Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 (39 page)

I took two steps closer. “You’re lying,” I said softly. “You said you were trying to protect me.”

“Rose,” she said quietly. “You don’t want to know.”

But I did. I
had
to know. At least I had to rule out one man. I took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. “Was it J.R. Simmons?” My voice broke, betraying my fear.

She watched me for three agonizing seconds before a soft smile spread across her face. “No. I promise you it wasn’t J.R. Simmons.”

I burst into tears of relief. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She paused as though trying to decide how much to tell me. Finally, she released a sigh. “Dora met J.R. after she was pregnant with you. Henry Buchanan’s daughter Bea moved to Little Rock just after her brother and his wife were killed in a horrific car crash. It was lonely for her in Little Rock, so she asked Dora to come up for a weekend. While she was there, Bea took Dora to a dinner at the state capitol, which is where she met J.R. Dora told him all about the plant and he said that he had a business proposition for someone looking for growth. So he came to Henryetta the next week and Dora, Henry, and J.R. went out to dinner. And so their partnership was born. Henry was thrilled. He thought he was being given a final chance to save his business.”

“Until it all went bad,” I said quietly.

She gave me a sad smile. “It all went bad long before it went bad on the assembly line. Bea desperately wanted her father’s approval, but she was a flighty girl and mostly worthless. She was furious that Dora had accomplished what she couldn’t, so she seduced Dirk, the line supervisor, and convinced him to make sure the new parts were flawed and worthless.”

I couldn’t believe she was giving me answers, even if what she was telling me was horrifying.

“Harrison was in charge of quality control, so he was the one who brought the situation to Henry’s attention. Henry was in a panic. He’d put his entire life savings into the venture and if he didn’t make the deadline, he would be bankrupt.”

“So he was going to send them anyway?”

“He wasn’t himself after Paul’s death. And neither was Ima Jean. It wasn’t hard for Bea to convince her mother that Henry was having an affair with Dora. Especially with the office staff backing her claim.”

“The fire?” I asked. “Did Dora or Daddy start it?”

She shook her head. “No. They had both gone to the police chief and he was planning to question Henry and Dirk. But Bill died and the new police chief refused to listen.”

“I still don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “You said you and Daddy were protecting me by hiding the truth from me. What were you hiding?”

“Rose, two men could be your father. Harrison is one. The other is Paul Buchanan.”

“
Henry’s son?
”

She nodded. “Dora loved Harrison, but he was wracked with guilt over their affair, and he offered her nothing. Paul was unhappy with his own marriage and he seduced her. When she found out she was pregnant, he told her that he was going to leave his wife for her. He planned to marry her.”

“But why is that dangerous?”

“Because that would make you an heir to the Buchanan estate. The insurance from the fire set up the family for life. If it got out that you were Paul’s daughter, you would get a third. After everything Bea and Dirk did to sabotage the parts, the three of us decided it would be safer for no one else to know.”

I gasped. “The
three
of us?”

“Henry knew. He had his will changed to include you, but he didn’t name you. He prepared another document that was supposed to be produced after his death, naming you as an heir. But after he died, the document never materialized. I think it’s in his secret safe. I just checked and the safe’s still in his office. Dora’s the only other person who knew the combination.”

“For heaven’s sake! Why didn’t the family just hire a locksmith to open it? Why go to all this trouble?”

“For one, it’s hidden behind a panel. Hardly anyone knew the safe existed, let alone that it holds Henry’s papers. I couldn’t very well hire a locksmith to open a safe on a property I didn’t own.”

“Why didn’t you just find the journal with the code yourself?”

“I tried. I searched that house high and low and never found it.” She took a breath. “Where’d you find it?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure I should tell her, but what difference did it make? It wasn’t like I planned to put it back there. “Under the baby bed. Taped to the frame.”

Hattie sighed, a warm smile flooding her face. “Of course. Everything she did was for you.”

