Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 90

“Mason, please don’t sleep in the other room. I miss you.”
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “We’ve already discussed this, Rose.”
“No, Mason. You’ve discussed it. Did you talk to Jonah this afternoon?”
He kept his back to me. “Yes.”
“Don’t you think sleeping in the other room is running away from your problems?”
He sighed. “You know it’s not that.”
“Then come back to bed, Mason. If you have a nightmare, I won’t wake you up.”
He moved away from the door and sat on the edge of the bed. “I can’t promise I won’t hurt you.”
I grabbed his hand. “I’d rather take my chances than sleep without you.” I reached behind his head and pulled his mouth to mine, convincing him that staying in bed with me was the best idea since the invention of the wheel.
I was in a deep sleep, my back pressed against Mason’s front, when I heard a phone ringing. Mason reached over and grabbed my cell off my nightstand while I struggled to wake up.
“This is Mason Deveraux.” He sounded so serious and professional that my grogginess cleared and I lifted my head.
“Yes,” he said. “We’ll be right there.” He held onto my phone after hanging up.
“What happened?” I asked, looking up at him.
“That was Officer Sprout. Your nursery was broken into.”
“What?” I bolted upright.
“The alarm was going off, so he went by to see if it was a false alarm. It wasn’t.” He started to get out of bed. “I’m going down there to check it out. You stay here and get some rest.”
I got out of bed on the other side. “I’m going too.”
“There’s no reason for you to go, Rose. I can take care of it.”
“It’s my business, Mason.”
“I know. My offer wasn’t meant as an insult.”
“I know, but I’ll never be able to sleep.” I opened my dresser drawer to pull out a pair of sweatpants. “I’m going.”
He relented, and I called Violet on the way into town.
“Vi, did the police call you?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was shaky. “Mike’s on his way over to watch the kids and Joe’s going to bring me.”
“Do you seriously think Joe bringing you is a good idea, Violet?” My voice was cold.
“I’m sure you’ll have Mason there for you to look after your best interests. And I’ll have Joe looking out for mine. If your boyfriend has a problem with it, tough.”
“Joe’s coming?” Mason asked after I hung up.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. The two of us are going to have to see each other sooner rather than later. I only wish you weren’t part of it.”
I couldn’t say I didn’t feel the same way.
Two police cars were parked in the nursery parking lot, and Detective Taylor met us at the front door. “I need to warn you. It’s quite a mess.”
My stomach in knots, I started through the front door, sucking in my breath when I saw the destruction. The entire place had been vandalized. The display shelves were empty and tipped over and everything that had been on them was smashed. All the artificial Christmas trees that Violet had spent so much time decorating were strewn in pieces around the store. Broken ornaments crunched beneath our feet as we walked. All the wreaths and decorations on the walls had been pulled down and tossed in a pile. The room was cluttered with so much crap I could hardly make my way though. A giant Stay Away From was painted in red across the wall behind the cash register, the warning clearly unfinished. We had started to pick our way through the mess to the back room when Violet and Joe showed up.
I slipped my hand into Mason’s to reassure both of us.
“Damn,” Joe muttered as he crossed the threshold. “This isn’t a robbery. This is a personal vendetta.” He glared toward me. “Who have you pissed off now?”
“Excuse me?” I shouted.
Mason’s hand tightened around mine. “Chief Deputy Simmons, I’ll ask you to speak to Rose respectfully or not at all.”
Violet started crying. “I’ve spent weeks on this. Weeks. And now it’s completely ruined.” She turned to face me. “This is all your fault, Rose!”
“My fault?”
“You’re trying to find out who robbed that bank.” Her eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I know. Joe’s told me all about it.”
“This has nothing to do with me.”
“The giant graffiti on the wall says otherwise,” Joe bit out.
Mason wrapped an arm around my shoulders and tugged me against him. “Before we start making accusations, perhaps you should conduct an actual investigation, Simmons.”
“This falls under the jurisdiction of the Henryetta police.”
Mason released a sound that started as a rumble, then grew into a roar. “For the love of all that is holy, Joe. If you care anything about either one of these two women, will you please conduct an investigation? Their business has just been destroyed.”
I closed my eyes and sank against him, his words sinking in.
There was nothing left to save.
“I want to go home, Mason.”
He lowered his mouth to my ear. “You don’t want to look around more?”
“There’s nothing left to look at.”