Thirty-Six and a Half Motives
Page 103

“What about James?” I asked. She’d said he was giving his statement to the state police. That was two encounters with the law in the past two weeks. With his record, that couldn’t look good.
“Skeeter’s fine. He’s not in trouble. He’s merely giving his statement.”
I searched my exhausted and slow-to-react brain, trying to remember who else had been there the night before. “J.R.? What happened to him?”
They both tensed.
“He was shot,” Jed said. “By Joe.”
“Is he in the hospital?”
“No,” Neely Kate said. “He’s in the morgue.”
Maybe it was wrong to feel this relieved by someone’s death, but J.R. Simmons had been an evil man through and through. I doubted anyone would mourn him.
“Hey,” I said, suddenly remembering Kate’s retelling of J.R.’s involvement in Fenton County. “How did Kate know all those things about the past?”
“She found my mother,” Neely Kate said. “And she threatened to hurt me if my mother didn’t confess everything.”
“So she did?”
“Yeah.”
I knew my best friend had to have mixed emotions about that. Her mother had abandoned her when she was twelve, and she hadn’t seen her since. She’d never come out and said the actual words, but I knew Neely Kate questioned if Jenny Lynn loved her. This was pretty compelling evidence.
“Momma told Kate that she’d left the gun with Granny.”
I let that soak in for a moment. “Who were Sam Teagen and his friend really working for?”
“Don’t you want to rest?”
“No. I want you to answer the question.”
“Kate says that Hilary was the one spying on you and Mason,” Neely Kate said. “She found that stack of paperwork when she dropped in on Hilary one day to annoy her. So she snuck in a few days later and stole it all. After you told Joe about it, Kate moved it up to the shed. Teagen saw her do it, so he got a locksmith friend to make him a key. Marshal was arrested outside the warehouse, and he’s confirmed Kate’s story. He said they’d sneak into her apartment and the shed every few days to see if she’d found something new. That’s how they discovered Anna. Kate had searched her out, looking for answers.”
“Oh!” I gasped. “Bruce Wayne and Anna!”
“Were tied up in Hilary’s house. They were about to warn Joe, so she had Teagen stop them.”
“They’re okay?”
She nodded. “They’re fine. I promise.”
“Why was Anna here?”
“Anna had no idea why her grandmother left, but Kate’s visit made her realize there was more to it than she knew. So she moved to Henryetta, hoping to get answers. She knew Joe was part owner of the nursery, so she asked for a job with the goal of getting close to him and discovering the truth.”
“So why did she hate me?”
“She didn’t hate you. She was scared to death of you. She knew you had visions, and she was worried you’d figure out what she was doing here.”
I wasn’t sure I bought that, but I didn’t feel up to arguing the point.
“Was Kate pregnant? Did her baby really die?”
“Yeah, and even though J.R. said he had nothing to do with the accident, Joe says it’s pretty fishy.”
“So what happens to her now?”
“She obviously has mental health issues, so they’ve put her in the psych ward for an evaluation.”
“I’m still forgetting something . . .” I squeezed my eyes tight. “What am I forgetting?” And then it all rushed back and my chest tightened, sending a shooting pain through my side. “Mason . . . is he. . . ?”
Neely Kate grabbed my hand and squeezed so tight I worried she’d crush my bones. “No. He’s alive, but he’s hurt bad.”
I sucked in a breath and nodded slightly. I needed to keep control until I knew all the facts.
“J.R. shot him in the liver. Up close with a powerful gun. It did a lot of damage. Mason was in the ICU after surgery, but he started bleeding again, so they took him back. The doctors were telling Maeve to prepare herself for the worst.”
“Maeve!” I gasped, sitting up again. “She’s all alone!”
“No, Rose. She has so many people who love her. You wouldn’t believe how many of them are with her now.”
I lay back on the pillow, tears streaking down my face. “It’s my fault.”
“You really are a narcissist,” Carter Hale said from the doorway. “Takin’ ownership of the terrors created by a maniac.”
Carter turned to Jed. “Skeeter’s done with his questioning, and the state police sent him home with the warning that they are watchin’ him extra closely now. Do your best to keep him on the straight and narrow.” He paused and a cocky grin lit up his face. “Or at least cover your tracks really well.”
Jed nodded, but he cracked a grin, too.
Carter turned to Neely Kate. “As for your wayward husband, there’s still no sign of him. They caught Al Moberly, the guy he worked with at the garage, and he swears he has no idea where Ronnie is. The rumor mill says he left town, but there’s no word as to where. I’ve got another guy workin’ on it. Hopefully he’ll have better results than the first one.” He winked at me.
Neely Kate didn’t seem to notice. “Thanks.”
“As for you, Ms. Gardner. You are free and clear, with no threats hangin’ over your head . . . for now. But you know how to reach me should the need arise. Which I am positive it will.”
“I’ll program your cell number into my phone.”
He grinned. “No need. Just use my bat signal.”
Neely Kate rolled her eyes and pushed him out the door, but she didn’t come back in right away.
“How long has Mason been in surgery?” I asked Jed.
He looked into my eyes. “Several hours. It doesn’t look good.”
I told myself not to cry. No use borrowing trouble until it came calling, but my eyes refused to listen.
Neely Kate came back moments later and fussed over me, calling the nurse to change my IV bag so I didn’t get dehydrated.
Jed stayed with us, but it took Neely Kate some convincing to get him to sit inside my room instead of standing guard outside the door. At least he could watch the Price Is Right instead of staring at the wall. Then they got into a semi-argument over the price of a can of pork and beans.