“I want you to finish goin’ through the phone while I look through the laptop,” he said as he unwrapped the towel and set it on the table.
“Why?” I asked defensively. “You don’t think I can handle it?”
“I know you can handle it, but it makes more sense for you to go through the photos on the phone. You’re more likely to know what they pertain to. Besides, I’ll be working on the laptop wearin’ gloves, so it works better all the way around.”
Jed hadn’t worn gloves when he’d handled the laptop, which in hindsight, had been a bad idea unless Jed had never intended for the authorities to find it. My mouth dropped open. “You’re gonna hang Jed out to dry.”
He groaned. “No, I’m not, Neely Kate, but we don’t know if we’re gonna need this laptop as evidence. If it comes to that, we’ll wipe it clean and go from there.” He gave me a reassuring look. “I believe he cares about you and he’s tryin’ to help you too. I may have my doubts about the guy, but I won’t throw him under the bus for helping you. I owe him that.” The way his mouth pinched, like he’d just taken a bite out of a dung beetle, made it clear how difficult it had been for him to admit.
“Well, thanks for that, but there’s likely to be information about me on there.”
“I don’t know what we’re gonna do with it, but for now, I’m gonna play it safe.” When I didn’t respond, he gestured to his laptop. “I’ll get you booted up, then go over my notes with you.” He leaned over and typed in a password, and the computer sprang to life.
“Are you plannin’ to go to the diner and see who was meetin’ the guy in my basement?”
He blinked, caught off guard by my question. Then his shoulders tightened. He was prepared for an argument. “I’ll be goin’, but you won’t be anywhere near that place.”
“Joe.”
“It’s nearly ten. We still have an hour and a half to figure out who’s doin’ what. For all I know, your boyfriend’s plannin’ to go.”
I wasn’t sure Jed could fit it into his busy schedule, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try. While he knew how to delegate, he liked to keep the important tasks for himself. But which was more important? Staking out a meeting at a diner or finding out if a crime syndicate was making a play in his county?
What if both were one and the same and I was pure bonus on their part?
I wasn’t sure what to hope for.
Joe took a step toward the kitchen. “I’m gonna make another pot of coffee and grab a muffin. Do you want one?”
The surprise in his eyes told me he was caught off guard that I wasn’t arguing with him, but he was right. We still had some time. I could put up a fight later.
I cocked an eyebrow as I gave him a mischievous glare. “Did Dena make ’em?”
He grinned. “Will you say no if she did?”
“It depends. If they’re lemon poppy seed, then I think I could choke it down.”
He laughed. “Comin’ right up.”
I pulled his notebook out of his bag and started reading through his notes.
“As you can see, I wrote down his recent calls and texts. The calls were few and mostly to a couple of Dallas numbers. The texts were even fewer.” Joe started scooping coffee grounds into the coffee maker. “I think Jed’s right. I think he wiped them because the furthest they go back is Monday. Either that or it’s a rebooted phone.”
“Why would he delete his previous texts? Did he think someone was after him?”
“Maybe. Or maybe he started fresh with each new assignment.”
“But is he with the Hardshaw Group or is he a PI?”
Joe filled the coffee pot with water. “He was takin’ photos of you, which could mean he was a PI and his ID is just a cover. My gut tells me he was up to no good. I think he was working with Hardshaw. There are too many threads dangling to appear otherwise, namely Chad Manchester’s dead body in the trunk of his car.”
“That could have been Kate’s doin’.”
“Maybe… if she’s really tryin’ to frame you, but again, my gut says differently.” His eyes narrowed as he pinned his gaze on me. “How bad did he stink?”
“Joe!”
“It could help pinpoint how long he’d been dead. It wasn’t that hot last night or even yesterday, so it might be a fair ballpark assessment. How bad did he stink?” he repeated.
I cringed. “Bad.”
“Was his face bloated?”
I shuddered. “Some, but I recognized him from his driver’s license and his resemblance to his brother.”
Joe frowned. “So recent. Kate could have had it done.”
“Wait,” I said, holding up my index finger. “His clothes were wet and there were a bunch of empty plastic bags around him.”
“What?”
“I was too shocked at the time to realize what I’d been lookin’ at, but I think they’d been giant bags of ice.”
Joe’s eyes flew open as he took a step closer. “Someone put ice on him to slow down his decomposition.”
“But who?” I asked. “Kate or Neil Franken?”
Joe stared into the living room for a moment as though focusing on the artwork on the wall. “My gut says Franken.” He turned his gaze to mine. “And it’s not me protectin’ Kate. She’s capable of some truly awful things, as evidenced by the body in your basement and all the disaster she orchestrated back in February.”
“I should have had the presence of mind to get some photos,” I said. “I was just so shocked and Jed was in my ear tellin’ me to close the trunk and get out of there.”
Joe looked stricken. “Tell me you were wearin’ gloves.”
I could have blasted him for accusing me of being such an amateur, but I’d give him this one. “I was. And wearin’ my wig too.”
He pushed out a long breath. “Thank God.”
While Joe grabbed the muffins and cups for the coffee, I didn’t waste time jumping in to study the neatly written notes on the legal pad, which didn’t have much information I didn’t already know. “We’re sure this is Neil Franken’s phone?” I asked. “Jed said the computer is Chad Manchester’s.”
“I’m sure it’s Franken’s,” Joe said. “I looked in the settings. His name and email address are in there. Poke around and see what you can find.”
“And will you share what you find?” I asked.
His gaze held mine. “This is about you, Neely Kate. You deserve to know what I find.”
I started on the photos first. The last photo was of me the night before at the farm, then lots of photos of earlier in the day. I noticed that he hadn’t gotten any photos of me and Jed or our trip to Little Rock. The first photo he’d taken of me had been two days ago. The photos before that were from Ardmore. There were the photos Jed mentioned—Stella’s apartment complex, she and Branson and baby Crystal at the fast-food restaurant. Zelda’s trailer. But there were others. Beasley at work at the hardware store. Photos of the strip club where I’d worked.
Oh. Crap.
I told myself not to freak out. Pearce Manchester was supposed to have been in the audience to watch me dance the night he bought me. If Franken had been following Pearce Manchester’s trail, he would have followed him there. But how had Pearce gotten from the strip club to the house Branson had rented? What had happened to his car?
And why were they looking into me? Someone had talked. Who?
I grabbed my cell phone and called Zelda. Joe looked up from his computer as I put the ringing phone on speaker, but he didn’t question me.
“Hey, Miss Zelda,” I said when she answered. “It’s Neely Kate.”
“I was just thinkin’ about you a few days ago,” she said good-naturedly.
My heart skipped a beat. Had she thought of me because Neil Franken had paid her a visit? “That’s why I’m callin’.”
“You’re psychic now?” she asked with a chuckle.
“No…” I grinned despite my fear. “I was wondering if anyone had been back to ask you any more questions about me.”
She hesitated. “No strangers have been round, but Stella dropped by with her baby.”
I picked up my pen. “Oh, really? What day was that?”
“A couple of days ago. She said she came by so I could see that baby of hers, but I saw right through her when she started askin’ what I knew about you and that handsome man you was with when you saw me.”
“So Wednesday?” I asked.