Thirty-Six and a Half Motives
Page 51

Neely Kate stayed silent for a moment. “Joe said Roberta just up and left one day. He has no idea why. I told Rose that it was a wonder she lasted so long with J.R. Simmons as her boss.”
Hilary’s face paled. “What are you talking about?”
Neely Kate shook her head. “I’m surprised she didn’t quit sooner. Doing the cookin’ and the cleanin’ and raisin’ the Simmons kids. That’s too much for one person, especially if the house is as big as Rose described it.”
“She didn’t do it all alone,” Hilary said in a quiet voice. “She had help, but they came and went. Only Roberta stayed. She always stayed.”
“Until she left, right? How long did Roberta work for the Simmons?
“Um . . . I think she came on when was Joe as a toddler, so about fifteen years.” Her tone turned suspicious. “Why are you asking about Roberta?”
Neely Kate shrugged. “Like I said, I’m curious. Joe talked about her so much, and it’s obvious you loved her. It sounds like she loved y’all, too, so it’s weird that she would stay for so long, only to up and leave without any warning.”
Hilary’s face paled and her eyes filled with tears.
Her reaction caught me by surprise. It wasn’t the behavior of a grieving woman. She looked like she was scared.
Neely Kate pressed on. “What do you think happened?”
Hilary stood, starting to cry.
“She loved us. She would have done anything to protect us.” She pushed back in her chair, her fingers shaking. “I have to go. Tell Jonah I don’t feel well and that I’ll come back tomorrow.”
With that, she ran out the door.
I had nowhere to hide, but she ignored me as she hurried down the hall toward the front doors.
I walked into the kitchen, unsure whether to be happy that we had new information or upset that Hilary seemed so distraught. I went with both.
“I didn’t mean to make her cry, Rose,” Neely Kate said, rising from her chair. “I had no idea she’d get so emotional.”
“I need to call Joe,” I said, digging out my phone.
“Why?”
“She’s really upset, Neely Kate.” I shook my head. “Not just upset. Scared. If you felt like that, you’d turn to me, but Hilary has no one. Plus, there’s the baby to think about. I need to tell him.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t stop me.
Joe was raging when he answered.
“If you’re in some kind of trouble and expect me to come bail you out, you’ve got another think coming.”
“No,” I said. “This is about Hilary.”
“Oh, God. What has she done now?”
“Nothing, Joe. I’m worried about her. Neely Kate and I told her we wanted to try to get along, let bygones be bygones. She seemed fine with the idea. In fact, she and Neely Kate were getting along really well, but then Neely Kate asked her about Roberta.”
“Roberta?” he asked in surprise. “What brought that up?”
“Well . . .” I hedged. “There might have been an ulterior motive,” I confessed.
“What on earth could be her motive behind asking about my old housekeeper?”
“Because the nursery’s new employee—Anna Miller—is Roberta’s granddaughter.”
“What?”
“I just found out last night.”
“What? Wait. Start at the beginning.”
There was no way I could tell him the entire story, so I kept to the bare minimum. “She moved to Henryetta around the first of the year, and she applied for a job at the nursery. She said she moved from Mississippi, but we had no idea who she was or why she was even in Henryetta. Violet and I joked that it was a big mystery.”
“Violet told me she hired a new employee and cleared it with you. I honestly didn’t pay much attention, since I was knee-deep in shit with my father. How’d you make the connection to Roberta?”
“Remember those files Neely Kate and I found in Kate’s apartment?”
He groaned. “Not that again.”
“Well, I found a file on Roberta. I just thought of it last night, but before I could go ask her about it today, Maeve told me that she and Bruce Wayne had disappeared.”
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“You knew about them disappearing before I did.”
“Not that. About the file.”
I knew I should confess where I’d found it, but I wasn’t ready to tip my hat yet.
“I guess I forgot,” I said.
His “hmph” told me he didn’t quite believe me.
Then he asked, “Are we sure they didn’t just run off together? Two kids in love just wanting to spend the day together?”
“First of all, Bruce Wayne is older than you, and second, I can’t see Bruce Wayne doin’ that. At least not without some kind of notice. Not since I made him part owner.”
“It sure would have made my job easier if he had.” Then he quickly added, “Sorry. That was a piss-poor joke.”
“Any news about your father?”
“Nothing.”
“Do you think he’s still around?”
“Yep. He’s got unfinished business, which is why you need to let me put you under protection.”
“Tell you what—when Randy gets out of the hospital, I’ll let him watch over me. Until then, not a chance.”
“Well, at least quit gallivanting around the county. You’re making it easy for him to find you.”
“I doubt it. You haven’t managed to find me.”
That pissed him off. “Goodbye, Rose.”
“Wait!” I’d almost forgotten why I’d called him.
He paused. “I’m waiting.”
“I really meant it when I said I was worried about Hilary. She got really upset when Neely Kate asked her about Roberta leaving. She looked close to passing out.”
“Well,” he said, “she did take the news pretty hard when she found out Roberta left, come to think about it. She locked herself in her bedroom and wouldn’t let anyone in until I stopped by.”
I hadn’t expected to get answers from Joe—this had been a call to alert him to Hilary’s distress. But, now that he’d opened the door, I figured I might as well walk on through. “And you were both seventeen? Doesn’t that seem excessive considerin’ Roberta wasn’t even her housekeeper?”