into court to testify.”

  And I could easily imagine what I might be asked to testify about.

  The bell on the front door dinged and Mason stood in the doorway, wearing a pale blue dress shirt—its sleeves rolled up just below his elbows—and a pale yellow tie. His gray dress slacks clung to his hips, and six months ago the sight of him would have made me breathless. Now I was breathless for a different reason.

  Mason’s face hardened as his gaze landed on Joe, who was still kneeling in front of me. “Didn’t waste any time getting to Rose, I see.”

  Joe got to his feet. “What difference does it make to you, Deveraux? You left her months ago.”

  Mason’s hard gaze turned to me.

  I put my hand on Joe’s arm. “Go. Let me deal with this.”

  The look on Joe’s face told me that was the last thing he planned to do.

  “Joe,” I said, my voice softening. “Please. We’ll talk later.”

  He hesitated, then leaned closer, whispering, “Be careful what you say, Rose. He’s here as the person in charge of the task force investigating the corruption in the county. Every word can be used against you.”

  I stared up at him, trying to hide my shock and disbelief. After giving me one last look, he stalked toward the door, stopping next to Mason.

  “You’ve already hurt her enough, Deveraux. Think about that before you hurt her any more.” Then Joe went out the door, slamming it behind him hard enough to make me jump.

  With Joe gone, Mason relaxed a bit and took a few steps into the room. “What did he tell you?”

  “That you’re movin’ back to Henryetta.”

  He looked pained as he said, “I didn’t know when I spoke to you yesterday or I would have warned you.”

  “But you suspected.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Have you told your mother yet?” When I saw the questioning look on his face, I added, “She’s considering movin’ to Little Rock to be closer to you.”

  Confusion swam in his eyes. “But she loves it here.”

  “She loves you more.”

  That sobered him and he advanced toward me, stopping at the edge of my desk. “What else did Joe tell you?”

  “That you’re heading a task force.”

  His mouth pinched. “He had no business telling you anything.”

  “He’s my friend. He wanted to warn me so I wouldn’t be hurt.”

  “Or maybe he’s trying to get between you and me. Again.”

  My anger flared. “I’ve been single for months, and he hasn’t once tried to make a move on me. In fact, he has a girlfriend. He’s over me.”

  “Joe Simmons will never be one hundred percent over you.”

  I could have argued, but I was too tired. I sat down in my seat and glanced out the window.

  “May I sit with you?” he asked quietly.

  I didn’t like the idea of him getting too comfortable, but I also didn’t want to stare up at him. It would make me feel even more out of control of the situation. “Yeah.”

  He grabbed Neely Kate’s chair and rolled it over to my desk. As he situated it mere feet from me, I was bowled over by a sudden stream of memories of Mason in this office. Mason helping me set up the office when I’d decided to break away from the nursery. Mason bringing me food on his lunch break and the two of us eating at my desk. Mason telling me that my betrayal had been too much for him to bear and he was moving out. Memories both happy and bittersweet, and now I had one more to add.

  Maybe meeting here had been a bad idea after all. Maybe there was nowhere we could comfortably meet.

  “What else did Joe tell you, Rose?” Mason finally asked, his voice soft.

  I couldn’t look at him. My mind was still racing over Joe’s suggestions. “That’s all: that you’re in charge of a task force to root out corruption in Fenton County, and that you’re moving back.”

  “I am. I hadn’t planned on it. I’d only planned to come down every few weeks, but the mayor called my boss this morning after our initial meeting, and my boss is trying to get the paperwork accelerated to make it happen. It’s not official yet, but it will be by the time I leave on Thursday.” He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was tight. “Rose, will you please look at me.”

  I slowly turned to see his anguished expression.

  “This is not how I wanted you to find out, Rose. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

  “Joe says your task force is goin’ after the crime world too.”

  He studied me before he said in a careful tone, “You and I both know the judges and officials in this county have been bought. Yes, I’ll be goin’ after the people who bought them off.”

  “And others.”

  “I freely admit that I plan to clean up the county.”

  “Do you have any specific people in mind?” I asked, thankful my voice didn’t shake.

  He gave me a piercing look. “Are you askin’ about anyone specific?”

  I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head to the side. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “And so will I,” he said, sounding irritated. Then he shook his head and leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “You’re the one with a personal vendetta.”

  Scowling, he sat back up. “What’s that mean?”

  “You plan to go after Skeeter Malcolm, and we both know it.”

  Arrogance tightened his features. “If he’s part of any wrongdoing, then yes, I will be going after him.”

  I pointed my finger at him. “It’s more than that and we both know it. You’re wanting to punish him for his part in the whole J.R. mess last winter.”

  He pressed his lips together. “Are you intent on helping him?”

  “He saved my life, Mason,” I said with a sigh. “He made it possible for me to save yours. Doesn’t that count for something with you?”

  He stood and walked toward the front of the office. For a moment I thought he was going to up and leave, but he stopped at the windows and stared across the street. “We both know I’ve spent my career prosecuting criminals.” He turned back to look at me. “A year ago, we were both on the same page with that.”

