His gaze penetrated mine. “She’s the houseguest you mentioned earlier.”
I nodded.
“Why am I not surprised?” James didn’t look very happy, but he asked Jed, “I take it you’re stayin’ at their house tonight too?”
“Without a doubt.”
James frowned, but he nodded. “If she’s runnin’ and she’s in a car that belongs to a man who has a possible connection to Hardshaw…” He shook his head. “Even if she’s no part of it and this is some huge coincidence, she could bring them to your front door.”
“I know,” I said. “But what if she is running from Hardshaw? If she starts to trust us, maybe she’ll give us information that will help us figure out what we’re dealing with.”
The look on James’s face suggested he wasn’t buying it.
I sent him a pleading glance. “I don’t like it much either, but for now, it seems like the best plan.”
James pinned his gaze on Jed. “Keep me apprised of the situation. I want to know everything you find out about either one of them.”
Jed tipped his head. “I will.”
I was surprised by James’s acceptance of the whole situation, but I kept it to myself.
“If you’re done talkin’ about Carly,” Neely Kate said, “Rose and I need to work on the real reason we’re out here.”
“And what’s that?” Jed asked.
“Our missing woman was supposedly headed out here last weekend,” I said. “Or at least we think it was this spot. Sarah told her mother she was headed to Shute Creek to meet friends, and she and her best friend, Nina, used to come here with their boyfriends. But we know she wasn’t meetin’ them. Nina’s boyfriend has tried to keep her away from Sarah…which means we have no idea who she was supposed to be meeting here.”
“We want to look around,” Neely Kate added. “Sarah’s mother said Sarah left wearin’ her swimsuit like she was comin’ to the creek.”
“But she might not have come here at all,” Jed said.
“True,” Neely Kate said, “but we need to check it anyway.”
He nodded.
James kept quiet as Neely Kate walked past him and made her way toward the water. Moments later, as if she’d just realized they intended to stay, she turned back to face them. “You two are makin’ me nervous standin’ there watchin’. You can both leave.”
Jed folded his arms over his chest. “I’ve got nowhere to go.”
James walked over to the picnic table and sat on the bench the wrong way, his back to the table. “You ladies go about your business, then I need to speak to Rose.”
Neely Kate sent me a pleading look, but I shrugged as I walked toward her. Arguing wouldn’t get us anywhere. Besides, I wanted to talk to James too.
“Just pretend they’re not there,” I said in a low tone when I reached her.
Her lips pursed as she shot them a dark look. “Yeah, right.”
“Jed’s not gonna judge us,” I said.
“And Skeeter?”
I grinned. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“We don’t even know that Sarah came out here,” Neely Kate said as she moved closer to the creek.
“True,” I said, lightly kicking a three-inch round stone on the shore with the toe of my shoe, “but why bother with the farce of comin’ to the creek? Why not just say she was runnin’ errands, or goin’ to see Nina?”
Neely Kate tipped her head as she stared into the water. “True.”
“So if she wasn’t meetin’ Nina, we need to find out who she was meetin’. Maybe it was someone she worked with.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe she was meeting Levi Romano.”
I pondered her question as I bit my bottom lip. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know. I don’t see him datin’ his employee. Besides, she’s so much younger than him.”
“Look how much younger you are than Skeeter.”
I frowned. “Sarah is practically a kid. I can’t see Levi goin’ out with her. I was thinkin’ about where she worked before.”
“The dentist’s office? Yeah, good idea. Maybe she spent time with them outside of work until she broke up with her boyfriend.”
“If she came out here,” I said. “I don’t see any traces of anyone bein’ here.” I glanced around on the ground. Then again, it looked amazingly clean. No sign of any trash at all. I was about to say as much when another thought struck me. “If she was here over a week ago, there have likely been people here since then. Any sign of her will probably be long gone.”
Her lips pinched together. “In your vision, we found her purse in the woods. I think we should look for it in the trees around the clearing.”
What she said made sense, but it made my stomach drop. If we found it, at least we’d know she’d really been here. At the same time, it would suggest foul play. “Do you want to split up? I’ll go to the left and you can go to the right?”
“Split up?” she teased. “You’ve been against it all day.”
“Jed’s watchin’ you like a mother hen,” I said with a laugh. “I think you’ll be fine.”
She gave me a grimace and then we split off—me into the trees to the left and her into the trees to the right. I hadn’t wandered far before I felt James behind me. I didn’t hear him, which was saying something considering the ground was covered in dry leaves and sticks.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I said good-naturedly as I kept my gaze on the ground in front of me.
“I’m not here as your babysitter,” he said behind me, but offered no other explanation.
I glanced back at him. “Thanks for drivin’ out here and checkin’ on me.”
“I know your reasonin’ for lettin’ that woman stay in your house, but it makes me nervous as hell.”
“Trust me, if I felt threatened by her, I wouldn’t let her anywhere near my house. But I think Neely Kate is right about her runnin’ from something. And while I want to help her, Neely Kate needs to.”
“Why? Seems to me she’s got enough of a shit show to sort out without adding someone else’s mess to the mix.”
