Thirty and a Half Excuses
Page 79

My shoulders slumped in defeat. This was the only entrance Mason would have used. “Thanks, Matt.”
“You still wantin’ to come inside?”
“Yeah, I might as well see Neely Kate since I’m here.”
When I walked through the door to the personal property department, I found her sitting at her desk, thumbing through a pile of papers with a bored expression on her face. When she saw me, her face broke into a big grin. “Rose!”
I leaned my hands on the counter. “Can you take a break? I really need to talk.”
Her smile faded. “Of course.” She looked over her shoulder at the girl sitting at the other desk. “I’ll be back soon.”
The girl rolled her eyes.
“You can’t find good help these days,” Neely Kate muttered. I couldn’t help thinking that Jimmy DeWade had probably said the same thing about her before he’d decided to start murdering people.
I would have laughed at the irony, but I was too on edge.
We took the stairs down to the basement and sat at a table next to the vending machines. The basement was chilly, and Neely Kate rubbed her arms. “Rose, you look like you saw a ghost.”
“Close. I saw a murder.”
“What?”
I squinted my eyes closed, trying to block out the memory. “I did what you suggested, Neely Kate. I made myself have a vision with Jonah Pruitt, and I saw a woman killed in his kitchen.” I looked up at her, and my voice broke. “She was shot in the head.”
Neely Kate’s mouth formed an O as she stared at me in disbelief for several seconds. “So Jonah Pruitt really is a murderer.”
“No, it was someone else. Jonah doesn’t have anything to do with any of this.”
“But what about Miss Dorothy’s will? Her house?”
“He swears he didn’t know anything about it. He says he found out after she died.”
“And you believe him?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, I do.”
She nodded. “That’s good enough for me.”
This was part of what I loved about Neely Kate. She took me at my word without a single doubt.
I told her about the rest of my morning, but I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her about Joe coming home yesterday and confiding his big secret. She’d kill to know, and for all her gossiping ways, I trusted her to keep my secret. But talking about it made it more real. Right now I could pretend it was just a bad dream.
Neely Kate rubbed her arms. “So what are you going to do?”
“I have to help Bruce Wayne.”
“Of course you do, but how are you gonna do it?’
“I’m going out to Weston’s Garage.”
Neely Kate narrowed her gaze. “Do you really think that’s a good idea, Rose? What if Thomas was right? What if Crocker’s guys are pissed at you?”
I wasn’t stupid. The thought of going out there scared me to death, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to see if Bruce Wayne was okay.
“Maybe you should wait for Mason. He seems pretty willing to help you two.”
“Yeah, I know.” What she said made sense, but it seemed wrong to sit around without doing anything.
“I know you.” She leaned forward. “You’re sitting here thinking about going out there anyway despite everything I just said.”
A lump burned my throat. “I can’t just sit here and leave him out there, Neely Kate. What if they kidnapped him? What if they’re hurting him?”
She stared into my eyes. “Rose, you don’t even know if he’s there. For all you know, he’s back home, kicked back in his Lazyboy and smokin’ a reefer.” She grabbed my hand, holding it tightly. “I know you feel responsible for him, but you can’t just strut out there like nothin’ can happen to you. Because it can. Just think it through a little bit before you do anything, and then think it through a little more. Okay?”
She was right, and I knew it, even if I felt like I was abandoning Bruce Wayne. Mason had gone to the sheriff’s office to get them to go out to Weston’s Garage. They had a much better chance of helping my friend than I did. But I had to make sure they’d followed through.
Neely Kate pulled me into a hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Then I shot her a glare. “But don’t be asking me to try to force any more visions. I don’t ever want to see anything like that again.”
Neely Kate sucked in her lower lip, watching me and struggling with what she wanted to say. She shifted her weight. “Look Rose, remember when I told you I thought your visions were a blessing but you think they’re a curse?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, maybe we’re looking at it all wrong. Maybe they’re not a blessing or a curse, maybe your visions are a responsibility.”
I pressed my lips together in irritation. “What does that mean?”
“You just saw a murder, which had to be shocking, and I’m so, so sorry for that. But you saw Joe’s death, and you changed it.” Her eyes burned with her earnestness. “You have the power to really help people, Rose. You have the power to save them.”
I stood and turned my back to her. I didn’t want that power. “That’s not me, Neely Kate.” Tears swam in my eyes. “I can’t handle that kind of responsibility. I can barely take care of Muffy, and she’s a dog.” I shook my head. “You don’t know what you’re asking me to do.”