DIRTY MONEY

NEELY KATE MYSTERY #3

DENISE GROVER SWANK

Copyright © 2019 by Denise Grover Swank

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 CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Also by Denise Grover Swank
Also by D.G. Swank
About the Author
 CHAPTER 1

A uthor’s Note: If you haven’t read Come Rain or Shine, Rose Gardner Investigations #5,
released on May 6, go back and read that now. Dirty Money will will contain major
spoilers if you haven’t read it.
If you missed the release of Come Rain or Shine be sure to sign up for the Denise Grover Swank
newsletter so you don’t miss future surprise releases.

“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOIN ’ here?” I asked my best friend, Rose Gardner, as she walked through
the front door of the RBW Landscaping office with her dog Muffy trotting next to her. “You were
supposed to stay home today.”
Rose lifted her chin and gave me a defiant look. “I spent two hours moping around—alone, mind
you—and decided I’d go crazy if I didn’t have something to do. Besides, I was comin’ to town
anyway since we have that appointment at the attorney’s office this afternoon.”
I understood why she wouldn’t want to sit around in an empty house. Her sister Violet’s funeral
had been two days ago. Carly, who’d dropped into our lives by accident and proved a godsend, was
also struggling with loss. After taking care of Violet for the past two months, she’d gone back to work
at the nursery today. She hadn’t wanted to sit around either.
“Well, just take it slow,” I said, turning to face Rose as she sat at her desk. “You’ve been through
a lot in the last week.”
Talk about an understatement. She’d found out she was pregnant, only to discover Skeeter
Malcolm, the man she loved, had betrayed her and the rest of the county by ushering the Hardshaw
Group, a crime syndicate from Dallas, into Fenton County. She’d been subpoenaed to testify before a
grand jury, which had freaked out half the criminals in the county, and then persuaded the same
criminals to join forces against Hardshaw, effectively making her not only the new queen of the
Fenton County underworld but her lover’s enemy.
Last, but not least, her sister had died in Rose’s bed.
Rose shook her head. “No. It just gave me too much time to think. Besides, now that we have the
Sonder Tech job, I need to make sure Bruce Wayne has everything he needs for the install.”
I almost argued with her, but she had a point. She’d do better to keep busy until her appointment
with Violet’s attorney in a few hours, especially since she was nervous about what she’d hear. Violet
had warned me that she’d be leaving Rose with a difficult task—I’d promised to help without having
any idea what it was about. Rose was equally clueless.
“The window’s fixed,” she said in surprise, looking at the glass to the left of the door. It has been
busted by a messenger from Denny Carmichael, a criminal worried about Rose’s grand jury testimony
the week before.
“Jed made sure it was taken care of.”
Relief filled her eyes, then guilt—likely from the fact she’d let someone else take care of it.
“Jed’s your friend, Rose. Last week was a mess. You’re not a lesser person because you accept help
from your friends.”
She gave me a tight smile. “You’re right, but I’m still learnin’ that lesson.”
I smiled back. “And knowin’ you, you’ll still be learnin’ that lesson until we’re rockin’ together in
the old folks’ home. But I’ll still be there remindin’ you it’s okay.”
Tears swam in her eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Neely Kate.”
“Good thing you don’t have to find out,” I said in a mock-smug tone. Then my worry for her took
over. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can run over to Merilee’s Diner to get you something. Or a muffin
from the Daily Grind.”
She shook her head as she booted up her computer. “I ate a couple of scrambled eggs and some
toast this morning.” She flashed me a weak smile. “Not only did I eat it all, I even kept it down.”
“That’s good,” I said in an encouraging tone. “You’re near the end of your first trimester. Soon
you probably won’t be sick at all.”
She gave me a worried glance, looking for signs that I might be upset. I’d lost my own babies at
thirteen weeks last January, and the doctors had discovered I was unlikely to ever get pregnant again.
She knew how much I wanted babies of my own and within ten minutes of finding out about her own
surprise pregnancy, she’d been more worried about my reaction than her own. That wasn’t lost on me,
and I vowed to give her all the love and support Violet would have given her and more.
Without a word, she turned to her computer, although I suspected she was doing more staring than
she was working, while I returned to the bookkeeping. I’d spent the better part of the last month at the
nursery, filling in for Violet and Carly, and while Rose had tried to keep up with the receipts and
invoices, there was still a mountain of work for me.
Things felt like they were returning to semi-normal, even if I knew they weren’t.
We’d been at work for nearly an hour when the front door dinged. I glanced up to see my brother
Joe walking in with two coffee cups from the Daily Grind.
Muffy, who had been asleep on her dog bed under Rose’s desk, hopped up and took off running
toward him, sniffing around his ankles, then jumping up on his legs.
 “Rose,” Joe said, stopping in his tracks when he saw her. “I thought you were stayin’ home
today.”
She gave him a smile that looked like it took too much effort. “You suggested that I should do
whatever made me feel better. This makes me feel better.”
Sympathy filled his eyes as he smiled back. “Then bein’ here with Neely Kate seems like the
place you should be.”
Funny, I hadn’t looked at it that way, but maybe he was right. Maybe Rose wanted to be with
people who loved her. And who she loved. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but I still
struggled to believe I was worth anyone’s love. Even hers.
But that thought was fleeting as I took a closer look at the two of them. Joe had been living with
Rose since the middle of August—an arrangement they’d settled upon because she’d needed
protection from Denny Carmichael. While Joe and Rose’s romantic relationship had ended—badly—
over a year ago, they’d settled into a comfortable friendship over the last few months, one that was
bound to become more complicated since Joe was now telling the world he was the father of Rose’s
baby. Skeeter Malcolm wanted nothing to do with her pregnancy, and the baby would be in danger if
the wrong person found out he was the daddy. In my opinion, a few too many people knew their story
to be false.
Rose’s phone rang. When she glanced at the phone, she announced, “It’s Maeve,” then proceeded
to answer.
Joe walked over to me, holding out one of the cups. “I got your current favorite.”
“Half almond milk, half soy, chai latte with a pump of mocha?”
He tried to hide his look of disgust. “Tony said that was the newest on the list.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling up at him as I took the cup. Joe couldn’t keep up with my ever-changing
drink order so he’d asked Tony and the other baristas to keep my current favorite written on a notepad
by the cash register.
He shot a glance to Rose, who was still on the phone talking about an order for an upcoming
install, and lowered his voice. “How’s she doin’?”
“I think she’s in the zombie stage of grief.” It wasn’t a shock, especially since I was sure she was
grieving Skeeter Malcolm’s betrayal as well as Violet’s death.
“Do you think she should be here?” Concern filled his eyes.
“She said she hated bein’ at the house alone, but she just seems to be starin’ at her computer
screen. Maybe I should encourage her to go over to the nursery to work for a bit. She loves workin’
with the flowers.”
He stared at her with a worried gaze. “She said Violet’s attorney is reading her will this
afternoon.”
I nodded. “I’m goin’ with her.”
Joe looked relieved. “Good. I realize Violet was a pretty simple woman, so there aren’t likely to
be any bombshells, but Rose is still hurtin’. I’m sure she can use your support.”
His statement almost made me laugh out loud. “Simple” wasn’t a word I would ever have used
for Violet Beauregard.
His smile faded. “What?”
“Let’s step outside for a moment,” I said low enough that Rose couldn’t hear me in case she was
half-listening.
Anxiety washed over his face, but he didn’t hesitate. “Sure.” He took a step back and followed
me to the front door.
Rose looked up with a questioning glance, her phone pressed to her ear.
“I have to show Joe somethin’ on my car,” I said brightly. “We’ll be right back.”
Not the best excuse, given that my boyfriend and cousin were both mechanics, not Joe, but she
wasn’t liable to question me just now. Sure enough, she nodded and returned to her call.
Joe followed me outside and we stopped on the sidewalk just outside of Rose’s view.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked, his voice full of dread.
“There’s something in Violet’s will.”
His face blanched. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“I’m not sure what’s in it, but I do know Violet had Rose take her to her attorney’s office not long
after she came home from Texas. She told Rose she was leavin’ something for her but wouldn’t tell
her anything more about it. Vi’s attorney said he was available to help Rose when the time came.”
“Things weren’t good between Vi and Mike at the end,” Joe said, mulling it over as he stared
absently down the street.
“Do you think she tried to give Rose custody of the kids?” I asked.
He made a face. “Mike took care of them while Vi was gone for months, which more than proves
he’s a fit father. I don’t see how Rose would have grounds to get custody. Surely Vi’s attorney would
have told her that.”
“Seems likely, but Violet said she was askin’ Rose to do something hard after she died. I
promised to stand by her and help.”
“Well, damn,” Joe said with a frown. “Vi always did love to stir up shit. Shouldn’t surprise me
that she’s still doin’ it from the grave.”
I hated that he was talking ill of her at all, let alone two days after we’d buried her. Months ago, I
might have agreed with him, but now… I’d gotten to know Violet over the past couple of months.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” I said. “More like two o’clock this afternoon to be exact.”
Joe shot a glance toward the office door. “Maybe I should go with you two. Technically, I might
be involved since I’m one-third owner of the nursery.”
I studied him closely. “What are you doin’, Joe?”
He looked startled by my harsh tone. “What are you talkin’ about?”
I checked to make sure no one was around to overhear us. “Do you love her? Are you wantin’ to
get back together? Is that why you offered to be the daddy to her baby?”
We hadn’t had time to talk about it, what with the funeral arrangements, but I’d been meaning to
pull him aside.
He could have gotten mad, and I was prepared to deal with his defensiveness, but a soft smile
spread across his face. “I fell in love with Rose Gardner, a sheltered woman who was burstin’ at the
seams to live her life. Now she’s…” He shook his head as though he didn’t quite believe what he was
about to say. “Now she’s queen of the Fenton County crime world and nothin’ like the woman I
loved.”
“So why in Sam Hill did you make the offer?”
“We’re still friends, and obviously I respect the hell out of her, or this would never work.” He
looked me in the eye. “I’m no good at relationships with women, but when I found out Hilary was
pregnant and I got over the initial shock, I realized that while I didn’t want to be with Hilary, I really
did want to be a dad. So when Rose told me she was pregnant and that Malcolm tried to bribe her
into gettin’ an abortion…” He paused. “I know she had a shitty childhood. When we were together,
she always said it was important to her that her children have two loving parents. So she wanted a
father for her baby and I wanted to be a dad.” He shrugged. “I’m not deluded enough to think this will
be easy, but I believe we can make it work.”
“For what it’s worth,” I said, my voice hitching, “I think you’ll be an amazin’ father. Rose’s baby
is lucky to have you.”
“Why do I hear a but in there?”
“I just feel like maybe you two should have thought this through a bit more before makin’ such a
big decision.”
Again, he could have gotten angry, but a sad look filled his eyes. “Maybe you’re right, but when I
made the offer, I partially did it because of the whole grand jury testimony. We all know that
information was bein’ leaked. What if they’d asked her who the father was? If word got out that it was
Malcolm, she might as well paint a bull’s-eye on her back.” He hesitated as though weighing his
words, then said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped in so quickly when she accepted, but it just feels
right, Neely Kate. I’m not tryin’ to hurt her and I’m not tryin’ to control her, but part of the woman I
loved is still in there, and that woman told me what she wanted in a family.” His voice softened.
“She’s definitely capable of raising that baby on her own, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what she
wants.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “And what if the real father wants to be part of this baby’s
life?”
His jaw tightened. “Do you really think he’s father material?”
“It doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t, Joe,” I said in a firm tone. “What matters is that he’s the baby’s
biological father and he has a right to stake a claim.”
“That would put Rose and the baby at risk. Especially after she’s pitted herself against him.”
 Joe only knew so much about what had happened in the Fenton County crime world. Whereas the
criminals usually pledged allegiance to a king, Rose had offered them something else. She wanted no
say in their criminal doings. Her role was to unite them so they stood a better chance at protecting the
county against Hardshaw. To that end, she’d serve as a mediator, peacekeeper, and—based on their
first official meeting the night before—babysitter. She was wrangling massive egos and stubborn
prides, not to mention a good third of the members still didn’t respect her. She’d come home with a
massive headache, and I’d told Carly to make sure she took a long warm bath to unwind.
Joe would have probably preferred not to know any of that, but he was currently living with Rose
and Carly, and he’d overheard Rose and me discussing her new role.
His mouth parted as a new thought seemed to hit him. “Do you think he’d lay claim to the baby to
hurt her?”
I gasped. I hadn’t considered that. “He tried to bribe her with twenty thousand dollars to get rid of
it and he had to know that would kill her.” I paused. “If he sees her as a threat…especially now…”
My stomach turned. “He might blackmail her into backing off by threatenin’ to sue for custody.”
Horror filled Joe’s eyes.
“We need to talk to Jed about this,” I said. “He knows Skeeter better than anyone.”
The set of his jaw told me he didn’t like the reminder of my boyfriend’s previous job as Skeeter
Malcolm’s right-hand man, but he nodded. “Good idea.”
I reached up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
“What’s that for?” he asked in confusion.
“Because you’re a good friend, Joe, and I meant what I said. Rose’s baby is lucky to have you in
his or her life.”
His face flushed, and he pulled me into a hug. “Thanks, Neely Kate. I really needed to hear that
today.” He hugged me tighter then released his hold. “How are you doin’ with Rose’s pregnancy?”
I knew why he was asking.
I leaned back to smile up at him. “I’m not gonna lie—it hurts, but Rose will let me be part of it.
And it helps that it’s Rose, you know?” I gave him a tight smile. “While this baby wasn’t planned, I
think she needs it.” I looked up at him with love. “I think you both do.”
He hugged me again before pulling away, his eyes glassy. “I need to get back to work. Let me
know how this afternoon goes. With any luck at all, Violet’s big announcement is that she gave her
third of the nursery to Mike and Rose and I will be stuck dealing with him.”
Somehow, I didn’t think we’d get off that easy.
 CHAPTER 2

R ose and I continued working until a little after noon, when I announced we needed to get
lunch at Merilee’s, just like we used to. I’d expected her to protest, but she reached for
her purse and said, “That sounds good.”
We walked across the courtyard square to the diner and were lucky enough to grab the last table
by the front window.
Rose was quiet and I knew she wasn’t feeling like herself when she picked up the laminated menu
and looked it over. It may have been a while since we’d been here, but she knew the menu by heart.
I reached over and placed my hand over hers. “I know we’re behind at the office, but after our
meeting at Mr. Gilliam’s office, how about we drive up to Magnolia and get mani/pedis?” I gave her
an ornery grin. “I don’t know about you, but my feet could be mistaken for troll feet.”
She released a short laugh. “I saw your feet just the other day, and they didn’t come anywhere
close, but I like that idea. A lot.” Tears swam in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back and
glanced down at the menu again.
The waitress came and took our order. Rose tried to get by with ordering a house salad, but I
added an order of chicken fingers and gravy to my club sandwich with fries.
We sat in a comfortable silence while we waited, Rose staring out the window, lost in thought,
while I racked my brain for a way to help her with her grief, just like she’d helped me work through
mine after I’d lost my babies and then my husband. But that experience had taught me that sometimes
the only healing salve was time. The best thing I could do was simply be with her.
The waitress brought out our food, and I was pleased when Rose picked up a chicken strip
instead of picking at her salad. But only a few bites in, I heard a voice from behind me that set my
nerves on edge.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face in public,” Dena Breene snarled.
Rose may have been distraught before, but Dena’s snide comment lit a fire in her. She dropped her
chicken strip onto the plate and looked up at Joe’s ex-girlfriend with narrowed eyes. “And why
would we be hidin’? Last I heard mournin’ family members weren’t required to walk around in black
after the funeral and hide in their houses.”
 I’d shifted in my seat to look at Dena. Her flushed cheeks proved her comment hadn’t gone down
as planned. She’d likely forgotten all about Violet in her haste to shame Rose about her pregnancy.
Dena quickly recovered. “You couldn’t stand the fact that he’d moved on and forgotten you, but I
still can’t believe you’d stoop to the oldest trick on the book—gettin’ pregnant to chain him to your
side.”
Rose held her gaze, without any sign of guilt or embarrassment. “He must not have forgotten me at
all if he moved into my house less than twenty-four hours after breakin’ up with you.”
Rose’s retaliation caught me by surprise, but I recognized it for what it was—she and Joe were
selling their pretend relationship with gusto.
“You’re disgustin’, Rose Gardner,” Dena said, her voice breaking. “A monster.”
“Have you no shame, Dena?” I asked in disgust of my own. “Rose buried her sister less than
forty-eight hours ago. Who’s the monster now?”
“I’ll show you,” Dena said, taking a step backward. “I’ll win Mason Deveraux over, just you see,
and he won’t take you back.”
Rose gave her an expressionless gaze. “I have no intention of trying to win Mason Deveraux back.
Not while I’m carryin’ Joe Simmons’ baby.”
Dena sputtered and was about to say something else, but I gave her my best condescending look.
“Dena, Joe broke up with you over two months ago after datin’ you for four weeks. You need to let it
go. You’re startin’ to look like a stalker.”
Her face reddened and she spun around and raced out the door.
Rose pushed out a heavy sigh, then shoved her plate away. “That went horribly.”
“She’ll get over it,” I reassured her.
“I swore I wouldn’t let anyone besmirch my baby, and I was quick to jump on her, but she wasn’t
insultin’ my baby. Not really. I was just plain ugly.”
“Rose,” I said insistently. “She’s been ugly to you time and time again, and you’ve let her get
away with it, and here she is, months later, still ventin’.” I paused. “For what it’s worth, I think you
did the right thing. You gave her the benefit of the doubt for long enough. You were far more gracious
than most people would be.” I pushed her plate back toward her. “Now eat.”
She picked up her half-eaten chicken strip and took another bite, staring at the plate like it held the
secret of life. After she’d eaten half her food, she said, “I need to go to the restroom.”
“You’re not feelin’ sick, are you?”
“No,” she said with a soft smile. “But I need to pee something fierce.”
I popped a fry in my mouth as she headed to the back, then nearly choked on it when I heard
Mason Deveraux say, “Do you mind if I take a seat for a moment?”
Was it Drag all the Villains out of the Closet Day?
“You sure as Pete better be talkin’ to someone else,” I said in a dry tone, refusing to turn around to
face him. “You’d think my reflexes would be better given the number of times people have tried to
snatch me.”
He came into view as he moved to the edge of our table, wearing a suit and tie. “I assure you this
isn’t a kidnapping attempt. I’ll only take a moment of your time.”
“Rose is in the restroom, and you don’t want to be over here when she comes out. After your stunt
last week, you need to haul your booty someplace else.” I narrowed my eyes. “And the day before her
sister died, no less.”
Contrition washed over his face. “I had no idea Violet was that ill or I would have postponed her
appearance.”
To be fair, none of us had expected her to go so quickly, but I wasn’t about to admit that. “You
knew she was dyin’,” I said. “So perhaps you should have checked.”
“You’re right,” he said, shifting his weight, “and I feel horribly. But it’s not Rose I want to speak
to you about.”
I held my breath, trying to hide my fear. Was he here about Jed? Although he’d officially left the
crime world three months ago, he’d worked for Skeeter for years. The statute of limitations was far
longer than that for some of the crimes that I was sure Jed had committed. “Then what do you want?”
“I need to speak to you about Ronnie.”
He couldn’t have caught me more by surprise if he’d announced I’d won the lottery and he was
here to hand me a ten-million-dollar check. After a couple of seconds, I pulled myself together enough
to say, “You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree. I don’t have anything to tell you about Ronnie.”
“No, Neely Kate,” he said. “I have information to give you.”
 CHAPTER 3

