Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies
Page 115

J.R. laughed again.
“If you kill her, I will rip you apart limb by limb,” Skeeter growled, taking several steps toward us.
J.R. jerked me backward, the knife-edge scraping the delicate skin on my neck. I felt a tiny trickle of blood trail down my neck as Mason’s and Joe’s eyes widened with fear. Skeeter looked even more murderous, as though it was possible. Jed’s expression suggested he’d help Skeeter carry out the deed.
“What has you so fascinated with her?” J.R. laughed. “All the time I’ve known you, you’ve never had more than a momentary interest in a woman.”
“She’s a business asset.”
J.R. chuckled. “No. I can see it’s more than that.”
J.R. was going to make Skeeter admit his feelings for me. I couldn’t let this man hurt anyone else I cared about.
The gun was still in my hand, but I had no idea how to use it to get myself free. If I tried to shoot him, he’d slit my throat in a heartbeat. In fact, I had a pretty good feeling he’d slit my throat anyway. I looked around the room filled with men desperate to save me, then decided to spare them the guilt of failing.
I grabbed J.R.’s wrist with my left hand. “J.R.,” I said, sounding much tougher than I felt. “This is your last warning to let me go.”
“You’re threatening me?” He laughed and his arm lifted slightly, preparing to slice. Joe and Mason got a panicked look in their eyes, and I knew it was time for me to make my move.
I held the gun tip against his thigh and pulled the trigger while I yanked his wrist away from my neck with all my might. He cried out in pain and crumpled to the floor, the knife still in his hand, his arm outstretched.
Joe rushed toward me, but I turned and got a good stomp on J.R.’s hand with my stiletto heel, partially embedding the end into his now-open palm. “I told you that you were too close for my liking.”
J.R.’s eyes were livid. “I’m going to kill you!”
I started to offer a retort, but J.R. reached for me with his good hand. Joe jerked me away from his father, handing me off to Mason as he kicked the knife across the room.
Joe leaned over his father while J.R. continued to shout a string of threats against me and everyone else in the room.
Mason gathered me into his arms and held me tight against his chest, leading me into the kitchen around the back side of the island while chaos ensued ten feet away. I looked up at him in shock. “You said you weren’t coming.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry I had to tell you that. I was worried Skeeter would insist on getting his own brand of justice, and then we might never get your charges dropped. We needed someone from law enforcement to be here. Which meant we needed Joe. If Skeeter had believed I was bringing anyone else into this mix, particularly J.R.’s own son, he would have tied me up. Or worse. And I couldn’t tell you in the bathroom because I had the bug in my hand.”
“But you said Joe was missing.”
“He was. I just had to know where to look.”
“And where was that?”
“His old house. I have no idea where he was all day, but tonight he was sitting on the front porch.”
“Where we first met,” I whispered in dismay.
Sadness filled his eyes. “Yeah.”
“How did you know you could trust him?”
“I saw it in his eyes when I was giving him my statement about your kidnapping at the sheriff’s station. Then when I got that message … I almost told him the truth, Rose. I was worried he would do something harmful to himself.”
“How’d you get him to agree to help?”
“I told him your father had set up your kidnapping. He was more than eager to jump on board.”
“But J.R. swore he didn’t do it.”
“Like I’d believe anything that man said,” he said in disgust.
“But Kate …”
“I mentioned your theory to Joe—without telling him about the incriminating evidence you found in her apartment—I thought I’d leave it up to your discretion. But he assured me she had nothing to do with it. He claims she was nearly as upset as he was when she heard the news.”
I pursed my lips. “I still don’t trust her. I’m going to tell Joe about goin’ into her apartment.” Then a new realization hit me. “Joe knows I’m the Lady in Black,” I whispered.
He grimaced, lowering his mouth next to my ear. “Not necessarily. I told him you’d come up with the crazy scheme to dress up as her to trap his father and somehow got Malcolm to go along.”
I leaned back to face him. “And he bought it?”
He gave me a sad smile. “Do you really think he considers you capable of such a thing?” He pulled his hand off my arm. “You’re bleeding. We need to put something on this.”
He opened a kitchen drawer, but Jed approached us from the hall and handed him a bath towel. “It’s clean. I checked.”
I looked around the room. “Where’s Skeeter?”
Jed cringed. “He took off.”
Mason scowled. “Joe’s going to need a statement from him.”
Skeeter’s pride had to be wounded by all of this. I wasn’t surprised he left, but I wished I’d had a chance to talk to him first. “Can it wait until the morning?”
Mason studied my face. “I suppose that’s up to Joe.”
“Did you hear what J.R. said?” I asked. “Is it enough for Joe to use to get my charges dropped?”