I relayed everything, which made me feel even more foolish, since it was, on the surface, one of my tamer visions.
“Don’t dismiss it, Rose,” Joe said, standing. “It might be nothing, sure, but it could be something. Who was the person associated with the vision?”
“Eric Davidson, the assistant manager of the Burger Shack.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You know his name? You make it sound like you know him.”
I held his gaze. If I wanted his advice, I needed to tell him a bit about the mess I was in. The question was where to draw the line. “It’s not how it sounds. You know when you saw me with those guys at church? He’s one of them.”
Irritation clouded his eyes. “So you were talking to them?”
“Not intentionally. I really did want to talk to Samantha Jo about the bank robbery. But I had a vision and told them they were getting ready to rob something.”
His eyes flew open. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrugged. I couldn’t very well confirm his suspicion that Neely Kate and I had been trying to track down the bank robbers ourselves. “You were angry with me.”
“Rose.” His voice was heavy with disappointment. “Tell me that you at least shared this with Mason.”
I remained silent.
“Why would you keep something like that to yourself?”
“It was a vision, Joe. Neither of you would have been able to use the information.”
“Rose,” he said, exasperated. “You told a group of men, some of whom had a criminal history, that you knew they were gonna rob something. You could have been in serious danger.”
“But nothing happened,” I insisted.
“It was a huge risk.” He sounded so disappointed that it stole my breath. “You were lucky.”
He had no idea. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”
He waited, his face expressionless.
“I think I know who killed Mr. Sullivan.”
“What? How?”
How was I gonna explain this one? “I figured it out from my vision.” Which was partially true. The killer had confessed his crimes in one of my visions, but it wasn’t until the auction on Thanksgiving that I’d pieced together his identity. Ever since, I’d been trying to think of how to tell Joe or Mason the truth about him without giving everything else away. “He’s the large-animal vet. Mick Gentry.”
“Did you at least tell Mason about that?”
“No,” I said, ashamed that it had taken me so long to pursue justice for poor Mr. Sullivan. “I only just put it together. Besides, he disappeared.” I felt bad about lying to him, but I couldn’t help wondering if justice had already been served vigilante-style by Skeeter Malcolm.
Joe’s gaze pierced mine. “Does he have any way of knowing that you know?”
“No. I’m certain he doesn’t.” I sighed. “But it doesn’t matter, Joe. It’s like all the rest of my visions . . . it’s not exactly admissible in court.”
“We can try to link him to it. The fact that he ran off and disappeared doesn’t speak of innocence either.” His gaze softened. “It’s more helpful than you know.”
“You’re not gonna yell at me?”
“Why would I yell at you?” He paused. “I’m just thankful you finally shared your vision with me. Are you feeling better?”
“No. But I’ll be okay.” I hopped off the stool, feeling guilty. “Maybe all this got stirred up because of Neely Kate’s cousin.”
He stilled. “What about her cousin?”
“Her momma tried to file a missing persons report on her last night, and the deputy she talked to wouldn’t file it.”
He stared at me for a moment. “Dolly Parton Parker is Neely Kate’s cousin?” He shook his head, wearing an exasperated grimace. “Why am I not surprised?”
I grew indignant on my friend’s behalf. “What on earth does that mean?”
“She has some colorful characters in her family is all.”
“If you know her name, then why don’t you tell me why the deputy wouldn’t file the report?”
Joe held his hands up in defense. “Darlin’, this isn’t the first time her mother’s filed a report on her, and it’s not even the third. I looked over the previous instances with the deputy who took her call. She always turns up.”
“Oh.”
“She’s also got a bit of a criminal record, nothing dangerous. Shoplifting. Solicitation.”
“Solicitation?”
“She was arrested this summer and again a month ago, but the charges were dropped.” He rubbed my arm. “Still, I understand you wanting to help your friend. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
I worried that Joe was about to venture into dangerous territory, so I took a step back. “Thanks for the clarification. Now don’t we have some business to take care of?”
He looked relieved that I was going to let the whole Dolly Parton thing drop. “You wait here, and I’ll go get the paperwork. I was worried about you when I saw you sitting in your truck like that, so I left it in the car.”