Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 (12 page)

I shot Neely Kate a grimace, then answered. “Hey, Joe.”

“I heard about what happened yesterday afternoon.” He didn’t sound one bit happy about it.

I should have known he’d have a fit about the accident. Why I hadn’t prepared for this call was beyond me. But I’d had a lot of things happen the day before. For all I knew, he’d heard about the Piggly Wiggly incident.

“I’ve given them both a good talking to.”

Oh, mercy, he
had
heard. “I didn’t mean to stir up trouble. I promise.”

He paused. “How could this be your fault? The way I heard it, you were there minding your own business.”

I shook my head in confusion. There’s no way he would have heard that at the Piggly Wiggly. Even if it
was
true. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“I heard about your run-in with Hilary and my sister.”

“Oh.
That.
I thought you were calling about the accident or the…
.
” My voice trailed off.

“What else happened yesterday afternoon?” He sounded exasperated.

“Nothing. I was about to say the note on Mason’s car.” Hopefully the Piggly Wiggly incident would stay under wraps, but seeing as how Miss Mildred was involved, I doubted that was likely. One problem at a time.

His tone turned angry. “You should have called me yesterday, Rose.”

Whether I should have called him or not was debatable, and I didn’t feel like getting into it at the moment. I sighed. “Joe, Deputy Miller took care of everything. How about we get back to the real reason you called.”

He paused and his voice softened. “I want to apologize about Hilary and Kate. They’ve been at odds since they were in diapers. My sister has always seen it as a personal challenge to best Hilary. Kate has gotten it into her head that Hilary’s the reason we broke up. She also knows that Hilary wants to marry me, so I think Kate’s doin’ everything in her power to get you and me back together.”

My mouth dropped, leaving me speechless.

“I need you to know I do not approve of this. Contrary to my actions in the recent past, I’m no part of it.”

Two months ago, I would have doubted his assertion. Now I actually believed him. “I know.”

“Thank you.” He sounded surprised, but he recovered quickly. “I’ve told Kate to back off, but she’s never been good at listening. I’m doing my best to make her leave you alone, but short of arresting her for harassment, I’m not sure what else I can do.”

“You would arrest your own sister for harassment?”

“If she keeps pestering you mercilessly? Yes, I would.” I could tell he meant it.

“I don’t know what to say, Joe.”

“We’re friends now, right?” he asked. “Kate might be my sister, but she ran off without a backward glance two years ago, worrying me to death. Now she has her own agenda and she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process.” He paused. “It’s the Simmons way.”

“You’re not like that anymore,” I said softly.

“I’m still workin’ on it.” We were both silent for a moment. “If she contacts you again, will you please let me know?”

I wasn’t sure what good it would do, but if our roles had been reversed, I’d want to know too. “Of course.”

“Thanks. Now tell me about the details of your accident yesterday afternoon.”

“Joe,” I groaned. “I already told Deputy Miller everything.”

“Maybe you missed something.”

“I didn’t. There wasn’t much to tell.”

He paused. “Fine. I’ll read the report, but I may call you with some follow-up questions. And if you feel unsafe at all, promise me you’ll tell me.”

“Joe.”

“Promise.”

Something in his voice caught my attention. “Do you think I’m unsafe?”

He chuckled, but it sounded forced. “You’re always unsafe.” This sounded like more than his general
you’re always in trouble
attitude. What did he know or suspect that had him worried about me, but not worried enough to lock me away in witness protection? My breath caught.

Mason.

It only confirmed the fears I’d had since December. No matter how much Joe and Mason protested the danger was over, I wasn’t so sure. Someone was still after my boyfriend. At least they were taking my claims seriously now.

“If I feel unsafe, you’ll be one of the first people to know.” And I meant it.

I hung up and looked into Neely Kate’s questioning gaze. “I think you figured out the gist of that conversation.”

She didn’t say anything.

“He says Kate has her own agenda: one-upping Hilary. Her goal is to get me and Joe back together.”

“Oh, my stars and garters.”

