“Someone knows,” Joe said in frustration. “There’s a dead man in the basement to prove it.”
I turned to Joe with pleading eyes. “That was Kate’s doin’, not Jed’s. He’s on my side, Joe.”
Joe crossed his arms over his chest, fuming.
“Something doesn’t make sense,” Jed said, leaning over. He then linked his hand with mine and squeezed. “There was ten thousand dollars in that bag. That’s a hell of a lot of money for one night with a woman.”
Joe’s face erupted with anger. “Are you sayin’ my sister isn’t worth ten grand?”
“Simmons,” Jed grunted. “Do you think I really want to discuss this in front of her? I’d ask her to leave to spare her, but I know she’ll never do it, and besides—this is her life. She deserves to know.” He squeezed my hand again. “Even the hard stuff.”
Joe settled back in his chair.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Jed continued, “that man didn’t pay near enough. If Neely Kate hadn’t killed him, I’d hunt the bastard down and make him suffer the way he made her suffer ten times over, so no, ten thousand is nowhere near enough for one second with her, let alone for the hours she endured. But you and I both know he could have just picked up a prostitute on the street and tortured her, killed her, and been done with it. Why travel to Ardmore and pay ten grand to Branson Desoto, a low-level drug dealer? Something’s missin’ with this story.”
Joe’s lips thinned as he studied Jed.
“Neely Kate said Branson was doin’ a drug deal too,” Jed said. “But after taking a brief look at the laptop, now I’m not so sure.”
“Why?” I asked, shifting in my seat to face him.
His gaze landed on my face. “The laptop proved to be Chad Manchester’s, and he had two separate files with his brother’s name on it—one in his email and one in his documents. I’ve barely scratched the surface, but there’s a lot to dig through, including the original PI report from the agency their father hired about a year after Pearce disappeared.”
“Why would Manchester have that much money?” Joe asked. “What was he buyin’ from Branson Desoto?”
“I don’t know about that part for certain, but I’m pretty sure there’s a link between Pearce Manchester and the Hardshaw Group.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head slightly. “That’s quite a leap. How’d you come to that conclusion?”
“Because Chad Manchester concluded the same thing.”
“Wait,” I said. “What’s the Hardshaw Group?”
“A crime syndicate in Dallas,” Joe said. “The same one that wanted the flash drive that Daniel Crocker thought Rose had a year ago. And if they’re really involved and have caught wind of you, we’re in deep shit.”
Chapter 14
“We’re not in deep shit yet,” Jed said, wrapping an arm around my back and pulling me closer. “This is all speculation, which means we need to dig into that computer and find out what Chad Manchester actually knew.”
“Wait,” Joe said, holding up his hand. “If the computer belonged to Chad, how’d you get Franken’s fingerprint to work?”
Jed shrugged. “Franken must have gotten the password before Chad ended up dead and changed the print recognition, because it worked.”
“So Franken wanted Chad’s information?” Joe asked. “Why kill him? Why not just steal the laptop?”
“If Franken is with Hardshaw, then maybe Chad had found out too much,” Jed answered. “Hopefully whatever’s on that computer will give us some answers.” He turned to me. “How are you feelin’ about all of this? You feel like diggin’ through this laptop?”
“Now wait a minute,” Joe said, pushing back his chair. “Neely Kate’s not searchin’ that thing. It’s likely to wind up as evidence.”
“You were gonna let Jed search through it,” I protested.
“Yeah, because Carlisle’s a known criminal.”
My blood ran cold. “And I’m a known murderer.”
“You killed that man in self-defense, Neely Kate,” Joe shouted. “That’s a big difference.”
“I didn’t kill him in self-defense, Joe,” I said in a shaky voice. “I could have tried to escape, but I didn’t. The only thing in my mind was to kill him.”
“How big was he?” Joe asked.
I thought back to the night, his body looming over mine, the power in the thick muscles in his arms as he hit me over and over, leaving me bloodied and bruised.
Joe’s eyes widened, and I realized I must look as horrified and frightened as I felt.
“You don’t have to answer,” Jed whispered into my ear, pulling me even closer. “I can tell him.”
“How do you know what he looked like?” My voice was thick with emotion.
“I’ve been investigatin’ him, remember? I’ve seen plenty of photos. You put the sight of that monster out of your head.” He kissed my forehead and turned to my brother. “He was a big guy. Six three, two-twenty. Lifted weights. He was the son of an oil man with padded job title at his daddy’s company and too much time and money on his hands. He was known to have a temper and he’d seen the inside of a jail quite a few times due to his outbursts, with both men and women, but more often with women. They’d arrest him, then the woman would change her mind. I’m certain his rich daddy paid them off to go away.”
Joe’s face paled. I was sure he was thinking of all the times his father had bought his way out of trouble, plenty of which Joe hadn’t even been aware of.
“You never beat anyone,” I said to him.
“I beat up my fair share of guys in bar fights.”
“You never beat a woman, did you?” I asked. “I’m sure you never beat anyone for the pure pleasure of making them cry and plead for mercy.”
“Is that what he did to you?” he asked in horror, his eyes brimming with tears. “No, Neely Kate. Never.”
A fierceness took hold of me. “Then you are nothin’ like that man, do you hear me? And for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t be sittin’ here with you right now if I thought you were capable of it.”
“What did he do to you, Neely Kate?” Joe asked, his voice broken.
I shook my head, tears burning my eyes.
Joe’s gaze jerked to Jed’s. “What did he do?”
“I don’t know all the details,” Jed said. “But I know enough. There was a tape that detailed it all, but I never saw it. Neely Kate took it from the video recorder and begged me not to watch. After some deliberation, I agreed to her request.”
Joe sat up, looking hopeful. “There’s a video of him beating and raping you?”
“And her killin’ him,” Jed said.
“I need that tape,” Joe insisted. “It will clear you of any wrongdoin’.”
I shook my head, my entire body shaking too. “If that tape is viewed out of order, it will show Pearce Manchester sitting on the edge of the bed, then me attacking him. He wasn’t hurtin’ me when I strangled him, Joe. It wasn’t self-defense.”
“Was it obvious you were beaten?”
I didn’t respond, but Jed said, “I saw the blood on those sheets, and the positioning led me to believe a lot of it came from head wounds. She was bound to look beaten.”
Joe’s face paled and he stared at me in pity and horror.
I got to my feet. “This is exactly why I can’t tell Rose. I couldn’t bear for her to look at me like that. It would take her forever to get over it.” I headed for the back door. “I’m goin’ for a walk.”
“You can’t,” Joe called after me. “Kate might be out there.”
I stopped with my hand on the doorknob, knowing he was right. I dropped my hand in frustration. “Why is she doin’ this to me?”
“She’s jealous,” Joe said.
“Of me?” I asked in disbelief. “I lost my babies. My husband left me. My mother dumped me like I was a piece of garbage. I’m so broke I’m drivin’ around a piece-of-crap car. What on earth is she jealous of?”
“You and Rose,” Joe said, shifting in his seat to fully look at me. “Jed’s been goin’ with you to the psych ward, right? So she’s jealous of him. And finally, she’s jealous of you and me. If she’s really spyin’ on us, then she knows that we’re tryin’ to make this work. She thinks you usurped her as my sister, and now she’s gonna make you pay.”