M y heart sputtered from the shock, but I shot a glance to the short hall that led to the
bathrooms. “I don’t want to discuss this here. Rose will be back any minute. She’s
dealin’ with enough right now without pilin’ this on the heap.”
He nodded with a grim look. “I hadn’t planned on discussing it here. I think it’s prudent that we
speak in private. Do you want to come to my office?”
I didn’t, but I would have walked across burning coals if he had information about my wayward
husband so I could serve him divorce papers. Joe and Jed excelled at finding people who didn’t want
to be found, but they had neither seen nor heard anything about him for months. “Rose and I have an
appointment at two. I’ll come around one.” I made a face. “I guess if you have time then.”
“I’ll make time,” he said, sounding like he meant it.
A war waged in my heart. Mason had been a good friend when he was with Rose, and I’d even
tried to give him the benefit of the doubt when he’d come back to Fenton County with the purpose of
cleaning out corruption…until this whole grand jury mess had exploded… A small part of me
recognized that if Rose weren’t involved I’d probably be cheering him on. The county was full of
corruption. But she was my best friend and she’d stuck with me through loads of crap. I owed her
unflinching loyalty.
Was I breaking that loyalty if I met with Mason?
She’d be the first to tell me to go, but to be careful.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll meet you then, but Rose can’t see us talking to each other now.”
He nodded. “I’m here picking up my lunch. I’ll head over to the counter now.”
When Rose emerged from the bathroom a few moments later, Mason was paying for his food at
the takeout counter. She didn’t catch sight of him until she sat back down. Her eyes widened as he
turned around with a to-go box.
“Rose,” Mason said, approaching our table as I silently cursed him. “I know things are tense
between us, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you how sorry I am about the loss of your sister. Violet
and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but she loved you fiercely and I know she’ll be missed by many,
including my mother.”
 Rose’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.”
He looked almost wistful as he studied her, and I couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking.
Did he wish he’d handled things differently so the baby she was carrying was his? Or was he just sad
that things had gotten to this point between them? Whatever he was thinking, he abruptly turned and
walked out of the restaurant.
Rose was silent again, staring at her plate while lost in thought, and I wondered what she needed
from me. Did she need me to rake Mason over the coals for daring to speak to her? It would have
helped if I knew how I felt about it myself.
She reached for her wallet. “I want to get back to the office before we encounter any more
surprises.” Pulling out some cash, she set it on the table, then looked me square in the eye. “Would I
be a terrible friend if I leave and let you settle the bill?”
“No, Rose,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “You go. I’ll deal with this.” I slid the money
back to her. “I’ve got lunch today. My treat. Use this to buy something for the baby.”
Surprise filled her eyes, followed by joy. “Okay, but only if you’ll come with me.”
“I like that idea,” I said, with a smile. “You head back, and I’ll be along in a short bit. I have
some errands to run around the square.”
I was prepared for her to ask questions, but she simply nodded and then left.
I took a few moments to pull myself together. Did Mason really have information about Ronnie or
was he tricking me to his office in an attempt to get information out of me? I considered calling Jed,
but I suspected he’d tell me not to go. I definitely couldn’t take him with me. While Jed and I were
becoming bolder about being seen together, if Mason knew I was living with Skeeter Malcolm’s
former right-hand man, he’d grill me mercilessly. No, I had to do this alone.
I paid the bill then left the café, wondering how to fill the next fifteen minutes before my
appointment with Mason. It struck me that he’d just picked up his lunch. I’d bet my favorite knock-off
Kate Spade wallet that he had time to meet with me. Rather than wait, I decided to march right on in
and get the upper hand.
Once I got through the courthouse security, I realized I didn’t know where to find Mason’s new
office. He was here in the capacity of his new role as the state special prosecutor, not the Fenton
County assistant DA, but I headed to the second floor anyway. The staff in Mason’s old office would
likely know where to find him.
After a long ride on the notoriously slow elevators, I walked into the DA’s office and stopped at
Mason’s old receptionist’s desk. She’d been his personal assistant back in the day, so I figured she
was my best bet. “I’m lookin’ for Mason.”
“Mr. Deveraux is eating his lunch,” she said with plenty of attitude. “And I don’t recall you havin’
an appointment.”
So she remembered me from the few times I’d stopped by to see Mason when he was with Rose,
and apparently those memories weren’t warm and fuzzy. Still, she’d all but confirmed she was
working for him again.
“He knows I’m comin’,” I said. “Just tell him I’m here early and let him decide if he wants to see
me.”
Reluctantly, she picked up her phone and placed a call. After a short exchange, she hung up and
said, “You can go on back.”
“I’m not sure which office.”
Her mouth pursed. “Three doors down on the right.”
Sure enough, Mason was sitting at a desk, eating a sandwich while absorbed in something on his
computer screen. He glanced up when he saw me and put the sandwich down. “I thought you were
coming at one.”
“I was free now, so…”
He gave me a weak smile as he stood. “Why don’t you close the door? We don’t want people
overhearing our conversation.”
I did as he asked, worried when he picked up a folder and walked around the edge of the desk.
What was in that folder?
He gestured to a round table with four chairs. “Why don’t we sit at the table?”
My hand shook as I reached for the closest chair, but Mason pulled it out for me, giving me a
sympathetic look as we both sat down. My eyes were on that folder as he set it on the table, crossing
his forearm on top of it.
“Before I show you this,” he said, “I need you to promise me something.”
My brow shot up. “After what you did to Rose, you expect me to give you something?” I was
starting to have second thoughts. Was I betraying Rose just by being here?
Pushing out a soft sigh, he sat back in his chair. “Do you want to discuss my situation with Rose
first, or would you rather skip to what I know about Ronnie?”
I lifted my chin in defiance. “Who says I’m gonna tell you anything about Rose?”
“Neely Kate, we seem to be getting off on the wrong foot.”
“You think?” I snapped.
He gave me a look of frustration, then a hint of a smile lifted his lips. “I’m not here to entrap you
or Rose. If anything, I’m the one who could end up in trouble, which is what the promise is about.”
My gaze landed on the folder again. Was he inadvertently resting his arm on it or was it some kind
of subliminal message?
I pierced his eyes with my own. “I’m not talkin’ about Rose, so you might as well get to what you
know about Ronnie.”
He was silent for a moment. “I’m not sure what Rose told you about her grand jury testimony and
I’m not allowed to talk about it, but it wasn’t personal, Neely Kate.”
I shot him a glare.
“Someone paid for a police department, and those rogue officers nearly killed Rose,” he said.
“Whoever did that is still out there.” He shook his head in exasperation. “Why would you not want
them put away?”
When he put it that way, it made sense, but I knew there was more to it. “You and I both know part
of it was personal. You made the whole thing stressful for both her and Violet.”
Regret filled his eyes. “Like I said, I didn’t realize Violet was so close to the end. How’s Rose
handlin’ her death?”
“How do you think?” I asked in a hateful tone.
His face softened. “If she needs anything…”
“Then Joe can handle it,” I said to shut him down.
His eyes shuttered. “Joe.”
“He is the father of her baby.”
All expression left his face.
If he really did have information about Ronnie, I wasn’t sure antagonizing him was a bright idea,
but my loyalty to Rose trumped my own need for information after all.
“So it’s true,” he said.
It wasn’t true, but I sure as Pete couldn’t let him know who the real father was. “Joe’s been living
with her since August. It’s not hard to figure out.”
Mason nodded absently, looking deep in thought, then quietly asked, “When’s she due?”
“She’s not really tellin’ people yet,” I said, the sharp edges on my voice fading. “Dena and that
nurse at the clinic forced her to tell people before she was ready, so she’s keepin’ as much to herself
as she can as she gets used to the idea.”
I expected Mason to make a snarky comment, but instead he crossed his arms over his chest and
nodded with a frown.
“Is there anything else?” I asked as I shifted in my seat. “I confess, I want to know if you really
know anything about Ronnie.”
Disappointment filled his eyes, although I wasn’t sure why. What else had he hoped to glean from
me? He reached for the folder but didn’t open it. His gaze found mine and held it. “What I’m about to
tell you is confidential and belongs to the state attorney general’s office.” When I started to say
something, he continued. “I wasn’t investigating Ronnie, but his name came up and I know you’ve
been stuck in limbo after he took off.” He hesitated and his eyes pleaded with me. “No one can know
I gave you this information, Neely Kate. Not even Rose. I could lose my job.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You know you’re not my favorite person right now, so why would
you trust me to keep your secret?”
“Because I still consider you a friend, even if I’ve been a bad one. I had a goal when I arrived
here, and it’s fair to say I’ve taken a few missteps tryin’ to reach it. I’d like to apologize about that
too.”
“A few missteps?”
 “Okay,” he admitted, “quite a few missteps, but there was a time when we all wanted the same
thing, Neely Kate. When did that change?”
“When Rose became entwined in the criminal world and she realized things weren’t so crisply
black and white. They turned a muddy gray the day she put on that hat, to save your sorry ass I might
add.”
“Not the first time,” he said, bitterness creeping into his voice. “The first time was to save her
business.”
I released a groan. “I’m not rehashin’ this with you, Mason. You’re not changin’ your mind and
neither am I. This is pointless.”
He glanced down at the folder. For a moment I thought he was about to reconsider sharing what
was inside with me before he said, “Is what I’m about to do gray? Or is it black?”
I considered trying to convince him it was okay, but I didn’t want his guilt on my conscience.
“Only you can answer that, I guess. You know I want whatever’s in that folder, and I swear on my life
I’ll never tell a soul where it came from, not even Rose, but you should have worked this out before
you invited me here.”
He turned his head to give me a soft smile. “You’re right.” He tapped the top of the folder with his
middle finger. “A man mentioned Ronnie’s name during his testimony to the grand jury on Monday.”
I gasped. “The grand jury?” I thought he’d gotten his intel from a police report. “Mason, what on
earth could happen to you if anyone finds out you’re sharin’ this with me?”
“It wouldn’t be good,” he said reluctantly, refusing to look me in the eye. “And believe me, I’ve
struggled with this decision.”
“And you decided to break the law to tell me? Why?”
He sighed, still refusing to look at me. “Maybe all the lectures from you, Rose, and my mother
have started to sink in. And you’re right,” he added. “I should have sorted this all out before I brought
you here. I thought I had. But this is harder than I expected.”
“Takin’ that first step into the murkiness of right and wrong is always the hardest,” I said softly.
He finally looked me in the eye. “I don’t plan on makin’ a habit out of this, Neely Kate.”
“I know you don’t,” I admitted. “And maybe it’s the first and last time for you, but if you decide to
do this again, for better or for worse, it’ll be easier.”
He paused at that. There was a chance he’d change his mind, and I knew it, but I needed him to be
certain before he compromised his values for my sake. “I don’t want you to look back on this and
resent me, Mason,” I said quietly. “So if you’ve changed your mind, I understand.”
His hands fisted slightly as he stared down at the folder, then he sat up straighter and met my gaze.
“I haven’t changed my mind. Just don’t tell anyone where you got the information, I can’t reiterate that
enough.”
I nodded. “I swear it.”
Pushing out a breath, he said, “Roy Julian, a known associate of the late Mick Gentry, testified on
Monday. Since Gentry’s murder by J.R. Simmons last winter, Julian has been acting on his own, but
we believe he made an alliance with another criminal of interest this summer, and no, I won’t tell you
who.” He shot me a warning glance as though challenging me to question him anyway. “During his
grand jury questioning—which included his work with Gentry—he mentioned Ronnie.”
My stomach twisted.
“Roy Julian said he met Ronnie when they were both workin’ with Mick Gentry.”
“So it’s true,” I said. “He was workin’ for Gentry.”
“Except he wasn’t workin’ just for Gentry,” Mason said. “We think Ronnie was workin’ for a
crime syndicate in Dallas.”
All the blood in my body seemed to sink to my feet, leaving me lightheaded. “The Hardshaw
Group.”
His brow lifted. “You’ve heard of them?”
I released a bitter chuckle. “Yeah.” Had my entire marriage been a sham? Had Ronnie been
watching me all along?
Five years ago, I’d killed a man who had raped and beaten me, then I buried his body along with
the bag of money he’d planned to use as payment to my old boyfriend for my “services.” In July, Jed
and I had dug up both the body and the money, and while Jed had burned and reburied the body, we’d
kept the bag of money. All ten thousand dollars of it.
Still, it made no sense. Ten thousand dollars was nothing to a group like Hardshaw, so why were
they pursuing it so hard? And if Hardshaw knew about the money, why hadn’t they made a move
sooner?
Ronnie had known I was poor, and he’d never once asked about my time in Ardmore. I’d been
grateful for his discretion back then, but now it seemed suspicious.
“We think they’ve been paving their way into Fenton County for a while now. They might have
approached Ronnie and asked him to feed them information because they caught wind that Simmons
was making a play for the county.” He paused and flipped his hand over, palm up. “But that’s merely
speculation.”
“So why did he leave town?” I asked. “Was Hardshaw upset that Gentry—their source of intel—
was dead?”
He glanced at me, concern washing over his face. “Julian thinks Hardshaw is interested in you,
which is another reason why I’m sharin’ this with you. You need to take precautions.”
“Me?”
“After Gentry died, Ronnie told Julian that he had to leave town and fast. When Julian asked him
why, Ronnie said Hardshaw was expecting information about you and he’d failed.”
“What kind of information?” I asked, hating that I sounded breathless and weak.
“The jury foreman asked Julian that very same question, but Julian said he didn’t know. The
foreman is good at his job and asked the question in several different ways, trying to get the
information out of him. I don’t think he was lying about not knowing.”
I nodded, letting his news sink in. Never in a million years had I suspected Ronnie might have ties
to Hardshaw. “Thanks,” I said, starting to get up.
Mason placed his hand on my forearm. “Neely Kate, there’s more.”
I sank back in my chair. “Okay.”
He took a deep breath, then a grim look settled on his face. “After I got back from court yesterday,
I found an envelope with information about Ronnie on my desk.”
“Did you start investigating him after Julian’s testimony?” I asked.
“No. Officially we’re not after Ronnie and there’s no reason for us to pursue him. I doubt he
knows anything of use for our main investigation.”
“So where did it come from?”
Worry filled his eyes. “I don’t know, and I have no idea how they got in. My office was locked.”
“You don’t know who left it?” I asked. I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t about to confess.
He frowned. “No. And that’s what worries me. They got into my locked office.” He gave me an
anxious glance, then flipped the cover of the folder open, revealing a blurry black and white image
printed out on a white sheet of paper. It looked like a crappy surveillance camera image yet there was
no mistaking the man front and center, even if I didn’t know the blonde his arm was wrapped around.
“Ronnie,” I gasped.
“This image is dated last week,” Mason said. “In a drugstore in Tulsa.”
I glanced up at him, shaking my head. “What’s he doin’ there?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He flipped the page, revealing a mug shot of a much younger
Ronnie. “Did you know he’d been arrested for petty theft when he was seventeen?”
“No,” I said, unable to believe what I was hearing. “Joe looked into his past and never found
anything. You said he was seventeen?”
He nodded.
“It must have happened before he moved to Henryetta for his senior year. He moved back to
Dallas after he graduated, but I never knew he was in any kind of trouble. And like I said, Joe never
found anything.”
“Ronnie was a juvenile and his records were expunged. Joe probably saw he had a clean adult
record and didn’t dig deeper.”
“Then how did you find them?”
“They arrived in this folder.” He flipped the page again to reveal what appeared to be a court
document. “But to be certain, I called a friend from law school who works in the Dallas court system.
She confirmed, unofficially of course, that it’s authentic.”
“But what does that have to do with what’s goin’ on with Ronnie now?”
“I think this explains it,” Mason said, flipping to a tabbed page. The sheet was filled with text, but
there was a yellow highlighted section.
 I leaned closer to read it: Colson was arrested with Shane Johnson, a known associate in the
Hardshaw organization.
I blinked. “Wait. Ronnie’s been with Hardshaw since he was a kid?”
“I don’t know,” Mason admitted. “Maybe. This file also came with a work history up until he
moved back to Henryetta. He worked in several garages in Dallas as a mechanic, but as far as I can
tell, none of them had ties to Hardshaw.”
“Would they?”
“Maybe,” he said. “They own several businesses and a couple of garages in the Dallas area. But
Ronnie never worked at either of the known locations, so it could be a coincidence he was arrested
with Johnson. The lack of further involvement with Hardshaw after his arrest suggests that.”
“Except he came back to Henryetta,” I said. “And then got close to me. That can’t be a
coincidence if Hardshaw wanted something from me.”
“No. I don’t think it is,” Mason said. “Who better to send after you than someone you knew?
Someone who already had connections in the community?” Even though I’d already considered the
possibility, it hurt to have someone else confirm my hunch. Despite everything, I’d wanted to believe
some small part of my marriage had been real.
“So why would he do it?” I asked. “If he wasn’t part of their world? And why wait so long?”
Another thought trickled ice down my spine. Had they known about me before Kate stirred up trouble
in Ardmore?
“I’m not sure,” Mason said. “Do you have any idea why Hardshaw would be interested in you?”
That got my attention. “Who’s askin’? Mason my friend or Mason Deveraux, the state special
prosecutor?”
His gaze landed on the folder. “That’s a fair question.”
When he hadn’t continued after a few seconds, I asked, “Are you gonna answer it?”
His face rose, his eyes searching mine. “How about I show you what else is in this folder before I
answer.”
My blood ran cold. What did he know? I nodded, trying to hide my terror.
The expression on Mason’s face confirmed he saw my fear, but he wasn’t gloating. It was worry
for a friend.
“This file has other information, which I’ve corroborated before showing you.”
“What is it?” I asked in a whisper.
He gave me a sympathetic look. “Neely Kate, Ronnie is married to someone else. Your marriage
wasn’t legal.”
I shook my head. “But his family came to the wedding. And his mother said it was the first
wedding for any of her kids. Why would she lie?”
The last time any of us had seen Ronnie in person, Joe had spotted him with a woman in New
Orleans. Maybe the same blonde from the picture. He’d been wearing a wedding band—a different
one from the one I’d given him—and the two of them had boarded a bus to Memphis. I’d thought it
was either some kind of act or she was the second wife, not me. Could I have gotten it this wrong?
“Maybe she didn’t know. But there’s a marriage license in this file.” He turned the page to another
tab, showing me a marriage license between Ronnie and Amanda Cumming, dated six months before
Ronnie came to Henryetta. Seven months before we started dating.
“That can’t be right,” I protested.
“Like I said, I had it verified. There’s no divorce on file.”
“Maybe he went to the Caribbean for one of those quickie divorces,” I said even though I didn’t
really believe it.
“Maybe,” Mason conceded, “but I don’t think so. He was married in Dallas and lived there until
he moved back to Henryetta. Did he tell you why he moved back?”
I shook my head. “No. He said he missed living in a small town and a friend from high school
gave him a lead on about a job.” I sat back in my chair. “I guess this explains the wedding ring.”
“What wedding ring?”
I quickly explained what Joe had seen.
His mouth pursed. “Which only proves he’s still married.”
“So he left town and ran off to meet his real wife in New Orleans?”
He lifted his shoulders into a half shrug. “If I had to guess, I’d say yes.”
“What does that mean? That I can get an annulment instead of a divorce?”
“You don’t even need that,” he said softly. “Your marriage license to him means nothing.”
It took a moment for his news to sink in through the mix of relief, sorrow, and betrayal swirling
through my head. “You’re sure I don’t have to chase him down to serve him the divorce papers?”
“No, and we can file bigamy charges if you’d like,” he said with hesitation in his voice.
I remembered how he’d said he wanted me to see the contents of the folder before we discussed
what he planned to do. “Why do I sense another big ol’ but in there? What does this have to do with
whether you’re my friend or not?”
He pushed the folder a few inches toward the center of the table and scooted his chair around to
face me. Softness filled his eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about something you told me at the fundraiser
in Little Rock back in August.”
Mason had followed me to that fundraiser to try and trick me into sharing Rose’s secrets. He’d
ruined the night for me—and out of fear and guilt, I’d nearly told him everything about Pearce
Manchester, the man I’d killed in Ardmore.
I tried to keep my cool. “A lot of things were said that night. You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You wanted to know if I’d turn you in if you told me about something bad you’d done in
Oklahoma.”
The blood rushed from my head, but I said, “And?”
“Did you break the law in Oklahoma, Neely Kate?” he asked quietly.
 I lifted my chin in defiance, cursing myself for telling him that, but it was too late to take it back
now. “Surely you have some old law school buddy who can check that out,” I said. “Oh, but it was in
Ardmore, and none of your high-falutin’ friends could be bothered to work in that rinky-dink town.”
His face remained unchanged, his gaze full of sympathy, which confused the snot out of me. Did he
pity me because he was about to bring my house down, just as he’d threatened to do to Rose?
“The only thing I found on you was a shoplifting charge when you were eighteen. You were trying
to steal cold medicine, and not the kind used in meth labs, so that hardly seems hardcore to me. The
judge must have felt the same way because he only gave you community service.” His voice lowered.
“Who’d you steal the medicine for, Neely Kate?”
“Who said I did it for someone?” I asked. “Maybe it was for me.”
“It wasn’t,” he said with a tender smile. “You wouldn’t steal it for yourself, but you would for
someone else who needed it. Who was it?”
What did it hurt to tell him? “Miss Zelda. The older woman who took me in when I went back
lookin’ for my momma. She was sick and her niece had stolen all her money. I didn’t have any money
myself, so I took it.”
“And who was her niece?” he asked, sounding like he already knew.
I figured he could easily find out for himself, so I told him. “Stella St. Clair.”
“The woman who was murdered in Rose’s barn.”
I nodded even though it wasn’t a question.
“What did you get mixed up in, Neely Kate?” he asked, sounding concerned.
“I can’t tell you, Mason.”
He studied me for a moment as though mulling over my answer. “I know there was a kidnapping
attempt against you in August by a Hardshaw associate. He told the sheriff’s deputies it was a case of
mistaken identity, but I don’t buy it. Are you in danger now?”
“I’m not sure,” I said honestly. “Are you gonna pursue it?” All laid out like this, I could see why
he would.
“That’s when we get to the question of whether I should treat this as your friend or as the state’s
special prosecutor,” he said softly. “Except that’s a misnomer. I’m your friend no matter what
decision we make together. So you tell me, do I let this go or do I pursue it to protect you?”
My mouth flapped open. “What?”
“You asked me if I’d turn you in for doing something bad in Oklahoma. I’d like to remind you that
most crimes have a statute of limitations and you’ve been back in Fenton County at least five years.
There are still several crimes you could be arrested for, but the worst thing I can think of is murder,
and you, Neely Kate Rivers, are no murderer. So if you killed someone and didn’t report it…let’s say
I know you had just cause, and I would hate to be the reason it got exposed. So the real question is are
you safe enough for me to let this go? Because frankly, I couldn’t live with myself if something
happened to you.”
 “Mason…”
“I don’t want to know any details, but I need to know that competent people are keeping you safe.
While I know Rose is competent, she’s too preoccupied with Violet’s death and her pregnancy to give
you her full undivided attention, so I’ll ask you again. Do you have protection?”
Tears filled my eyes as I nodded.
“Do you want me to legally open this can of worms or do you want me to stuff it back in the
cabinet?”
“You would do that?” I pushed past the lump in my throat.
“To protect you? Yes. In a heartbeat.” He paused. “I’ve done some soul searching recently. I’ve
made mistakes. It’s too late to change them, but I can try to do things differently going forward.”
I took a second to get over my shock. “We’re workin’ on figurin’ out how to get Hardshaw to back
off,” I said. “We don’t know exactly why they want me, but we think we have an idea.”
“Joe knows about this?”
I hesitated, suddenly worried this was a trap.
“I just told you about someone’s confidential grand jury testimony,” he said. “If I use this against
you or Joe, all you have to do is tell them what I told you.”
“Is that why you told me?” I asked in disbelief. “So I’d have something to use against you?”
“That was one of the reasons. The other was if I don’t pursue this, I need you to know what you’re
facing.”
“Why would you do this, Mason? After all the grief I’ve given you.”
“I brought some of that grief upon myself,” he said. “You’re a good friend to Rose, and I can
appreciate that, but you and I also used to be friends. I want to help you. No, I need to help you.”
“Joe’s helpin’. And someone else. He’s been tryin’ to find Ronnie, but this is more than either he
or Joe have come up with.”
“To be fair, I didn’t come up with it. It literally landed on my desk. And while I don’t want to
outright hand it over to you, I plan on keeping it in my own private files.”
A knock sounded at the door, startling me, but Mason frowned and glanced over his shoulder.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Deveraux,” the secretary called through the still-closed door, “you have a call on line two.”
“I’ll take it in a moment,” he said in a loud voice, his gaze back on me.
“Why are you keeping the file, Mason?” I asked in harsher tone than was probably necessary. “So
you can use it to blackmail me into something later?”
Pain filled his eyes. “It grieves me that you’d think that, but I can also understand.” He took a
breath. “No, Neely Kate. I’m keeping it in case things get too dangerous for you and you change your
mind. I’ll have the information and can use it to open an official investigation. The problem is while
I’d be doing it to protect you, I’m scared what it would dig up.”
Nothing good, that was certain. I nodded, feeling like a traitor to Rose for accepting his help.
“Thank you, Mason.”
He tugged a piece of paper out of the back of the file and handed it to me. “This is a copy of
Ronnie’s marriage license so you have proof.”
I took it, folding it in half and stuffing it into my purse.
We both got to our feet and he walked me to the door. “Be careful, Neely Kate.”
“You too, Mason. You’ve made a few more enemies since you came back.”
His eyes darkened. “I know.”
 CHAPTER 4

W hen I got back to the office, I found Rose at her desk with her head resting on her
forearm. I had a moment of panic, especially when the bell on the door didn’t rouse
her. I hurried over to her desk, relieved when I saw that she was breathing.
Muffy lay on the dog bed under Rose’s desk, looking up at me as if to say, I’ve got her covered.
I knew from past experience that she did.
Rose had been to hell and back, and I knew she had to be exhausted. I considered waking her up
and sending her home, but we had an appointment with Violet’s attorney in less than an hour. I
decided to let her sleep until it was almost time to leave. To make sure she remained undisturbed, I
locked the front door and put up the closed sign.
It wasn’t until I sat down at my desk that I let myself try to process everything Mason had told me.
My marriage had never been legal, and Ronnie had been working for Hardshaw the whole time. How
in Hades was I going to tell Jed what I knew without telling him where I’d gotten the information?
My phone began to vibrate with a call and I sucked in a breath when I saw the name on the screen
—Evil Half Sister.
Kate.
I hadn’t spoken to her in two months. She’d broken out of the psych ward two months ago, then
swept through Henryetta like a hurricane, leaving murder and mayhem in her wake. She’d proven—
yet again that she was capable of horrible, horrible things. Cold-blooded murder. Mutilation. When
she’d left, she’d done so with the insistence that she’d help protect me from the Hardshaw Group, but
Kate’s unorthodox assistance was what worried me.
Her kind of help felt a lot like hurting.
Rose was still sleeping, so I took the phone out the back door, propping it open with a brick so it
wouldn’t close behind me. “Kate.”
She laughed. “You don’t sound very happy to hear from me.”
“I would say this call was quite the coincidence considering the meeting I just took, but that’s not
givin’ you enough credit, is it?”
She laughed again. “Giving credit where it’s due. That’s an admirable trait, sis.”
 “Why’d you give that information about Ronnie to Mason?” I asked. “Why not just hand it over to
me?”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“He could have investigated Ardmore, Kate!”
“So he’s not?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“You thought he might?”
“Well…I freely admit it was a test to see what he’d do. Sounds like he passed.”
“Kate!” I protested.
“Come now, baby sis. I wouldn’t have let it get that far.”
My blood ran cold. “What does that mean?”
“I wouldn’t have let him hurt you, NK. I would have protected you.”
I was reminded that when Kate had been investigating me, she’d also been looking into Mason.
Rose and I had found evidence of her investigation in Kate’s apartment last winter. Why was she still
so interested in him? A shiver worked its way down my back. For his sake, I hope he stayed friendly.
If not, she would likely find out, and I didn’t want to contemplate what she might do to him in the
name of “protecting” me.
“Why give it to him at all?” I whisper-shouted. “Why risk it?”
“Because I had to be certain about him,” she said thoughtfully. Before I could ask her what that
meant, she took on a chipper tone. “So what did you think of your gift?”
“The information about Ronnie?” Then I asked in dismay, “Have you known all along?”
“Hell, no.” She chuckled. “I’ve been busy since we last saw each other. It was hard to get some
people to talk.”
My stomach churned. I knew what she was capable of. “What did you do, Kate?”
“Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours,” my sister drawled. “Your big sis has got your
back.”
That’s what I was afraid of. “Where are you, Kate?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll see each other soon. It’s just not time yet.” With that, she hung up. She’d
always excelled at dramatic timing.
I stared at my phone, wondering if I should call Jed, when I heard Muffy barking furiously.
I hurried back inside, kicking the brick to the side so the door would shut behind me. Rose was
jerking upright as Margi Romano yanked at the locked front door.
Could she not read the doggone closed sign?
Rose gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I fell asleep.”
“You needed it,” I said, shooting Margi a scowl, not that she seemed to notice. “If we had a cot in
here, I would have made you lay down on it.”
“I’m fine now,” she said, wiping her cheek.
“Because you took nearly an hour-long nap which you obviously needed,” I said, aggravated she
hadn’t gotten to sleep longer.
Margi was trying the door handle again, to no avail.
“Good heavens,” I said. “Can she not take a hint?”
“She’s self-admittedly not very good at reading social cues,” Rose said, getting to her feet. “She’s
probably here about the barn.”
“You just buried your sister two days ago,” I said, growing more irritated by the moment. “Her
barn project can wait.”
“Life goes on, Neely Kate.” Her voice broke, and although I knew the majority of her grief was
over Violet, I wanted to wring Skeeter Malcolm’s neck. But he’d have to stand in line behind Margi.
“I’ve got it,” I said, marching over to the door and unlocking it.
Margi stumbled as I pushed the door open.
“Took you long enough,” Margi said, brushing past me as she walked inside.
“We’re closed,” I said, not hiding my irritation.
“But you two were clearly here, and I need to talk to Rose.”
“Rose was sleeping,” I said, “which she desperately needs, and you woke her.”
“What’s she doing sleeping on the job?” Margi asked.
My brow shot up. I was about to lay into her, but Rose shot me a warning look. Turning to Margi,
she said in a tight voice, “Well now that you’re here and I’m awake, what can I do for you?”
“I’ve got two guys ready to go on your barn, but Randy reminded me that I hadn’t gotten official
permission from you yet.”
“I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” Rose said.
“Sure it is,” Margi said. “Just imagine how much your baby will love watching the horses running
around.”
Rose’s eyes bugged out. “How long are you plannin’ on keepin’ horses on my property?”
“Well…indefinitely, but not all the time,” she was quick to add. “Just when we’re full and get a
rescue horse.”
Rose made a face. “I’m still not sure. And Joe and I think it’s a bad idea for anyone to be out there
unless one of us is there.”
“So you’re lettin’ Joe dictate what goes on at your farm now?” Margi asked in a dry tone.
Ordinarily Rose would have set her straight in a nice way, but she seemed to be out of patience
today. “What Joe does or doesn’t do out at my farm is none of your concern, Margi Romano.”
Margi’s mouth dropped open, then she began to laugh. “Look at you and your newfound
backbone.”
Rose pointed to the front door. “I’ve had enough nonsense for today. I’m not discussin’ this now,
and Neely Kate and I need to leave for an appointment. So you can tell your workers they’ll have to
find something else to do, because they’re not working on my property until I say so.”
Margi looked as shocked as if Rose had just told her to paint herself blue. “But—”
 “I never said yes, Margi,” Rose said. “And I’ve got enough going on without letting you railroad
me into something I haven’t made a decision on. You’ll just have to wait.” When Margi started to
protest, Rose held up her hand. “If you continue to argue with me, I’ll give you my final answer right
here and now, and I promise that you won’t like it.”
Margi closed her mouth and turned to me.
I put my hands on my hips. “You heard her.”
Margi started laughing, then took several steps backward. “Well played, Rose. Well played.”
Without another word, she turned around and walked out of the office.
“What in the world is she talkin’ about, well played?” I asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Rose said. “This isn’t some game to me, but I’m pretty sure it is
to her.”
In some ways, Margi reminded me of Kate—she was spinning a web of her own design, hoping
we’d all stumble into it. Maybe that was why I so instantly disliked her. Or maybe it was because she
was so abrasive.
“Then just tell her no,” I said. “You don’t owe her a doggone thing.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But the rescue horses…”
Margi knew how to tug at Rose’s heartstrings, damn her. “Rose, you don’t need to worry about
this today. You’re right. Margi can wait. Do you need to go to freshen up before we head to the
attorney’s office?”
She grimaced. “Yeah. And I need to pee again. I didn’t think I was supposed to pee so much so
early.”
“It’s only gonna get worse,” I teased her. But it was the wrong thing to say, because guilt filled her
eyes.
“Neely Kate.”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “I promise.” And it was mostly true. I’d cried myself to sleep the night
she’d told me, then the next morning I’d woken up resolved to be happy for my best friend. She’d had
so much hardship lately, the last thing she needed was grief and guilt from me.
She searched my face and must have been somewhat satisfied because she gave me a warm smile
and headed to the bathroom.
I shut down my computer and grabbed my phone to send Jed a text. After my call with Kate, at
least I had a scapegoat to explain how I’d come by the information.
I got a call from Kate with some interesting information.
My phone rang seconds later.
“Is she in town?” Jed asked as soon as I answered.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“What did she say?”
“She had information about Ronnie.”
 “Go on.”
I cast a glance to the bathroom door. “I’m not sure I should get into this now. We’re about to leave
for Rose’s appointment with the attorney.”
He paused, then asked in a quiet voice, “How’s she doin’?”
My heart panged. “Honestly, not good.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. She seemed fine last night, but she was in Lady in Black mode. In
her mind, she was there to protect her baby.”
I hadn’t known what to expect from the first two meetings. Rose was trying to get an accurate
assessment of how deeply Hardshaw had infiltrated the county, both successful and non-successful
attempts, but the members spent far more time arguing than getting anything productive done. The
previous night, Rose had needed to continually call the group to order, finally declaring that every
person who wished to speak had five minutes to state their piece before another could jump in with a
rebuttal. That had lasted through two men before a multi-person argument broke out. At Rose’s order,
Jed had dragged the unruly parties out of the warehouse we were meeting in, telling them they were
welcome back next time as long as they followed the rules. She’d been fearless, and at the end of the
meeting, more men had respected her than at the meeting before.
“Yeah,” I said. “When I was upset last winter, she moved me into her farmhouse so I wouldn’t be
alone. I hate that I’m not living there now, but at least she has Carly and Joe with her in the evenings.”
“I’ve been thinkin’ about Joe,” he said, and I could hear the hesitation in his voice.
“You mean her declarin’ him to be the father?”
“That too.”
“What else?” I asked in confusion.
“I don’t think—”
Rose walked out of the restroom, forcing a smile. “Okay. Ready to go.”
“Jed, I gotta go,” I said, getting out of my chair. “Can I call you later?”
“Yeah,” Jed said. “But tell Rose we’re coming over for dinner and we want Joe to be there too.
I’ve already talked to Carly and she’s takin’ care of the food.”
“I can whip something up,” I said.
“Nah,” he said. “You’re gonna be busy with Rose. Why don’t you let Carly take care of it? I think
she needs to feel like she’s contributing something.”
Ordinarily, I’d be thrilled at the prospect of a big dinner, but this one sounded ominous. I wanted
to press him, but there wasn’t time. “Okay.”
“Love you, Neely Kate. Stay safe and keep our girl safe too.”
“Love you too, Jed. And I will.”
Rose reached for her purse in her desk drawer. “Is everything okay with Jed?”
“Yeah,” I said. “He wants us to come over for dinner tonight. He’s already arranged it with Carly,
and she insists on takin’ care of the meal.”
 “Oh,” she said with a frown. “What’s up?”
“We’re all takin’ Violet’s death pretty hard,” I said. “Jed thinks we might feel better if we’re
together.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything, obviously fighting back tears, then adjusted her purse strap on
her shoulder. “Ready to go?”
Picking up my own purse, I stood and walked over to her. “I love you, Rose,” I said, wrapping
her up in my arms, “and I know I can’t make this easier for you, but I promise the hurt will fade over
time and you’ll feel better. Until that happens, I’m here for you, just like you were there for me when
Ronnie took off after I lost my babies.”
She held onto me for several seconds before she asked in a quiet voice, “Are you talkin’ about
hurtin’ over Violet or James?”
I leaned back and wiped a tear streaming down her cheek. “Oh, honey. Both.”
Pursing her lips tight, she gave me a curt nod. “Enough wallowin’. We’ve got an appointment to
get to.”
“This isn’t wallowin’, Rose,” I protested, dropping my hold on her. “This is grievin’, and it’s
important and necessary.” When she started to speak, I said, “For both losses.”
Determination filled her eyes. “I always knew James was temporary. I wasn’t deluded enough to
believe he’d actually want to be with me forever, and he always said he didn’t want kids. His twenty-
thousand-dollar check made it crystal clear that he’s not changin’ his mind, so there’s no sense
grievin’ him. He hasn’t been part of my life for two months anyway.”
“Rose,” I said softly. “You love him and you found out he’s lyin’ to you, not to mention the way he
acted about the baby. You have every right to grieve him.”
“I’m not grievin’ that man,” she spat with a defiant look. “He chose to invite Hardshaw into this
county, and instead of joinin’ forces with everyone to keep them out, he’s makin’ a path of gold pavers
to welcome them in.”
“Rose…” I said. “Maybe he’s tryin’ to protect you in his own way.”
“No,” she said, her tone harsh. “I asked him time and again to tell me what was goin’ on, and he
chose not to tell me. Besides, if he had his way, he would personally drive me to that abortion clinic
in Little Rock. He wants this baby gone. He told me to choose—the baby or him.”
“Rose…” I’d had no idea.
“I’ve got to think about my baby now. So no. I will not be grievin’ that man. But I will grieve for
my sister and the probable loss of her kids in my life, because I have no doubt Mike will make it as
difficult as possible for me to see them.”
Was this what Violet had meant about Rose needing support to do something hard? “Then we’ll
find a good family attorney to help you get visitation rights, because those babies need you.”
But somehow I knew it would be more complicated than that.
 CHAPTER 5