“He’s trying to get her to leave me alone. But he says she’s determined.”

She lifted her chin, a spark filling her eyes. “Then it’s a good thing we’re even more determined.”

I grinned. “Yeah, I guess so.”

The waitress brought out our food, a club sandwich for Neely Kate and a house salad with dressing on the side for me.

Neely Kate cast me a curious glance. “Since when do you get dressing on the side?”

I didn’t answer for a moment, but when her gaze turned to a glare, I caved. “Since I’ve started wearing certain dresses.”

Her eyes widened.

“They’re tighter than anything I usually wear. They show my fat rolls.”

Her head jutted back in disbelief. “What fat rolls?”

I sighed. “Neely Kate, I’m self-conscious enough about wearing skin-tight dresses, I at least want to look good in them.”

She leaned forward and hissed, “No one even knows who you are!”

I set down my fork. “I know who I am.”

“And so does Skeeter,” she whispered.

“What does
that
mean?”

“Are you trying to impress him?”

My anger billowed. “No. I can
not
believe you just insinuated that!”

“Then why are you still going along with this madness?”

I scowled. “You know darn good and well. A deal’s a deal. And besides, I’ve got one month down without incident. Only five to go.”

“He’s gonna call you again. Don’t be thinkin’ he won’t.”

I picked up my fork. “He already did.” I kept my gaze on my bowl. “I have to meet him tonight.”

“Rose!” When I didn’t respond, she lowered her voice. “What do you have to do?”

“I’m meeting Jed at eight to go to a business meeting.” I lifted my eyebrows. “And before you ask, no, I don’t know what I’m doin’ there. He said it was with a few associates, so I suspect I’ll be lookin’ for traitors.”

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand in an exaggerated swoop. “Just the same ol’, same ol’.”

I groaned. “What would you have me do, Neely Kate? Tell Mason? It’s eatin’ away at me, but can you even begin to imagine what he’d do if he found out?”

Some of her irritation faded. “It wouldn’t be pretty.”

“No. It wouldn’t.” I stabbed my lettuce with more force than necessary. “I wish I wasn’t in this situation, but if I could live that night at Gems over again and I was forced to either let Mason die or coerce Skeeter into helping me, I would do the exact same thing.” I looked into her eyes. “I love him, Neely Kate, and I don’t want to lose him. Please stop fightin’ me on this and help me.”

She closed her eyes, then pushed out a breath before opening them and grabbing my hand. “You’re right. If I had to make the choice between letting Ronnie burn up in a fire or six months of indentured servitude with the Fenton County crime boss, I’d pick working with Skeeter.” She squeezed my hand. “I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.”

“But we only have another couple of hours until I have to get home for my doctor’s appointment, so right now we’re gonna work on figurin’ out who killed Dora.”

I pulled my notebook out of my purse. “I’m gonna list everything I’ve found out from Mason’s file and Dora’s journal.”

“Good idea.”

“Mostly Mason had a bunch of facts in his file. Dora was born in Shreveport. I already knew her parents died when she five and she moved to the farm to live with her grandparents.” I scribbled down notes as I spoke. “After high school, she went to technical school and moved to Shreveport for a couple of years before returning to Fenton County and getting a job at Atchison Manufacturing.” I looked up at Neely Kate. “In her journal she said she was worried about getting caught, which plays along with Mason’s note about the extortion scheme. It also explains why she was eager enough to leave Atchinson Manufacturing that she quit and found another job two months before I was born. The question is whether or not she played a direct part in the extortion.”

“It must have had something to do with her job.”

“Her journal entries lend themselves to that. Her boss knew about it. And so did Daddy and two other men. Bill and Dirk. But there’s no information about what they were doin’. There was someone who scared her, and I don’t think it was any of those four men.” I tapped the pen on the table, trying to dismiss the growing realization that there was a good chance my birth mother had been a criminal. “Do you know anything about Atchison Manufacturing?”

“I think my uncle used to work there after he graduated high school. There was a fire and the owner didn’t reopen.”

