“I’m gonna get as huge as a whale if I keep hanging out with you, Maeve,” Neely Kate joked as she put her coat on. Then she winked. “I’m sure Ronnie won’t mind.”
“You’re welcome here anytime,” the older woman said with a warm smile, looking pleased as punch. She’d only been in her house for a couple of days, but it was already obvious the move had been a good decision.
As soon as we got in my car, Neely Kate started grilling me. “I hope you gave Joe an earful about Hilary.”
“Neely Kate, he doesn’t want her here any more than we do. He says he’s really done with her, and I think he means it this time.”
“Hmm.” She pressed her lips together.
I cast a glance at her, wondering if I should come clean about J.R.’s fabricated evidence, but there was no telling what she’d do. I couldn’t risk it.
I pulled into an empty space several spots from her car. “Are you worried about telling Ronnie that you got fired?”
She shook her head with a grin. “Nope. I’ve decided it’s a blessing in disguise. You’re right, I’ve hated that place all along.”
“Then do you want to go to Sugar Branch tomorrow and look for Nikko?”
She threw her arms around me. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure if you’d still want to help me after what happened today.”
“Hey.” I gave her a squeeze and leaned back to look at her. “We have to find Dolly Parton, don’t we? It’s the next place to look.”
“Do you want me to come by your office? If you’d like, I can get an accounting program set up on your computers before we go.”
“Really?”
She shrugged and opened her door. “Sure. Turns out I have loads of time now.”
“See you in the morning, Neely Kate. Take it easy tonight, okay?”
“I’ll give it a try.” She shut the door and waved. I watched her walk to her car, deciding I had just enough time to run home and get Muffy before Mason showed up for dinner.
My phone rang as I pulled out of the parking space, and I cringed when I saw who was calling.
“Skeeter, you haven’t bothered me for two weeks, so why do you keep calling me now?”
“I need you to come read someone.”
“Skeeter!”
“It’ll just take a minute, and he’ll never know it’s you. We’ll put a hood on him.”
A hood? “Who is it?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“Are you holding him hostage?”
“No.”
“Then how are you gonna explain the hood to him?”
“He thinks it’s something kinky.”
I gritted my teeth. “I am not—”
He laughed. “Relax, Lady. I’ve got it covered.”
What was gonna be uncovered was what had me worried, but I didn’t say anything. If I continued down this path, it was going to end badly. There was no doubt about it.
“I think this guy has information about who’s after Deveraux.”
For all I knew, he was making it up just to push my buttons. And damnation and hellfire if it wasn’t working. “I am not looking at naked people. I’ve seen enough topless women today to last me a lifetime.”
“What’s that supposed mean?”
“Never you mind. The fact is, I’m about to have dinner with Mason and his mother.”
“You and your damn dinners.”
I lifted my chin. “I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand.”
“Well, your dinner’s postponed. Mr. Assistant DA’s about to go into a meeting, so he’ll be late. You have time.”
My shoulders knotted with tension. “How do you know that?”
“Lady, I make it my business to know things. But if you want to make sure he doesn’t notice, you need to come now.”
I grunted my frustration. “Where?”
He laughed. “Go north on 82 and turn onto County Road 36. Go two miles and turn off into the lot of the old feed store. Jed will meet you there.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “I’ll head there now. But I can’t be seen.”
“Don’t worry. It’s like I said, I don’t want you to be seen.”
I hung up on his laughter and called Maeve. “I’m gonna be a little late. I have an errand to run.”
“Take your time, dear,” she said. “Mason called right after you left and said he was going to be late himself. An unplanned meeting with his boss came up.”
Well, crappy doodles. Skeeter was right. Mason was meeting with the DA. That rarely happened. I couldn’t help wondering if there was some truth to what Joe had told me too.
I pulled into the empty parking lot of the feed store, wondering once again how I’d gotten into this predicament. To be safe, I drove around the back of the building and found Skeeter’s sedan idling there.
I parked as Jed got out of the car and walked over, opening my door. “Skeeter wants me to take you to the place we’re going.”
“I can’t drive there?”
He shook his head. “He doesn’t want your truck there. I’ll drive you.”
That made sense, and I was grateful for the secrecy, but I didn’t like the idea of being at their mercy.
Jed sensed my hesitation. “You’re perfectly safe, Lady. I guarantee it.” He looked me in the eyes as he said it, with an earnestness I wouldn’t have expected from one of Skeeter’s men.