Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 26

She did have a point. “Do you think we can get my money back?”
She lifted her eyebrows, an excited gleam in her eye. “If I say yes, will you try to find out who they are?”
“Maybe.” I really needed that cash back.
“The guy in your vision said they didn’t have enough money. They’re probably saving it up for something. As long as they haven’t robbed any other places yet, I bet they still have it.”
“But I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for these guys.”
“The best place to start is with that gold Charger. Too bad you don’t still work at the DMV. Do you have any friends left there?”
I exhaled my disappointment. “No. Not really.”
“Joe could look it up, but then I suspect he already has if Mason told him about the car.”
“Asking Joe for help is not an option.” I shook my head adamantly. “First, I don’t want to talk to him and two, he wouldn’t want me to get involved. He got irate because I looked at the bank robbers to get their description.” My stomach churned, so I grabbed the package of crackers that had come with my salad. “He’d have a coronary if he knew I was digging into any of this.”
“So we’re back where we started,” she said. “You need to try to have some visions.”
My eyes widened with an epiphany. “Wait, Neely Kate. I have another idea… Bruce Wayne used to work at Crocker’s mechanics shop. Even though the shop served as a front for his pot business and the stolen car parts ring, the mechanic shop was legit. If these robbers are part of the less-than-savory life of Fenton County, I bet they would have gotten parts for the Charger there at some point.”
“But I thought Bruce Wayne pissed them all off when he turned his back on Crocker to save you.”
“He pissed some of them off,” I admitted. “But Crocker was so crazy at the end that plenty of the guys wanted to ship him back to prison themselves.”
“So do you think that Bruce Wayne can look into that for us?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, trying to eat another bite of my salad.
“Well, it’s a place to start, right? And you won’t know unless you ask him.”
“True.” I pushed the plate to the side and took a drink of my water.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you eating? You usually have the appetite of a wild boar.”
“My stomach’s been a mess the last week,” I said. “I don’t know what’s wrong. It must be all the excitement.”
Neely Kate gave me an ornery grin. “If you weren’t on the pill, I’d think you were pregnant too.”
My chest tightened and I struggled to find the breath to talk. “I’m not on the pill right now. I didn’t have my pill pack with me during the whole Crocker mess. I went for so many days without them that the doctor told me to restart them after my next period.”
Her smile fell. “And you haven’t started your period yet?”
“Well…no.”
“Did you and Mason…you know…while you were hiding out at the farm?”
My face turned red. “Well…yeah…”
“And you didn’t use any other protection?”
The sick feeling in my stomach got worse. “Not until I got back home.”
“Rose, that was weeks ago.”
“Oh, crappy doodles.” My head felt faint. “I was supposed to start at the beginning of the week.”
“It’s only Friday. That’s just a few days.”
“But I’m never late.”
“You’re pale as a ghost and look like you’re about to pass out. Lay your head down on the table.”
I shook my head, forcing myself to take slow, steady breaths. “Oh, God.”
She reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Rose, calm down. It’s probably nothing.”
I nodded. She was right. It was probably nothing.
But what if it was something?
Chapter Eight
Neely Kate grabbed her wallet out of her purse and laid several bills on the table before standing and pulling me to my feet. “Come on.”
I stared at her, still in shock. “What about Mason’s salad?”
“We’ll get it later,” she said, dragging me to the front door, only stopping for a moment to holler at the waitress that we’d back in a bit for our order. She didn’t drop her hold on me until she’d tugged me across the street to the park bench next to the courthouse. After pushing me down on the seat, she sat down next to me. “I understand why you’re shocked, but I need to know why this is freaking you out so much.”
“Everything. Mason and I…we’re so new…”
“Do you want kids?”
I flinched in surprise. “Of course I want kids! I’ve wanted kids since I was practically a kid myself. Joe and I had even started dreaming about a family…” My voice choked off as tears slid down my cheeks.
Neely Kate wrapped her arm around me and pulled my head onto her shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re probably not even pregnant. Maybe you’re late because of all the excitement, not to mention that the pill sometimes screws with your hormones.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “That’s probably it.”
“But if you are pregnant—” she wiped my tears and gave me a warm smile “—I can guarantee you that Mason Deveraux would be a wonderful father.”