“Neely Kate was in a very difficult situation when she was living in Ardmore, and it makes her want to help women who are in trouble.” I paused and lowered my voice. “I think she wishes someone had helped her.” I kept walking, now turning parallel to the picnic tables.
“Are you lookin’ for something in particular or just traipsing around in the woods?” he asked.
“Believe it or not, I’m lookin’ for a purse.”
“You think her purse is out here?”
“I had a vision of Neely Kate bringin’ Sarah’s purse to her mother. Neely Kate said she found it in the woods. I’m not sure this is where we’ll find it, but it makes sense to look.”
We walked a few more feet before he asked softly, “What’s goin’ on with your sister?”
I stopped and turned back to face him. “She’s miserable with Mike, and I don’t want her last days to be in a house where she’s unhappy.”
“You want her to move in with you,” he said. I knew he was perceptive, but it still caught me off guard at times.
I studied his face for a reaction and saw none. “And the kids.”
“That’ll change things between you and me.”
“She’s my sister,” I said unapologetically.
“I would expect nothing less from you.”
Tears filled my eyes. “But you and me…”
He gave me a cocky smile. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, Rose.”
“But I won’t be able to get away to see you as much as I have, and when she gets really bad… I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get away at all.”
He slipped an arm around my back and pulled me closer. “I understand.”
But now that we were discussing this, I wondered if he would. We both knew our arrangement was temporary, it had to be, and he might decide this was a good time to en
d it. I wasn’t ready to let him go yet.
“Rose,” he said, “we’ll work it out.”
“Will we?”
He leaned down and kissed me. “I told you—I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
“Yet.”
His eyes turned conflicted and he started to say something when Neely Kate called out, “I found it!”
Chapter 12
I hurried through the woods toward the cars and caught a glimpse of Neely Kate through the trees. She was leaning over something on the ground. I crossed the parking lot and pushed through the brush until I reached her. Jed stood to the side with his arms crossed over his chest like he was a sentinel keeping watch.
“Is this what you saw?” she asked.
I peered at the small brown purse that looked barely big enough to hold a wallet and phone. “That’s the one in my vision. But maybe we should call the police before we disturb anything.”
“They won’t come,” Jed said. “The Sugar Branch police don’t want to look into her disappearance, and without evidence of foul play, they likely won’t come to investigate. The only way you can get law enforcement involved is if you get the sheriff interested. Maybe you can call Joe.”
Neely Kate shook her head. “Joe already told me he couldn’t get officially involved without startin’ a turf war. We’re on our own.”
“Then you might as well look through the contents,” Jed said, “but put on gloves first. I’ll get some out of the car and see if I can find a plastic bag to put it in. In case they need prints. But take photos before you disturb it.”
In my vision, Neely Kate had just handed the purse to Marsha, but Jed was right. We needed to preserve it as possible evidence.
He headed to his car and I pulled out my phone to take photos from several angles while James stood back and watched. When Jed returned, he handed a pair of latex gloves to Neely Kate while holding a gallon-sized clear plastic bag in his other hand.
She donned the gloves, then squatted next to the purse and pulled out a thin wallet.
“It’s hers, all right,” she murmured as she read the license through the plastic window. “Sarah Ann Freestone, Sugar Branch, Arkansas.” She held up the wallet to show me her photo.
“Is there any money in it?” James asked.
Neely Kate took a peek. “About thirty dollars.”
“So robbery wasn’t a motive,” Jed said.
“Unless they wanted the money stash she came across,” Neely Kate said.
“What money stash?” James asked.
I turned to face him. “The day before Sarah disappeared, she told Nina she’d come into some money. Enough for the two of them to run and escape from their terrible boyfriends.”
Neely Kate put the wallet back in Sarah’s purse.
“How much money does she think the girl had?” James asked.
“Nina wasn’t sure, but she doesn’t think Sarah found her ex-boyfriend’s drug money stash. She thinks this was bigger,” I said.
“It wouldn’t take much money for them to make a run for it,” Neely Kate said defensively as she left the purse on the ground and stood. “A couple hundred for gas money. Maybe a thousand or two to pay for the first month’s rent somewhere. It could have been their drug money, which would have given Digger reason to…”
“Kill her,” I finished. Neither one of us wanted to consider that possibility, but it seemed unlikely she would have run off without Nina.
“We need to take the purse back to Sarah’s momma,” Neely Kate said. “We need to follow the vision.”
“We’ve already strayed from the vision,” I countered. “Maybe we should just tell Marsha about the purse and hold on to it as evidence.”
She nodded in agreement.
“So what do we do next?” I asked.
“We could talk to Digger and Stewie tonight, but I think we need more information before we let them know we’re diggin’ around.”
Neely Kate’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Yeah. You’re right. We can head to the dentist’s office and talk to her old coworkers.”
“We also need to talk to Conrad,” I said. “I’d prefer to do it in person, but I’m not sure I want to wait until Thursday night.”
Jed frowned at us. “I don’t like the idea of you girls workin’ on your own down here. You need backup.”
James shifted his weight. “I agree. Things are too unsettled right now.”
I looked him in the eye. “Anything more you should tell me?”