M r. Gilliam was waiting for us in his office doorway when we walked into the waiting
room. The grim look on his face set me on edge. “Sorry to be seeing you under these
circumstances, Rose,” he said to her in a soothing tone, then turned his attention to me. “You must be
Neely Kate. Please come in, both of you.” He stepped back to give us space and then shut the door
behind us.
His office was lined with bookcases and dated furniture—dark woods with carvings and corbels
—that seemed to suit the older gentleman. Two large windows with heavy drapery and valances
flanked his massive desk. The computer screen set up on one side looked out of place in a scene that
could otherwise have been from a century ago.
“Why don’t you two have a seat?” he said, gesturing to the two navy blue pinstriped wingback
chairs in front of his desk.
I let Rose take a seat first, then I sat next to her, worried by the attorney’s somber countenance. I
knew he was a probate attorney, accustomed to dealing with grieving families, but he seemed far
more serious than I’d expected.
He sat in his own chair and folded his hands on the desk. “Rose, first I want to tell you how sad I
am over your sister’s passing. She told me she didn’t have long, but I’d hoped she’d have longer than
this.”
“Thank you,” Rose said with a small nod.
He hesitated, as though not sure what to say next, then opened a manila folder that sat on the desk
in front of him.
“As you likely knew, Violet made some changes to her will after she came home from Texas.” He
picked up some of the papers in front of him. “First, Violet willed your shared childhood home back
to you.”
Rose’s mouth dropped open. “She said she wanted me to manage it for the kids. She never once
said she was giving it to me.”
He cleared his throat. “We discussed several possible ways she could handle the situation, and
she ultimately decided this was the easiest way for you to manage the property, whether it be to fix it
up and sell it or rent it out as income.”
Rose shook her head as though trying to clear it. “Is there an account for me to put the proceeds in
for the kids? Does Mike have any claim to it?”
“The answer to your first question is no. It’s totally up to you what to do with the money. There’s
no stipulation that you give any of the money to the kids. Which means the answer to your second
question is that Mike has no say in it whatsoever.”
Rose stared at him wide-eyed. “Why would she do that?”
His lips pursed and he glanced down at the will. “She’s named you guardian to the children
should anything happen to Mike.”
“Well, yes,” Rose said. “She and Mike did that when they were married.”
“You’re right,” he said. “But Mike changed the guardian in his will to his parents.”
Given the way Mike had turned on her, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but there was no
denying the hurt on her face.
“Prior to their divorce,” Mr. Gilliam continued, “they had it set up so all of their assets would go
into a trust. But Violet revised her will to make you the beneficiary of nearly all of her assets—her
house, a fifty-thousand-dollar life insurance policy, and a checking and small savings account.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Rose insisted. “The money should go to her children.” She sat
back in her chair as though taking it in. “Did she leave anything to the kids?”
“A few things were mentioned—some jewelry for Ashley. A watch that had belonged to your
father for Mikey.”
“No real money?” Rose asked in shock, then she turned to face me. “Was she worried Mike
would spend it on something else? Does he have some secret booty call girlfriend that Vi was
worried would steal the kids’ money?”
I shook my head, just as confused as she was. “I haven’t heard any rumors about Mike’s love life
at all. I’m not sure he has one.” I turned to face the attorney. “Did she say why she set it up that way?”
His mouth twisted and he looked uncomfortable. “She was adamant that Mike get absolutely none
of her money. Not one penny. She felt the best way to keep him from going after it was to give
everything to you, Rose.”
“What about her share of the nursery?” Rose asked. “Did she split her portion between me and
Joe?”
He turned his attention to me. “No. She gave her share of the nursery to Neely Kate.”
“What?” I gasped.
Mr. Gilliam gave me an understanding look. “She said you’d appreciate the business more than
her children would. Her only request—and it’s not a stipulation—is that Joe give his portion to the
children if they want a share in the ownership after they graduate from high school.” He tilted his
head to the side. “But there’s no way to legally enforce that. It’s simply a request.”
“He’ll do it,” Rose said in a quiet voice. “He’d move heaven and earth for those kids.”
 Mr. Gilliam nodded with a kind expression. “Violet seemed to think he’d be agreeable as well.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Why would she do this?”
The attorney’s face softened. “She left each of you a letter she said would help explain things.”
Rose’s smile faded and tears filled her eyes. I could only imagine what she was thinking—it
would be bittersweet to read a letter from Violet.
“Violet said she wanted Rose to do something hard,” I said. “She asked me to help her through it.
Is that covered in her letters?”
He shifted in his seat as he stared down at the now-empty folder. Pulling his shoulders back, he
looked Rose in the eye. “I’m not privy to the contents of her letters, but I need to tell you that there
was—is—something else. Violet brought me a sealed envelope with the instruction that Rose should
open it upon her death. She alluded to the envelope’s importance, which is why I kept it in our safe.”
“So where’s the envelope?” I asked, dread making my stomach sink to my feet.
He sucked in a breath and licked his bottom lip, clearly not wanting to answer my question. But he
finally lifted his gaze, guilt filling his eyes. “Our office was broken into this weekend. We didn’t even
notice until late Monday afternoon, and we didn’t realize anything was missing until we went to
retrieve the envelope this afternoon.”
“Wait,” I said, holding up a hand. “Are you tellin’ us it’s gone?”
“Yes. I’m afraid so. My assistant called the police to add it to the break-in report that was filed on
Monday, and they assure me they’re working on it. I would have alerted you sooner, but nothing else
was missing. We thought it was a random break-in.”
“What was in the envelope?” Rose asked, her earlier fragility now gone. She was the strong tough
woman I usually knew her to be.
“I’m not sure,” Mr. Gilliam said, his cheeks pinkening. “She only told me it contained information
that would have ramifications on the will.”
I turned to Rose in surprise. “What in the world could it have been?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “but we both know something’s been off with Mike. And after he started
lettin’ me see the kids again, I wondered…” I knew what she was thinking. A couple of months ago,
Skeeter Malcolm had told Rose he would make sure Mike stopped giving her a hard time about
seeing the kids, and we’d both wondered how he’d make that happen. Did Mike and Skeeter Malcolm
had some kind of underhanded connection? Had Violet found out and provided evidence for Rose to
take to the sheriff after her death?
“Who investigated the break-in?” I asked, although I suspected I knew the answer.
“The Henryetta Police,” Mr. Gilliam said. “They didn’t seem all that concerned, truth be told.”
I slipped my phone out of my purse. “Of course they didn’t. I’m bringin’ in the real detectives.”
“Who are you calling?” Mr. Gilliam asked, sounding worried.
“The chief deputy sheriff.”
J OE SHOWED up about ten minutes later looking fit to be tied. He scanned Mr. Gilliam’s office, looking
for Rose. “Where is she?”
“The bathroom,” I said. “She said she needed a minute to get herself together.”
Joe turned to the distraught attorney. “I need you to tell me everything that happened. From the
beginning.”
Mr. Gilliam nodded, but his skin was dotted with perspiration and his skin was pale. He clearly
wasn’t too eager to talk to Joe.
“Maybe we should get Mr. Gilliam some water,” I said, then turned to the shaken attorney. “Why
don’t you have a seat, Mr. Gilliam, and I’ll ask your secretary to get you some?”
“I’m his personal assistant,” the woman called out from the foyer. “And I don’t get coffee.”
“I’m not askin’ you for coffee,” I hollered to her. “I’m askin’ for some water.”
“I don’t get that either.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh for heaven’s sake. I’ll get it myself.”
“There are bottles of water in the fridge in the back,” Mr. Gilliam said, laying his head down on
his desk.
“There’s no reason to be upset,” I heard Joe tell the older gentleman in a kind voice as I walked
out the office door. “You’re not in trouble here, but I need to hear everything from you, not the
Henryetta police report.”
I hurried down the hall toward the back of the building and found a small breakroom. The
refrigerator was stocked with bottles of water so I grabbed several and started to hurry back to Mr.
Gilliam’s office, worried I’d miss something important. Still, I couldn’t help but notice the back door
wasn’t some flimsy piece of particle board—it was steel and had a deadbolt.
When I got back to Mr. Gilliam’s office, the attorney’s cheek was still resting on his blotter pad,
but his color was returning to normal.
“Here you go, Mr. Gilliam,” I said, setting a bottle of water on his desk. I set the others on one of
the bookshelves and moved to the back of the room, hoping Joe wouldn’t kick me out.
The attorney sat up and reached for the bottle. “Thank you, Neely Kate.”
He unscrewed the cap and took a swig of water, then said, “I can’t believe this has happened.
Violet couldn’t stress enough the importance of the contents of that envelope. I should have checked
the safe, but I—”
He stopped talking when a man called out, “Henryetta’s finest, comin’ through.”
“Officer Ernie,” I heard Rose say from the small waiting room. “What a surprise.” Only she
didn’t sound very surprised.
“Yeah,” he said, sounding equally unhappy, not that I blamed him. Rose usually ended up causing
him all kinds of trouble, but truth be told, he usually brought it upon himself.
 Rose slipped into the room seconds before the police officer’s lanky frame filled the office
doorway. I didn’t need to ask why she looked so irritated. If Officer Ernie had taken the report, Mr.
Gilliam might as well have had a kindergartner do it.
Officer Ernie hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants. “Simmons, what’s so important I
had to give up a ham sandwich to come over here?”
Joe gave the officer a deep scowl. “Did you investigate the break-in at Mr. Gilliam’s law office
that occurred this weekend?”
“No,” Officer Ernie said with a haughty look.
Joe’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me? Then why is your name on the report?”
“Because I worked it up.”
Disgust washed over Joe’s face. “I just asked you if you investigated.”
“No,” Officer Ernie said in a slow drawl. “You asked if I’d investigated this weekend. I didn’t
work on it until Monday afternoon.”
Joe looked like he wanted to wring the man’s neck, but instead, he ran a hand over his head.
“That’s not—” He dropped his hand and pushed out a sigh, likely realizing it was pointless to argue
with him. “What did you find in your investigation?”
“It looked like the back door had been pried open.”
Joe waited a couple of seconds, then tilted his head forward. “Anything else?”
“Nope.”
“Did you conduct an actual investigation, Officer?” Joe asked in a stern tone.
Officer Ernie shrugged, his lips pursed. “I took a look around. The computers and the TV were all
still here so I wrote up a report and we decided it was just some kids goofin’ around.”
“Did you dust for prints?” Joe asked.
“Nope.”
Joe turned to the attorney behind him. “Did you get the door fixed?”
He nodded. “Yes, right away. The locksmith came out less than an hour after the officer finished.”
“And did you search your office for anything amiss?” Joe asked him.
“Yes,” Mr. Gilliam said, then took a big gulp of his water. “But like I told you earlier, I didn’t find
anything missing until today.” He looked like he was about to throw up. “I checked the safe to see if it
had been disturbed, but it was still locked up tight.” He swallowed. “I should have been more
thorough.”
“You didn’t know,” Joe said kindly. “And most thieves aren’t polite enough to close up a safe
after they break in.”
I shot a glance to Rose. The look on her face suggested that we were both thinking the same thing
—whoever took the envelope had been hoping to buy some time before it was discovered missing.
 CHAPTER 6

J oe grilled Officer Ernie for a few more minutes before he grew exasperated enough with
the incompetent officer to send him on his way. Although it was likely too late to do us
any good, he called a forensics team to check the back door for prints.
“Mr. Gilliam,” Joe said, once Officer Ernie had left the building. “Was anything else missing from
the safe?”
“No. Only the envelope,” the older man said, becoming dismayed again.
“Surely you had some idea what was in it,” Rose said. “She didn’t leave a single penny to her
children. Didn’t you question that?” She’d remained silent, letting Joe run the show, but it looked like
she was done with that. I expected Joe to become aggravated with her butting into a now-official
sheriff investigation, but he stepped to the side as she moved up next to him.
“She told me she had her reasons,” the attorney said. “And the envelope was already sealed when
she brought it to me. It’s not unusual for clients to keep private information to themselves.”
“You must have felt it,” Joe prodded. “Was it papers? Or maybe something else in it?”
“It was light,” he said. “It felt like a thumb drive.”
“A thumb drive?” Rose said. “What was on it?”
“I already told you that I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.”
“How many people know the combination to your safe?” Joe asked.
The attorney’s eyes widened in surprise. “Me. My wife.”
“What about your secretary?” Joe asked.
“Stacy?” Mr. Gilliam asked. “No.”
“So just the two of you?” Joe asked.
“Well…my brother, but he has a key to the building. He wouldn’t need to break in, and he
wouldn’t. He’s as honest as they come.”
“Does your brother work here?” Joe asked.
“Mark?” The attorney laughed. “No. He’s a postal worker.”
“Does he use the safe very often?”
“No. Never. I only told him the combination in case something should happen to me and Iona, my
wife.”
“Where is the safe?” Joe asked.
“Behind you,” Mr. Gilliam said. “Behind the painting.” His cheeks turned pink. “Cliché, I know,
but…”
Joe turned around and walked toward the landscape painting, complete with cattle and a
shepherd. “How often do you open it?”
“It varies,” the older gentleman said. “Sometimes several times in one week. Sometimes every
few weeks.”
“And when was the last time you checked the safe?” Joe asked. “The last time you saw Violet’s
envelope?”
He cringed. “A couple of weeks ago. I remember seeing it then.”
“So the envelope might not have been stolen in the break-in,” Rose said. “For all we know, it
could have been stolen a while ago and the timing could be a coincidence.”
Joe cast her a glance. “That is possible, but I’m inclined to think the envelope was stolen over the
weekend after Violet died. By someone who knew she was releasing incriminating information after
her death.” He turned to Mr. Gilliam. “Who else knew she had information about Mike?”
“I don’t know,” the attorney said. “But I was inclined to think she hadn’t told anyone.”
A dark look washed over Joe’s face. “We’ll have the team dust for prints on the safe as well.”
“Do you really think you’ll find any?” I asked.
“No,” Joe said with a frown. “I’m sure they’ll have covered their tracks, but we can hope.” He
turned back to Mr. Gilliam. “Surely Violet told you what she expected Rose to do with the thumb
drive.”
“She said Rose would know what to do with it. I think Violet left Rose all of her assets to help
her with whatever was on it, but she never admitted to it, and I did ask.”
Joe’s eyes widened as he turned to Rose. “Violet left you everything?”
“Everything except for her share of the nursery,” she said. “She left that to Neely Kate.”
“Did you know she was gonna do that?” Joe asked.
“No. Not a clue.”
He pivoted to face me. “Did you?”
I shook my head. “No. And it doesn’t feel right takin’ Ashley and Mikey’s inheritance.”
“She wanted you to have it,” Rose said. “Joe, she asked that you give your portion to the kids
when they turn eighteen, but only if they want it.”
Surprise widened his eyes, but he quickly said, “Of course. It’s theirs now as far as I’m
concerned, but it sounds like Violet was protectin’ the kids’ inheritance.” He swung back to face the
attorney with a questioning look.
“You’re right about that part,” Mr. Gilliam said. “She was adamant about keeping her money
away from Mike. She insisted it would all go to Rose with the exception of the nursery. Then she
reiterated that Rose would know what to do with the contents of the envelope.”
“Did she leave any other instructions?” Joe asked.
Rose gasped. “She might have said something in the letters.”
Mr. Gilliam looked like he just remembered them. He flipped through the papers in the folder,
removing three long, thin white envelopes. “There’s one for you too, Deputy Simmons.” He handed
each of us an envelope and the only sound in the room was tearing paper.
I removed the sheet of stationery and read the handwritten letter.
Dear Neely Kate,
I hope we had a chance to say our goodbyes before I passed. I’ve grown very attached to you
over the past few months.
As you might have guessed after our many “lessons” about plants and flowers, I was preparing
you to take over my ownership of the nursery. If you’re feeling guilty about taking the kids’
portion, please don’t. I’ve asked Joe to give them his share when they’re old enough to own it
outright. Joe’s an honorable man and he loves my kids, so I know he’ll agree. Trust me on all of
this. It’s the best way to handle my money for now.
Rose will need your support when she discovers what’s on the zip drive, especially if her secret
lover is who I suspect he is. The fallout from this will be far-reaching, but I’m sure Rose can
handle it. Nevertheless, I would feel better knowing you had her back.
We shared our sisterhood with her—me of blood and you of heart—and I’m trusting you to step
fully into my shoes now. I couldn’t have picked anyone better to be a sister to her.
Have a beautiful life, Neely Kate.
Violet
By the time I finished, tears were streaming down my face, the letter picking off the fresh scab of
grief over Vi’s death. If I was hurting, I could only imagine how Rose felt. She was sitting in the chair,
reading the paper with a trembling hand.
Joe had finished his letter too, and he shot me a grim look, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “Any
clues?”
“Maybe.” I sure didn’t want to say all of it out loud in front of Mr. Gilliam. He seemed kind and
mostly clueless, but there were some secrets too important to risk revealing.
I was sure Joe understood my hesitancy, because he reached for the letter.
I was leery about him reading Violet’s reference to Rose’s secret lover, but I gave it to him
anyway. He already knew Skeeter Malcolm was the father of Rose’s baby, so the cat had already run
right on out of the bag.
He quickly scanned it, his frown deepening. His gaze lifted to mine, as though searching to see if I
had any prior knowledge of any of this. He must have been satisfied with what he saw, because he
turned to Rose, his brow lifted.
“We need to discuss all of this later,” she said, slipping her own note into her purse.
 He nodded, then turned to Mr. Gilliam. “We’re gonna need to perform a sweep of your entire
office.”

THE FORENSICS TEAM showed up moments later and Joe made us all leave.
“Do you still want to go get those mani/pedis?” I asked Rose once we got into my car. “It might
help take your mind off everything.”
“No,” she said, staring out the windshield. “I think I want to go home and take a nap.”
I studied her for a moment, worried about how distant she seemed. “Do you want me to come with
you?”
“No,” she said. “I think I want to be alone.”
“Do you want to try to figure out what Violet had on the flash drive?”
“Yes, but not right now,” she said, leaning her head against the back of the seat. “I just need a few
hours to be alone.”
“What was in your letter, Rose?” I asked, my concern growing.
She released a small chuckle and turned her head to face me. “Not much. Some sister stuff. She
also said I’d understand why she left me everything except for the nursery after I saw the contents of
the envelope.” Her eyes darkened. “Only I don’t know what was in the envelope, and somehow I
doubt I ever will.”
“Maybe Mike stole it,” I said. “We can go question him and see what he knows.”
“I considered that,” she said, staring out the windshield again. “Trust me, I mulled it over. But
ultimately, I don’t see how Mike could break into a safe. He just doesn’t have those kinds of skills. So
the question is who knew Violet had something in her attorney’s safe?”
“Maybe we should question Mike anyway,” I said. “We need to find out what she had on him.”
She closed her eyes again. “Agreed, but he’s not going to tell me anything. I think the best thing I
can do right now is take a nap.”
“When’s your next meeting with the underworld?”
“You’re suggesting I ask a barn full of hardened criminals if they stole an envelope from my
sister’s attorney’s safe?”
“You are the queen,” I said. “No reason you shouldn’t take advantage of that.”
She nodded. “We’re having a meetin’ next Thursday night on Dermot’s land.”
Dark circles underscored her eyes, and my heart went out to her. This was one shock too many.
“I’m gonna run you home.”
She shook her head. “No. Take me back to the office, and I’ll pick up Muffy and bring her home
with me.”
“I can pick her up and take you both.”
 “I’m perfectly capable of driving home,” she said with a small laugh. “Just drop me off at the
office and I’ll be fine.”
“I’m worried about you, Rose,” I said softly.
Her forced smile faded. “I know, and I appreciate it.” She turned to me. “I’m just out of sorts. I’ll
be fine in a few hours.”
“Rose, you’re allowed to be out of sorts. You’ve been to hell and back.” I grabbed her hand and
squeezed. “Maybe we should go away somewhere. Like when we went to New Orleans.”
It wasn’t a good time to leave town. Not with the news Mason had given me, and definitely not in
light of Kate’s reemergence, but if Rose wanted to get away, I’d go with her. That’s what friends were
for.
She laughed. “We got into a heap of trouble in New Orleans.”
“I think us gettin’ into trouble is a given,” I teased. “We’ve never let that stop us before.”
She laughed again. “True enough. Still, I just want to go home.”
“Okay,” I said. “But if you change your mind, just say the word and we can go somewhere fun.
Maybe up to a spa in Hot Springs.”
“You spoil me,” she said, sinking deeper into her seat.
“That’s the idea.” But this hurt was too deep to fix with a spa day.
 CHAPTER 7

W hen I dropped Rose off at the office, I stuck around to make sure she got Muffy and
took off okay. I considered following her anyway, but I really needed to see Jed.
His head was buried in an engine when I showed up at the garage he owned with my cousin Witt,
and I couldn’t help taking note of the way his butt filled out his jeans. Jed Carlisle was a good-
looking man and I very much enjoyed the view.
As though he knew I was watching, he stood and turned to face me, worry in his eyes.
“Hey, NK,” Witt called out. “What are you doin’ here?”
“I needed to talk to my boyfriend. Jed, got a minute?”
Jed grabbed a rag from under the hood and started wiping the grease from his hands. “For you?
Always.”
Warmth washed through me. I was sure I’d never get used to how Jed made me feel—loved and
cherished, as though I was the most important person in his world.
He walked toward me and leaned down and gave me a lingering kiss. When he lifted his head, he
searched my eyes. “You okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
He nodded, then motioned to the picnic table under the big oak tree on the other side of the
parking lot. We headed over there. He sat on top of the table and gestured for me to sit next to him.
“What did Kate say?” he said without preamble.
“There’s something else I need to tell you about first.”
“Okay…”
I proceeded to tell him everything that had happened at the attorney’s office. He listened,
occasionally asking for clarification, then I pulled out the letter and handed it to him to read.
He pushed out a breath as he finished.
“Any thoughts on what was on the flash drive or who took it?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing beyond what you’ve already thought about.”
“Do you know if Mike is tied up in Skeeter’s business?”
“Not that I know of,” he said. “But it turns out there was plenty I didn’t know about.”
 I rested my hand on his arm, the pain in his voice twisting my insides. “I’m sorry, Jed.”
He leaned closer and pressed his lips against mine. “I love you, Neely Kate.”
“I love you too,” I said. “And I think you might like the next thing I have to tell you.”
“Kate’s phone call?” he asked in surprise.
I dug out the copy of Ronnie’s marriage certificate and handed it to Jed.
He took the document and opened it, his eyes narrowing when he realized what he was reading.
His gaze lifted to mine. “Kate sent you this?”
I wasn’t ratting out Mason, as guilty as I felt about not sharing the entire truth with Jed. “Kate dug
it up.” Truth.
He frowned, examining the document again. “His marriage was pretty short. He was only married
a month before he moved back to Fenton County.”
“Actually, his marriage has lasted longer than you think,” I said. “He never got a divorce.”
His face jerked up. “What? Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Kate’s sure of it and I can’t imagine her lying over something like this.”
Shock filled his eyes. “Your marriage is null and void?”
I nodded.
He lifted me up and whirled me around before kissing me with fierce possession. When he pulled
back, he was grinning. “You’re free.”
“I’m free,” I whispered. Then I remembered I wasn’t done. “There’s more, Jed.”
His smile fell. “With Kate, there always is.”
“She did some digging.” I told him about Ronnie’s arrest record and how he’d been arrested with
a known Hardshaw associate. “Kate says Ronnie was working for Hardshaw when he came back to
town. He was their plant with Mick Gentry,” I said. “He took off because he wasn’t doing a good
enough job on his other assignment—reporting about me to Hardshaw.”
Jed was silent for a moment. “Ronnie moved back to Fenton County long before Kate started
diggin’ up information on you in Ardmore. How did they already know about you?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “That’s part of what has me tied into knots.”
“So Ronnie came to town for Hardshaw.” His lips pressed together as he reasoned things out.
“What I don’t understand is why he went through the show of getting married. Why not just keep datin’
you if he was sent here for you?”
Shame washed through me and my face flamed. “I pressured him into it.”
His gaze held mine. “Did you threaten to break up if he wouldn’t marry you?” he asked, already
knowing the answer. We’d gone over my relationship with Ronnie with a fine-toothed comb searching
for clues about why he’d left or where he might have gone.
“No. But I really wanted to get married.” I hung my head in shame.
He placed his fingers under my chin and gently lifted my face so he could search my eyes. “You
wanted someone to love you, Neely Kate. There’s no shame in that.”
 We’d had this conversation before too. “I was so stupid.”
A smile cracked his lips. “No. You just needed to be with a fool so you could appreciate me all
the more.”
I laughed at that, amazed yet again that this man could chase my shame away so easily. “I love
you, Jed.”
“I love you too.” His eyes burned with intensity, and while I’d constantly questioned whether
Ronnie had loved me—with good reason, it turned out—I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jed
loved me with everything in him.
“If Ronnie was tryin’ to find out information about me for Hardshaw,” I said, returning to the
subject at hand, “then why did he never once ask about my time in Oklahoma or even hint that he was
lookin’ for the money?”
“I don’t know,” Jed said. “And that worries me. I wish to God we could find him.”
“He was in Tulsa last week,” I said. “Kate saw him on surveillance footage in a pharmacy there.
With his…wife.” The word felt foreign since it wasn’t describing me.
“Neely Kate,” Jed said in a soothing tone. “How are you feelin’ about all of that?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Part of me is happy that I’m free of him, but at the same time, I’m not.
There’s still a lot of questions.”
“Agreed.”
“Maybe we should look at the money again,” I said.
“You think it changed since the last time we examined it?” he said with a hint of amusement.
“No, but I feel like we should be doin’ something. I don’t like bein’ a sittin’ duck.”
He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I should have seen what Skeeter was doin’. Hardshaw’s been systematically weaselin’ their way
into the county and I never caught on. Not once.”
“Do you really think he’s been workin’ with them for three years?” I asked, still confused over
that. It implied a shocking kind of premeditation.
“I didn’t know much about it, in fact, none of our guys did, but he’d been buyin’ prescriptions
from Dr. Arnold for three years. The pharmacy filled ’em and Skeeter sent them to a buyer in Dallas.”
“Didn’t you wonder what he was up to?”
“Of course, especially since he was pullin’ back on illegal activities and focusin’ on legal ones.
But even so, he never took his eyes off the prize.”
“And what was that?” I asked.
“Bein’ the king of Fenton County. He wanted it bad enough he considered startin’ his own war
against Crocker, but I convinced him to hold out for Crocker to fall on his own.”
“Are you sure he’s been workin’ with Hardshaw? I just…” I hardly knew Skeeter Malcolm, but
Rose had been exposed to a side of him most people never saw and the news had sent her reeling. I
couldn’t help wondering if we were all speculating without any confirmed proof.
Jed’s eyes hardened. “Neely Kate, it all makes sense now. He always said if it came to a war
with Crocker, he had backup he could pull in, but I never once suspected he’d been negotiatin’ with
someone bigger.”
“Still…”
Jed gave a slow shake of his head and said in a defeated tone, “Neely Kate. I don’t want to
believe it either, but he’s workin’ with them.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his, burying my face into him.
His arms engulfed me in an embrace, although he tried to keep from touching me with his still-
greasy hands.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
“It’s not your fault,” he said gruffly.
“No, but I’m still sorry you’re hurtin’.”
He squeezed me tighter. “I got out, Neely Kate, but I’m scared to death I’m gonna get sucked back
in.”
I pulled back to face him with a questioning look.
“This won’t end well.”
“You mean tryin’ to keep Hardshaw out?” I asked. “Why isn’t the sheriff’s office doin’ anything
about it? Maybe we should be sharin’ some of this information with Joe.”
“We can’t tell him and you know it,” he said. “In fact, his close proximity to Rose is makin’
people nervous.”
“When you say people, you really mean criminals, I presume.”
“That’s a given,” he conceded.
I’d been afraid of that. “That’s why you want to talk to Rose and Joe tonight.”
He nodded with a grim look.
“I’m not sure how she’s gonna take that. Part of the reason she’s tellin’ people Joe’s the father is
to keep the criminals from thinkin’ it’s Skeeter’s baby.”
“That part’s a smart move. We need to push the idea that this baby is Joe’s and push it hard.”
“What if Skeeter changes his mind and claims it?” I asked.
He hesitated. “I doubt he will. For one, he’s made it very clear he doesn’t want kids.”
“But this is Rose we’re talkin’ about,” I protested. “Things are different. He cares about her.”
He hesitated. “I don’t know, Neely Kate. I’d like to say he cares about her enough to let her be,
but now that she’s practically declared war on him…” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his
thighs. “None of this is ideal.”
“Do you think we made a mistake, Jed?” I asked in a whisper. “Encouraging her to be the queen?”
“If I had to do it over again, I’d encourage her to do the same thing. As queen, she has worth, if
for no other reason than that she’s turned on Skeeter and those men see it as a feather in their cap.
They’re gonna want to keep her around. But if she looks like she has a soft spot for him…” He turned
to look at me, worry in his eyes. “All bets are off.”
 CHAPTER 8

