“But isn’t Mud in charge?”
“Yeah, but Diamond always pays for it if things don’t go well.”
I went out the front door, worried that Diamond was going to have to get a loan to pay for all the things that would probably go wrong tonight.
I expected Neely Kate to be happier about my new job, but she sulked instead. “You can’t do this without me. Maybe I can wear a wig and go in disguise.”
“You think you’re going in there alone?” I shook my head. “I’ll be working.”
“Then I’ll sit in the parking lot in case you need me.”
I agreed to her plan. It would be comforting to know she was close by.
“I know what you need,” I said. “Let’s get you some ice cream. I think it’s safe for me to go back to the Burger Shack again since Eric . . .”
“Took a long nap in his car?”
“That seems strange, don’t you think?” I asked. “For him to show up dead just when the sheriff deputies go to question him?”
She shrugged. “Not so strange. He probably knew he was in a heap of trouble for what he did before that auction, and he was too chicken to face it. It happens all the time.”
“Maybe . . . but the bottom line is that we can get ice cream at your favorite place.”
“What about Deputy Hoffstetter? Aren’t you hiding out from her?”
“She hasn’t called yet, but how about I call her so we can deliver our statements? Then I can tell her to come pick me up in Tahoe Junction.”
“Tahoe Junction is over twenty miles north.”
I grinned. “I know.”
“You’re more wicked than I thought, Rose Gardner,” she teased.
“Since I’m working at Gems tonight, maybe that’s a good thing.”
Abbie Lee Hoffstetter was fit to be tied when I called her, and my ears burned from the heap of insults she flung at me. “When I find you, I’m going to make you pay for making me look bad in front of the chief deputy.”
“That’s not exactly making me want to cooperate, Deputy Hoffstetter.”
“I’m a law enforcement official. Trust me. I’ll find you. You don’t need to tell me where you are.”
Not if I could help it. “I called to give you my statement. Do you want it or not?”
“You’re damn straight I do. Then when we’re done, I’m coming for you.”
It didn’t take long for me to give my statement, and then Neely Kate took the phone and gave hers. When she was finishing, I said loud enough for the deputy to hear, “You’re sure the Chick-a-Dilly in Tahoe Junction is just around the corner?”
Neely Kate gave me an evil grin. “Rose! Shhhh!!!” Then she told the deputy goodbye. “That should keep her busy for a while.”
“Let’s just hope it’s long enough.”
We got Neely Kate’s ice cream and headed to her house. I needed clothes for my shift at Gems, and Neely Kate insisted she had something for me to wear. I certainly didn’t have the wardrobe to supply my uniform, and I couldn’t risk a shopping trip. When we got to her house, I parked the truck in her garage so Deputy Hoffstetter wouldn’t see it from the road in case she drove by.
“What are you going to say to Ronnie about being gone tonight?”
“It’s poker night. He’s not even coming home after work. He’ll never know I’m gone.”
Neely Kate offered to make us one of her gourmet dinners before we left for Gems, but I knew my nervous stomach couldn’t handle it. Instead, I suggested I make some buttered noodles.
After we ate, I got ready. Neely Kate curled my hair, but I drew the line when it came to my makeup. It was bad enough I was wearing short-shorts and a show-every-curve red tank top, in December no less. I wasn’t about to put on enough eye makeup to help me look like a hooker.
“You have to play the part, Rose.”
“No,” I insisted. “I only have to play the part of a bartender, and only until I find Mason and figure out what he’s doin’ and stop him.”
“You don’t even know if he’s gonna show,” she said. “How long are you gonna stay in there if he doesn’t? And if he does show, what are you gonna do then?”
“I don’t know. One way or the other I’m gonna get some kind of answers before I leave that strip club. Honestly, I hope he doesn’t show, either because Joe’s got him locked up somewhere, or because this was all a big misunderstanding. But just in case it’s not, I’m going.”
She gave me a hug and squeezed me tight. “I understand. If it was Ronnie, I’d do exactly the same thing.”
“And if it was Ronnie, I’d help you too.”
We left around six-thirty, and just on the other side of Henryetta, I realized I’d been driving all over creation and my truck needed gas. When I told Neely Kate I had to stop, she was relieved.