  I stood too, still not wanting to have to look up at him. “You think the world is black and white, Mason. I helped you see the gray. Have you forgotten it?”

  He slowly spun to face me. “The gray starts to get messy. The lines begin to erode. There is right and there is wrong, and it was foolish of me to overlook it.”

  I took several steps toward him. “What happened to the man who started a program helping kids who got in trouble with the law? The old Mason would have written them off, but the man I knew thought there was a way to help them. Is that man gone?”

  He gave me a defensive look. “Not gone, Rose. Just more jaded.”

  “Because of what happened in February when we took down J.R. Simmons?” I asked, moving closer.

  He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.

  “And me,” I added, my words dripping with sorrow. “You’re more jaded because of me.”

  He turned from me again, staring at the courthouse.

  “Yesterday you told me you always thought you’d come back here to apologize,” I said, overcome with grief. “But that was never going to happen. Not really. So instead, you came back to get revenge. You’re gonna destroy the very thing you think stole me from you.”

  His head spun back, a fire in his eyes. “I love you, Rose. By God, I wish I didn’t, but I still do.” He took a breath. “But I won’t let that love blind me to the job I’m supposed to do—the job that was assigned to me.” Suddenly, all the anger fled from him,
leaving him a broken man. “Regardless of what you think, I didn’t ask for this. I tried to decline this assignment, but I was told to take the job or resign. What was I supposed to do?”

  I stared up at him, slack-jawed as tears filled my eyes.

  “I lost you, the only woman I ever really loved. All I have left is my work.”

  My heart was breaking. “Mason . . .”

  He reached for my hand, and I didn’t resist. I’d missed him—I’d missed us—and now he was standing in front of me offering the very thing he’d snatched from me. “I don’t want to hurt you, Rose. That’s the last thing I want.”

  “What if I said yes?” I asked as a tear tracked down my cheek. “What if I said I wanted you back? Would you still do this?”

  He watched me for a moment, pain washing over his face. “Those are the conditions? I can have you back, but I’d need to drop this assignment?”

  He tried to pull away, but I tightened my hold on his hand, some desperate part of me still clinging to the hope I could have my life with him back. “You were fired from your job before, Mason. You were lookin’ at doin’ something else. Some other kind of law. You could still do that.”

  His mouth twisted into a sad smile. “You told me I’d be bored to tears. You were right.”

  “Then get your old job back as the assistant DA. I’m sure you could.”

  “Get a job in the department I was sent to clean out?” he asked, sounding incredulous.

  “Do it from the inside.”

  He shook his head. “You and I both know how corrupt this county government is. There’s only one reason you’re trying to keep me from doin’ this.” He snatched his hand from mine. “Him.”

  I started to protest, but he was right. I hated the corruption in this county. It had very nearly sent me to prison for my mother’s murder. There was only one reason I was fighting him on it, or rather one person. James would and had risked everything to keep me safe while Mason wasn’t willing to give up anything.

  “Are you sleepin’ with him?” Mason asked in a cold voice.

  I had to be very careful with my answer . . . and my reaction. “You have no right askin’ who I’m sleepin’ with.”

  His hazel eyes turned cold. “So you are?”

  “Who are you sleepin’ with?” I asked in a hateful tone.

  “That has no relevance in this conversation.”

  “The heck it doesn’t!” I shouted. “You’re demanding to know who I’ve been with since you abandoned me. If you expect an answer, then I have every right to know who you’ve been with.”

  “This is not even close to the same thing, Rose, and you know it!”

  “The hell it’s not! I’ve dated one man, Mason. One man since you left. The new veterinarian, Levi Romano, and I sure as Pete didn’t sleep with him. Now you tell me who you’ve dated.” It was a lie of omission, and I felt horrible for it, but I certainly couldn’t tell him the truth. Not unless we really got back together, but it was pretty clear there was little chance of that happening now.

  His anger faded some. “Rose, my dating life isn’t—”

  “So you have slept with someone else?” I asked, realizing the truth hurt worse than I’d expected. Maeve had told me he was seeing other people, but it felt different to hear it from him.

  He must have heard the pain in my voice because his face softened, and now he looked like the Mason I’d loved. The man I’d risked my life to save. “My lack of denial doesn’t mean it’s true,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  “Exactly,” I said, though his words didn’t feel validating. Maybe because he’d guessed correctly.

  “He loved you, Rose. There was no denying that. I can’t believe he didn’t swoop in to win you as soon as I left.”

  I shook my head as fresh tears fell from my eyes. “He wouldn’t have done that, Mason. He respected me too much.” I felt better knowing that part wasn’t a lie. We’d remained friends, but he’d never pushed that boundary. Not once. I’d been the one to do it a month ago.

  His anger was back. “I don’t believe that for one minute.”

  My reaction wasn’t anger. It was regret. “That only shows how little you know him.”