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on the bookkeeping, then headed back to the
farm. Rose was still sleeping in the room she’d used while Violet had been ill, and Carly
had left the nursery early to start dinner.
“Need help?” I asked when I went into the kitchen to check on her.
She flashed me a warm smile. “I’m just making Spaghetti Bolognese, garlic bread, and a salad.
I’ve got the sauce and water simmering, and the bread ready to go in the oven.”
“I can put the salad together,” I volunteered.
Her smile wavered for some reason, but then she nodded. “Let’s do it together.”
“Sounds good.”
She already had the ingredients on the counter, so we worked together to wash and chop the
vegetables.
I started peeling a carrot. “How was your first day back at the nursery?”
“Good,” she said, but the knife clattered out of her hand and she had to pick it up again before
resuming her task. “Weird. I kept feeling like I was supposed to be somewhere else.” She flashed me
a sad smile. “I was supposed to be with Violet.”
I wrapped an arm around her back and leaned my head against hers. “She loved you, you know.”
She released a short laugh. “I loved her too. I had no idea I could get attached to people so
quickly, especially…”
“Someone who was dyin’?” I asked.
She hesitated. “That makes me sound terrible.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, dropping my arm and returning to the cutting board. “It’s called guardin’
your heart. And the whole reason you’re here is because your heart was broken.”
“Yeah…” She shot me a worried look. “How are you doin’ with the news of Rose’s pregnancy?”
My face burned with humiliation. She clearly knew how I’d reacted to the news that first night.
She put her knife down and turned to face me. “Don’t you be embarrassed, Neely Kate. Your
reaction was perfectly normal.”
“Rose needed me to be supportive and I abandoned her.”
 “She was surrounded by people who love her, and she was worried about you.” Her voice
lowered as she asked, “Now really. How are you doing?”
I started to tell her fine, but the sincerity in her eyes cut me short. “Some moments I’m so happy
for her I could bust. Others I feel like cryin’. Thankfully those come when I’m not with her, maybe
because I’m so worried about her. She’s just so…beaten down. I’ve never seen her like this—not
even after Joe or Mason left her last year—and it worries me.”
“Losin’ a sister is different than havin’ a man leave you,” Carly said with a distant look. “Rose
had had Violet her entire life and she’d only had those men for a few months.”
When she put it like that, it made perfect sense.
“Don’t feel ashamed when you feel bad about Rose’s pregnancy,” Carly insisted as she resumed
her chopping. “You’re entitled to those feelings, and trust me, Rose understands.”
“How do you know so much about how it feels?” I asked, narrowing my eyes to study her.
“I’ve never suffered with infertility, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said with a smile. “But my
friend Amy has been trying to get pregnant for five years. I saw how upset she was when our other
friend told us in person that she was pregnant. The more Amy tried to ignore the way she felt, the
worse it became. I could tell it was twisting her up inside, so I finally sat her down and told her I was
a vault and what she told me would never be revealed. We drank two bottles of wine and she told me
every single bit of pain and jealousy and sorrow she felt, and do you know what?” She gave me an
understanding look. “She felt better when she was done. She let all that negative stuff out, and it was
easier for her to be happy for our friend.” She paused. “I know you don’t know me very well, Neely
Kate, but I can be that person for you if you need one. Jed’s probably giving you all the support you
need, but if you ever need someone else, I’m here.”
I set my peeler on the counter and turned to study her with new eyes. “Why did you really run,
Carly?”
She froze and her face paled.
“You had friends—really good friends—yet you’re hiding here in Henryetta, Arkansas. Something
happened to make you run, and I know it’s more than finding out your fiancé tricked you. Why are you
really here?”
She stared at me with wide eyes, taking a step back.
“Don’t be scared,” I said softly. “You have to know I only want to help you.”
I heard the front door open and Jed said, “Hey, Muffy.”
Ordinarily I loved it when Jed walked into a room, but this time I cursed his bad timing as he
entered the kitchen.
He took one look at the two of us and his guard went up. “Everything okay in here?”
Carly’s hands shook as she glanced from him to me. She took another step back.
“Carly,” I pleaded. “Please let us help you.”
Her mouth opened, but one look at Jed, and she clammed right up again.
 “We know something bad happened,” Jed said in a soothing tone, obviously picking up on what
was going on. “We want to help you, but we need to know what you’re running from.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t go to the police.”
“No one said you had to,” Jed said. “I think by now you’ve figured out that we’re not dial 911
first kind of people.” He tilted his head toward her. “I can help you, Carly. But you have to let me.”
“I don’t know,” she said as a tear fell down her cheek. “I’m scared.”
“I know,” I said, taking a step closer and reaching for her hand. I took it as a good sign when she
didn’t pull away. “If anyone can help you, we can. But Jed’s right. We can’t help if we don’t know
what happened.” When she remained silent, I asked, “Did you do something you’re afraid will get you
into trouble?”
She shook her head.
“Did you see something, Carly?” Jed asked.
She turned her eyes to his and, after a few seconds of hesitation, nodded.
“It had to do with your dad, didn’t it?” he asked.
She nodded again.
“Are you afraid for your life?” Jed asked with a little more firmness than before.
She hesitated, as though unsure how to answer, then nodded.
I gave her an encouraging smile. “That wasn’t so bad, right? Just like you did with your friend
Amy, I bet it felt good to finally admit it.”
Her chin trembled. She looked close to breaking down when I heard Joe’s voice call out,
“Something smells good.”
Carly’s eyes flew wide and she whispered, “You can’t tell Joe. Swear it!”
“We won’t,” I assured her, giving her hand a squeeze.
“You’re in charge of who knows and what we do with it,” Jed assured her.
I wondered what she might have told us if Joe hadn’t come home just then.
 CHAPTER 9

I sent Carly up to check on Rose, figuring it would also give her a moment to get herself
together. She walked past Joe without a word as he entered the kitchen.
“Is Carly all right?” he asked and threw a glance over his shoulder.
“She’s upset over Violet,” I said, returning to the salad prep. “And she’s checking on Rose.”
“And how’s Rose doin’?” he asked, still looking back toward the living room.
“Honestly, Joe?” I said. “I’m not sure. She was exhausted after we left the attorney’s office, but it
was more than that. It was like she’s beaten down.”
“She just buried her sister and found out she was pregnant in a matter of days. I suppose that’s to
be expected. The missing envelope won’t have helped, not to mention she likely feels like the evil
aunt who stole her niece and nephew’s inheritance.” But he didn’t look convinced.
“Keep an eye on her,” Jed said to me. “Maybe she needs to get out of town for a few days to clear
her head.”
“I already offered to take her up to Hot Springs for a girls’ spa trip,” I said, “but she doesn’t want
to leave town.”
Joe stared at us both. “Can she leave town?” His expression was troubled, maybe even pissed.
Neither one of us said anything.
“You’ve got her mixed up in something that I suspect is diggin’ her deeper into trouble instead of
pullin’ her out of it.”
“It wasn’t our decision, Joe,” I insisted. “It was hers.”
“Made under duress,” he said sharply.
“Rose makes her own decisions,” Jed insisted. “This wasn’t my idea, but I supported it.” Joe
started to protest, but Jed held up a hand. “Hear me out.”
“Okay, but I think I’m gonna need a beer first.” Joe walked over to the fridge and grabbed a
couple of bottles of beer. He offered one to Jed, who took it with a look of surprise. They’d come a
long way, but this gesture implied a new level of comfort.
Joe sat at the table, beer in hand, and nodded to the chair across from him.
“Rose is part of this world,” Jed said as he sat, “whether any of us like it or not. That’s a fact. But
she hasn’t done anything that will come back to haunt her. It won’t surprise you to hear she’s not
interested in taking part in illegal activities. She’s in this for the good of the county, and these people
respect her neutrality. They come to her for help. She takes that very seriously.”
Joe paused. “What do you mean people come to her for help?”
“A boy came to her for help after he was shot,” I said. “People were lookin’ for him and she got
him medical care and protected him until she could clear his name.” I didn’t go out of my way to tell
him it was Marshall.
“You’re tellin’ me she gave aid to a kid with a gunshot wound? How the hell did she take care of
that?”
“She’s resourceful,” I said. “Leave it at that.” When he didn’t press for more answers, I said,
“Buck Reynolds asked her to find Scooter Malcolm to clear his name. And a woman came to her for
help just last week, asking for protection from another criminal who thought she had something he
wanted. We helped her too.”
Joe’s eyes bugged out. “We? You’re involved in this too?” He pushed out a sigh. “Of course you
are.”
“She’s makin’ a difference, Joe. Word is spreading that she can work out sticky situations to the
benefit of everyone.”
Joe pointed his finger at me. “And that right there is why I’m worried. Sometimes there are
people who don’t want things worked out. They don’t want a mediator in their midst.” He took
another sip of his beer. “If she shows any kind of authority in that world, it makes her a threat to the
people who aim to control it.”
Jed and I remained silent. We’d talked about this.
“Hardshaw’s slippin’ tentacles all over the county,” Jed finally said. “The police department, the
prescription drug ring, and I suspect they had their hand in the attempts to start a prostitution ring. It
won’t be long before they move in like a bulldozer, and they’re likely to go for the one person who
that can unite us all.”
Joe’s face reddened. “I was right. She’s in more danger than ever.”
“Maybe,” Jed admitted, “but I suspect she would have been a target for them regardless—she’s
soothed too many criminals’ egos to escape Hardshaw’s notice, and the fact she was associated with
Skeeter and now isn’t… They’ll see her as a double enemy. She’s a sitting duck, Joe. This is the only
way I know to protect her.”
“How in God’s name would they have found out?” Joe asked, getting angry.
“I suspect they have people all over the county reporting back to them.”
Joe sat up straighter. “What makes you say that?”
Jed shot a glance to me, silently communicating it was time for me to take over.
“Ronnie worked for Hardshaw,” I said.
Joe stared straight at me. “How the hell do you know that?”
 It was then that I realized my mistake. I hadn’t told Joe about anything I’d learned today. “Because
Kate called me this afternoon.”
He shot out of his chair. “What?”
“Don’t be mad, Joe,” I pleaded, looking up at him.
His gaze narrowed. “Was this before or after I saw you at the attorney’s office?”
Shame washed through me. “Before.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell me.” The pain was evident in his voice.
I bolted out of my chair and practically threw myself at him, pulling him into a hug. Liquid fear
shot through my veins when he kept his arms to his sides. “It wasn’t like that, Joe. I swear. I was more
worried about Rose and what Violet could have left her, not to mention it wasn’t the kind of thing I
wanted to talk about in public. I needed to wait until we were alone.”
“Are you in danger?” he asked, his body relaxing as his arms wrapped around me.
I rested my cheek on his chest, relief pouring through me. He wasn’t leaving me. I hadn’t turned
him away. “No. She called with information.”
“About Ronnie?”
I dropped my hold and looked up at him. “Yes.”
His jaw clenched and he sat back down. “And?”
“Before I tell you about Hardshaw, I need to tell you something else first.”
“Okay…”
I didn’t blame him for his leery tone. He knew our sister even better than I did. “Ronnie’s
married. Kate sent me his marriage license.”
His eyes widened. “So he really did marry someone else without divorcing you first?”
“Actually, it’s the reverse,” I said. “Ronnie was married when he married me.”
“What?” Rose asked from behind me. “How did you find that out?”
Cringing, I turned back to face her. I was glad she was here so I didn’t have to share the story
twice, but I would have liked to spare her my own issues right now. Then I saw the look on her face,
the same one she got when she decided to jump feet first into an investigation, and I realized she’d
much rather deal with my issues than stew in her own. I wasn’t sure that was healthy, but there would
be no dissuading her. I’d make sure Jonah talked to her soon.
“Kate,” I said, deciding it would be better if I pushed on through. “She called me this afternoon.”
Rose walked into the kitchen and sat down on the other side of Jed, but Carly hesitated in the
doorway.
“You’re welcome to come listen,” I told her. “You’re part of this too.”
She walked into the room, flashing me a grateful smile, and took a seat on the other side of Joe.
I told them all about Ronnie’s marriage certificate and the fact that there was no record of a
divorce. Rose insisted we couldn’t take Kate’s word for it, but Joe and I both thought we could trust
her information. Jed agreed—in all the times we’d visited Kate in the psych ward, she’d always told
the truth.
“So you’re not married,” Rose said.
“No.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “I don’t believe it.”
“I can’t either.” Then I added, “But there’s more.”
“Okay,” she said, looking nervous.
“Ronnie was working for Hardshaw.”
“Kate told you that?” she asked, sounding incredulous.
“Yes,” I said, “and it makes sense. When Ronnie was seventeen—before he moved to Henryetta
for the first time his senior year—he was arrested with a guy who’s associated with Hardshaw. She
thinks they coerced him into cooperating with them.”
“Was he here because of you?” Joe asked. “Or was that a coincidence?”
“I think he came here for her,” Jed answered. “It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise.”
My face burned in embarrassment.
“They may have sent him to keep an eye on her, but he cared about her,” Rose said softly, giving
me an encouraging smile. “I saw how he looked at her and how he treated her. If he was coerced into
it, it wasn’t a hardship for him.”
Thank you, I mouthed.
“I only speak the truth,” she said.
“It still doesn’t make any sense,” Joe said. “Why send Ronnie if he was married? Why send him
at all? What did they want from you? He came to town before Kate went to Ardmore.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “He never questioned me about my time in Oklahoma and he sure didn’t ask
about the money, but Kate seemed to think he left town after Gentry’s fall because Hardshaw wasn’t
happy with his level of communication about me.”
“How does Kate know any of this at all?” Carly asked, sounding embarrassed to butt in.
Jed, Joe, and I remained silent long enough that Rose became suspicious. “What are you not
telling us?”
“We think Kate had some kind of in with Hardshaw,” I said. “I think she was working with them
while she was gone those two years after her fiancé died.”
“Why would she be workin’ with Hardshaw?” Rose asked.
I shook my head. “Your guess is as good as mine, but she seemed like our best hope of findin’ out
why they were interested in me.”
“Which is why you let her go,” Rose said, putting the pieces together.
She was right. Although we’d told the authorities Kate had escaped after her murder spree, we’d
let her go. That hadn’t been the plan, but Joe and Jed had been adamant about protecting me from
Hardshaw—and Kate seemed to have the ability, and desire, to do that.
I’d relived that moment many times over, and there wasn’t a day that I didn’t question that selfish
decision. Had Kate hurt innocent people because I’d given my sister her freedom? Could I live with
the guilt if she had?
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Jed said in a firm tone. “If it means protecting Neely Kate.”
“Do you think she knows more she’s not saying?” Rose asked.
“I’m sure of it,” Joe said. “But knowing our sister, she’ll tell us in her own time and in her own
fashion.”
Since Kate tended to prefer drama, her “fashion” was exactly what had me so worried.
 CHAPTER 1 0

C arly got up and added spaghetti to the simmering pot of water on the stove, and Rose turned
to Joe. “Did the techs get any prints from Mr. Gilliam’s safe?”
“They did, but honestly, Rose, I’m not hopeful it will turn up anything.”
“So we just give up?” she asked in outrage. “My sister had something important in that safe, and
now we might not ever know what it was.”
“I’ll do everything I can, darlin’,” he said. “Mr. Gilliam didn’t have surveillance cameras, but the
insurance office next door did. I’ll go over their footage from the weekend first thing in the morning.”
“Why not tonight?” she asked.
He shot her a sad smile. “Trust me, I tried to get it tonight, but the company that runs it can’t get it
until tomorrow morning. I’ll go through it myself.”
“Thank you,” she said, looking exhausted again now that her anger had faded.
“Rose,” he said, “I’m not gonna let this fall between the cracks. I’m gonna stay on top of this. I
promise.”
She nodded.
We served dinner and the five of us tried to have a conversation that didn’t dwell on Ronnie,
Hardshaw, Violet, or the missing envelope, but failed miserably. It was clear that Jed was biding his
time until he could bring up why he’d summoned us for this dinner.
Sure enough, as soon as everyone was finished, Jed pushed his plate a few inches toward the
center of the table. “Joe,” he said, “we have to address something I don’t think you’re gonna like.” He
glanced up at Rose. “I don’t think you’re gonna like it either.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talkin’ about?”
Jed wasn’t intimidated. “Why did you invite Joe to come live with you?”
She gasped at his bluntness. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with what’s goin’ on now. Why did you have him move in?” When she
didn’t immediately answer, he said, “To protect you from Carmichael and help with Violet, right? The
fact is, Carmichael’s currently not a threat, and Violet’s...gone.”
“Jed!” I protested.
 Rose’s jaw clenched. “Why don’t you just come out and say you want him to move out?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Jed said, softening his tone. “What matters is what best protects
you, and this arrangement isn’t working anymore.”
“Because they’re worried about me,” Joe said.
Their gazes met and held, and some sort of silent understanding seemed to pass between them.
“I’ve liked knowing you were here, helping keep them safe,” Jed said, “but the truth is your presence
is making people nervous.”
“They think she’ll rat them out?”
“No, they think you won’t be content to let her do what she needs to do. And why would they?
You’re the chief deputy sheriff. Your job is to put them away.”
“Where’s he gonna go?” Rose asked, her voice rising. “He gave up his house to move in with
me.”
Joe turned to face her, his eyes full of understanding. “That’s not your concern, Rose.”
“Of course it’s my concern!” she insisted. “You’re practically homeless.”
“He can move into Vi’s old house,” I said. “You’re wantin’ to fix it up anyway, so Joe can move
in and work on it.”
“We can’t expect him to just work on it,” Rose said, her eyes pleading with me to take her side.
“What about askin’ him what he wants?”
I hated that we were adding to her pain. Surely she’d been through enough. “Oh, honey…”
Joe leaned toward her, holding her gaze. “Rose, what I want is irrelevant at the moment.”
“That’s not true,” she protested.
“It is,” Jed countered, sitting straighter and taking a no-nonsense tone, “and Joe’s wise enough to
see the big picture.”
“It’s okay, Rose,” Joe said as he got to his feet. His gaze darted around the room as though he
wasn’t sure what to do next, then he blurted out, “I need to head into town and clear my head.”
My heart broke for Joe too. He seemed to love living here, yet we were kicking him out with very
little notice. “Joe.” My voice broke.
He smiled at me, but it wobbled. “It’s okay, Neely Kate.” He bolted for the back door.
Rose jumped up. “Joe!”
He turned and offered her a sad smile. “I won’t lie—I’m not happy about this. You know I want to
be part of everything with this baby, so I need you to wrap up whatever it is you’re doin’ so I can be
here when the baby’s born.” He walked out the door, and no one moved to stop him.
Tears filled Rose’s eyes. “I can’t believe I just kicked him out. After everything he’s done for
me…and everything he’s gonna do for me.”
“You didn’t kick him out,” Jed said. “And he admitted we were right.”
“But I can’t guarantee this will all be sorted out before the baby’s born.”
“No, you can’t,” Jed said, “and we need to talk about that too.”
 Her back stiffened and a new fire filled her eyes. “Which part?”
“What kind of a role he’s gonna play in your baby’s life.”
Her chest puffed out. “That’s not up for debate. I’m namin’ Joe as the father and he’s gonna help
raise this baby.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea, Rose?” he asked.
“You were on board with this plan last week!”
“I was on board with you tellin’ people he’s the father, not bringin’ him on 110%.”
She put a hand on her hip. “It’s a good thing it’s not up you, then, isn’t it?”
“Rose,” Jed said with a sigh.
“Don’t you Rose me,” she snapped. “Joe’s gonna look like a deadbeat dad if we tell the town he’s
the daddy and then he doesn’t have a blessed thing to do with the baby.” Her eyes narrowed. “And
you know people are gonna talk. It’s a heck of a lot better than people thinkin’ Skeeter Malcolm’s the
father. If people find out, tongues won’t just be wagging in the criminal world. I’ll lose customers,
and my baby will be an outcast. Do you really want to subject your godchild to that?”
Jed’s eyes widened. “You want me to be the baby’s godfather?”
“Well, of course I want you to be the baby’s godfather,” she said as though explaining it was a
ridiculous waste of her time. “I thought that was a given since I asked you and Neely Kate to take care
of my baby if I were sent to jail.”
“Rose…”
“And let’s not forget about the fact that I want my baby to be raised by two loving parents. You
have no idea what I went through as a child, Jed. My mother…she was a bad mother. And my father
never once stopped her. He tried to steer clear of her sharp tongue, which meant abandoning Violet
and me to her temper.” Her voice broke. “James made it very clear he doesn’t want this baby.”
“He might change his mind,” Carly said, speaking up for the first time since the newest
conversation had begun. Until now, she’d been listening in silence, her mouth gaping at times. “Maybe
he had to get over the shock.”
“He tried to pay me twenty thousand dollars to abort it,” Rose said in an ice-cold tone. “And he
made arrangements in Little Rock for me to get the procedure done.”
“That is cold,” Carly conceded, “but what if he thought he was doing the right thing? You said
he’s pushed both you and Jed away. Maybe he’s still tryin’ to protect you. You yourself said you’d be
in danger if word gets out that he’s the father.”
“Yes,” she said. “I believe overall that he’s tryin’ to protect me. But I’m not a child,” she spat, her
anger rising again although I knew this time it wasn’t directed at any of us. “We should have
discussed it. We should have made a decision together, instead he tried to pull some caveman bull
crap and railroad me into doin’ what he wanted.” She shook her head, fury in her eyes. “Until now
we’ve been partners—he’s respected my opinion, my feelings. And then the time I needed his support
the most, he…”
 “But if he…” Carly started to say.
“But nothing. There is no excuse in the world that justifies how he treated me. And if that weren’t
enough,” Rose continued, fury in her eyes, “the last time I saw him, he told me I had to choose—him
or the baby. I saw that man’s face. I looked into his eyes. He meant it. Every word.”
“I’m sorry,” Carly said. her tone full of sincerity. Smart woman that she was, she left it at that.
“No need to be sorry,” Rose told her, then turned to face Jed. “Trust me, I’m not makin’ this
decision lightly.”
“No one said you were, Rose,” Jed said. “I just want—”
She shook her head, her lips pursed in disgust. “You just want me to sit on this and see which way
the wind blows.”
“There’s nothin’ wrong with waitin’ a month or four to make up your mind. Besides, you’re
perfectly capable of raisin’ this baby on your own.”
“Of course I am,” she said. “But just because I can doesn’t mean I have to. I want my baby to have
a father who loves it. Not a father who wants to get rid of it.”
“What if he uses the baby to try to hurt you?” I asked quietly, putting words to my fear.
Tears filled her eyes. “He won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” I protested.
She placed her hand on her belly. “I do. I told him I wanted nothin’ from him other than to leave us
be. He’ll abide by that.”
“How can you be sure of that?” I asked.
“Because despite everything, he loves me. If he wanted to hurt me, he already would have.”
“He already did,” Carly said softly.
Rose turned her gaze to her and gave her a soft smile. “True. So not any more than he already
has.”
I was glad she was so sure of that, because I wasn’t.
 CHAPTER 1 1

W e cleaned up the kitchen and Joe didn’t come back, instead texting to say he was
sleeping in Violet’s house. (Thankfully, he still had the key from when he’d lived next
door to Violet and helped her with the kids.) Rose nearly broke down, but her spine turned to steel
and she vowed to have her part in the crime world resolved as soon as possible.
Jed didn’t look like he believed it, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. “Do you want
me to spend the night?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You chased Joe away, tellin’ him there’s no threat. Either there is
or there isn’t, Jed Carlisle, make up your mind.”
“There’s not,” he said slowly. “But you’re used to—”
“I’m a grown woman about to have a baby of my own. I don’t need anyone to babysit me.”
“No one’s babysitting—” he started to protest.
“I’m fine.” But then her tone softened, and she glanced at Carly. “But if you’re worried about us
bein’ out here by ourselves, then I’m perfectly fine with you goin’ home with Jed and Neely Kate.”
“You can both come,” I said. “Our first house guests.”
Carly took a stand next to Rose. “I go where you go. If you stay here, then I’m here with you.”
“You’re sure?” Rose asked.
Carly smiled. “Positive.”
I nearly insisted on staying with them, but for an entirely different reason. Rose’s entire world
was imploding, and while Carly was staying with her, she wasn’t me. From a political standpoint, Jed
was right, but now that Joe wasn’t staying with them anymore, I was more worried about her than
before. “You know what sounds like fun?” I said. “A girls’ weekend. Just the three of us. We can go
shopping in Little Rock and maybe even spend the night. Or if you don’t feel up to it, Rose, we could
have a marathon binge session of Outlander. I still can’t believe neither of you have seen it yet.” But
it was only Wednesday, leaving at least two nights before I could baby her.
Rose made a face. “I’d rather just stay home, but again, if Carly…”
Carly shook her head. “I don’t want to go anywhere. Venturing out to work at the nursery is
enough for now.”
 “Then it’s settled,” I said. “We’ll hang out all weekend with our two favorite men—Ben and Jerry
—” I glanced over at Jed with a mocking grin. “Sorry, Jed.”
He laughed. “I’ve always known where I stand on that hierarchy.”
“And we’ll order pizza, watch Outlander, and do whatever we want to do all weekend.” I gave
Rose a smile. “Sound good?”
She closed the distance between us and pulled me into a hug. “I love you, Neely Kate.”
I almost suggested we have a slumber party right then, but I wondered if she needed to be alone
tonight. Maybe her self-confidence required it. “I love you too.”
I released her, wishing she’d stay home from the office tomorrow and rest, but I doubted she’d
agree to it. I suggested the next best thing. “Why don’t you go work with Bruce Wayne tomorrow? You
know he could use help on the Sonder job, and I’ll hang out at the office all day.”
She started to turn me down, then a smile lifted her lips. “I’d like that. But for now, I think I’m
going to take a warm bath—but don’t worry. Not too warm. I read about it in What to Expect While
Expecting.” She headed up the stairs.
Carly must have realized Jed and I would want to return to our conversation from earlier, because
she spun around and followed Rose, hot on her heels. “Hold up,” she said. “I have some bath salts
you can try.” She paused halfway up and cast a glance at us. “See you guys later. Thank you for
everything.”
She practically ran up the stairs.
Jed gave me a knowing look. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”
I hoped she didn’t wait too long.

