“That’s presuming he’s legit,” Joe said. “And that he has a laptop or tablet and that we can get into it. That’s a lot of presumptions.”
“We still need to check,” Jed said. “If he has a laptop and it’s newer, it might take a fingerprint to unlock it.” His gaze lifted to Joe’s.
“Shit,” Joe groaned. “I might be stuck workin’ with you, but I draw the line at cutting off a damn finger.”
Chapter 11
Jed snorted. “No one said a damn thing about cutting off a finger. We’ll search the hotel room, and if we find a device, then we bring it here.”
“What if he was checking out today?” I asked. “Won’t they collect his things? When someone goes lookin’ for him, they’ll notice his computer or tablet is missing.”
Jed pressed his lips together. “Someone killed him, and Kate was part of it. It’s not outside the realm of possibility for them to take it.” He grimaced. “And for all we know, they did.”
“No,” Joe said, shaking his head. “They left his phone. I think they would have taken it too. In fact, we can’t take that phone from here. When we officially find him, his phone is gonna ping from his location.
Jed stared at me for a moment. “I have a laptop in the car. I’ll transfer the information with it.”
“Whoa.” Joe held up his hands. “No one’s transferring anything.”
“This phone’s at twenty-one percent,” Jed said, sounding exasperated. “And I really don’t want to risk charging it. All of this is risky enough. We need to get what we can now, and the best way to do that is to copy the information so we can access it later.”
I expected Joe to protest, but he let out a curse. “Go get your laptop. Neely Kate, you stay with me.”
Oh boy.
Jed gave me a questioning glance, but I nodded. I was gonna have to deal with Joe at some point. Might as well get it over with while we were standing over a dead body. Since Joe was wearing gloves too, Jed handed him the phone and strode out the door.
Joe waited while we heard Jed tromp up the stairs, then turned to me with a dark expression. “Jed Carlisle.”
“Is that a question?” I asked with my hand propped on my hip. “Or are you tellin’ me his name thinkin’ I don’t already know it?”
“Neely Kate.” The disappointment in his voice hurt.
“Don’t you use that tone with me, Joe. I could say Hilary Wilder or Dena Breene.”
“Neither one of them were known criminals.”
“Hilary kidnapped Rose and planned to kill her!”
“Then let me add that I didn’t know she was a criminal at the time. You walked into this relationship fully aware of what he is.”
“I told you that he’s not working for Skeeter anymore, Joe. He’s opening a business.”
“What kind of business?”
That question burned. “I don’t know.”
His brow rose. “You’re in a relationship with this man, and you don’t know.”
“He doesn’t know everything about my life.”
“But he sure knows about the important parts, huh?”
“Are you purposely tryin’ to hurt me, Joe?”
His expression softened. “No, Neely Kate. I’m worried. Jed Carlisle has done some very bad things. I’m sure he’s committed a few murders.”
“Maybe he has,” I said, “but as I pointed out earlier, so have I. So have you. I know him. He’s a good man. Do you have any idea how he ran the Bunny Ranch?”
“You know how he ran it?”
“Yeah, I do. I know he took care of those women.”
A snide look crossed his face. “I bet he did.”
“Not like that,” I said in disgust. “Most strip clubs make the dancer pay to work, but the Bunny Ranch didn’t. And they paid health benefits. Most of them are single mothers just tryin’ to provide for their kids since this stinkin’ county doesn’t have any jobs worth crap.”
“Didn’t?” Joe asked. “Past tense?”
“I hear the new manager is changin’ the rules.”
“And how do you know how they’re running things now if Jed supposedly left?”
I sighed. “It’s a long story that involves an etiquette class, but trust me on that one, and that’s not the point. When Jed managed it, the Bunny Ranch lost money, just to make sure those women could feed and clothe their babies. That sounds like a good man to me.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Why would Skeeter Malcolm lose money?”
Oh crap. Jed said Skeeter didn’t want anyone to know that.
His head tilted to the side as he studied me. “Is Malcolm laundering money at his strip club?”
“What? How the heck would—”
“Don’t answer that,” Jed said in the doorway. While he’d been noisy going up the stairs, he’d been stealthy going down. Most likely for this very reason—to catch me ratting him out to Joe.
I turned to him with pleading eyes, but his gaze remained firmly on my brother. “I think we have more important things to deal with.” He had a laptop tucked under his arm, along with a cord in his hand. He plugged the cord into the phone, then set the laptop on the table. Once he opened it, he booted it up, then plugged the other end of the cord into his USB port. “I think it’s best to take it all, then sort through it later.”
“And what do you propose to do with the information after we sort through it?” Joe asked.
Jed slowly turned to face my brother with a deadly look in his eyes. “As I previously stated, Neely Kate’s safety comes first.” He gestured to the small drive inserted into the USB port on the other side of his laptop. “I’m transferring it to this flash drive, and after we examine it, we’ll decide what to do with it—be it to keep it or destroy it.”
Joe’s face remained expressionless as he moved closer to the screen to see what Jed was transferring. After several seconds, Joe said, “His phone is surprisingly clean. Where are the game apps? Where’s his music?”
“I suspect this isn’t his personal phone,” Jed said. “It’s likely a work phone.”
I watched as Jed continued transferring files. “Then all the more reason to search that motel room before housekeeping realizes he’s gone.”
“That is if he planned to stay in his room last night,” Joe said. “He may have checked out already.”
Jed glanced up at him. “I doubt it. There were photos of Neely Kate here at the farm with Muffy last night. After I finish this transfer, I’m headin’ over there to see what I find.”
“I’m goin’ with you,” I said.
“No,” Joe said in an authoritative tone. “You’re not goin’ anywhere near that hotel, Neely Kate.”
“Let’s get something straight,” I said with plenty of attitude, pointing a finger in front of his face. “You had it right when you said this was about me. Which means I get a say in what I do, and I say I’m goin’.”
“Neely Kate,” Joe said. “It’s a bad idea. If you’re snooping around the Holiday Inn, and we find the body here, it’s gonna bite you in the ass.”
“No,” Jed said, still working on the transfer. “I think she should come, but she needs a disguise. And I know just the one.” He turned and gave me a wink.
“What disguise?” Joe asked, his voice as cold as an arctic wind.
I knew exactly what Jed was referring to. Back in February, he, Rose, and I had met a group of dangerous criminals while Rose was still incognito as the Lady in Black. The criminal world knew Jed was protecting her, but I could have clued them in to her identity, so I’d gone in disguise. “A black wig. It makes me look completely different. No one will ever know it’s me.”
“We’ll leave the questions about how you’ve previously used this wig for later.” Then he added, “Or maybe not at all.” After he shuddered, he said, “I still don’t like it. I’d go myself, but it’s too dangerous if someone catches me snoopin’ him out before we find him in your basement.”