Jed shook his head. “I still feel like we’ve skipped a few steps between you hearing about Wilson’s murder and going to talk to his girlfriend.”
“The female mind is a mysterious thing,” Neely Kate said, her chin lifted. “You’ve said so plenty of times yourself.”
Jed opened his mouth to say something, then promptly closed it.
“Okay,” Witt said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Let’s say Carmichael killed this guy because he wanted to find out what was in the safe, and then let’s say he thinks the guy’s girlfriend knows too. What good is that going to do him? He still doesn’t have the flash drive. I think we all know who probably does.”
“We don’t know anything,” I said. “Which is why we need to talk to Bobby. Oh, and there’s one other thing.”
Jed and Witt gave me questioning looks.
“I’m pretty sure someone is watchin’ her.” I took my phone out of my purse and pulled up my photos. “Do either of you know this guy?”
Jed took the phone, scowling as he swiped the screen to go through them, then handed the phone to Witt.
“That’s a cute photo of Hope,” Witt said with a grin. “She’s gettin’ so big.”
“Those aren’t the photos you should be lookin’ at,” Jed growled. “I don’t recognize him. Did you happen to get the license plate number?”
“Sure did,” Neely Kate said, then tapped into her phone.
“Arkansas plate?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll run it and see what comes back.”
Witt handed my phone to me. “Don’t know him either.”
“He could be Skeeter’s guy,” Jed said. “I don’t know most of his new people. Maybe we should ask Dermot to put a tail on the girl.”
“Rose had a vision,” Neely Kate said. “And Bobby came to her.”
Jed’s scowl deepened. “I don’t like the sound of that.” He hesitated, then said, “But all of these theories could be wrong, especially in light of some information that came my way last night.”
“Jed Carlisle,” Neely Kate growled. “You came across important information and didn’t think to share it with me?”
“I got it after you went to bed,” he said. “And you were so beautiful when we woke up this morning, everything else became much less important.”
While there was a lot of truth behind his words, I knew some of it was bullshit. But if Neely Kate detected it, she didn’t let on.
“What did you find out?” I asked, slightly peeved he hadn’t mentioned it right off the bat.
“There’s a big drug deal goin’ down this week. A South American shipment is coming in.”
“Is James part of this?” Although he’d told me he didn’t have a hand in selling serious drugs, I’d since learned it was a lie.
“He’s the one who set it up,” Jed said in disgust. “He’s the go-between for the South American cartel and Hardshaw. It’s been in the works for months.”
“How did you get this information, Jed?” Neely Kate demanded.
“Maybe the same place you got your information about Rufus Wilson’s girlfriend,” he retorted.
I highly doubted that.
She propped her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to the side. “You’re seriously not gonna tell me?”
Witt and I both took a step back.
“You’re not tellin’ me where you got your information,” he snapped.
I didn’t want to be the cause of a major disagreement. “Actually—”
Witt cast me a glance before turning to Jed. “Did you find out about the drug deal from Rufus Wilson? If so, maybe Malcolm found out and killed him.”
“No,” Jed barked. “But it would have made things a hell of a lot easier if I had. At least we’d know why he was murdered.”
“Do you have any details about the deal?” I asked. “Time? Location?”
“No. They haven’t pinned it down yet, but my source says they’re waiting until the last minute before they name a location and a time and date.”
“Does Joe know?” I asked, barely stopping myself from asking if Mason knew too.
“No,” Jed said. “And we need to keep it that way.”
“Why?” I demanded. “They need to be stopped.”
He hesitated, then said, “Hardshaw’s coverin’ all their bases. Word has it they’ve got a foot in the door at the sheriff’s department.”
I shook my head. “No. Joe would know. He took great pains to make sure any corruption was rooted out after he took over for the previous corrupt chief deputy.”
“Rose, we both know all sorts of people have sources in the department, and rumor has it the sheriff might even be one of them. Hardshaw and Skeeter will put the hard sell on the department to keep their nose out of it or else.” He gave me a dark look. “Do you really think Joe’s gonna leave it be?”
My stomach flip-flopped. “No.”
“Hardshaw will go out of their way to make sure the sheriff’s department doesn’t intervene. Which means they’ll be sure to eliminate any chance of that happenin’. Do you catch my drift?”
I felt like I was going to be sick. “I want to have a vision.”
“Good idea,” he said, holding out his hand, palm up.
I took his hand and squeezed my eyes shut. First, I asked, When and where is the Hardshaw meeting? But all I saw was the gray haze that suggested the future was too unsettled to be seen. So I switched gears. What will happen if I tell Joe about the meeting?
The vision instantly took hold, and I found myself holding someone who was sobbing into my chest.
“It’s gonna be okay, Rose,” I said in Jed’s deep voice. “We’ll help you through this.”
Vision Rose pulled back and looked up at me with red, swollen eyes. “Joe’s dead. How can anything be okay? We never should have involved the sheriff’s department.”
The next instant, the image shifted, and I was myself again, staring up at Jed instead of the other way around. “Joe’s dead.”
Neely Kate gasped.
“What was the question?” Jed asked.
My hand began to shake, so I snatched it back. “What would happen if I told Joe about the meeting. I told you it was a mistake to involve the sheriff’s department.”
“So we agree to keep it from him?” he asked.
I nodded. Had Joe died by James’ hand like in my other visions? If I kept this from him, did that mean he’d be safe?
“If we’re not tellin’ the sheriff’s department,” Witt said, “what do we plan on doin’ with this information?”
“Nothin’,” Jed said. “We’ll let them march on in, do their deal, then leave.”
The three of us all started talking at once.
“What the hell?” Witt demanded.
“You can’t be serious?” I shouted.
“You are so not gettin’ any tonight,” Neely Kate growled.
Witt shot her a look of disgust and shuddered. “TMI, NK.”