I wanted to point out that in the end, none of it had helped me. I would have rather had a poor mother who loved me. “Wait.” I realized something had slipped by me. “Dirk and Bea?
Beverly?
”

“Yeah.” She reached out toward me. “Now hand me the journal and let’s open the safe.”

A loud pop echoed in the space and Hattie crumpled into a heap on the floor. I stood stunned as a red stain blossomed on her white shirt.

Someone had shot Hattie.

I screamed and ducked next to a metal support beam, wondering what had just happened even though the evidence was right in front of me.

As shock washed through my head, I tried to figure out the why of it. Did Jed think I’d been threatened? Had he turned on me?

I turned to run, but I came face to face with the woman from Ima Jean’s bakery. Hate filled her eyes as she pointed a gun at me.

I nearly passed out when I realized she was Beverly.

I had to keep my wits about me and fainting wasn’t going to help. Where was Jed?

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t look anything like him.”

“Who?”

“Paul.”

I held up my hands. “I don’t know what any of this is about, so I think I’ll just leave.”

She held the gun higher. “I don’t think so.”

“Drop it.” Jed’s voice rang out loud and clear as he came into view next to the metal rubble about ten feet to her right side.

She grinned, but it looked menacing. “I think I’ll keep it. Dirk?”

Dirk Picklebie stepped out of the shadows next to Beverly, pointing a gun at me.

Beverly cocked her head with a smirk. “You can’t shoot both of us before one of us shoots her. Drop the gun.”

Jed’s jaw worked as he moved closer to me, still holding his weapon.

Dirk scratched his head with his free hand. “What are
you
doin’ here, Jed? You screwing this girl?”

No matter what, I couldn’t let Dirk link me to Skeeter. “We hooked up after I met him at the pool hall yesterday,” I said. “But it turns out he’s the jealous type. He must have followed me here.”

I took two steps toward him, but Beverly blocked my path. “If you don’t want me to shoot your girlfriend, lover boy,
put down the gun
.”

Jed slowly squatted and gently lowered his gun to the ground, then rose with a murderous look on his face. Dirk Picklebie would be lucky to survive this. If Jed didn’t take care of him, I had no doubt that Skeeter would.

Beverly reached out her free hand. “Give me the journal.”

I put my left hand on my abdomen pretending to protect the book under my coat as I took a step back. “No.”

Beverly’s eyes narrowed. “I just shot Hattie. I won’t hesitate to shoot you too.”

“Rose,” Jed growled. “Give it to her.”

“No!” I looked over my shoulder at the woman lying on the floor. “We have to call an ambulance!”

“Sure thing,” Beverly said. “Just as soon as you give me the book.”

I shook my head and glanced over at Jed. He looked like he wanted to rip someone’s head off. “I don’t have it on me.” I slowly opened the flaps of my coat to show her I was telling the truth. “I hid it here in the factory. If you shoot me, you’ll never find it.”

She swung her gun around and pointed it at Jed. “Then I’ll shoot him unless you show me where you put it, sweetie,” she said in a mocking tone. “Don’t tempt me. I killed your mother and I’m very willing to kill you too.”

“
You
killed Dora?” I asked in disbelief.

She scrunched her nose in disgust. “Why do you find that so hard to believe?”

“But why?”

“
Why?
Did you not hear one word of motor-mouth’s tale?” She momentarily waved her gun toward Hattie and I could see that Jed was considering tackling her, but he didn’t have the chance to act before she returned the barrel to me. “Dora was gonna ruin everything. Her and Daddy dearest. J.R. was pissed the parts were screwed up and heads were gonna roll. Daddy was gonna lose everything. Dirk set the fire so we could collect the insurance. I had no idea Dora had run crying to the police chief. He may have ended up dead a few days later, but Dora was talking about going to the state police with her book of evidence. I couldn’t let her do that, especially since J.R. had offered to pay me all that money to get the book for him. If only I’d thought it through, I would have made sure Paul’s brat was in the car too, and that it burned up in a fiery crash… Just. Like. Paul’s.” She grinned. “But I didn’t have the time to prepare like I did with Paul’s accident. Dora was planning to go to the state police the next day. I had to act quick…and obviously it was a bit sloppy.”