He hesitated, then said, “Nothin’ you need to worry about.”
I knew we should tell them about Digger and Stewie’s connection to Denny Carmichael, but I suspected we’d meet strong resistance if they found out. We weren’t planning to directly approach or question Denny—I didn’t have a death wish—and if our investigation took us into his orbit, then I’d reevaluate. Better to keep it close to the vest for now.
“We don’t need any bodyguards,” Neely Kate said as she snatched the plastic bag from Jed, then bent over and stuffed the purse inside it with her gloved hands. “We’re gonna talk to Sarah’s old coworkers and her new boss where she was a receptionist—” I shot her a silent thank-you look for not mentioning Levi’s name. James didn’t think too highly of him given that I’d been kidnapped while out on a date with him. “—then figure out how to get ahold of Conrad Duffy before he returns to town on Thursday.”
“And go by the hair salon,” I reminded her. “We need to talk to Imogene.” We also needed to pass along that paper.
Neely Kate gave Jed a satisfied look. “See? We likely won’t even get to it all before we pick up Carly at six.”
Jed didn’t look convinced. “If you see any sign of trouble…”
“I’ll call you straightaway,” Neely Kate said. “Unless I need to shoot someone first.”
“That’s not makin’ me feel better,” he grumbled.
“You know I’m all for backup,” I said, “but Neely Kate’s right. We’ll be fine. We’re goin’ by an office or two and a hair salon. How can that be dangerous?”
James’s eyebrows shot straight up.
“Okay,” I conceded. “We can find danger just about anywhere, but you have to admit it seems relatively safe. I wouldn’t be workin’ on this case if I thought it was dangerous.”
“Neely Kate found a missin’ woman’s purse lyin’ in the woods, Rose,” James said in a frustrated tone. “Which means she’s likely been involved in foul play. Not much a person can do without their ID and credit cards. That automatically makes it dangerous.”
“Okay,” I said. “Still…”
“And then there’s this mystery money,” James continued. “If this Sarah chick stole money, then the person she stole it from is gonna be lookin’ for it. Or coverin’ their tracks if they found her with the money.” He shook his head and sucked in a breath. “I don’t like it.”
“Nobody said you had to like it,” I said. “We’re not gonna stop our investigation.”
He shot me an exasperated look. “I never said I wanted you to stop. Do I want you to be careful? Yeah. But with everything else goin’ on, I don’t know…” He took another breath. “This feels off. Even if she was just a receptionist with only a few friends. I want you to see if you can find the source of the missin’ money.”
My mouth parted in shock. “You’re kiddin’.”
“Would I kid over something so serious? You need backup, but it might be dangerous to put my own men on you. I’m worried how it will be perceived.” But his clenched fists and tight jaw clued me in that he’d much prefer to use his own guys.
“I don’t like this either,” Jed said, his eyes shooting daggers at his former boss.
“Just because you want to quit and pretend this world doesn’t exist doesn’t make it so, Jed,” James said in disgust.
“I’m fully aware the criminal world still exists,” Jed countered with plenty of heat. “My girlfriend is a person of interest to a Dallas crime syndicate.”
<
br /> I’d seen the two of them together multiple times since they’d parted ways, but this was the first time I’d ever witnessed outright hostility between them. There had been plenty of tension, sure, but they’d worked together if the need arose, which it had a few times over the last month or so.
“You claim you made a clean break,” James said, his voice low and tight, “but you sent a very different message when you made the rounds with Dermot and Reacher last Friday while I was out of town.”
“I was tryin’ to help you, you son of a bitch,” Jed snarled. A vein throbbed on his neck. “You were gone, so I was tryin’ to determine if there was a threat to the county.”
“You mean you were tryin’ to determine if there was a threat to your girlfriend.”
“You sure as hell didn’t want me helpin’ her when she went to Ardmore,” Jed snapped. “And that’s exactly why I quit. You made me choose between Neely Kate and my job. It was an easy choice to make.”
I stared at Neely Kate in disbelief. She looked just as stunned.
“James,” I said softly.
“Stay out of this, Rose,” he said, keeping his eyes on Jed. “You undermined my authority with that little stunt,” James continued. “There’s talk goin’ round that you’re about to make a power grab and you’ve got Dermot and Reacher in your back pocket.”
Neely Kate’s eyes widened.
Jed shook his head. “That was not my intention, and you damn well know it. We knew Hardshaw was interested in Neely Kate, and I thought it prudent to find out if they’d made a move into the county.”
“And it couldn’t have waited?”
“It was a judgment call, Skeeter!” Jed shouted. “It seemed emergent.” He shook his head, staring down at the ground. I figured he was trying to calm himself, but when he lifted his gaze, he still looked as angry as a hornet. “Two months ago, you wouldn’t have batted an eye about me goin’ around to question people.”
“Two months ago you were workin’ for me! You were questioning them on my behalf! Last Friday you were askin’ on your own behalf.”
“How bad is it?” I asked quietly. He’d already told me there was suspicion he’d flip and tell Mason everything… this couldn’t be good for him.
Up Shute Creek: Rose Gardner Investigation #4 Page 13