I DIDN ’ T SLEEP WELL. Jed had pressed me on the way home for more information about Kate’s call,
and I felt guilty for not confessing the true source of my information, even if it had ultimately come
from her.
When I did fall asleep, I dreamed of Ronnie and Kate and the man who’d tried to kidnap me. I
dreamed of Pearce Manchester beating me and I dreamed of strangling the life out of him. And then I
dreamed of a baby crying, and no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find her.
I woke up in a cold sweat, sitting upright in bed.
Jed reached for me. “You okay?”
“Bad dream,” I murmured, still shaken by the crying baby.
“Lay back down and let me hold you.”
I glanced down at him, his face engulfed in shadows. “I’m thirsty. I’m gonna go downstairs and
get a glass of water.”
He sat upright next to me. “I’ll get it, NK.”
 “That’s okay.” I stretched up to give him a soft kiss. “I need to wake up a bit before I go back to
sleep or the dream might come back.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
“No. I just want to try to forget.” Before he could convince me to stay, something he was good at,
I slid out of bed and padded down the stairs, but not before grabbing my phone from the nightstand.
I filled a glass with water and sat at the breakfast room table. When I checked the screen on my
phone, I wasn’t surprised to see a text from my sister.
Sweet dreams, little sis. I’m coming to see you soon.
I could ignore her message and wait for her next move or take a more offensive stance.
I was feeling confrontational.
Her text had shown up on my phone around midnight and it was now four in the morning, but Kate
answered my phone call right away, sounding amazingly chipper.
“Good morning, NK. You’re up early.”
“I’m tryin’ to schedule the rest of my week,” I said. “Just giving you a call to find out when I can
expect to see you.”
She laughed. “Who said I’m comin’ this week?”
“Oh, don’t play hard to get,” I said. “We both know you miss me.”
“I do,” she said, “but I’m not quite ready to see you yet. I’m still preparin’ your gift.”
That sent a shiver of fear down my back. “It’s gotta be hard to top your last gift,” I said. I
shuddered at the memory of what Kate had done to Branson in Rose’s barn. Despite the horrible
things he’d done to me, I hadn’t asked for that. I hadn’t wanted it.
“It’s tough,” she admitted, “but I’m workin’ on it. And you’re gonna love it, I promise.” She
paused, then said, “Tell me, little sis. Do you have access to your money or does that strappin’ young
man who screws you every night have it hidden away from you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” I lied.
“Now, Neely Kate, I thought we were past all this.”
“All what?”
“The lyin’. Does he have it hidden from you or can you get to it?”
“I’m not givin’ you the money, Kate,” I said. “Why do you even want it?”
“Don’t you want to know why Hardshaw wants it?” my sister asked.
“If you know, why don’t you just tell me?”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
That was a familiar line from my sister, and I was too tired to play. “When you decide to tell me,
let me know. Will that be when you drop in for a visit?”
She laughed. “You’re wising up. The Simmons blood is strong in you.” Then she abruptly hung up.
I stared at my phone, wondering if I’d made the right move calling her, but I decided that I needed
to let her know she didn’t intimidate me, even if she did.
 Glancing up, I saw Jed watching me, stark naked.
“You got up to call Kate?” he asked without recrimination.
I stood and moved in front of him. “No. I got up because of my dream. I’ll tell it to you if you
like.”
“You don’t have to justify yourself to me,” he said.
“My dream was chock full of my fears,” I said, feeling the need to tell him anyway. “But it ended
with a cryin’ baby. I searched our whole house, but I couldn’t find her and she just kept cryin’.”
“Neely Kate.”
“I was scared that crying baby would keep me awake, so I came down to get a glass of water.
Then I saw Kate had texted me, and I didn’t want to let her get away with intimidatin’ me.” I pulled up
the text to show him.
“I believe you, NK.”
I held it in front of him anyway. “You need to read it.”
He read the message and gave me a grim look. “I guess the fact that she’s comin’ is no surprise.”
“She claims to know something about the money.”
“The money from Ardmore?”
I nodded. “I think she wants it.”
He frowned. “How are you doin’ with all of this?” he asked.
“I don’t like it,” I admitted, “and it makes me nervous, but I’m not scared of her. I think she loves
me in her own warped way, but that doesn’t mean you’re safe. Or Rose, or even Joe.”
“You’re right,” he said.
“Even more worryin’ is that she claims she’s bringin’ me a surprise.”
“I’m sure it’s nothin’ good,” he said.
Knowing Kate, that was a given.
 CHAPTER 1 2

T wo days later, I still hadn’t heard back from Kate and nothing had changed on the
Hardshaw front. Rose had held another summit, and the attendees had been more
cooperative. Not only did they respect each other’s speaking time, but they’d been more forthcoming
about what had been going on around them. Soon it came to light that the underworld had been
infiltrated by more plants and spies than anyone had realized.
Joe had hit a dead end in the break-in at the attorney’s office too. The surveillance video from
next door hadn’t shown the burglars because they’d been smart enough to block the cameras, but Joe
was hopeful they’d narrowed down a time for the break-in—early Saturday morning between one and
two a.m. He had deputies going door to door on the neighborhood street behind the two businesses to
see if anyone had seen or heard anything.
Rose had worked with Bruce Wayne at the Sonder job site on Thursday, and enjoyed it so much
she returned the next day, leaving me alone in the office on Friday afternoon. I was working on a
design when the bell on the door dinged. I looked up, expecting to see Joe bringing me a latte, but my
jaw dropped open when I recognized the woman who was dressed rather casually for a criminally
insane outlaw: jeans, a sweater, and a hoodie.
“Surprise, sis,” Kate said, her dark, shoulder-length hair swaying as she walked toward me.
I rolled my chair closer to the drawer that held my purse…and my gun. “Kate.”
“I told you I’d drop in. I figured today was good—TGIF and all. Maybe we can do Happy Hour
and get margaritas or daiquiris or whatever women do at those things.” She walked closer to me.
“You can even invite Rose.”
“Somehow I don’t think Rose will want to come,” I said.
Kate propped her butt against the edge of Rose’s desk. “I guess the whole pregnancy thing is
puttin’ a crimp on her social drinkin’, but then, Rose was never much of a drinker, was she?”
I tried to hide my fear that Kate knew about Rose’s pregnancy, but I wasn’t sure why I was
surprised. It wasn’t like the baby was a secret.
“So invite that other woman—what’s her name? Caroline?”
If I’d been scared before, now I was terrified. Nothing good would come of her knowing Carly’s
real name.
“What do you want, Kate?”
“Are you replacing me with that new girl, Neely Kate?”
“No,” I choked out. “Carly is staying with Rose. She’s Rose’s friend.” Although I wasn’t sure that
admission would do much to protect her. She’d planned to kill Rose at one point, after all.
“And you’re stayin’ with your sexy man at his new house he bought for you.” She leaned forward,
searching my left hand. “No engagement ring yet. I figured that boy would have put a ring on it
already.”
I swallowed, unsure what game she was playing right now, which meant I didn’t know the safest
way to respond. “I want to be your sister, Kate, but you can’t make me fear for everyone I care about.
There’s room for you too.”
“Isn’t that something mommies say to their kids? My heart has enough love for both of you?” She
leaned back, bracing her hands behind her on the desk. “Here’s the thing—my mother never said that.
She made it clear that Joe was the golden boy and I was the spare.” She released a bitter laugh. “The
joke’s on her since there’s nothing to rule now. Daddy dearest made damn sure of that.”
I slowly got to my feet and took a step toward her. “What do you want, Kate? Really? No games.
Wouldn’t you like to just get to the part where you tell me what this is all about? You want us to be
friends? Then let’s be friends.”
“You don’t want to be my friend,” she said with a sneer. “You’d rather be friends with Rose and
that new girl, Caroline. How about we get rid of them for good so I don’t have the competition.”
Fear raced through my blood. “Kate, I moved out of Rose’s house right after you came back. I did
that for you.” That was a truth I’d never admitted to anyone, not even Jed. I knew Kate had a
fascination over me, and jealousy was up near the top of her seven deadly sins list. It made sense to
put some distance between me and Rose, the woman Kate likely saw as her strongest competition for
my affection.
That caught her attention, and she tilted her head. “Go on.”
“I was distancing myself from her so you and I could pick up where we left off. See? I want us to
be sisters.”
Kate stood and closed the distance between us. “Don’t lie to me, sister mine.”
I shook my head, trying to keep control. Despite her inability to understand common logic, Kate
had an uncanny ability to see through deception, so it was easiest to speak in partial truths. “Do you
know how many nights I laid awake when I was a girl, prayin’ to God to give me a sister?”
“Rose tried to take that role,” she spat.
“No,” I said in a rush. “No, that was me, still searchin’ for what I needed. Then you showed up.
But you have to admit you weren’t nice to me at first. You tried to kill me, Kate. I was scared of you.”
She gave a slight nod. “I can see that.”
“That was before you did all that to help me. I didn’t trust you back then, but you have to admit
you didn’t give me much reason to.”
“But you trust me now?” She sounded suspicious, not that I was surprised. I would be suspicious
of me too.
Which meant I really had to sell this.
“I trust that you want to help me,” I said, “but I’m worried you’ll be too overzealous. I don’t want
you to hurt my friends…or Joe.”
She released a bitter laugh. “Joe.”
“Joe cares about you too,” I said. “He let you go back in August, didn’t he?”
“Only to save you,” she said in a harsh tone.
“He never would have thought to save me by infiltrating Hardshaw, and he realized you were the
only one who could pull it off. He wants us all to be together.”
“No,” she said with a slow shake of her head. “He doesn’t love me anymore. He’s replaced me
with you.” She lifted her hand to pinch a strand of my long blonde hair between her forefinger and
thumb. “Maybe I should be more threatened by your love for Joe.”
“No,” I whispered, realizing the only way to protect everyone was to prove to her that I loved her.
Was it even possible? Was it even true? To my surprise, tears filled my eyes. “All I ever wanted was
a family, Kate. A real family. A brother and a sister. Don’t take that from me, okay?”
Something in her face softened as she studied me. “Okay, NK,” she said after a moment. “I’ll
leave him be for now.”
I threw my arms around her and hugged her.
Her body stiffened at the contact and I realized I’d never hugged her before. In fact, she never
made real body contact with anyone when I was with her, Jed excluded, but the way she’d touched
him during our visits to the psych ward hadn’t been real. She’d been putting on a show.
She jerked away from me as though I had a raging case of measles. “What are you doing?”
“It’s called a hug, Kate.”
“I’m not a hugger.”
“Well, I am, so you better get used to it.”
She gave me a perplexed look, then said, “I have something I need to show you, but I need the
money.”
“Did you run out of cash?” I asked.
She snorted. “I’ve got more than enough money. I need your money. The money you earned thanks
to that castrated asshole.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“Do you want an honest answer?”
Her eyes widened and all her bravado slid right off. “Yes.”
“Call me a fool, but I meant what I said. I do think you’re tryin’ to help me. I trust that you want to
be my sister.”
She looked surprised, then her eyes narrowed. “Why do I hear a but in there?”
“I can love more than one person at a time, Kate. I can love Joe, and Jed, and Rose, and even you.
It’s not a line—it’s the God’s honest truth. But I don’t trust you with the other people I love, and it’s
gettin’ in the way of lovin’ you.”
Her face was expressionless for several seconds, and I was sure I’d played the wrong hand, but
then her lips tilted into a small smile and a mischievous glint filled her eyes. “How about I make a
deal with you to leave them alone?”
“What do you expect me to do in return?”
“We’re goin’ on a road trip.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I promised to make things right for you, but it seems like maybe it’s something we should do
together. Sister bonding.”
I studied her for a moment, sure she was about to start laughing at me for being so gullible, but she
was serious. “You’re not plannin’ on killin’ anyone else, are you?”
She pursed her lips, considering it. “I can’t guarantee I won’t.”
I scowled. “I won’t be an accessory to murder, Kate.”
“Don’t worry, little sis. My goal is to get you out of trouble, not get you into it. So what do you
say?”
I couldn’t believe I was considering this. If Jed knew, he’d want to put me into hiding rather than
Carly. “How long’s it gonna take?” I asked. “You were gone two months this time. I can’t be gone that
long.”
“I’ve been puttin’ the finishin’ touches on things. I think we can be back in a few days.” When I
hesitated, she added, “Or I can go back to my original plan to get rid of a few of your friends to make
room for me in your heart.”
I wasn’t sure if she was bluffing. After all, she wasn’t stupid—she had to know hurting anyone I
loved would destroy the chance of any kind of a relationship with me. And to my horror, some small
part of me wanted to go with her. To be the wild Neely Kate I’d been before I’d married Ronnie and
lost my babies.
“I’m not your prisoner, am I?” I asked.
“No,” she said with a serious look. “It won’t work if you are.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. She needed to know I wouldn’t run off? Or she needed me to
be a willing participant?
What did it say about me that I didn’t ask for clarification?
“I have to be able to leave Jed a note,” I said. “He’ll be worried sick if I don’t.”
“He’s never gonna let you go with me,” she said, starting to become agitated.
“Jed Carlisle doesn’t own me. He doesn’t control what I do or don’t do. Granted, he won’t be too
happy about this, but he can’t stop me.”
She narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying it.
“Think what you like, Kate, but it’s true. How soon do you want to leave?”
“Now, of course, but we’ll need your bag of money.”
“That’s a given.”
“And we’ll need your tape.”
The blood rushed from my head to my toes. “Excuse me?”
“You know what I’m talkin’ about.”
She was talking about the footage of me killing Pearce Manchester. The question was how she
knew it existed.
Branson must have told her before she killed him.
“No,” I said quietly. “You can’t have that.”
She leaned into my face and I could smell the breath mint she must have popped into her mouth
before walking in to see me. “I thought you trusted me, NK.”
“I trust Jed and he doesn’t have it either.”
She put her hands on her hips. I was pretty sure she was going to insist I get it, but she surprised
me by taking a step back. “Okay. My goal is for you to trust me enough to get it when we’re done.”
That was never going to happen, but I’d let her figure that one out on her own.
 CHAPTER 1 3

I shut down my computer and grabbed my purse. “We’re takin’ your car, I presume?”
She grinned. “Yep.”
I locked up the office, questioning my sanity as I followed her to a sporty, red two-door car. “You
own this?”
She shot me a grin. “I like to go fast.”
“Are you a good driver?”
Her smile faded. “The only accident I’ve ever been in was the one that robbed me of my baby.”
The Simmons curse. All three of us had lost our children long before they were born.
We got into the car—me in the passenger seat, her on the driver’s side—and she drove us out of
the town square.
“So Joe’s gonna be a daddy?” she asked, sounding skeptical.
Did she know the truth about Rose’s baby? “Yes.”
“Is he worried about the Simmons curse?”
I hesitated. “We haven’t discussed it, but I’m sure he is.”
“Why’d Rose kick him out?”
How much did she know? Knowing Kate…everything. But I wasn’t about to volunteer
information. “You’ll need to ask them.”
“Come on, sis. I know you know.”
“I’m not gonna tell you, Kate, so quit askin’.”
She laughed. “This is gonna be fun.”
I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t ask for any directions on the way to Jed’s house, and when she
pulled up in front of it, she turned off her car and looked up at the two-story Victorian.
I was proud of our house. Jed owned it, but he’d asked me to make it a home for both of us. It was
mine too, he said. We’d decorated the inside together, but I’d designed the landscaping myself. Right
now the front was bursting with yellow and orange chrysanthemums, and we’d stacked bales of hay
off to the side and made a scarecrow.
“You really want this domesticated bullshit, NK?”
 I turned to look at her, trying to figure out if I’d heard a bit of wistfulness in her voice. “Yeah,
Kate. I do. Didn’t you want that with your fiancé and your baby?”
She turned to look at me, her eyes hard. “Haven’t you figured out that’s not for us Simmons kids?
Hell, Joe can’t have it with Rose, not that I expected that fickle bitch to let him stick around.”
I could defend Rose, but it seemed safer to keep Kate in the dark. Then again, knowing my sister,
this was another attempt to goad me into spilling information.
“You could have had this too, Kate,” I said in a no-nonsense tone, “but you chose the path of
acting like a psycho bitch.”
She started laughing. “This trip is gonna be fun.” She opened her door and got out, which was
how I found myself following her to my front door. Although she arrived first, she had to wait for me
to fumble with my keys.
“What?” I asked as I unlocked it. “No key to the front door?”
A wry grin lit up her eyes. “No need for me to show off.”
I opened the door and she followed me inside.
“I’m surprised,” she said, looking around the living room. “I expected garage-sale chic.”
I shot her a dark glare. “Watch it, Kate.”
Her eyebrows lifted in amusement. “Or what?”
I dropped my keys and purse on the entry table I’d actually bought at a flea market and turned to
face her, crossing my arms over my chest. “If you’re gonna spend the entire trip insultin’ me, then
maybe I should rethink this.”
She crossed her arms and popped one hip out to the side, mocking me. “Agreed. We should. I’m
feelin’ the need to destroy things and if I can’t insult you…” Her brow shot up, the insinuation as clear
as her mama’s crystal.
“I don’t get you,” I admitted. “You say you want to get closer to me, but you’re still threatenin’
me.”
“I’m only joshin’ ya,” she said in a thick country accent. “I’m a little peckish. You got any of that
raccoon jerky your aunt likes to make?”
My glare turned deadly, but I wasn’t about to send her away or even call Jed or Joe to apprehend
her. Part of it was that I wanted to keep both of them safe—and far away from her—but I had another
reason for going with her.
I wanted to get answers for myself instead of waiting for everyone to give them to me. Jed loved
and cherished me, and he’d likely kill any man who dared to touch or hurt me, but his protection
sometimes felt constrictive. He always watching, always worrying—and with good reason. All of us
worried when Hardshaw—or Kate—would show up to hurt me. I was tired of sneaking peeks over
my shoulder, checking to make sure I was safe. I needed to be free.
The idea of a road trip with Kate scared the bejiggers out of me, but if she had an inkling of how
to get Hardshaw off my back, I needed to go with her.
 I spun on my heels and headed up the stairs.
“Where ya goin’, sister mine?” she called after me with a small laugh.
“To pack.” And to get the money, but I wasn’t about to tell her that part yet. She’d find out soon
enough.
I had already packed several outfits into a duffel bag when Kate appeared in the doorway of the
walk-in closet I shared with Jed.
“You’re thick into playin’ house, Neely Kate,” she said, leaning against the door jamb. “You’re
sure that’s what you want?”
I stopped packing and glanced up at her. “Why are you really askin’? So you know what to take
away if you change your mind about all of this?”
“So cynical,” she teased, then started sifting through the hanging clothes. “Mr. Sexy wears dress
shirts?” She lifted one off the rod, hanger and all, turning it around to examine it.
I refused to look at her or react. “On occasion.”
“Not in that garage of his.”
I picked up the duffel bag and headed into the master bath to get my toiletries. “Why do you
always do that?” I asked bluntly. “Are you tryin’ to show off?” Then, in a mocking tone, I added,
“Look at what I know.”
She laughed, moving over to the large soaking tub and sitting on the edge.
“Does that mean I’m right?” I asked, throwing cosmetics into a small bag.
“How about I plead the fifth?”
I glanced over my shoulder at her. “You could use your powers for good instead of evil.”
She shot me a wicked grin. “And where would be the fun in that?”
“Hardshaw’s movin’ into this county, Kate. You could help stop that.”
“Sounds like Little Miss Perfect’s got that one wrapped up.”
So she’d heard about Rose becoming the queen of the Fenton County underworld. I wasn’t
surprised, but I wondered how many other people knew… Hardshaw was a given. Shoot, we could
rent out a billboard announcing the news, but it would likely be a waste of money.
“But you want to help me?” I asked.
“I thought we’d covered that already.”
“Forgive me if I find it hard to believe you.”
“Have I lied to you yet, NK?”
I turned around to face her. “No.”
Her expression turned serious. “I’m gonna get you out of this, but I need you to trust me.”
“You haven’t exactly made that easy.”
She cocked her head and grinned. “Maybe I did that on purpose.”
Groaning, I turned around and finished gathering my makeup, toothbrush, and other toiletries. She
was back to her games, and while I still believed she wanted to help me, I had to remember that it
would be on her terms. The thought of what Kate might deem “help” alarmed me.
After I tossed the cosmetics bag into the larger duffel, I tossed the bag to Kate. It landed on her
lap and she released a loud grunt, then delighted laughter.
“There’s that NK spunk I’ve been missing.”
Ignoring her, I went back into the closet and unlocked Jed’s gun safe. I didn’t want her to know the
combination and I figured my bag would keep her put long enough for me to enter the first few
numbers. To my surprise, she still hadn’t entered when I opened the door and picked up the black
leather bag. I unzipped the top to make sure the money hadn’t disappeared, then carried it out into the
bathroom.
“That it?” she asked, still sitting on the edge of the tub, my duffel bag on her lap.
“This is it.”
She got to her feet and slipped the straps of my bag over her shoulder, then held out her hand.
“Give me your phone.”
My body tensed. “No.”
“You can’t bring it with you.”
“I’m choosing to go, Kate, so what possible reason could you have for taking my phone away?”
“They can track you with it.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. “Then I’ll turn off the location feature, but I
assure you that I’m not goin’ with you without my phone.”
Her eyes hardened. “I could force you.”
“You could,” I admitted. “But you won’t. You want me to want to come with you. So don’t force
me. Let’s make this a sister trip.”
“They’ll come lookin’ for you.”
“Jed won’t report me missin’, and Joe won’t be able to access my phone records without a
missing persons report. They’ll be worried, and I suspect they’ll call me, but they’ll leave me be.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“I mean it, Kate. I’m bringin’ my phone. You told me to trust you, now I’m askin’ for the same.”
She studied me for several more seconds before a grin spread across her face. “I like you, NK.”
“The jury’s still out on whether I like you or not,” I said dryly, “but you’re off to a good start
today.”
“Well, since that’s all settled,” she said, heading for the door, “it’s time to head out.”
“Where are we goin’?” I asked.
“Oklahoma,” she called over her shoulder. “Then back where this all began.”
Great.
 CHAPTER 1 4