I took a step backward and bumped into a piece of metal machinery. “You killed your own brother?”

“He was cheating on his wife.”

“
That’s
why?”

“She was jealous of him,” Dirk said, spitting on the floor. “Henry was about to retire and give it all to Paul—the inheritance too—so Beverly offed him.” He chuckled. “Only she didn’t realize when she did it that her inheritance didn’t amount to a hill of beans.” He chuckled again. “She killed him for nothing.”

Beverly’s upper lip curled. “Shut up, Dirk.”

I couldn’t believe someone could be so cold. How could Dirk laugh over Beverly killing her own brother? But both Paul and Dora had died in car accidents. While it seemed a little coincidental, it wasn’t enough to arouse much suspicion. Obviously. “So why have Dirk screw up the parts if it was going to force the factory into bankruptcy? Why wouldn’t you want the factory to make more money?”

Beverly gave Hattie a look of contempt. “The stupid bitch got that part wrong. Dirk had nothing to do with screwing up the parts. It just happened. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t use it to our advantage. I got Dirk to blackmail my father. If he didn’t pay him, Dirk would tip off the authorities.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “But you were stealing money from your father, which would have been your inheritance!”

“Are you not listening? There
was no
inheritance,” she sneered. “The parts were shoddy. The factory was goin’ down. I needed to get money where I could.” She patted her chest with her free hand. “I had to look out for number one.”

I couldn’t believe someone could be so selfish. “So you started the fire, then you killed the police chief—”

She held up her free hand. “
Hey!
I had nothin’ to do with killin’ the police chief.”

“Then who did?” I asked. I turned my attention to Dirk.

He shook his head. “Not me.”

“But what about your father?” I asked. “Why did he kill himself?”

An evil grin spread across her face. “He did it after I pointed out how much he’d failed Paul and failed Dora. He’d failed the whole town, so he agreed the best thing to do was to end it all. I thought it was fittin’ punishment.” She winked. “Besides, there was the life insurance to consider. It wasn’t much, but it still paid even though he committed suicide.”

“So the factory’s worth nothing?” I asked.

“We couldn’t sell this place if we tried. And Momma spent most of the money on her bakery, and now it’s goin’ belly-up too.”

“If you’re not here for the inheritance, then what are you doin’ here?” I asked in frustration and fear. “Why did you shoot Hattie?” But as soon as the words left my mouth, I knew. Sick dread washed through me. I’d been carrying around the evidence Mason needed to bring down J.R. Why hadn’t I given it to him when I’d seen him at the abandoned service station?

Beverly started laughing. “You’re so cute.”

I shot Jed a questioning glance, wondering if he was putting it all together too, but he just shook his head, his eyes dark with fury.

She settled down and gave me an impatient glare. “I already suspected you were Paul’s brat. I could have taken care of you years ago, but I saw no point. You were no threat. But then you started asking Dirk questions and your friend told him about the journal, so I figured I could make some money off the deal if I kept an eye on you. Hattie’s been obsessed with finding the secret journal since Dora died in the car crash. Just like I suspected, she convinced you to find it, which means I can reap the benefits of your hard work.”

I gave her a blank look. I couldn’t understand how someone could be so calculating. But the vision I’d had of her now made perfect sense.

She rolled her eyes in disgust. “J.R. Simmons was elated to hear I could get the journal for him, and he’s willing to pay a hefty sum to get it.”

I couldn’t let J.R. get the book. I had to figure a way out of this. Jed caught my eye and gave me a slight nod, his eyes hard. He was ready to make a move. I just needed to keep her distracted. “If you wanted me to find the journal for you, why did you leave the notes on my car?’