Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans
Page 95

“Maybe . . . but the bottom line is that we can get ice cream at your favorite place.”
“What about Deputy Hoffstetter? Aren’t you hiding out from her?”
“She hasn’t called yet, but how about I call her so we can deliver our statements? Then I can tell her to come pick me up in Tahoe Junction.”
“Tahoe Junction is over twenty miles north.”
I grinned. “I know.”
“You’re more wicked than I thought, Rose Gardner,” she teased.
“Since I’m working at Gems tonight, maybe that’s a good thing.”
Abbie Lee Hoffstetter was fit to be tied when I called her, and my ears burned from the heap of insults she flung at me. “When I find you, I’m going to make you pay for making me look bad in front of the chief deputy.”
“That’s not exactly making me want to cooperate, Deputy Hoffstetter.”
“I’m a law enforcement official. Trust me. I’ll find you. You don’t need to tell me where you are.”
Not if I could help it. “I called to give you my statement. Do you want it or not?”
“You’re damn straight I do. Then when we’re done, I’m coming for you.”
It didn’t take long for me to give my statement, and then Neely Kate took the phone and gave hers. When she was finishing, I said loud enough for the deputy to hear, “You’re sure the Chick-a-Dilly in Tahoe Junction is just around the corner?”
Neely Kate gave me an evil grin. “Rose! Shhhh!!!” Then she told the deputy goodbye. “That should keep her busy for a while.”
“Let’s just hope it’s long enough.”
We got Neely Kate’s ice cream and headed to her house. I needed clothes for my shift at Gems, and Neely Kate insisted she had something for me to wear. I certainly didn’t have the wardrobe to supply my uniform, and I couldn’t risk a shopping trip. When we got to her house, I parked the truck in her garage so Deputy Hoffstetter wouldn’t see it from the road in case she drove by.
“What are you going to say to Ronnie about being gone tonight?”
“It’s poker night. He’s not even coming home after work. He’ll never know I’m gone.”
Neely Kate offered to make us one of her gourmet dinners before we left for Gems, but I knew my nervous stomach couldn’t handle it. Instead, I suggested I make some buttered noodles.
After we ate, I got ready. Neely Kate curled my hair, but I drew the line when it came to my makeup. It was bad enough I was wearing short-shorts and a show-every-curve red tank top, in December no less. I wasn’t about to put on enough eye makeup to help me look like a hooker.
“You have to play the part, Rose.”
“No,” I insisted. “I only have to play the part of a bartender, and only until I find Mason and figure out what he’s doin’ and stop him.”
“You don’t even know if he’s gonna show,” she said. “How long are you gonna stay in there if he doesn’t? And if he does show, what are you gonna do then?”
“I don’t know. One way or the other I’m gonna get some kind of answers before I leave that strip club. Honestly, I hope he doesn’t show, either because Joe’s got him locked up somewhere, or because this was all a big misunderstanding. But just in case it’s not, I’m going.”
She gave me a hug and squeezed me tight. “I understand. If it was Ronnie, I’d do exactly the same thing.”
“And if it was Ronnie, I’d help you too.”
We left around six-thirty, and just on the other side of Henryetta, I realized I’d been driving all over creation and my truck needed gas. When I told Neely Kate I had to stop, she was relieved.
“Who knows how long I’ll be sitting in the truck waiting for you? I’ll run in and get some snacks and go to the bathroom while you’re pumping the gas.”
After I parked at the gas station, I inserted my debit card into the pump, my bare legs freezing in the cold wind. As I watched Neely Kate go into the convenience store, it struck me again that I had no idea what I was getting myself into . . . and I wasn’t talking about the stripping. Something was going on at Gems, and the only person who knew I was going to be there was Neely Kate. And while Neely Kate was resourceful, I wasn’t sure she’d be able to get me out of trouble if trouble came my way.
Before I could change my mind, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and called Skeeter.
“Twice in one day. You must really miss me.”
“I got that part-time job I was telling you about. I start tonight.”
He paused and lowered his voice, a hint of controlled anger in his voice. “At my competition?”
I realized there must be someone close by him that he didn’t want to know what he was talking about. “I heard the owner’s going to show up later.”
“You don’t say.” He was quiet for a moment, and then I heard traffic sounds in the background. “I thought I told you to stay away.”
“This whole thing started with my search for Dolly Parton, and I still haven’t found her.”
He paused for a second. “Why are you really doing this?”
“I have my reasons.”
He was quiet for so long that I wondered if he’d hung up on me, but he finally said, “Do you think you can handle it?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “My friend’s going to be hanging around.”