Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies
Page 33

I nodded. “It’s a photocopy of a page from the journal.”
“Get out of town!” Her face bright with excitement, Neely Kate grabbed the edge of the folder and pulled it toward her, but her expression changed as she scanned the page. “It’s in jibberish.”
“It’s shorthand. And the journal is full of it.”
“So you have no idea what it says?”
“I just need to find someone who can read shorthand.” Neely Kate started to speak, but I held up a finger. “Someone who can keep a secret.”
Neely Kate rolled her eyes.
“I’m gonna give it to Mason when he gets back.”
“But he won’t be back for hours. And besides, why do you have to get his permission? Just get it translated on your own.”
I gasped. “Neely Kate, what in the world has gotten into you? I never said I was asking his permission. I’m waiting to ask my boyfriend—the former assistant district attorney—his legal advice on how to handle this.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
She was in worse shape than I’d thought. “This place is unnerving.” I reached for her hand and squeezed, then looked back at her cousin. “Is there anything else in there?”
“Just a key.” He pulled it out and placed it in my open palm.
I wasn’t all that surprised to see it was another house key. “Nothing else?” I asked. “Nothing to tell me what the key goes to?”
“Not unless it’s in that folder.”
“Not that I can see, but that’s okay. Thanks for helping, Witt.” I shifted my weight. “Do you want me to pay you?”
His eyes lit up, but Neely Kate shot him a glare.
He tried to hide a grin. “No, ma’am.”
“Do you need us to stick around and help you pack everything?” I asked.
“I’m good.” He looked at Neely Kate, then nodded. “It’s gonna be okay, NK.”
When she didn’t answer him, I put my arm around Neely Kate’s shoulders. “Then let’s get out of here.” I guided her out of the office, and we made our way out of the window and back to the truck.
The truck was cold, so I let the engine run for a minute while I pulled out my phone and texted Mason.
Any luck in LR?
He answered within seconds. No
I grinned, knowing my news would cheer him up. We got what we needed from the box. One page copy from the book. Need translation.
I sent the text, hoping he would understand my cryptic message.
Great! I’ll find a translator.
“Well, there you have it,” I said, backing out of the parking lot. “Mason said he’ll find someone to translate.”
Neely Kate made a face, then looked out the side window.
“Do you need to head home?” I asked as I pulled out of the parking lot.
She kept her eyes on the windshield. “No.”
“What did he say, Neely Kate?”
“He told me he’s at work.”
“Did he leave this morning at the same time?”
“I dunno. He stayed at his friend’s house last night.”
“Why?”
She glanced at me like I was a fool. “I told you that he forbade me to go the courthouse. It came with an ultimatum. If I left, he wouldn’t be there when I came home.”
“Oh, Neely Kate.”
She turned to look at me with hard eyes. “Don’t you be feeling guilty. This has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me!”
Her eyes narrowed. “I had no idea you were such a narcissist, Rose Gardner.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “First Carter Hale accuses me of having a huge ego, then you call me a narcissist. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate myself.”
“Rose,” she groaned, leaning her head against the back of the seat.
“Look, it’s not hard to figure out. I was arrested, Neely Kate. I spent the weekend in jail. And not only that, I’m constantly getting into trouble. I can understand why he’s worried.”
A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye.
“Neely Kate.” I tried to keep my voice strong. “I think you should go back home.”
She sat up so fast it was as if she’d been struck by lightning. “Are you trying to get rid of me, Rose?”
Without a word, I pulled the truck to the side of the road and threw the gear shift into park before I turned to her. “Let me make this perfectly clear: You are like a sister to me. I am here for you no matter what. I will never, ever try to get rid of you. Do I make myself clear?”
“You just said you wanted to take me back home.”
“Because I don’t want to ever get in the way of you and Ronnie.”
More tears fell down her cheeks. “I don’t know if there’s still a me and Ronnie.”
“Don’t be silly. We all say things in the heat of the moment that we don’t mean. You wouldn’t believe some of the arguments Mason and I have had.”
“This is different, Rose. Mason never left you.”
“Mason almost left me twice.”
Her mouth dropped. “What?”
“Once after Joe kissed me and another time too. Mason knew J.R. was gonna have me arrested sooner rather than later, and he couldn’t find anything big enough to stop him. He wanted to find dirt on Joe to use it as leverage—if J.R. used his fabricated evidence on me, Mason would release the information about Joe’s past, including his DUIs and assault charges.”