Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies
Page 6

I couldn’t think about Joe and how he’d let Deputy Hoffstetter humiliate me, let alone the fact that he’d had me arrested in the first place. And stole the book of evidence my birth mother had died trying to bring to light—a book that would have helped implicate J.R. Simmons. He’d betrayed me in every way.
I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive him for any of it. Not that Joe was asking for forgiveness.
I forced a smile. “They won’t know what hit ’em when we get done with them.”
“Yeah.”
As I walked toward the small group, Bruce Wayne started to offer me his hand to shake, but I pulled him into a hug instead.
He patted my back awkwardly. “You did everything in your power to clear my name when I was accused of a murder I didn’t commit, and I’m gonna do the same for you.”
“Thanks, Bruce Wayne. But don’t you be getting into trouble.” Bruce Wayne had survived multiple scrapes with the law in the past. He was on the straight and narrow path now. I could never live with myself if he got himself back into the crime world because of me.
Maeve was next and she offered me a warm smile and a hug. “Don’t you worry, Rose. I’m taking good care of Muffy.”
“Muffy’s with you?” I’d been worried about my little dog, but I’d presumed that Mason would take care of her since he lived with me out at my farm.
“Mason’s been busy with his project. And I’m more worried than ever.”
I sucked in a breath and searched her eyes. “The feeling you told me about?”
She nodded. “It’s all happening soon.”
The previous week she had confessed that she had strong feelings or premonitions that often came to pass. While she didn’t know I was helping Skeeter as the Lady in Black, she did know I was up to something. She’d given me her blessing. Especially since she had a strong feeling that Mason and someone else she didn’t know were in danger. She wasn’t sure how they were tied together, but she was convinced I was the only one who could save them.
That scared the bejiggers out of me. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m locked up.”
She gave me a tight smile. “Hopefully you’ll get out soon.”
Lordy, I couldn’t argue with that.
“Any feelings tell you that?” I asked wistfully.
“Just an old woman’s fervent prayer.”
More people waited behind her. Jonah Pruitt, my friend and the minister of the New Living Hope Revival Church, was there with his new girlfriend and church secretary, Jessica. My sister, Violet, waited behind them.
I quickly greeted Jonah and Jessica and moved on to Violet.
My older sister and I hadn’t gotten along very well over the last several months, but we were sisters—whether we shared blood or not—and we stuck together in the tough times. I was relieved to see that she still believed that.
The look she gave me was so pathetic that I grabbed her hands in mine and gave them a little shake. “Don’t you be worried, Violet. I’m gonna go into that courtroom and Carter Hale’s gonna get me out on bail.”
She nodded, her chin quivering. Her eyes were red and swollen.
Then a new thought hit me. “Has J.R. released information about you or Mike?”
She shook her head and pulled her hand from mine to wipe her tears. “It doesn’t matter if he releases mine. Everyone already knows about me and Brody.”
“And Mike?”
She tried to smile, but more tears leaked from her eyes. “He says he’s at peace with whatever happens. Carter Hale said he’d take Mike’s case if it came to that.”
My eyes widened. “You’ve spoken to Carter?”
“He’s been asking all kinds of questions about Momma’s murder and who you knew then and know now.”
“It’s time to go in,” Deputy Miller said, putting gentle pressure on my back. “I suspect they’re ready for you.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “Okay. Thank you for this.”
“I wanted you to know you have friends who support you and are trying to get you out of this. Myself included.”
My mouth parted in surprise.
“Just be ready for it to get bad inside that courtroom. Rumor has it the DA is out for blood.”
“Thanks for the warning, Deputy Miller.”
He lowered his voice. “Call me Randy. What I’m doing makes us friends, don’t ya think?”
My stomach tightened with worry. “Don’t do anything to jeopardize your job.”
His jaw set. “After what Chief Deputy Simmons pulled, I was planning to quit. But Mr. Deveraux convinced me to stay.”
I shot him a look of surprise, wondering what that was about, but I didn’t have time to give it much thought. He was already leading me through a door I recognized from my short stint as a juror on Bruce Wayne’s murder trial.
My heart leapt into my throat as I entered the courtroom, and Randy tightened his grip on my arm to comfort me. We passed the empty jury box, and I saw Carter sitting at the defense table. He wore a serious expression, which looked out of place on him.
An elderly man sat at the opposite table, thumbing through pages of notes. He shot me a glare so filled with hate it took my breath away. It was the DA, Terry Snyder, Mason’s old boss.
“Just ignore him,” Deputy Miller said under his breath as we rounded the table, and he pulled out my chair.