W hen we got downstairs, I took a long look at the kitchen. I’d made a batch of cookies
that I’d planned to take to Rose’s tomorrow for our girls’ weekend with Carly. A
sinking sensation filled my gut. I wouldn’t be going to the farm after all. Would Rose be okay without
work to keep her occupied?
“Come on,” Kate said. “We’re burnin’ daylight.”
“Hold on,” I said, pulling up Jed’s name. “I have to make a couple of calls.”
“Not here you don’t,” she said, grabbing my arm and giving me a tug toward the door, past my
purse on the entry table, not that I was surprised she was making me leave it behind. “If either Jed or
Joe are anywhere close, they’ll get here before I can pull out of that monstrously long driveway.”
She had a point, but it still felt wrong, especially since I wasn’t leaving Jed a note. Ultimately, I’d
decided this wasn’t the kind of information you could leave in a note tucked in the bathroom mirror or
beneath a magnet on the fridge—Went off with psychopath sister. Please pick up milk.
Of course, I could reason that this entire road trip was wrong, but there was no denying it felt
right. After months of waiting around, I was finally doing something.
We tossed both bags into the trunk of her car, and I got into the passenger seat, wondering for the
umpteenth time how in the world I was going to explain this to everyone. Jed, Joe, and Rose were
going to think I’d lost my mind.
Maybe I had.
Kate cast me a glance with a wicked gleam in her eyes, then started the car and tore down the
narrow lane to the county road.
I rested my elbow on the door, propping my chin on my hand as I stared out the side window.
“Having second thoughts?” she asked.
“Twentieth thoughts,” I said, still staring out the window, “but I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Not gonna call Mr. Sexy?”
“Not yet.”
She was silent as she headed north then turned west on Highway 82 toward Texarkana, and I
couldn’t help remembering my trip to Oklahoma with Jed months ago. I’d been so scared I wouldn’t
be able to go home, that my secrets would come between me and the people I loved. Would I be back
this time?
How was I so calm about this? Years of hiding must have exhausted me more than I’d thought.
I turned to look at Kate. “You aren’t using a navigational system.”
She winked. “I’ve driven this way a time or two.”
Of course she had.
We were almost to Texarkana when Jed sent me a text.
What do you think about heading to El Dorado for dinner and a movie tonight?
My heart ached. I would have given anything to go to El Dorado with him, and if I didn’t answer
him soon, he’d get worried. I needed to call him, but I didn’t want to have this conversation sitting
next to Kate.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I told her.
She laughed. “Don’t try to bullshit a bullshitter, NK. I know what you’re doing.”
“Well, I still have to go to the bathroom.”
“Do you really think I’m going to let you out of my sight to make a phone call?”
I twisted on my seat to look at her. “Yeah, Kate. I think you will.”
A scowl scrunched up her face, but she didn’t say anything more, not even when she turned off the
highway and pulled into a large gas station. She stopped at a gas pump and turned off the car.
“I’m going in to get a drink. If you want to talk to your man, you need to stay out here and put gas
in the car.”
I held out my hand, palm up. “Then hand over your card because I’m pretty sure you don’t want
me leavin’ a credit card trail.” I punctuated the remark with a cheesy smile.
She narrowed her eyes, then laughed as she reached for her wallet in her purse. “Don’t go crazy
with it. The zip code is 75211.” She handed me the credit card on her way out.
I got out, ran her card—which bore the name Penelope Snyder—through the machine and started
pumping gas. Once the part requiring my input was over, I placed a call to Jed.
“Hey, Sunshine,” he said in a sexy voice that made me homesick already. “What do you think
about my suggestion?”
I took a deep breath and said, “I’m gonna have to take a rain check.”
Something in my voice caught his attention. “Where are you?”
“I need you to trust me, Jed.”
“I trust you implicitly, Neely Kate. Now tell me where you are.”
I hesitated. “I’m with Kate.”
“What?” he asked, sounding panicked. “Is she holding you hostage?”
“No,” I said, “the opposite. I agreed to go with her.”
“Why would you do that?” he pleaded. Then, a beat later, he said, “She threatened to hurt me,
didn’t she? Neely Kate, I can handle her.”
 “It wasn’t just you, Jed. She threatened Joe and Rose. And she knows who Carly is. She called
her Caroline.”
“Shit.”
“You need to warn her.”
“I need to get her new identity ready in case it’s time for her to leave.”
“Get her to confide in you, if you can, and I’ll try to find out what-all Kate knows.”
“Be careful,” he warned. “Don’t make her suspicious.”
“Good point,” I said, turning to watch the entrance to the station. “But I’m sure I’ll have plenty of
time to slip it into conversation.”
“Where are you?”
I almost didn’t tell him, but I took into account that he wasn’t treating me like some half-witted
fool. I’d decided to do this, and he would honor my wishes. “Outside of Texarkana.”
“You left Fenton County?” he asked in surprise. “Did she tell you where you’re goin’?”
“We’re on our way to Oklahoma.”
“I don’t like it,” he said in a low tone.
“I don’t like it either, but she claims she’s gettin’ me out of trouble.”
“Yeah,” he said, “by gettin’ you killed or arrested.”
I could see her watching me through the front window of the store. I lifted a hand and waved. She
grinned and disappeared from view.
“No,” I said, “she really wants to bond with me, and I think we’re going to figure out this thing
with the money.”
“You took the money with you.” His disappointment was palpable.
“I had to, Jed.”
“Are you sure she’s on the up and up?”
“As sure as I can be. But it’s Kate. There’s just no tellin’,” I admitted. “Still, if she really means
to get me out of this, I have to accept her help.”
“I know,” he said in a low voice. “I just wish I was there helpin’ you. Not your crazy sister.”
“Yeah, me too. I miss you already.”
“There’s more to it than just missin’ you. I’m concerned for your safety.”
“I know,” I said.
“Are you sneakin’ this call? Do you need to worry about Kate comin’ back and catchin’ you?”
“She knows I’m talkin’ to you. She gave me a credit card with an alias of Penelope Snyder to put
gas into the car while she went inside to get a drink.”
“Be careful with that. If it looks like you’re with her willingly and she does something
barbaric…”
“Like castrating Branson?”
“Exactly like that,” Jed said. “If you’re seen to be her willing travel companion, you could end up
as an accessory as well as aiding and abetting for not turning her in.”
He had a great point—one I should have considered and hadn’t. “I’ll be careful.”
“Do you know where you’re goin’ specifically?”
“She said we’re goin’ back to where it all began.”
“Shit,” he grunted. “She’s takin’ you to Ardmore.”
“Which means you’re comin’ to Ardmore too, doesn’t it?” I whispered even though Kate was still
inside.
“You bet that cute little ass of yours it does.”
“She made me turn off the finding app in my phone or she would have made me leave it behind.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll find you.”
The certainty with which he said it filled my chest with warmth and brought tears to my eyes. “I
love you, Jed.”
“I love you too, Neely Kate. I swear to God I’ll find you and bring you home.”
“I’m hopin’ to bring myself home, but I like knowin’ I have you as backup.”
“Always.”
“Will you please let Rose know what’s goin’ on?”
“The truth?” he asked in surprise.
“Yes. She was right about Skeeter treating her like a child. I don’t want to worry her, but I’d
rather do that than hurt her. She deserves to know the truth.”
“Okay. I’ll ask Carly to keep an eye on her.”
“Yeah, that’s good. I’ll call Joe myself.”
The gas pump turned off just as Kate walked out of the building, carrying a sagging plastic bag.
“She’s comin’ back, Jed. I need to go.”
“Okay.” He sounded reluctant. “Just stay safe.”
“I will.” I hung up and stuffed the phone into my pocket as I walked around the back of the car to
intercept Kate.
“Have a good chat?” she asked in a chipper tone.
“Dandy,” I said, just as chipper.
She laughed. “Oh, sister mine. I am not your enemy. Far from it.”
While that had yet to be seen, I was still betting on it.
With my life.
 CHAPTER 1 5

T he sun had set and we’d been on the road for a couple of hours driving across Texas before
Kate stopped again for me to go to the bathroom. Since it was close to seven, she stopped
at a large trucker stop that had a fast food restaurant so we could grab something for dinner. She
decided to fill up with gas again, pumping it herself and giving me her order. I went inside and
headed straight for the restroom, deciding to take advantage of my alone time to call Joe.
“Hey, Neely Kate,” he said, sounding distracted. “Can I call you back? I’m in the middle of
something.”
“This will only take a few moments,” I said. “It’s important.”
That got his attention and he used his serious tone when he said, “What’s up?”
“Kate,” I said, standing in the hall to the restroom while watching her through the large windows.
“She paid me a visit this afternoon at the landscaping office.”
“And you’re just now tellin’ me?” I was surprised he didn’t shout it. Impending fatherhood looked
good on him.
“This is the first chance I got,” I said, then quickly added, “I’m with her now, Joe.”
“She kidnapped you.”
“No, while I was coerced, I’m ultimately with her willingly.”
“Who did she threatened to hurt? Jed? Rose?”
“And you. And she knows about Carly.”
“What about her?” he asked, his voice tense.
Crap. I’d forgotten Joe didn’t know anything about her background. “Never mind. Just know that
she did threaten to hurt y’all, but it wasn’t as dire as it has been in the past.” I paused. “She told me
she’d get this mess straightened out, Joe. She claims she knows why Hardshaw wants the money.”
“Where are you now, Neely Kate?”
I hesitated, then decided to tell him and let the chips fall where they may. “Texas.”
“She’s takin’ you to Hardshaw?” he asked in a panic.
“No,” I said. “She said she’s takin’ me to Ardmore.”
“Why in God’s name is she draggin’ you there?”
 “I have no idea,” I said. “I guess I have to trust her.”
“Neely Kate, trusting our sister is never, ever a good idea.”
“She swears she wants to help me, and she’s never once lied to me.” But the excuse sounded
lame, even to me, when the stakes were so high. She may not have lied, but she’d done plenty of
worse things.
“Did she specifically say how she’s gonna help you?” he asked. “Because she doesn’t think the
way you and I do.”
“I know, and I’ve considered that, but I’m tired of waiting for answers, Joe. I’m tired of waiting
for Hardshaw to come for me. I want to be free of this mess, once and for all.”
After several seconds of silence, he asked, “Has she threatened to hurt you?”
“No,” I said quietly. “She seems to have some weird obsession with bonding with me. I think she
believes this will glue us together.”
“Until she changes her mind.” He sounded worried.
“She likes to play games, right?” I asked. “We’ve only just started the game. I think I’m okay for
now.”
“It’s the for now that has me worried, Neely Kate.”
It had me worried too, especially since Joe had known her for a heck of a lot longer. “I’ve
decided to go along with her for now. If it starts to feel unsafe, I’ll let you and Jed know and try to get
away from her. She’s left me alone twice so far.”
“So Jed knows what’s goin’ on,” he said. “What about Rose?”
“I asked Jed to call her and let her know what’s goin’ on. Will you check on her? Tell her it’s not
like last time. I have every intention of coming back.”
He paused. “You weren’t goin’ to come back last time?”
“I wasn’t sure I’d get everything resolved enough to come home. This time I intend to resolve it
enough to make sure I never have to take off again.”
He was quiet for a few seconds. “I need you to come back, Neely Kate. I need you in my life.”
“I need you too,” I said, meaning every word of it, which was so strange considering we hadn’t
known we were related a year ago. “I’m comin’ home, I promise, but I’ve gotta do this. I love you,
Joe.”
“I love you too. Be careful. Don’t set her off, okay? She’s dangerous when she gets going.”
I hung up and quickly did my business in the restroom, then hurried out to get in line at the fast
food restaurant.
Kate came in a few seconds later, wearing an amused grin. “Who’d you call this time?”
I thought about lying but changed my mind at the last moment. I’d had enough of secrets. “Joe.”
Something flashed in her eyes, then her grin turned mocking. “How is our brother?”
“Worried.”
Her eyes narrowed. “About you.”
 “He’s worried about you too.”
Anger morphed her face. “Don’t bullshit me, Neely Kate.”
A young mother with a toddler shot Kate a glare. “Little ears.”
“Your ears don’t look so little,” Kate snarked. “In fact, they look pretty damn big to me.”
“Kate!” I snapped, then turned to the woman. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you apologize for me,” Kate snarled with a wild look in her eyes. “Don’t ever apologize
for me.”
The woman picked up her child and took off, and I wondered how long we had before someone
asked us to leave—and what kind of confrontation Kate would start when that happened. I needed to
get her out of here, ASAP.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, hiding my fear. “It won’t happen again.”
She took a breath, and then, as though someone had flipped a switch, she was calm and sweet
again. “You’re a people pleaser. It’s what you do, but I’m responsible for my own actions. Which
means you’re not.” She leaned closer and tapped my temple with her finger. “A lesson you still need
to learn, little sis.”
While she likely had a point, her sudden mood swings were freaking me out. They were an
unpleasant, although perhaps necessary, reminder that I was dealing with someone unhinged. “I’m not
feeling like burgers,” I said. “Pizza sounds good.” Especially since there was a display of premade
pizzas under heat lamps about twenty feet away. In and out.
Kate flicked her gaze to the departing mother and then back to me. “Okay,” she said, a smile
spreading across her face. “Whatever you want, NK.”
We each grabbed a mini pizza and headed for the cashier. When we got into the car, Kate grabbed
our two empty bottles of water out of the cup holders and said, “We forgot to get drinks. I’ll be right
back.”
She went back into the convenience store, and a minute later she emerged with another bag. When
she climbed inside, she pulled out a bottle of tea and unscrewed the top. She started to take a drink,
then stopped. “You like peach tea more than mango tea, right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “How did you know that?” I hated mango tea.
“You’re seriously asking me that question?” She laughed, handing me the bottle, then pulled a
bottle of mango tea out of the bag. “Time to hit the road.”
We were quiet for a few minutes, eating and drinking as we mulled over our own thoughts, then
Kate finally said, “Did you tell brother dearest where we’re going?”
I wasn’t going to lie. “Yes.”
“And is he running off to save you?”
“Oklahoma’s a pretty big state,” I said as I took another drink. “I know he’s a detective and all,
but he’s not that good.”
“Surely you have some idea where we’re going.”
 “How could I tell him if I don’t know myself?”
She gave me a grin. “But I gave you a clue. Did you share it with them?”
I turned to study her, the hair standing up on the back of my neck. She’d orchestrated surprise
meetings before, and they’d always ended with bodies. This wasn’t good. “Is that what you want,
Kate? Do you want Joe and Jed to run to Ardmore?”
She grinned. “Why would I want them to find you?”
“I don’t know, Kate. Why would you?”
“Why are you so suspicious, sister mine?”
“Do I have good reason to be?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
I pushed out a heavy sigh. “For once can we stop playing the stupid games?”
Her expression turned serious. “Yeah. We’re about to.”
A wave of fear washed through me. “Do you plan to hurt me, Kate?”
“No,” she said, all pretense gone. She turned to face me for a long second—long enough to make
me uneasy about her driving. “I’m protecting you, NK. Just like a big sister should.” Then she
grinned, her massive ego firmly in place. “Just relax and eat your pizza. Drink your tea.”
Understanding struck, and I wanted to bang my head against the dashboard in frustration. We’d all
been played. “We’re not going to Oklahoma, are we?” I asked.
“We’ll get there eventually,” she said, keeping her eyes on the road.
“Where are we goin’?” My eyes started getting drowsy, even as panic crawled down my spine,
and I realized I’d been stupid to take that drink from her. “You drugged me.”
“I can’t have our brother and Mr. Sexy show up and ruin everything.” She reached over and
squeezed my forearm. “There’s no need for you to worry about a thing. You just take a nap, and when
you wake up, we’ll be there.”
To my horror, my eyes sank closed and everything went black.

I WOKE IN A DARK ROOM, my pulse pounding in my temples. It took me a few seconds to realize that I
wasn’t home in my own bed.
And then I remembered why.
I tried to sit upright, but whatever drugs were in my system made me sluggish and slow to react.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me down to the bed. “Just settle down,” Kate said softly from
beside me.
I turned to look at her, her face illuminated by a soft light coming from underneath the bathroom
door. “What did you do?” I asked, feeling like my mouth had been stuffed with cotton.
She continued to put pressure on my shoulder. “I didn’t hurt you, so calm down.”
 “You drugged me.” I tried to sit up again, but it didn’t take much effort for her to keep me in place.
“Why?”
“I don’t plan to do it again,” she said in a serious tone. “But it was necessary for now.”
I reached for my pocket, realizing my phone was gone. “You took my phone.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I let you talk to Jed and Joe so you could let them know you were okay, but
I can’t risk being followed. We need to do this on our own.”
I felt like an idiot. I knew what she was capable of, but I’d fallen for one of her tricks anyway. As
I racked my brain for why she would have drugged me, a new fear hit me like a Mack truck. “Are you
handin’ me and the money over to Hardshaw?”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “Do you truly believe I’d do that? After everything I’ve done for you?”
My muscles were beginning to cooperate, so I pushed her hand away and sat up, turning to face
her. I switched on the bedside lamp, needing to look her in the eye. “I don’t know, Kate. Let’s look at
all the things you’ve done since I’ve met you. You tried to kill me, my best friend, our brother, Mason,
and a whole slew of other people. You went to Ardmore and upended my life, puttin’ me in danger,
then dangled what you’d learned over my head for months, making me an anxious wreck. You
kidnapped Stella and Branson in the name of helpin’ me, then killed them both. You killed another
man and put him in my basement, incriminatin’ me. And last, but not least by a long shot, you drugged
me after I gave you my full cooperation.” I got off the bed and stood, turning to look at her. “Why
would I trust you?”
She got up too, and I prepared myself to fight her, should it come to that, regardless of my slow
reflexes.
“I told you I’d help you,” she said, “and I meant it.”
“Kate,” I said. “Druggin’ people isn’t normal.”
Her back stiffened. “Who said I was normal?”
She had a point, and arguing with her wasn’t going to get me anywhere. “Look,” I said, feeling
exhausted despite the fact the digital clock on the nightstand read 5:37, meaning I’d been asleep for
hours. “I’ve learned that what you say doesn’t always mean what I think it does.”
She grinned. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But let me make this clear.” Her jaw tightened. “I will not
hurt you. I will not let those bastards touch you. I will do everything in my power to get them to lay
off, but I need you to trust me. Will you do that?”
“It depends.” I propped a shaky hand on my hip. “Are you gonna drug me again?”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “I already told you I wouldn’t,” she said in a tight voice.
“No, you said you didn’t plan to. Which means you might if you decide it’s necessary,” I said with
a shake of my head. “Which means I can’t completely trust you. I’ll be constantly on the lookout to see
if you’re druggin’ me again.”
“I need you to cooperate, Neely Kate.”
“Then ask me to cooperate,” I countered. “I’m here of my own free will, aren’t I?”
 “No, you’re here because I threatened the people you love.”
I blew out a breath, then cringed at the stink. I had a serious case of morning breath. “I would still
be here, Kate, whether you threatened them or not. You’re givin’ me the chance to be part of clearin’
this up, instead of sittin’ back and waitin’ for other people to do it for me. I want to put this mess
behind me once and for all.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “Okay,” she said with a grin. “I actually believe that.”
“Good,” I said. “If you can help me do that, I’m one hundred percent on board. So see? No need
to drug me.”
“We have to do this on our own and we need stealth,” she said. “Which means we can’t let anyone
know where we are or what we’re doing.” Her brow lifted. “Which means no callin’ anyone back in
Podunk, Arkansas.”
Which meant I had to leave Jed and Joe in the dark as they embarked on a wild goose chase. But
they knew I was relatively safe, and they trusted my judgment. It could be worse. “If I agree to your
terms, does that mean you’ll give me back my phone?”
“We’ll see,” she said, then headed for the bathroom door. “Your bags are on the dresser if you
want to brush your teeth and change. We’re up so we might as well get breakfast.”
“Where are we, Kate?” I asked as she started to shut the door.
She paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Waco, Texas.”
What in Hades were we doing there?
 CHAPTER 1 6

B oth of my bags were on the dresser. I unzipped the bag of money and did a quick visual
assessment. It all seemed to be there, so I closed it up and dug into my personal bag.
The toilet and shower were in their own room, but the sink and mirror were against the back wall.
I carried my toiletry bag to the counter and was horrified by my reflection. I looked like a wreck—my
mascara was smeared under my eyes, my skin was pale, and I had a serious case of bed head. After I
brushed my teeth and washed my face, I brushed my hair and pulled it into a long ponytail on top of
my head.
When Kate came out of the bathroom, I took a quick shower, then changed into a pair of leggings,
a long tunic dress, and a pair of brown boots. Kate was applying a layer of light makeup when I
emerged. She’d changed into a long blond wig, jeans, a cute pink shirt, and a pair of shiny black
stiletto heels. After giving one last swipe of mascara, she tossed the tube into her own cosmetics bag,
which she then stowed in her leather duffel bag on the bed. She gave me a questioning look. “What?”
“What’s up with the Texas girl look?” I asked.
She grinned. “Maybe I am a Texas girl.”
“And I’m the Queen of Sheba.”
She made a production of curtseying. “Good morning, your majesty.”
I shook my head, wondering what she was up to now. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
Her brow shot up. “No makeup?”
“What’s the point?” I asked, slipping the strap of my bag over my shoulder.
“Girl-next-door look,” Kate said with a laugh as she headed for the door. “I like it.”
“We’re not coming back here, so be sure not to leave anything behind,” she added as she walked
out, leaving me to follow and carry both of my bags.
“How’d you get me inside the hotel room?” I asked as we walked outside. The sun hadn’t risen
and half the overhead lights in the parking lot didn’t work. Her blond wig and girly-girl outfit were
throwing me for a loop. She looked like a completely different person.
“I roofied you,” she said. “Which means you were mobile with a lot of coaxing. You just don’t
remember it.”
 “No wonder I’m exhausted.” Then a new thought hit me. “Did you take photos of me in
compromising positions?”
She rolled her eyes as she opened the trunk of her car. “You woke up fully clothed. What do you
think?”
While she hadn’t answered the question, I didn’t actually think she’d do something like that. It
was too much like what Branson had done to me, and she’d made him pay for his crimes.
When I opened the front passenger door, the bottle of tea sat in the cup holder, mocking me. I
dumped the contents onto the parking lot before tossing the bottle in a trash can.
When I got inside, Kate was grinning like a fool.
“You better wipe that smirk right off your face, Kate Simmons,” I grumbled, in no mood to put up
with her smart-ass bull crap.
“I love your spunk. That’s your Simmons blood, through and through.”
I wasn’t about to argue with her, especially since I suspected she was right. “I need a bottle of
water that I buy for myself.”
“I’ll do you one better. I’m buyin’ you breakfast, remember?”
I shot her a dark look but remained silent.
She drove across town, passing Baylor University’s dark campus, which seemed to be out of our
way. I was sure this outing had a purpose, but I was in too bad of a mood to ask. The café she parked
next to looked pretty unremarkable, not the kind of place you’d go out of your way to visit.
“I suspect we’re at this particular restaurant for a reason,” I said over the top of the car as we
both got out.
“You’re a perceptive one,” she said with a grin, then headed inside, leaving me to follow.
She beelined for a booth and, once we sat, slid a laminated menu out from between the two napkin
dispensers and handed it to me. I noticed she didn’t take one for herself.
An older waitress with a cheery smile walked over. “Hey, how’ve you been?”
My eyes widened and Kate shot me a wink.
“I had to bring Mindy to try your pancakes,” Kate said with a full-on Texas accent and a sweet
smile. “Best in the whole doggone state.”
The waitress beamed and I couldn’t help staring at Kate in disbelief. Who was this woman? What
was she up to?
“So two bear specials?” the waitress asked.
“Yep,” Kate said good-naturedly. “Both with bacon. One with scrambled eggs, the other sunny
side over.”
Scrambled eggs were my favorite, but I was so used to her being in my head, it was starting to
lose its startling effect.
The waitress patted Kate’s shoulder. “Just like your sunny personality. Coffee?”
“Gallons of it,” I said. “And water.”
 The waitress’s smile faded at my bluntness, but she quickly recovered and headed to the back to
turn in our orders.
“Are we in a Black Mirror episode?” I asked, glancing around for signs that I was in an alternate
universe. “Or am I hallucinating from the drugs you gave me?”
Kate snorted. “Rohypnol won’t make you hallucinate,” she said nonchalantly as she returned the
menu she hadn’t let me use to its spot. Then she added, “Not this long after taking it.”
“Well, that makes me feel all sorts of better.”
Her dark gaze held mine. “Do you want answers or not?”
“You know I do. It’s the games I don’t like.”
“It’s a story, sister, and it’s my story to tell, so you’ll follow along like a good girl or you can go
back home and make babies with that sexy man who won’t give me the time of day.” She tilted her
head, her smile mocking again. “Oh, that’s right. You can’t have babies. So you might as well stick
around.”
Anger burned in my gut, but I truly believed she had information to share. She just wanted to make
a production of it.
I put my elbow on the table and stared out the window, the first hints of pink on the horizon, and
waited. Kate would tell me in her own sweet time.
We were silent when the waitress brought our waters and a carafe of coffee, along with half and
half, which she claimed to know that Kate liked.
Kate turned over her coffee cup, filled it, and turned mine over too. She held the carafe over it, as
if to pour, then stopped herself. “Oh, silly me. Is this against our new rules?”
Shooting daggers at her, I jerked the carafe from her and poured my own coffee.
“I’m not going to drug you, Neely Kate,” she said, then added “again” with an amused laugh.
I narrowed my gaze on her. “Nevertheless…”
She chuckled as she poured half and half into her coffee. “Smart girl. Wonderin’ why we’re
here?”
“It’s your story,” I said, doctoring my coffee with several small containers of flavored creamer
from a bowl next to the napkin dispenser. “I’m just waitin’ for you to tell it.”
The look in her eyes told me my answer pleased her. She took another sip, then said, “Once upon
a time, several young men went to college near here.”
“Imagine that,” I snarked, my bad mood flaring. “Young men attending a large university.”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “Watch your tone, Neely Kate.”
I started to offer a retort, but the waitress was carrying our food over from the kitchen. Hunger
won out and I decided challenging her could wait. The waitress set our plates in front of us, then
came back with ketchup for our hash browns and maple syrup for our pancakes.
“Thanks, Mary,” Kate said in her fake accent again. “Looks delish.”
“You enjoy, Andrea.” She gave me an appraising look, seemed to find me wanting, then headed to
a table of newly arrived customers.
“Andrea?” I asked in disbelief.
She shrugged.
Kate had obviously been here before in her Texas blonde persona, the question was why. Did she
plan to tell me?
Five minutes later, Kate finally said, “As I mentioned before I was rudely interrupted, several
specific young men went to school here around thirty-five years ago. Anthony Roberts and Arthur
Manchester were fast friends who joined one of those good ol’ boys’ fraternities.”
Arthur Manchester. Jed had looked into him. although he hadn’t found out much more than could
be learned by looking the man up on Wikipedia. Whoever they paid to keep things quiet deserved to
keep their job. My stomach clenched at the mention of the father of the man I’d killed. “At a Christian
school?”
She grinned. “You’re so cute when you act sweet and innocent.”
I frowned as I took a bite of my bacon.
“Tony and Art, they were ready to take on the world, but just because they went to a Christian
university doesn’t mean they planned to do it the Christian way.” She shrugged and picked up her
coffee cup. “Or maybe they did if you take the Crusades into consideration.”
No longer hungry, I rested my fork on the edge of my plate and reached for my water.
She grinned, enjoying my reaction. “Those youngsters had grand plans. Arthur Manchester took
over his own father’s petroleum business, and Tony launched a career as a venture capitalist. After a
rough start, they both found their way. The mid-eighties were booming, and the nineties were even
better, but then the early aughts hit, and Tony was nailed hard. He got caught up in the dot.com
collapse and lost a shit ton of money,” she said as she sawed into her pancake stack with gusto.
“Cocaine was still big, and he wanted to make some quick cash to fund a new startup he thought was
a sure bet. He figured he’d kill two birds with one stone—have his hands in two pies, and all those
other clichés. He’d have his new venture capitalist company and a slice of the shady drug
underworld.” She took a sip of her coffee and grinned. “Although the two aren’t necessarily mutually
exclusive.”
She had a point.
“So he called his old college buddy Art,” she said. “Art was coming to a Baylor home football
game, it turned out, and Tony proposed a meeting. They had breakfast together, right in this very booth
we’re sitting in. Do you know why Tony wanted to meet with him?”
“He wanted a loan,” I said.
“Aren’t you the clever one?” she mocked.
I shot her a glare, but she ignored me.
“Tony and Art had made some sort of pact back in college that if one of them ever needed help,
the other would come through for him. Well, Art, he wasn’t too happy about this, and claimed they’d
made the pact as college kids who didn’t know better. Tony had no way of holding him to a promise.”
A grin lit up her eyes. “Tony suggested the nude photos he had of Art and some high-priced escorts
might accidentally get delivered to Art’s wife if he didn’t reconsider. Now, Art had just gotten control
of his daddy’s company, and he wasn’t willing to go through a costly divorce, so he agreed to loan
Tony two hundred thousand for his not-so-legal business. You see, banks tend not to give loans for
illegal enterprises. Tony said he’d repay Art a year later with interest. They were to meet the very
next year at this diner and Tony would hand Art a check. Only the next year, Tony had made so much
money that Art said he didn’t want to cash out. Art wanted to be a silent partner in Tony’s new
business. No hard feelings about the implied blackmail thing.”
“Money talks,” I said.
Kate stabbed a piece of her pancakes and pointed the tip of her fork at me. “And don’t you forget
it.” She popped the food into her mouth, then said with her mouth partially full, “So every year the
company has their board meeting right here in this booth.” She winked. “Tony was always a
superstitious kind of guy.”
The way she said it made it sound like she knew this personally.
“Tony Roberts and Arthur Manchester formed the Hardshaw Group,” I said, trying to keep the
awe out of my voice. As far as I could tell, Kate had found out what no one else had.
“Ding, ding, ding,” she said with a grin. “But the wealthy always want to get wealthier. A rich
friend of Art’s heard his pal was in on some uber secret investment deal, and decided he wanted in.
Bad. Art introduced him to Tony, and the next thing you know, there were three board members. Care
to guess who partner number three is?”
She wouldn’t have asked like that if the information would mean nothing to me. I thought about
Kate knowing Carly’s real name and Skeeter’s insistence that Carly’s father had ties to Hardshaw.
“Carly’s father.”
“See?” she teased. “You’re a natural with all this sleuthing stuff.”
I could have told her she’d done all the work and I’d taken an educated guess, but I saw no reason
to boost her already inflated ego.
“So the three of them—Tony, Art, and Randall Blakely—also a Baylor alum—continued to meet
here every year for their board meeting, timing it with a Baylor home football game—but the business
grew so fast they needed to meet more frequently. Soon they also had meetings timed to coincide with
one or two basketball games and sometimes a baseball game. They’d all been enthusiastic Baylor
sports fans, so no one ever put it together and only the three of them knew…until Tony died eight
years ago, and his son Carson Roberts took his place on the board.” Kate leaned closer and lowered
her voice. “You see, they agreed early on their spots would be inheritable. The position needs to be
filled by a legal child or a son- or daughter-in-law upon the partner’s death or their assets are
forfeited to the others. Art has his son all primed and ready to take over when the time comes, but
Randall… He’s had some issues.”
 My chest tightened. “Carly.”
Kate’s eyes lit up. “Caroline Elizabeth Blakely. Randall’s only heir…unless she marries, in which
case her husband can fill her shoes. Only if she’s dead, of course, but that’s not necessarily a
problem.”
I sucked in a breath. Carly had told us she’d overheard her father and fiancé talking about an
agreement they’d formed—a prime position in Blakely Oil in exchange for marrying Carly. Was there
more to it? Had her own father planned to kill her off?
Could this be what she’d almost told Jed and me the other night?
I reached out my hand. “I need my phone. Now. I have to tell Jed.”
She squinted at me in confusion. “You really like that girl, don’t you?”
That made my heart jolt. Kate was like a toddler who would rather destroy a toy than share it. I
needed to distract her. “Rose said Skeeter Malcolm was worried about her livin’ with Carly. Does he
know everything?”
Kate laughed. “No. Carson, Art, and Randall make damn sure no one knows everything.”
“Then how do you know?”
She gave me a haughty look. “Because I fucked Carson. I fucked him for years, two to be exact,
and learned all kinds of things about his little side hustle. Believe it or not, this is his side hustle.
He’s running his father’s venture capital firm. Or rather the grownups are running it and he lets them.
He’s much more intrigued by the finer things in life. And so was I, so it worked.”
Which was how the waitress knew her. “You’ve been here with Carson.”
“You are a smart girl.”
“But the waitress called you Andrea.”
“That’s because Carson knows me as Andrea Penske.”
“Surely he would have done some kind of background check on you.”
She shrugged. “He did. To some extent. I approached him, telling him I was J.R. Simmons’ former
lover, and offered to give him anything he needed to take our father down.”
I scrunched my face in disgust. “You told him you slept with your father?”
“Carson didn’t know he was our father, and as you previously guessed, the sleeping together part
wasn’t a lie.”
Pain shot through my chest. “Kate, I was out of line when I said that.”
“Were you?” she asked with narrowed eyes. “Because it seems to me you were going for the kill,
and you can’t waver when you’re going for the kill, Neely Kate. Don’t ever forget that.”
I nodded, because she was right, and I suspected she knew from real-world experience. Literally.
“When you left the farm after…” After she’d viciously strangled Stella, castrated Branson, then had
her henchman kill him. I took a breath. “You told me you’d been investigating them. Not sleepin’ with
one of the leaders.”
“Maybe I was still investigatin’,” she said with a sly grin.
 “You still misled me.”
She winked. “Even so, I didn’t outright lie.”
Just another reminder of how she liked to twist words and tell half-truths. “Is Carly in trouble?” I
asked. “Does Hardshaw know where she is?”
Kate turned serious. “No. But I find it interesting Skeeter Malcolm not only knows who she is but
is worried about her living with Rose Petal.”
“Do you think he knows about the Hardshaw board?” I asked. “I know he’s working for them.”
“That started under my tenure as Carson’s girlfriend. He’d been sending out feelers to small
counties in Oklahoma and Arkansas, wanting to expand, and I put a bug in his ear that Skeeter
Malcolm was as ambitious as they came. Malcolm wanted to take down Daniel Crocker and J.R. too.
Carson could use that bad blood to his advantage, so I encouraged him to build a partnership.”
“To take down our father.”
“If you want to destroy someone powerful, make their enemy your friend.”
I studied her for a moment. “If the board and their business is such a secret, then how do you
know so much about it? I mean, sleeping with a guy will only get you so far.”
A wicked grin played on her lips. “You underestimate my skills in the art of persuasion.”
I could only guess what she meant. Lord knew I didn’t want the details. “Surely Carson figured
out you were lying about who you were. You were all over the news when our father died and you
were arrested.”
“Carson’s blind when he wants to be. Daddy dearest’s downfall was big news in Arkansas, but
other than the satisfaction of having one less competitor, it was a blip on Carson’s radar. J.R.
Simmons was only medium fry to him. He’s dealing with South American drug lords.”
“What about what happened in Henryetta a couple of months ago?” I asked. “Surely that caught
Carson’s attention, especially since Chad Manchester was involved.”
“I have it under control.” She gave me a condescending look, but something flickered in her eyes,
suggesting she wasn’t as confident as she appeared. “Besides, Carson knows Andrea as a blonde.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“Andrea never dressed in black, and her makeup was more Texas than goth. Besides, I wasn’t
living with him at that point—I told him I needed to go home to help my poor ailing mother—and he
bought it. Of course, it helped that he’d met my mother many times before, an older woman who is
quite accomplished in Austin community theatre.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “How much effort did you put into this persona?” The credit card
she’d given me had a completely different name.
“When you commit to something, sister mine, you need to go all in.” She dug her wallet out of her
purse and began to slip cards out of the slots and set them on the table in a neat row. Driver’s license.
Visa. American Express. A health insurance card. All in the name of Andrea Penske. A blonde Kate,
nearly unrecognizable due to her sunny smile, beamed up at me from Andrea’s license.
 “Where did you get all of this?” I asked in awe.
“Please…” She laughed as she started to slip the cards back into her wallet. “Another life lesson
for you, courtesy of your big sis.”
“You did all of this for…what? Revenge? Why?”
Her eyes turned cold as the ice in her glass. “Our father killed the only man I’ve ever loved. He
stole the only child I’ll ever want—a baby that would have been half of my Nick. I told him I would
take him down for what he did and he had the nerve to laugh at me.” Her upper lip curled into a snarl
that was pure danger. “He underestimated me and that was a fatal mistake.”
I took a second to absorb everything she had told me, staring at her in utter disbelief, but I
couldn’t help my awe at her persistence and attention to detail. She was just so skilled at reading
people.
A slow smile spread across her face. She’d obviously picked up on my feelings despite my best
attempts to hide them. “That’s why I changed my mind about you. You’re more like me than you want
to admit.”
I decided to ignore her observation. “So you left Little Rock and sought out Carson? How did you
even know about him?”
She pushed out a breath. “Nick.”
I cocked my head. “How did Nick know?”
Her gaze burned into mine. “That’s not important.”
I could have pressed the issue, but I saw no point. Nick’s role didn’t really matter at this point.
“So you went to Dallas and, what, got Carson to take you on as his girlfriend? And once you had
that locked down, you convinced him to approach Skeeter?”
“You make it sound like getting him to take me to his bed was hard,” she said with a scoff.
I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Skeeter comes on board with the prescription drugs and then what?”
“Then we sent him after that flash drive of Daniel Crocker’s. We didn’t know Rose Petal had it,
or we would have sent Malcolm after her.”
My heart leapt into my throat. Would Skeeter have hurt Rose to get it? He hadn’t known her yet.
“But then the police got it,” she continued, “and it was out of our hands. Literally. And Joe was
undercover, taking down Crocker’s empire from the inside. It was all too perfect.”
What was my sister capable of? “Did you set up Joe to take out Crocker so Skeeter could move
in?”
She laughed. “No. That was purely divine providence. How ironic that Joe was helping pave the
way for our father’s downfall.”
“So you were using Skeeter,” I said.
She laughed. “James Malcolm’s no fool. He knew we had a purpose for him, and he willingly
accepted our help in exchange for the position he coveted.”
I couldn’t believe Skeeter had been thick as thieves with them for so long without ever saying a
word to Jed. Had he already intended to kick Jed out? Or had he known things would eventually go
south?
“You keep sayin’ ‘we,’” I said.
Her eyes lit up. “I was behind every bit of that operation. After Crocker’s arrest, we pushed
Malcolm hard to make a move on Crocker’s empire, saying we’d support him in any way we could if
it came to a war. I knew my father would go after him—with their bad blood and all, it was inevitable
—and figured we could use Malcolm to finally nail the son-of-a-bitch. But Malcolm’s right-hand
man”—she winked—“was urging him to hold off, to bide his time and wait, which royally pissed me
off. Carson always went along with me, but he insisted that patience wasn’t a bad move in this
situation. He insisted I’d still get my revenge, only I’d have to wait a little bit longer than I’d hoped. I
agreed to wait, but I began working on my own plan. Just in case Carson wussed out.”
“You started diggin’ into my past,” I said in a dull voice.
“I’d known about you for a while, but last fall I went to Ardmore and did my own investigation.
My investigators found your mother and I took a trip out to West Virginia to have a little chat.” She
curled her upper lip. “Nasty piece of work, that woman. The best thing she ever did for you was
leave you at your grandmother’s house.”
This wasn’t the first time Kate had uttered that sentiment, but it was the first time she’d sounded
genuine while saying it.
“But you were behind Ronnie comin’ back to Fenton County. You must’ve been.”
Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
She wasn’t going to admit it, but it was clear as day she’d had something to do with it. “Where
did Carson think you were through all of this?”
“I was only gone for short stretches, so my story about my mother’s illness held up well. It was
harder once I became more entrenched in Henryetta.”
“And after you were sent to the psych ward.”
She laughed. “Not as hard as you’d think.”
“You’ve been with him the last two months?” I asked.
A smug look lit up her eyes. “A good portion of it. We really do have great chemistry.”
“Where do I fit into all of this, Kate? What about the money?”
“It’s not time to tell you about the money yet.”
That didn’t surprise me. It wouldn’t fit her flair for drama to give away too much too soon. “So
we came all of this way to sit in the booth where it all started?”
She cut off another piece of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth, a grin spreading across her
face. “They really are the best pancakes in Texas.”
 CHAPTER 1 7

