“It started last week,” Bobby said, punching buttons on her cash register. She didn’t glance up as she slapped a sticker on the cup and said, “That sticker lets you get refills for the rest of the day. That’ll be a dollar and ten cents.”
Neely Kate put a couple of dollar bills on the counter and slid them over, then glanced back at me.
“Bobby,” I said softly. “You don’t know me, but I heard about Rufus, and I wanted to extend my sympathies.”
Her head jerked up. Fear covered her face, but anger drove it out. “How do you know about Rufus?”
I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you, Bobby, but I’m worried someone else will.”
“No shit,” she muttered as two streams of tears slid down her cheeks. “I know they’re comin’ for me.”
“Who?” Neely Kate asked. “Denny Carmichael?”
“He’s not the only one,” she said, her body starting to shake. “Skeeter Malcolm’s comin’ for me too.”
Chapter 6
“You think Skeeter Malcolm is after you?” I asked in shock. “Didn’t Rufus work for him?”
Bobby shook her head, panic filling her eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that. Forget I said that.”
“It’s okay,” I said gently. “I’m a friend. I want to help you.”
“Why would you want to help me?” she asked, anger in her voice. “You don’t even know me.”
“Because that’s what I do.” I glanced around, noticing no one except a man scratching his crotch as he studied the selection of Slim Jims in the snack aisle. “I’m the Lady in Black.”
Her eyes grew huge. It was obvious she knew exactly who I was and what it meant. “Why would you help me?” she whispered, her gaze shifting from me to Neely Kate, then back again.
“I already told you,” I said. “I help people. People come to me when they’re stuck in impossible situations, and I try to find them a way out.”
“She’s very good,” Neely Kate said.
“I’ve heard of you,” Bobby said. “You used to work for Skeeter.”
I started to correct her and say we’d partnered together, but it felt like semantics. “I have a foot in the criminal world, and I’ve negotiated truces between warring factions.”
She snorted. “Then why haven’t you negotiated one with Malcolm and Carmichael?”
She had a point. “Because neither party is interested in a truce.”
“You’ve got that right,” she scoffed. “They both want total dominion.”
“You’re in danger,” I said. “And I want to help you.”
“Out of the kindness of your heart,” Bobby said with a sneer.
This would only work if I was honest with her. “I think you might have information that will be useful to me.”
Disgust filled her eyes. “I knew it. There’s always strings attached.”
“That’s not entirely true,” I said, lowering my voice as a woman walked through the door holding a preschool-aged boy’s hand. “You fell onto my radar because of your boyfriend, but I’ll help you whether you know anything or not.”
“Why?” Bobby demanded. “And even if I buy the good Samaritan act, what do you plan on doin’ for me?”
“I can offer you protection,” I said. “And a place to hide.”
She glanced from me to Neely Kate again. “I think I’ll take my chances.”
I couldn’t force her to talk to me.
“Okay,” I said, pulling a business card out of my purse. I placed it on the counter and pushed it toward her. “My name is Rose Gardner, and my cell phone number is on the card. Call if you need me, and I’ll find a way to get to you.”
She stared at the card so hard I expected it to burst into flames, then picked it up and tossed it into the trash can behind her. “I don’t need your help. Now, get the hell out of my store.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Neely Kate said, leaning forward. “We can help you.”
Bobby’s eyes narrowed. “You have three seconds to get out before I call the cops.”
“That’s not necessary,” I said, then reached for her hand and forced a vision, asking, Will Bobby be okay?
Everything went black, and I found myself at my front door, staring at the fake dogwood wreath Joe had gotten me for Mother’s Day. Then the door swung open, and vision Bobby was face to face with me.
“Hey, Bobby,” Vision Rose said. “I’m glad you called. Come on in. You’re safe here.”
The vision faded, and I found myself standing face to face with an irate woman, blurting out, “You’re gonna be okay.” I wrapped my hand around Neely Kate’s arm. “We’ll go.”
As soon as we walked out, Neely Kate asked, “Did you have a vision?”
“I asked if she’d be okay, and I saw myself letting her into the farmhouse.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” I continued to drag Neely Kate across the parking lot, but she stopped in her tracks. “Hey. I didn’t get my change.”
I tugged her arm, forcing her to continue walking. “I’ll buy you lunch to make up for it.”
“That’s okay,” Neely Kate said, taking a sip of her drink. “I’ll make up for it in refills.”
“That’s thirty-two ounces of diabetes in a cup,” I said. “Why on earth would you need a refill?”
“A girl can use options.”
We got into the truck, and my gaze was drawn to a car parked at the end of the strip. A man sat in the front seat, making no move to get out. “That car was here when we pulled up.”
“So?” she asked, then took a sip of her drink before putting it into the cup holder.
“So, he’s just sitting there. Doing nothing.” I turned to Neely Kate. “He’s watching her.”
She sat upright and leaned forward. “Oh my stars and garters. I think you’re right.”
I grabbed my phone out of my purse. Opening the camera app, I took a photo, then zoomed in to get a closer look at the guy.
“Do you recognize him?” I asked, snapping a couple of pictures.
“No, but you’d have a better chance of knowing him than me.”
“If he’s James’ guy, then not so much,” I said. “I hear all the old guys are gone.”
“He could be with Carmichael. If he killed Rufus for information about the safe, it stands to reason he’d go after Bobby, even if she’s more scared of Skeeter,” she said.
“I feel like we should warn her,” I said. “But she came to me in my vision. I don’t think I should mess with anything. If I go to her again, it might piss her off enough that she doesn’t come.”
“Agreed,” Neely Kate said. “Besides, that guy saw us goin’ in and comin’ out. If we go back in, it’ll draw more attention to us, and whoever sent him might put it together that it’s us. Shoot,” she said, motioning to her window. “The name of the landscaping company is on the side of the truck.”