“And if there were any doubt, you’re wearing the name on your bedazzled shirt,” I said. “But he hasn’t so much as glanced at us. Don’t you think he’d be checkin’ us out too if he thought we were involved in this?”
“I don’t know, but I do think it’s time to take this to Jed.”
“Agreed.” I started the truck, then headed toward Jed’s mechanic shop.
“You don’t want to pick up Hope first?” Neely Kate asked, sounding confused.
“Not yet. Let’s talk to Jed first.” Hope was a baby. She wouldn’t understand what we were discussing, but I was reluctant to have her around any of this mess…even if it was quickly becoming obvious this wasn’t going away any time soon.
We rode in silence for a few blocks, both lost in thought, before Neely Kate asked, “Do you think this has anything to do with Kate?”
Her question caught me by surprise. “The murder?”
“We know she was workin’ to double-cross Hardshaw,” she said. “She told me so during our road trip. And then there’s the timin’…”
Kate held Hardshaw partially to blame for the murder of her fiancé, and last summer, she’d kidnapped Neely Kate and taken her on a road trip to help her understand the workings of the group. Or so she had claimed. I’d pointed out that Kate could have just told her everything she’d shown her. Drugging Neely Kate and dragging her around Texas and Oklahoma hadn’t been necessary. It had been an attempt to Stockholm Syndrome Neely Kate into loving her. To cinch the deal, the warped sister bonding trip had culminated with Kate handing Ronnie over like a cat offering a mouse to its owner.
To be fair, we did think Kate was responsible for Hardshaw’s recent hiatus. She’d handed over some dirty money to Neely Kate—money with the fingerprints of Anthony Carson Roberts, one of the Hardshaw Three, all over them. We didn’t know what had happened with it, possibly nothing, but at least they’d backed off for a while. Or maybe they’d only made it seem like they were backing off.
“Rufus likely worked for Hardshaw,” I said. “So it’s not outside the realm of possibility. Let’s just talk to Jed, okay?”
We didn’t waste time getting out of the truck once I pulled into the parking lot of Carlisle Rivers Auto Shop. The garage doors were closed, so we headed into the office waiting room and went through the garage’s side door.
Jed was leaning over the engine of a car, but he glanced up at us, as though Neely Kate’s presence drew his attention. A smile spread across his face at the sight of her, but a frown quickly replaced it.
He walked over and kissed her, then said, “While I’m not going to complain about an opportunity to see you, I take it this isn’t a casual visit.”
“No,” I said. “We have something to tell you.”
Nodding, he glanced over at the other two men working in the adjacent bays, a nineteen-year-old boy named Marshall, and Neely Kate’s cousin Witt.
Witt looked up and did a double-take when he saw Neely Kate and me. Jed motioned for him to come over.
“Let’s discuss this in the breakroom,” Jed said, leading the way.
Once the four of us were inside, Jed shut the door. “Does this have anything to do with the murder of Malcolm’s man?”
“Partially,” Neely Kate said. “We found out that he was arrested a few years ago for cracking open a safe in Oklahoma. And he started working for Skeeter around the time of Violet’s death.”
Jed put his hands on his hips. “And how did you come by this information?”
“That part’s not relevant,” Neely Kate said. “The real question is who killed Rufus? Was it Skeeter because the guy betrayed him somehow?”
“Or was it Denny Carmichael?” I said. “Shootin’ the first volley in their war?”
Jed pushed out a long sigh.
“There’s a third option,” I said, then gave Neely Kate a pointed look.
“And what’s that?” Witt asked, his body tense.
Neely Kate slipped her phone out of her shorts pocket and swiped on the screen. “I got a text from Kate.” She handed Jed the phone.
“Psycho Kate?” Witt asked, taking a step back.
“Yeah,” Neely Kate said.
“No offense,” Witt said, “but your daddy’s side of the family makes the Rivers family reunions look tame.”
I’d been to a mini family reunion where there’d been barbecued squirrel and two cases of moonshine, which had ended with one of Neely Kate’s cousins accusing her fifty-year-old aunt of sleeping with her husband, so that was saying something. But he had a point.
Neely Kate gave him a pointed look. “Just goes to show that you can’t pick your family.”
“Just for that, I won’t walk you down the aisle at your next wedding,” Witt grumbled good-naturedly.
“There won’t be a next wedding,” Jed grunted, handing Neely Kate back her phone. “This complicates things.”
“Agreed,” I said. “We went to talk to Rufus’ girlfriend.”
“You did what?” Jed asked.
“Guess that explains why you don’t have Hope with you,” Witt said.
Jed’s eyes darkened. “Where is she?”
He was nearly as protective of her as Joe was. “She’s with Maeve at the nursery. I didn't think it was a good idea to take her with us when we talked to Bobby.”
“I presume Bobby is Rufus’ girlfriend,” Witt said.
“She works at the Stop-N-Go, and I needed gas,” I said.
“And I got a fountain drink,” Neely Kate said. “Did you know they reinstituted their bottomless cup program?”
“What were you doin’ gettin’ a fountain drink?” Witt asked. “You said you were givin’ up Coke because it’s bad for you.”
“I had a moment of weakness, okay?” Neely Kate said in a huff. “And I think we have more important things to discuss than the fact I fell off the no-Coke bandwagon in less than thirty-six hours.”
Which explained why I’d had no idea she’d given up soft drinks.
“Agreed,” Jed said in a deep voice that let us know he intended to get down to business. “Did you talk to her?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She thinks James is after her.”
“So she believes Skeeter killed her boyfriend?” he asked.
“She didn’t say. I told her I was the Lady in Black and offered her protection, but she was suspicious of my intentions.”
“Why would you offer her protection?” Jed said, giving me a dark look.
“Maybe because it’s the right thing to do, Jed Carlisle,” Neely Kate said in defiance, her hands on her hips.
“While that may be true,” Jed said, “I sincerely doubt either one of you heard about Rufus Wilson’s murder and immediately thought, ‘Hey, we should find his significant other and go offer her help.’”
“Okay,” I said. “After I heard about Rufus’ ability with safes, it made me wonder if Carmichael killed him because he wanted whatever was on my sister’s flash drive. If so, he might go after Bobby too, in case she knows.”