I still had a million and one questions, but my sister refused to answer a single one. The
waitress came back with the check. “Andrea, how’s your mother?”
“Doin’ so much better,” Kate said in her Texas sorority girl accent. “Thank you so much for
askin’.”
“Carson was in here just last week and I asked him about you. Said I hadn’t seen you in a spell.
He said your mother had taken a turn for the worse.”
Kate paused for a fraction of a second. I was sure Mary hadn’t noticed, but I sure as Pete did.
“Did he now?” she said, flashing a smile that showed plenty of her perfect teeth. “I’d really wanted to
come with him, but Momma had a doctor’s appointment.”
“I was worried you two had broken up,” Mary confided as she leaned closer. “He and the woman
he was with seemed pretty cozy, but he assured me she was his cousin and I had nothin’ to worry
about. I felt so relieved.”
“Cousin Betty?” Kate asked in a sugary sweet tone. “Blonde with big breasts?”
“No, brunette. Older. Maybe in her forties, but she looked younger from a distance. He called her
Paula.”
Kate gave her a good-natured grin. “That’s his aunt. He probably told you it was his cousin to
stroke her vanity.” She took a couple of twenties from her wallet, placed them on the table, then slid
out of her seat and gave the waitress a kiss on the cheek. “It was good to see you again, Mary. Tell
Chet the pancakes were great as usual.”
Mary cast me a glance. “Agreed,” I said. “Best pancakes in Central Texas.”
The waitress’s eyes flew wide in horror, and I could see I’d offended her.
Kate chuckled after the older woman snatched the money off the table and walked off muttering to
herself. “Mary’s an all or nothin’ gal. Either the entire state or nothing.” Her smile fell, and a dark
look filled her eyes. “Come on. I have a call to make.”
As soon as we were out in the parking lot, I said, “I take it you didn’t know about Carson’s
meetin’.”
“Carson doesn’t have any cousins. His parents were only children and his only living great aunt’s
name is Wendy.”
“Do you know who he was meetin’?”
Her lips pursed. “Possibly.”
“Is Carson sellin’ you out?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
I was surprised she’d admitted as much, especially since she’d painted a picture of being in
control. Maybe her long absence hadn’t gone over as smoothly as she’d thought.
“Where are we goin’ now?” I asked.
“Depends on how this phone call goes,” she said, gesturing toward her car. She clicked her key
fob. “Get in.”
We drove to a gas station, and like before, Kate left me to pump gas, only this time she grabbed
her bag out of the trunk before she went inside.
I finished before she did, so I decided to search the car for my phone. I’d looked through the glove
compartment and under both seats by the time Kate walked out. I’d expected her to change—why else
would she need her bag?—but she was still in her Andrea persona. Then I realized why I hadn’t
found the phone. It had been in her bag the whole time.
“Why don’t you go inside and get yourself a drink,” she said with a sly grin as she pulled out her
own phone. “And get me a large-ass coffee. As big as you can get. Black.” Then she handed me a
twenty-dollar bill. “Come out when you’re done.”
I went inside and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, keeping my eye on her through
the window. I wished I had a way to call Jed, but even if this place had a pay phone, I didn’t have
change to make a long-distance call, and I wasn’t sure you could make collect calls to a cell phone.
As I filled a large cup with coffee, a woman carrying a cell phone started to get her own cup.
“Can I use your cell phone for a moment?” I asked her, trying not to sound desperate and scare her
off. “I lost mine and I really need to let my boyfriend know I’m okay.”
She was about my age. Her expression wavered, but something in my eyes must have convinced
her I wouldn’t snatch her phone because she handed it over. “Only if you stay right here with me and
keep it short.”
“I promise,” I said, setting my drinks on the coffee bar counter and taking her phone. I quickly
punched in Jed’s number and prayed he’d answer the unknown number.
“Hello,” he barked after one ring.
“Jed, it’s me,” I said in a rush.
“Neely Kate,” he said in relief. “I’ve been trying to call you and it’s goin’ straight to voicemail.
I’ve been worried.”
“Kate stole my phone.” I cast a glance at the woman next to me to gauge her reaction, but she
seemed unfazed. “Listen, I don’t have much time, but we’re not in Oklahoma and I’m not sure where
we’re goin’ next.”
 “Where are you?”
“Waco, Texas, but I’m pretty sure we’re movin’ on. I just don’t know where.”
“How are you callin’ me right now?”
“I’m at a gas station and a very nice woman is lettin’ me borrow her phone. I just wanted you to
know I’m okay.”
“Kate’s not with you right now?”
“No,” I said, glancing out the window. Kate was sitting in the driver’s seat, still on the phone.
“She’s makin’ a phone call because she thinks one of Hardshaw’s head guys double-crossed her.”
“She what?”
“She told me how they got started,” I said, lowering my voice. “Kate was behind Hardshaw
comin’ to Fenton County. She convinced them to partner with Skeeter to take over the county.”
“Why in God’s name would she do that?” he asked in disbelief.
“To get even with J.R. for killin’ Nick and her baby.”
“That woman is unstable, Neely Kate. You need to run.”
“I need to stay and see this through.”
“Do not get caught up in her mess. She’s a ticking time bomb. If she’s left you alone, run and hole
up somewhere. I’ll come get you.”
It looked like Kate had ended her call, but I still had a few minutes. She couldn’t see me through
the glass. I knew because I’d tried to see her while I was pumping gas. If Jed wanted me to run away
from her after what little I’d told him, I could only imagine what he’d say if I told him she’d drugged
me.
“I’m not leavin’ yet,” I said. “There’s still too many questions left to answer.”
“It’s Kate you’re dealing with. She strung you along all summer. She’s stringin’ you along now.
She’s a psychopath and a cold-blooded killer. You need to cut your losses and run.”
“She’s promised to tell me why they want me, Jed. I need to be free of this. If she can help me get
Hardshaw off my back, I have to stay.”
“She might not tell you what you need to know for two more months, Neely Kate. This is not a
good bet.”
I leaned the side of my head against the end cap, trying to figure out what to do.
“I love you, Neely Kate,” he said, his voice breaking. “I don’t want to lose you to her madness.”
“I can’t leave, Jed,” I said, with tears in my eyes. “I have to see this through.”
The woman next to me could easily hear my side of the conversation and was looking
uncomfortable, so I swiped at my eyes and stood up straight. “I have to go, Jed,” I said firmly. “I love
you.”
“Promise me you’re comin’ back,” he said, his voice tight. “Promise me that you’ll take care of
yourself.”
“I swear it,” I whispered, then I hung up before I could change my mind and handed the woman
her phone. “Thank you.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” she asked, scouring my face as though looking for bruises.
I flashed her a smile. “I’m fine. Thank you for lettin’ me use your phone.” Then I snatched up the
drinks and carted them to the counter, growing frustrated when the customer in front of me took nearly
half a minute to dig change out of her purse.
I’d expected Kate would be antsy and suspicious, but when I climbed back into the passenger
seat, she was staring out the windshield, seemingly deep in thought. I handed her the cup of coffee.
“You resolve things with your call?”
She didn’t look at me. “No.”
“What do you need to do?”
She turned to me with a suspicious look.
“I’m not a fool, Kate,” I said, opening my bottle of water. “This is a fire you need to put out, so
how are you gonna take care of it?”
“I’ve got it under control.”
“Cut the bullshit. What do you need to do?”
She hesitated, then said, “I need to go to Dallas.”
That scared the crap out of me, but she obviously needed to take care of the situation. If Carson
was her in with Hardshaw, this affected me too. “Then we better get goin’.”
Suspicion filled her eyes. “What are you up to?”
“I keep tellin’ you that I’m here willingly, but you don’t seem to believe it. Maybe this will help
prove to you that we’re in this together.”
“Why?”
“You said you were helpin’ me, so I’m helpin’ you. That’s what sisters do, right?”
She released a bitter laugh as she started the car. “We’re not real sisters.”
“What’s the definition of real sisters, Kate?” I asked in all seriousness. “My definition of family
has changed in the last year.”
“Because of that bitch who’s leading our brother around by the nose,” she spat, jamming the car
into gear with more force than necessary. “Your loyalty is to her.”
Rose.
She tore out of the gas station like a rocket, rushing out into traffic.
The sound of screeching brakes and car horns filled the air as Kate hit the gas and started weaving
in and out of cars.
“Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked, trying to keep my tone free of accusation. “You’re on
the run from the police and they’re sure to pull you over.”
“Scared of getting into trouble?” she asked with a sneer.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” I said evenly. “Not that anyone knows about, anyway. They’re
not lookin’ for me, but they are lookin’ for you, Kate. This is a sure fire way to put you back in
custody. Pull over and let’s talk this through.”
“You only care about getting your answers. If I get arrested, you won’t find out why Hardshaw
wants that money,” she said with a bitter laugh, speeding up even more as she wove in and out of cars
on the four-lane undivided highway.
“I’m not gonna lie,” I said, trying not to panic. She was about to wreck the car and kill us both,
Thelma and Louise style. It struck me that she might be planning to do just that. “I want that
information really bad, but I also want to get to know you better. DNA binds us, but it’s love that’ll
make us sisters.”
“You could never love me.”
“I used to think the same thing about myself,” I said. “That no one could really love me. But Rose,
Jed, and Joe proved me wrong.”
A dark look filled her eyes. “Joe loves you more than he ever loved me.”
“You knew Joe when he was a stupid, self-centered kid. He’s grown up over the last year,” I said.
“He’s changed.”
“Because of her.”
Rose again. This wasn’t good. “I’m not gonna lie to you,” I said again. “Rose likely started the
ball rollin’, but they haven’t been together for over a year. He did a lot of growin’ up on his own.
Especially last spring after our father died and the FBI took everything.”
“He’s not over her,” she seethed. “He’s the father of her kid. He got her pregnant and then she
kicked him out.”
I was relieved to see she believed Joe was the father. “I’m not gonna try to convince you of
anything regardin’ Rose,” I said. “But I am gonna tell you that Joe cares about you. I know there’s a
lot of bad blood between you two, but if you wanted to start over—start fresh—I swear to you, Kate,
you could be close to him too.”
She shook her head, some of her anger fading. “No. He blames me for what I did to Hilary. He
blames me for his baby dying.”
“He’s never said any such thing to me, but I know it killed him, Kate, just like losin’ your baby
killed something inside of you and losing my babies killed something inside of me.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
She cast me a long look, one that was unsafe given her speed and erratic driving, then hit the
brakes and skidded around the corner onto a side street, heading toward an office building and
parking in the back lot, facing the street. The car idled as she watched the road.
“I know you’re hurtin’,” I said quietly. “I’m hurtin’ too. I think I’ll grieve my babies until the day I
die. Joe understands that. His baby was older than either of ours. He got to feel him kick. I’m sure he
was thinkin’ of names. He may not have carried that baby in his belly, but he loved that boy all the
same.”
To my shock, she started to cry.
 I wasn’t sure what to say, so I remained silent for a few seconds, looking away to give her some
semblance of privacy. I knew she could be faking, but I sensed this was real. This was a glimpse of
the real Kate buried under layers of make-believe, which seemed ironic since she was in her blonde
wig and flowery shirt, but then again, maybe that was the real Kate after all. She’d never given me the
opportunity to find out.
“I wanted that baby,” she finally said, her voice breaking. “My friends told me such stupid shit
like I’d have more and it was too small to even be a real baby, but it was Nick’s baby.” The last two
words sounded strangled.
I turned to face her. “People say stupid things tryin’ to make it better, but there’s no makin’ it
better. And it’s doubly hard for you. You loved Nick with your entire being. I didn’t love Ronnie, not
really. I loved the idea of marriage and babies and havin’ somebody love me.” My own voice broke.
“I just wanted to be loved. And I think Joe wants the same thing.”
She turned to look at me, mascara streaming in lines down her cheeks. “We Simmons kids are a
fucked up mess.”
I took a chance and reached for her hand and squeezed. “Then let’s be a mess together.”
Her body tensed and I was sure she was going to pull her hand from mine, but instead she
searched my face and her hand relaxed. “I think you really mean that.”
“I do,” I said, surprised it was true. Kate was a bigger mess than me and Joe put together—our
father had destroyed the one person who’d truly loved her, and it had broken her. She’d done horrible
things, but deep inside she was a woman who just wanted to be loved.
Just like me.
 CHAPTER 1 8

T
face.
he sirens faded, but we stayed there in the parking lot until Kate finished crying. I handed
her a couple of tissues from my purse, then a package of makeup wipes to clean up her

“How much trouble are you in?” I asked.

She took a last swipe at her face and lowered her hand, the wipe covered in makeup and mascara.
“Which part of my life are you referring to?”
“Hardshaw. Carson.”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Who are you meeting?”
“Paula Manchester’s personal assistant.”
My body locked up at the sound of that name. “The woman Carson met at the diner is related to
Pearce?”
“She’s his stepmother.”
“Why do you think they met?”
Her back stiffened and her face seemed to harden into a mask—the face I’d come to know all too
well in the psych ward. Which meant the Kate I knew was starting to return. “I don’t know. But I
intend to find out. Tara thinks we’re friends. She had my back.”
“So let’s head to Dallas,” I said.
Her brows shot up. “I’m surprised you’re so eager to head up there. Aren’t you afraid I’ll turn you
and the money over?”
“No,” I said softly. “You told me you wouldn’t, and it’s like you keep saying, you haven’t lied to
me yet.”
“All it takes is one little lie for it all to blow up,” she whispered, picking up a strand of my hair
and rubbing it between her fingers. “Did you notice our hair is nearly the same color? I told the stylist
to make sure we matched when he replaced my extensions.”
She was back to creepy Kate and I wasn’t sure which statement to react to—her implicit threat or
the fact she’d tried to match our hair color.
 “That’s not a wig?” I asked, trying to remain calm. Maybe this was another test. She’d made
herself vulnerable to me, and now she was rolling out her creepy side to see if I’d run. I could go
with it…and hope I hadn’t made a major miscalculation.
She laughed. “I think Carson would have figured that out the first night I returned.”
“So you wore a wig last winter?”
Her face scrunched in disgust. “Why are you so fascinated with my hair?”
I sat up straighter. Kate kept telling me she liked my spunk, so I’d give her plenty of it. “Sounds
like you’re obsessed with mine.”
She laughed, amusement filling her eyes. “No, I cut and redyed my hair when I came back home. I
knew it would piss off Mommy Dearest. And I needed a different look in case Carson decided to
actually pay attention to what was going on here.”
“He really didn’t figure out that you’re Kate Simmons?”
“Fenton County was my project,” she said with a shrug. “He indulged me. But Paula became
interested in the county after her other stepson was found dead there. Carson took notice, because he
was certain Pearce had taken his ten grand and he suspected Chad had gone off in search of his
brother.”
“Ten grand means nothin’ to people with that much money. Why was he so obsessed with it?”
She turned to restart the car. “All in good time, sister mine.”
Her answer pissed me off, especially after our bonding moment, but I wasn’t surprised. I would
have been suspicious if she’d suddenly acted forthcoming.
Kate grabbed her phone and sent a text, then studied her screen as though waiting for an answer.
Her shoulders relaxed and she tossed the phone into a niche in the console before shifting the car into
gear. “Okay then. Let’s get this taken care of so we can get on with the story.”