  He started to speak, then wisely shut his mouth.

  “We both know what I did to save you. And we both know that you left me because you were pissed off, pure and simple. Sure, you told me I needed space to grow, but we both know your anger drove you to it.”

  He didn’t correct me.

  “With one breath you tell me you’ve missed me, and with the next you say that you expected Skeeter Malcolm to put the moves on me in your absence?” Then it hit me. “It was a test. You were testing me?”

  Guilt filled his eyes. “Rose, I had to be certain.”

  “Certain of what? That I loved you?” I placed my palm on his chest and shoved hard. “Get out of my office.”

  “Rose . . .”

  “You told me to move on, Mason,” I said, struggling not to cry. “I moved on by dating the new vet.”

  Why wasn’t I angry? All I felt was profound disappointment and grief.

  Was it because I’d failed his test?

  No. I had never thought of James as anything other than a friend until months after my breakup with Mason. James could have made a move and taken advantage of my vulnerability, but he hadn’t. Quite the opposite. He’d tried to push me away, insisting I was too good for him.

  But Mason couldn’t know any of that. If he so much as caught a whiff of my involvement with James, he’d go after him with a vengeance.

  “I’m sorry, Rose. I had to be sure.”

  I shook my head and turned from him. “We’re done. Go.”

  “If I could change things . . .”

  “You wouldn’t change a thing, because it still kills you that I collaborated with the very man you vowed to put behind bars. I understood it back then, and I still do. But I never once gave you reason to believe I’d be anything less than faithful.”

  “How can you say that?” he demanded, his voice rising. “You paraded around for months as his lover!”

  “I was not his lover!” I shouted. “Pretend or otherwise! I was always presented as his business partner.”

  “I’m sure those men bought that,” he spat out.

  I took a breath to ease the ache in my heart. “You’re right,” I said in a calm voice. “They didn’t at first. But they did by the time they left my presence.”

  Indecision flickered in his eyes. “I’m supposed to believe that?”

  That pissed me off. Now he was calling me a liar. “I earned those men’s respect. Hardened criminals respected me, Mason. Me. Not because I’d done anything even remotely criminal. Because I demanded it. So I’ll be damned if I’ll let you make me feel like I’m some worthless slut.” I flung my hand toward the door. “Now. Get. Out.”

  “Rose.”

  “Go!”

  He started for the door and stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “This wasn’t how I wanted this to go.”

  “You keep sayin’ that, yet it still keeps happening. But how could you expect it to go any differently?” I asked as the truth hit me hard.

  “What do you mean?” he asked in a quiet voice. Cold and collected.

  “You don’t respect me. You lost every ounce of respect for me the moment you found out that I’m the Lady in Black. You still loved me, but you didn’t trust me, and you sure didn’t respect me. I crossed the line you’ve always held so sacred, and I did it to save you. You hated that you were beholden to me for it. You hated James for agreeing to help me. You couldn’t be with me, but letting me go for good made you an ungrateful asshole.” I made a shooing motion. “Go. Be free of it. I’m not holding it over your head. You’re the only one holding you captive.”

  He was silent for several seconds. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I lost all respect for you, but you know what stood out to me the most in your pretty speech?” He paused. “You said ‘I’m t
he Lady in Black’—present tense, not past.” His face hardened. “You better get your house in order, Rose, because you don’t want to be standing in the way when I bring everything down.”

  Chapter 22

  Jed’s car was parked in front of the house when I got back to the farm. Muffy met me at the door, and I squatted to rub her head.

  “What smells so good, Muff?” I asked, realizing my stomach was rumbling.

  “You’re just in time,” Neely Kate called out from the kitchen. “I’m makin’ BLTs.”

  I leaned in closer to Muffy and whispered, “Surely she can’t mess those up, right?”

  She looked at me as though to say, Don’t count on it.

  The previous winter, Neely Kate had become enamored with food shows that required the contestants to create unique dishes with even more unique ingredients. Bruce Wayne and I—and even Mason—had been subjected to a host of very bad dishes. She’d since gone back to the Southern comfort food her granny had taught her how to make, but she’d begun to roll out her “gourmet” cooking to impress Jed. The fact that Jed choked it down instead of running for the hills was a sure sign of how crazy he was about her.

  I scooped up Muffy and headed to the kitchen, surprised to see Marshall sitting at the kitchen table with Jed, while Neely Kate stood in front of the stove. Marshall was wearing a T-shirt that looked to be Jed’s, based on the way it swam on him, and a pair of athletic shorts, most likely also Jed’s, which hung to his knees, covering his bandage.

  “How are you feeling, Marshall?” I asked, giving him the once-over. His face had more color today and he seemed to have more energy.

  He bowed his head. “Better, thanks for askin’, ma’am.”

  “Jed helped me bring him downstairs,” Neely Kate said as she flipped some bacon in a cast-iron skillet. “We wanted to ask him more questions about Becky, plus we figured he was goin’ stir-crazy upstairs.”