She started to cringe, then stopped herself. “Nikko’s always liked to stir up a little trouble. But nothing really bad,” she insisted. “Just some cow-tipping and TPing the high school principal’s front yard. Mischief.”
Neely Kate shifted her weight. “What about Mud?” she said. “I mean maybe Nikko really did try to go the straight and narrow and thought his job at Gems was really a bartending job. But what if Mud found out he worked for Crocker’s guys? Maybe he wanted information on how the whole racket was run.”
Alaina shook her head. “That’s crazy.”
I wasn’t so sure Neely Kate was far off from the truth. “Alaina, you said someone besides Mud runs Gems, right?”
“Yes, but I don’t know who.”
According to Skeeter, the person who’d opened the place did it to try and put him out of business. “There’s not enough clientele to support two strip clubs. So why would the owner of Gems open it? Why go to all the trouble?” I asked.
Both women looked at me with blank expressions.
“They came here looking for something. I bet they think Nikko had something from his time with Crocker’s guys, something that might help them take down Skeeter Malcolm. He’s the new king of Fenton County, and he got there by acquiring Crocker’s business. There’s a bunch of people who are unhappy about that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were trying to take him down.”
Neely Kate’s eyes pinned me with a steely gaze. I was gonna catch hell when we left.
Alaina shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know how that helps us.”
“I don’t know yet either, but can you think of any hiding places Nikko might have?”
“No.” She sounded disappointed.
“Well, if you think of something, will you let us know?” Neely Kate asked.
“Sure.”
We looked around for another ten minutes, turning up nothing. Digging through Nikko’s filth made me feel guilty for bothering Mason about leaving his dirty socks on the side of the bed. After the break-in last night, I had the sudden urge to talk to him.
We went outside, and Neely Kate and I walked around, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Not that either one of us had a clue of what to look for. We were woefully out of our league.
When we reached the front of the trailer, Neely Kate talked to Alaina, who’d trailed silently after us, while I climbed in the truck and sent Skeeter a text.
I need to talk to you. Text me.
Neely Kate got back into the truck and shot me a glare. “You have some explaining to do.”
I tried to look innocent as I started the truck and pulled onto the county road. “What are you talking about?”
“All that Skeeter nonsense. How do you know about that?”
I tried to look irritated. “You know I was at the auction.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”
“What?” I looked at her.
My cell phone rang just then, and I wanted nothing more than to throttle Skeeter. I’d told him to text me. Now how was I going to explain talking to him to Neely Kate? In my haste, I reached for my phone more quickly than usual, and Neely Kate sensed I was trying to hide the call from her and snatched it from me.
“Neely Kate!” I shouted, reaching for the phone.
“What are you hiding from me, Rose?” she said, looking at the phone. “It’s Joe.”
Chapter Nineteen
Neely Kate looked up in surprise. “Why are you hiding a call from Joe?”
“I’m not,” I said, snatching the phone from her. “I didn’t know it was him.”
Why was he calling?
“Hey, Joe?” I answered.
“Rose, are you driving?”
I cast a weird glance to Neely Kate. “Yeah, why?”
“I want you to pull over.”
My heart started racing. “Why?”
“Rose, darlin’, just do it. Please.”
“Okay,” I said breathlessly, panicking over what Joe needed to tell me. It had to be bad if he wanted me to pull over to the side of the road.
“What is it?” Neely Kate asked.
“I don’t know.” I pulled the truck onto the shoulder as I tried to catch my breath. “Okay, I’m pulled over. What is it?”
“Mason’s been in a car accident.”
“Oh, God. Is he okay?”
“They’ve taken him to the hospital. He hit his head pretty good, so they want to do a CT scan.”
“What happened?”
“He’d just left the sheriff’s department and was on his way back to the courthouse. He ran off the road and hit a pole.”
I shook my head. “But he’s such a careful driver. How did it happen?”
“I don’t know. We’re investigating the accident now.”
“Why isn’t he calling me? Oh, no.” A new wave of panic hit me. “Is he hurt really bad?”
“Rose, calm down,” he said in a low, soothing voice. “I spoke with him after the accident, and while he was dazed for a bit, he seems better now. He cut his forehead and there was a lot of blood, so I’m sure he needs stitches. I think they just wanted to be safe.”
Something didn’t feel right. “I’m on my way,” I said, my voice breaking.
“Rose, just stop and take a deep breath. Wait a few seconds to let this sink in, okay?”