“Wait. I’ve heard this before,” I said with a gasp. “Dena told me about it when I picked up your cupcakes yesterday. She said Ima Jean from Ima Jean’s Bakery used to be nice. But her husband had an affair and his factory burned down. He killed himself.”

She covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s terrible.”

“I bet it’s the same place.”

“But Ima Jean’s last name isn’t Atchison. It’s Buchanan.”

“Can we talk to your uncle?”

She shook her head. “Not if we want answers right away. He’s up in Alaska on a hunting trip. My Aunt Thelma is paying him to hunt down new meat for her jerky business.”

“Alaska? In the middle of winter?”

She shrugged. “He’s always liked the cold. It doesn’t bother him. In fact, he’s camping.”

I blinked. And I had thought Neely Kate’s family was no longer capable of surprising me. “You can’t call him?”

“Granny tried just last week, but there’s no cell phone service in the tundra. She was gonna ask him to hunt her down a polar bear so she could make a fur coat. But my cousin Dolly Parton told her that that was ridiculous. She can’t have a polar bear coat.”

“No kidding.”

“The winters here in Arkansas aren’t near cold enough.”

“That too…” I regrouped and asked, “How long’s he gonna be gone?”

“Another couple months. He’s stayin’ up there until the day before the Ides of March.”

“Why the Ides of March?”

“One of his sled dogs is named Brutus. He’s worried he’ll turn on him.”

“Your uncle reads Shakespeare?”

She shrugged. “He saw the movie.”

“Okay…so your uncle’s out as a potential source.” I took a bite of my salad. “We need to find someone else who’ll remember what happened.”

Neely Kate cringed. “There’s no way Ima Jean’s gonna talk to us, let alone give us any leads.”

“No. Not Ima Jean. Someone who makes it her business to know everyone else’s doings and has been around since the beginning of time.”

Neely Kate let out a low whistle. “I only know of one person who fits that criteria and there’s no way she’s gonna talk to you either.”

“She will if I bring some kind of peace offering.”

“I think you must have whacked your head on the dashboard when you ran off the road. You could bring her gold bullion and she still wouldn’t talk to you.”

I gave her an ornery grin. “We’ll just see about that.”

I spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out what peace offering might soften Miss Mildred. Ultimately, I drove downtown to Ima Jean’s Bakery.

Neely Kate had a royal fit when I told her to wait in the truck, but the square was crowded and I had to park in front of the florist, which was a good two blocks from the bakery. I was worried she’d overdone it, and I didn’t want her to walk that far.

“Look, Neely Kate, you know I’m not gonna get a flippin’ word out of her. In fact, I’m not sure I’m even gonna try. I’m only getting some kind of baked good to take as my peace offering, and you know Miss Mildred would scoff at anything from Dena’s.” I ignored her glare. “What do you think she likes?”

“Blood pudding, made from the sacrifice of heathen sinners.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Did she ever try to sneak in your house and take your blood while you were sleepin’?”

“She was one of the few people who didn’t try to break into my house when I lived there. Not to mention the fact that she’s not a vampire.”

“But it would explain so much.”

I sighed. “I’ll figure out what to get her. Or maybe ask Ima Jean.”

She snorted. “Good luck with
that.
”

Ignoring her uncharacteristic pessimism, I left her in the still-running truck and headed toward the bakery. It was after lunchtime, but Ima Jean’s shop was dead to the world. In fact, the shades were half-pulled, and given the northern exposure, I couldn’t help but wonder if Ima Jean was the vampire.

“Can I help you?” a woman’s voice called out when I walked inside.

I searched the shop and found her behind the counter, sitting on a stool and doing a crossword puzzle. She was a good twenty years younger than Ima Jean and a whole lot prettier, but in a rough living kind of way. She had bright red hair, which, judging from her dark roots, was obviously colored. “Uh…yeah. I need to get something for my neighbor. She’s elderly—in her eighties—but I’m not sure what she’d like. Any suggestions?”