WITH A DELAY FROM CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC, it took us two hours to reach downtown Dallas. Kate
pulled up in front of a posh hotel and parked. She reached behind her seat, grabbed a stylish ball cap,
and pulled it over her head, presumably to help hide her face. She was already sporting a pair of
oversized sunglasses.
She popped the trunk but left the keys in the ignition before she got out. I climbed out too. A valet
walked toward us as Kate pulled her bag out of the trunk and handed the bag of money to me, then
reached for my personal bag.
“We’re checking in,” Kate said, barely giving him a glance as she headed for the entrance, leaving
me to follow.
The lobby was marble and had crystal chandeliers hanging from the one-story ceiling. Kate
sashayed up to the marble-topped counter and dropped her designer purse on it. “I need a room.”
 The clerk nodded and hunkered over his computer. “Yes, miss.”
I tried not to let my jaw drop. It wasn’t even ten in the morning and they were allowing her to
check in without a reservation.
“We only have a corner suite on the twentieth floor with one bed.” He shot me a quick glance,
then looked back at Kate.
“That’s fine,” she said with a wave of her hand, then dug her wallet out of her bag. She handed
him a silver card and he swiped it. He handed her a paper form to fill out, which she did in less than
a minute. He returned her card along with a packet of room keys.
“The room number is inside the envelope,” he said. “Have a good stay, Ms. Peabody.”
Ms. Peabody? She had another alias? I wasn’t sure why I was surprised.
“Thank you,” Kate said, almost as an afterthought, as she headed toward the elevator, leaving me
to follow again.
When we got inside, Kate didn’t acknowledge me, simply stared at the brushed stainless-steel
doors. The elevator stopped on the twentieth floor and she got out, heading down the hall, then
stopped at the end to swipe her keycard. The door chirped and she pushed it open, walking inside as
though I wasn’t with her. I caught the door before it shut, then set the bags on a table by the door, my
mouth gaping at the size and extravagance of the room.
The living room area in front of me had a green velvet sofa and two cream-colored leather side
chairs, a Carrera marble-topped table between them. The seating was set up in front of two walls of
windows overlooking the city.
“I need to take a shower and get ready to meet Tara,” she said from the doorway of another room,
then shut the door.
I moved to the windows, staring down at the view in awe. I’d never stayed anywhere so fancy in
my life.
But then I remembered why I was here and started searching for a room phone. I found it, but
somehow Kate had already removed the cord connecting it to the wall.
I could leave the room, but I wouldn’t be able to get back in since Kate had taken the keycards
into the bedroom with her. As soon as the shower turned on in the connected bathroom, I did a quick
check of the doorknob, but it proved to be locked.
The only thing I could do was wait, which made me feel like a traitor to everyone back home. I
flopped down on the sofa, taking in the view while I mulled over everything I’d discovered this
morning.
It hadn’t surprised me to learn Skeeter had jumped at the chance to get in thick with a Dallas
crime syndicate. I knew he was ambitious—look at the lengths he’d gone to when he found out about
Rose’s abilities—but I suspected his involvement wasn’t limited to prescription drugs. How deep did
it go?
My thoughts jumped to Carly. I was sure she was in even more danger than we’d realized. Why
hadn’t I remembered to warn Jed during our call?
The water in the bathroom stopped and my stomach suddenly flopped around like a carp lying out
in the sun on the bank of Shute Creek.
The door to the bedroom opened and she appeared, her head wrapped in a towel and another
towel wrapped around her body. “We need to chat about this morning,” she said. “Come sit on the bed
while I get ready.”
“Okay.”
She’d dumped the contents of her bag onto the bed—jeans, T-shirts, a couple of dresses, three-
inch brown ankle boots, some sexy lingerie, a pair of tan dress pants, and a cream-colored sweater
that looked like it cost more than my old car. I pushed a pair of jeans toward the center so I could take
a seat and watched while she quickly applied makeup. She was going for the Texas sorority look
again based on the pink and soft brown palette she had out.
“I need to call Jed,” I said. “I have to warn him about Carly.”
“Carly’s fine,” she said, patting foundation onto her face with a makeup sponge.
“You don’t know that,” I insisted. “You don’t know which way the wind’s blowin’. She needs to
be ready to run.” Which killed me, but I had no idea how Jed could fix this mess. Not without taking
Hardshaw down.
Could we take Hardshaw down?
Kate glanced at my reflection in the mirror. “I can see the wheels spinning in your head, sister
mine,” she said with a grin. “What are you thinking about?”
“Jed,” I said, not entirely a lie.
“And?” she prompted. When I didn’t answer, she added, “It had something to do with Caroline
Blakely.” And she didn’t sound happy about it.
“You have no reason to feel threatened by Carly,” I said. “She’s more Rose’s friend than mine.
She lives with her and helped take care of Rose’s dyin’ sister until the end.”
The dark scowl on her face reminded me that she hated Rose even more than the threat of Carly.
“You have to promise not to hurt my friends, Kate,” I said. “I need to be here because I want to
be, not because I’m worried about the consequences if I leave.”
“You say fear isn’t your motivation for being here, but I think I’ll keep Rose Petal and her
sidekick in my back pocket just in case.”
“You don’t need them,” I said, then stood and walked up to her, catching her gaze in the mirror.
“You’re enough, Kate. Just you.”
She looked momentarily startled—and then she snapped on me like a mousetrap. “I don’t need
self-help motivational speeches from you, Neely Kate. You’re nothing but a broken piece of trailer
trash that I’ve deigned to show an interest in.”
Her words hurt, but I knew what she was doing. I continued to hold her gaze, my voice soft and
even as I said, “You’re right. I’ve spent most of my life worryin’ about money. And the first half of my
life was spent in a trailer, but I’m not worthless, and neither are you.”
Her eyes turned glassy, then her gaze darted to her makeup bag. “You need to stay here while I go
meet Tara.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked. I’d hoped to be privy to their conversation.
“I can’t risk you being seen with me. Tara doesn’t know shit, and her loyalty lies with me, but for
all I know, Paula’s figured out that I’ve bought out her assistant. And if Paula’s interested in Fenton
County and her stepson’s death, I’m sure as hell not offering you up on a silver platter.”
There was a protectiveness in her voice that caught me by surprise. Equally shocking was how
much it warmed my heart. “So you trust me to stay here and wait for you?”
“You could have run a number of times this morning, but you didn’t.” She started swiping on
eyeshadow, then met my gaze in the mirror. “So maybe you really do want to be here.”
“I need something to do,” I said. “Leave your laptop and give me something to research.”
“I don’t have my laptop and I’m not giving you access to the internet or a phone,” she said, rolling
her eyes. “I trust you but not that much.”
“Kate.”
“No,” she said in a harsh tone. “And we’re not discussing it anymore or I’ll have to tie you up
when I leave.”
So much for progress.
I turned my back to her and walked out into the living room, my mind racing. I sure as Pete wasn’t
going to stay here and wait for her to come back. I’d done enough waiting and seeing lately to last a
lifetime, and I was plum sick of it. I had to do something.
I was on the sofa, channel surfing on the TV when she emerged in the tan slacks, sweater, and
ankle boots. She’d blow-dried her long blond hair into waves and with her makeup, she looked like
she belonged at a country club sipping cocktails. But I couldn’t get over how much she looked like
me.
I swung my feet to the floor and leaned forward. “Let me come with you as your sister. Just like
you told the waitress this morning.”
“That waitress was no one. Tara is Paula’s assistant. You’re not going anywhere near her.”
I gave her an exaggerated pout. “Where are you goin’? How long do you plan to be gone?”
She released a short laugh. “Not as long as you think, I’m meeting her for coffee at the coffee shop
next door. I’ll be back before you know it.”
She picked up her fancy purse from the entry table and took a quick glance inside, then lifted her
gaze to me. “Did you look inside it?
“I’m not stupid enough to think you’d leave something of interest in it,” I said. “So I didn’t waste
my time.”
She didn’t look convinced—with good reason—but she slipped the strap over her shoulder. “I’ll
be back before you know it, then we’ll continue on to the next leg of our journey. This detour will be
a dot in our rearview mirror.”
Why was she rambling? Then it hit me. “You’re nervous,” I said, the thought making me nervous.
Kate never seemed fazed.
“I’m not nervous,” she scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You’re talking in clichés and you’re not doing it ironically. You’re nervous.”
She sucked in a breath then walked toward the door, pulling a tape dispenser out of her purse.
Holding it up, she said, “I can’t lock you in, so this is the next best thing.” She opened the door and
hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the hallway doorknob. “I’m putting tape on the door. If I find it
disturbed, not only will I march you over to Paula Manchester, I’ll kill that Carly bitch too.”
Then she slammed the door shut.
So much for progress.
 CHAPTER 1 9

I waited several minutes to make sure she was really gone, then headed into the bedroom to
search her bag. She’d repacked it—probably in a specific order to determine if I’d
snooped—but I didn’t hold back. When I didn’t find any secret pockets in the bag, I searched the
pockets of her clothes. I found a big fat nothing, then I saw the closed door of the safe. She’d locked
something inside. My phone was in there, of course, but what else? Try as I might, I couldn’t figure
out her password. I found her black wig on the counter, so I put my hair into a bun, then pulled the wig
over my head, wondering how she’d stuffed her extensions up inside. After I got the wig settled, I
took a glance at myself in the mirror. For some reason, it shocked me to see the resemblance went
both ways—I looked a lot like Kate. Anyone who knew us would realize the mistake right away, but a
stranger might fall for it.
Could I use that to my advantage? Could it also bite me in the butt?
I put the wig back where I found it, filing the information away for later.
With nothing better to do, I kept searching the bedroom and bathroom to see if she’d hidden
anything that wouldn’t fit in the safe. I was still going through her cosmetics bag when I caught her
reflection in the mirror.
“Snooping?” she asked in a half-amused/half-annoyed tone.
“I got tired of waiting for you and decided to put on some of your makeup. Trailer trash like me
doesn’t have the expensive stuff.” I squirted some foundation onto my fingertips and flashed her a
smile. “Have a good meetin’?”
“As well as can be expected.” She shook her head in disgust. “You can’t apply that with your
fingertips like a savage. You need to use a sponge.” She walked over and picked up a teardrop-
shaped sponge, applied a drop of foundation and started to pat it on my face. “Find anything in your
search?” Her eyes lit up in amusement.
I could deny looking, but I didn’t see the point. “Nothing interesting.”
Pride filled her eyes. “Are you hungry?”
“I considered ordering room service, but I worried you’d drag me off to that psychopath’s mother
if the room service employee didn’t get the tape back on right.”
 “At least you were smart enough to realize it. I thought we could eat lunch here before we go. Did
you look at the room service menu?”
“Not really. I was too busy going through your stuff.”
She laughed. “You’re a breath of fresh air.”
“That’s right,” I said, closing my eyes as she swiped primer on my eyelids. “Just like the cloud of
stench that hangs over the farm after my cousin Alan Jackson overturns the mud in the pig sty.”
She laughed again. “I wouldn’t call that fresh.”
“To each his own.” I could feel her swiping my eyelids with her makeup brush. For all I knew,
she was making me look like a clown, then would threaten to cut off my toes if I wiped it off. “What
did you find out from your meeting with Tara?”
“I’m not going to tell you that,” she said, still applying eyeshadow.
“I thought we were besties now. I thought I was helpin’ you.”
“I’m helping you,” she said as I felt her brushing my cheek with a brush. “And you’re safer not
knowing. I’m doing it to protect you.”
I opened my eyes. “I’m sick of everyone treating me like a child who needs to be protected from
the big bad wolf. I need to take charge of my own life.”
“This is about my life, Neely Kate,” she snapped. “Not yours.”
“That’s malarkey and you know it. It has everything to do with me. You made it about me when
you dug up the skeletons of my past last year.”
She shot me a glare but remained silent as she finished applying my makeup. Finally, she set down
her brushes and took a long look at me, then removed the pins holding up my loose bun. As my hair
fell down my back, she turned me to face the mirror.
“We really do look like sisters,” she said softly.
I didn’t answer, because she was right, and I wasn’t sure how to process that. While Joe and I
bore a slight resemblance, Kate and I were unmistakably related.
“Are you in trouble with Hardshaw, Kate?” I asked in a whisper.
Her eyes met mine and I saw a flash of genuine worry before the sarcastic woman I knew
returned. “I’m fine, sister mine. I always land on my feet. This trip is to make sure you land on yours.”
I decided to quit beating around the bush and took a more direct approach. “Does Paula
Manchester think I killed her son?”
Her expression wavered again.
“Kate! I deserve an answer.”
“She’s curious about you but doesn’t know how you fit into all of it.”
“What does that mean?”
She turned and strode from the bedroom. “I’m hungry. Do I want a juicy burger or a salad? My
skinny jeans are tight after this morning’s pancake feast.”
I followed her out of the room and found her already looking at the room service menu. “Kate.”
 She continued to study the page. “She thinks Stella and Branson killed Pearce Manchester, just
like I sold it. But she doesn’t understand why Carson thinks you have the money.”
“And why does Carson think I have the money?”
She paused, then turned the page. “Me.” Standing up straight, she turned to face me. “Salad it is.
What about you?”
The head of the Hardshaw Group thought I had his money because of my sister and her
masquerade as Andrea. My appetite had fled. “How can you eat right now?”
“What?” she said, looking confused. Then she rolled her eyes and waved a hand. “Oh. That. I
have it under control, NK.”
“Why did Paula Manchester meet Carson at the Hardshaw meeting place?”
She pushed out an exaggerated sigh. “She wanted to know what he knew about you.”
“And…?”
“He told her you were nothing important. That the people responsible for her son’s death had been
killed.”
“How has he not put two and two together? How can he not know you’re Kate Simmons?”
“Because I told him I’m handling it. It’s my pet project. It’s barely a blip on his radar. He only met
her as a courtesy.”
“Yet he couldn’t be bothered to let you know he was meetin’ her,” I said. “And he didn’t send you
instead.”
She remained expressionless for several seconds before she walked over to her purse and pulled
out the phone cord. “Last call for room service. We won’t find food this good where we’re going
next.”
“And where’s that, Kate?”
She laughed. “What would be the fun in telling you now? You’ll find out when it’s time.”

AFTER WE ATE our room service lunch—I ordered a steak since Kate claimed they were good and she
was paying for it—Kate insisted she needed a nap. She closed herself into the bedroom—with the
phone cord—leaving me alone in the shared living area. I considered sneaking out and finding a
phone to call Jed or Joe, but I didn’t have much new information to give them, and I decided to see
this through for now. I was more convinced than ever that Kate was trying to protect me, and I got the
feeling that part of this trip really was about sister bonding. I’d already admitted that I wanted that
too. Part of me wondered if I could stop her from hurting other people, but my granny had always said
you couldn’t keep a pig from playing in the mud. It was foolish of me to think I could change her. If I
were smart, I’d turn her in to the police, but then I wouldn’t get my answers.
I’m sure it said something about my character, but so be it.
 She emerged from the room around four o’clock and announced we could pack up to go. I’d fallen
asleep on the sofa watching a marathon of an HGTV design show, and sat up blinking.
Kate narrowed her eyes as she studied the TV screen. “Is that where you’re getting your
inspiration for your little house with Mr. Sexy?”
I hesitated before answering. Usually she asked questions about my personal life as if I were a
simpleton she enjoyed ridiculing, but she seemed to be genuinely interested. “It’s a fresh take on
farmhouse style,” I said, then added, “I like it.”
“It suits you.” Then she spun around and headed back into the bedroom. “We’re leaving in five
minutes.”
I hadn’t unpacked anything so I was ready when she emerged wearing jeans and a T-shirt that
said, I don’t give a sh!t. Her eye makeup was darker, but she hadn’t put her black wig back on.
“Keepin’ the blonde?” I asked.
She gave me a glare.
“I like it,” I said, flippantly. “I like that we look alike.” Although I couldn’t help wondering again
if it would come back to bite me in the butt.
She put her ballcap back on—maybe “Ms. Peabody” hadn’t been a blonde—and we collected our
things and left the room. As we stepped into the elevator, Kate pulled out her sunglasses, and she slid
them on as we left the lobby.
Kate collected the car from the valet, and we pulled onto the interstate, heading north. “Where are
we goin’, Kate?” I asked again. Maybe she’d answer me this time. She was nothing if not fickle.
She turned to glance at me, a slow smile spreading across her face. “I’m going to tell you what’s
so important about that money.”
 CHAPTER 20

W e headed north, up to Oklahoma. My stomach was a twisted knot as we approached

Ardmore soon after crossing the Texas/Oklahoma border, so a wave of relief washed
through me when we passed the last Ardmore exit.
Kate turned to me, wearing a serious expression. “You never have to go there again. That
storybook is closed.”
I didn’t respond, just turned to look out the passenger window, not even trying to guess our actual
destination.
When we reached Oklahoma City, she turned onto Interstate 40, which I knew ran through Little
Rock. Was she taking the long way home? But I suspected she had at least one pit stop planned first.
We stopped for gas, then soon turned north toward Tulsa until she turned off into some tiny town I
missed the name of.
“We’ll stay here tonight,” Kate said. “Then pick this back up tomorrow.”
I almost questioned her but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. She’d only tell me if she felt like it.
The next morning, Kate seemed in no hurry to leave, instead flipping on Food Network and lying
back on the bed, her head elevated with propped-up pillows. They were airing an episode of
Chopped.
“What are you waiting for, Kate?” I asked.
“We have a lunch appointment,” she said, keeping her gaze on the TV. “It’s not time to go yet.”
A lunch appointment in the middle of Nowhere, Oklahoma? “I want my phone.”
“I’ll give it back to you when you need it.”
“And when’s that?”
“Not now.”
I had no choice but to watch TV with her…that or read the Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer,
so I sat cross-legged on my own bed. I’d seen this episode before, but I didn’t mind—it was one of
my favorites.
“Who would eat that crap?” Kate asked in disgust when the chefs made their presentations. One of
the three ingredients they’d had to use was cotton candy. After watching this episode, I’d made Jed
shrimp and grits with cotton candy croutons.
I cocked my head to the side. “I think it’s refreshing.”
She turned to me, wide-eyed. “You think serving spun sugar on a steak is refreshing?”
I turned slightly to face her. “Well…yeah. It’s a fresh take.”
She sat up straight, swinging her legs off the bed as she narrowed her eyes. “Is this the kind of
thing you like to cook?”
My face flushed. “Well…yeah.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
She shook her head, lying back on the bed. “No wonder everyone hates it.”
I leaned forward. “What?”
Propping her hands behind her head, she crossed her ankles and turned to look at me. “Everyone
hates your food, Neely Kate.”
“No, they don’t!”
“Yes. They do. How many people ask for seconds?”
My face was burning now. Jed had been so insistent Carly didn’t need help fixing dinner the other
day, and there was no denying Rose had brought enough chicken for everyone at the garage last week,
despite knowing I’d sent in turnovers with Jed. As I thought about it, a dozen other incidents came to
mind. My mint macaroni and cheese, my chicken caramel pot pies, and my peanut butter hot wings—
all had gone mostly uneaten. “Well…I…”
“Hey,” she said, turning her attention back to the show. “At least they tried to spare you. My
mother would have mocked me for days.”
“And Joe?” I couldn’t help asking.
She went still, then said, “He wouldn’t have cared one way or the other.”
I sat in my embarrassment for several minutes, wondering how I’d missed something as obvious
as the nose on my face.
A commercial about motorized wheelchairs came on and Kate sat up again. “I can’t believe no
one told you.”
I made a face. “I guess they didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
“By letting you cook food no one wants to eat?” she asked incredulous.
“Well…” I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed. I’d told Rose I was hoping to open a food truck,
and she hadn’t said a word. Then again, I’d noticed she was acting a little strange that day. I’d put it
down to the situation.
She leaned forward, catching my gaze. “I’m never gonna lie to you.”
That pissed me off. “But you have no problem keepin’ things from me. Isn’t this the same thing?”
She started to say something then stopped, a perplexed expression stealing over her face. She
must have realized I was right.
 “Tell me about the money, Kate.”
She flopped back on the bed. “Sorry, sis. It’s not time.”
I stewed for another hour, grateful when Chopped was over and a new show came on.
Finally Kate said, “We need to get ready to go. Dress up for this lunch. Nothing fancy but look
respectful.”
I put my hand on my hip. “Respectful?”
She rolled her eyes. “We’re meeting an older woman who’s not so sure she wants to see us. Look
nice.”
“So something nicer than a T-shirt.”
“Exactly.” She got up off the bed and stripped off her T-shirt and yoga pants, standing in front of
me in her bra and panties.
“Kate!”
“What?” she said, digging into her bag and pulling out a dress. “Isn’t this what sisters do?” She
glanced back at me with raised eyebrows. “Isn’t this what you and Rose Petal do?”
“No,” I said, turning my back to her and digging out a nice shirt to wear with my jeans.
“You’re not wearing that, are you?” she asked.
“It’s the nicest thing I brought.”
She grunted as she dug through her bag. “Wear this,” she said as she tossed me a dress.
A few minutes later I emerged from the bathroom, and she gave me an approving look. “You look
better in that dress than I do.”
I wasn’t sure that was true, but the light blue dress wasn’t as revealing as I’d feared it would be.
She was wearing a floral dress, obviously planning to use her Andrea persona.
After we loaded up the car, Kate drove us through the small downtown and parked in front of a
diner that reminded me of Merilee’s back home.
A wave of homesickness washed through me. I missed Jed. I missed Rose. I missed Joe. I missed
the life I had built back home, but I reminded myself that I was doing all of this to ensure I got to keep
that life.
When we walked into the restaurant, Kate headed toward a booth where an older woman was
seated. The white-haired woman saw us and stood next to her bench seat. “Andrea?”
Kate beamed. “That’s me. Thank you so much for meeting us, Mrs. Milken.”
“Call me Rita,” the older woman said, then gave me a leery glance. “Who do we have here?”
“This is my sister Mindy,” Kate said. “She knew Chad too.” Then she shot me a wink.
I froze in disbelief, not only because Kate hadn’t warned me about the alias she’d chosen for me,
but because she’d so casually mentioned my connection to the Manchesters.
Kate gave me a tiny push, and I realized the older woman was returning to her seat. I slid in
opposite her, with Kate pushing in beside me, and I couldn’t help wondering if she’d planned this
seating arrangement so I couldn’t escape.
 “Was the drive difficult?” Rita asked.
“Not at all,” Kate said. “Muskogee isn’t all that far.”
“It’s a wonder you moved to Muskogee after growing up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area,” Rita
said.
“I’m staying with my aunt. I needed a break after Chad’s death,” Kate said, glancing down at the
table as though she was being bombarded with bad memories. Then she looked up. “And I do love to
spend as much time as possible when the azaleas are blooming. The azalea festival is my favorite
time of year.” She shot me a dazzling smile. “Mindy loves it too.”
Rita’s gaze turned to me. “Is that right?”
“Oh, yes,” I lied, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of my neck. Kate toying with me again. I’d
buried Pearce under azalea bushes.
“They’re her favorite,” Kate added.
“I love it too,” Rita said. “I’ve tried to grow them, but I just can’t seem to get them to bloom no
matter how much I fertilize them.”
“It’s probably too much fertilizer then,” I said before I could stop myself. All that training from
Violet was itching to get out. “It encourages foliage growth and stunts the flowers. Try usin’ less and
see if they bloom better next year.”
Rita’s eyes widened. “I will. How do you know so much about them?”
Kate grinned. “See? I told you they were her favorite. She knows all kinds of secrets about
azaleas. Isn’t that right, Mindy?”
What in Hades was she doing? I swallowed and forced a smile. “Yeah.”
The waitress walked over and we ordered drinks. Kate stayed in character, asking for a sweet
tea, but I opted for water. After the waitress handed us menus and told us the specials, she headed to
the next table.
“I’m surprised it’s not more full with the church crowd,” Kate said, glancing around.
“They’ll be here soon enough,” Rita said. “Most go the Nazarene church down the road, which
gets out about ten minutes from now.” She tapped the side of her head. “Gotta plan ahead.”
“Chad had told me that about you,” Kate said. “That you’re a planner.”
Her eyes lit up. “He talked about me?”
“Many times,” Kate said sweetly. “He thought the world of you.”
“I tried so hard to raise those boys right.” A frown twisted her mouth. “God rest their souls.”
She’d raised Chad and Pearce? Was she their grandmother? Their nanny?
Kate seemed shocked by her statement. “Have they found Pearce’s body?”
My chest squeezed my lungs as panic set in.
“No, unfortunately for his parents’ sake,” Rita said, fussing with the napkin that was wrapped
around her silverware. “But he’s been missing so long he’s presumed dead.”
“Of course,” Kate murmured, resting her left hand on my leg. I expected it to squeeze tight in
warning, but it seemed to be a comforting gesture instead.
I cast her a guarded look. What game was she playing now?
The waitress came back to take our order. I’d lost my appetite, but I knew it would look odd if I
didn’t order anything, so I ordered the soup of the day and a side salad. Kate ordered a salad with
dressing on the side and grilled chicken, while Rita ordered the chef’s special—pork chops and
scalloped potatoes.
Kate folded her hands neatly in front of her and said, “Thank you so much for meeting with us,
Rita. I know this is out of the ordinary.”
“Of course,” the older woman said, “but I’m not sure how much I can actually tell you.”
“You have reservations?” Kate asked quietly.
“Yes and no,” Rita said, pursing her lips. “I’m just not sure how much I can add to what you
already know.”
Kate reached over and patted her hand. “Don’t you worry about that. You just tell us what you
can.”
Rita started to say something, then stopped. “I hate to speak ill of the dead.”
“It’s possible to love someone yet detest what they do,” Kate said, her voice breaking. She
reached into her purse and pulled out a tissue and dabbed her eyes. “Trust me, I know.”
“Pearce was always a difficult boy,” Rita said, rolling her knife from side to side and refusing to
make eye contact. “He liked to hurt things.”
My guts twisted and I started to panic, but Kate grabbed my hand under the table and gave it a
reassuring squeeze.
“He was like that when I knew him too,” Kate said barely above a whisper. “He had a dog…
Chad and I kidnapped it because he treated it so poorly. Pearce was livid, but he never figured out it
was us.”
I couldn’t help staring at Kate. Was that true or had she made it up? Either way, it rang true.
Pearce had likely been the kind of kid who pulled ripped off butterfly wings. He was long dead,
buried and burned, yet I was still scared of the memory of this man.
The lines of Kate and Andrea were beginning to blur. How did she keep it all straight?
Rita nodded. “They couldn’t keep pets. Pearce would find a way to hurt them and convince his
mother he hadn’t done it. Poor Chad took the blame for more incidents than I care to recall. I knew he
hadn’t done anything wrong, but their mother was certain Pearce could do no wrong. I ultimately was
fired for it.”
So she’d been their nanny.
Rita gave Kate an awkward smile. “I’m still not sure what I can do to help. I thought the police
were handling Chad’s murder and they’ve never asked to speak to me.”
“Which only proves someone else needs to look into it,” Kate said with an insistent tone. “I know
everyone thinks Pearce is dead, but I’m not so sure. Chad was looking into Pearce’s disappearance
for their mother’s sake. What if Pearce simply left his life behind and killed Chad because he was
getting too close for comfort? Pearce would kill to keep himself from being found.”
Rita gasped. “Even his own brother?”
“You raised him,” Kate said. “What do you think?”
She opened her mouth to speak again, then quickly closed it. “I don’t know.”
“Come on, Rita,” Kate cajoled. “You know it’s possible.”
The older woman’s eyes filled with tears. “Yes. It’s possible.”
Kate pushed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I really needed someone to support my theory.”
“I’m not sure what good it will do,” Rita said. “No one is asking my opinion…other than you.”
“You let me take care of the rest,” Kate said. “I have friends in the Arkansas State Police and an
in with the Fenton County Sheriff’s Department. We can get this reopened.”
“But I thought they were sure that PI killed poor Chad.”
Kate lifted a well-manicured eyebrow. “How convenient he’s dead too.”
Of course, Kate had killed him, but she didn’t seem inclined to share that piece of information.
What in Hades was she up to?
“If Pearce killed him, where’s he been all these years?” Rita asked.
Kate leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I’ve been looking into that. Rumor has it he’s been in
Bolivia, but I have someone down there looking for proof even as we speak.”
And then I realized her plan.
Rita made a face. “That sounds very expensive.”
“I can afford it,” Kate said. “And no expense is too great to find out who really killed Chad.”
“He was blessed to have a good friend like you,” Rita murmured.
Kate’s face turned blank and guilt filled her eyes. “I wasn’t there when he needed me the most. I
intend to make up for it as best I can.”
The waitress walked up with our food and the two women started swapping stories about Chad in
his youth. Chad had kept in contact with Rita through emails and Facebook and had mentioned Andrea
a few times. Kate had kept busy.
“He thought the world of you,” Rita said. “I think he would have been inclined to form a romantic
attachment to you if you hadn’t been involved with his friend.”
Kate’s eyes widened. “His friend?”
“Carter?” Confusion filled Rita’s eyes. “Chad only mentioned his name once.”
Kate shook her head with a big smile. “Carson. And that was just an inside joke. Chad always
knew we were better as friends then lovers.”
We were silent for a few moments while we ate, then Rita turned to me. “Mindy, did you meet
Chad through Andrea?”
I’d just taken a spoonful of soup and nearly choked. “Yes,” I said, suppressing a cough. “One of
Andrea’s big Fourth of July parties.”
 Rita smiled. “Chad surely did love those.”
Kate had actually hosted Fourth of July parties? That had been a reach on my part—something a
true Texas woman would do. Kate must have considered that too.
“I didn’t know him well, but he will definitely be missed.”
Rita nodded, then concentrated on her food. As we finished, Kate paused with her fork in her
salad.
“Rita, if an investigator came to your door asking if you think Pearce was capable of killing Chad,
what would you say?”
Rita’s eyes grew huge. “It would hurt their mother something fierce if I told them yes.”
“What about their stepmother?” I blurted out, catching the other two women by surprise. Up to this
point, I hadn’t uttered a single voluntary word.
Rita blinked. “Uh…”
Kate cast a quick glance at me, her eyes sparkling, then shifted her gaze to Rita. “Could Paula
have been in on it?” She lowered her voice. “Rumor had it Paula and Pearce carried on behind Art’s
back.”
Rita looked dazed by the suggestion. “I don’t know anything about that. I only met the new Mrs.
Manchester once…at Chad’s college graduation from Baylor. She couldn’t be bothered by the help
and hardly gave me the time of day.”
Kate nodded. “As I expected. Paula always thought she was better than those beneath her.”
“I know she favored Pearce too. My poor Chad never had a chance with either of those women in
his life.”
Kate put down her fork and rested her forearm on the table, lowering her voice as she leaned
closer to Rita. “Why do you suppose Chad was looking for Pearce to begin with? Everyone just
presumed he was dead.”
“I don’t know,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “Chad always wanted his mother’s approval.
Maybe he thought he could gain it if he found out what happened to his older brother. Now he’s dead
too.”
More tears filled her eyes and Kate patted her hand again. “I’m so sorry to stir up so much pain.”
“No,” Rita said, dabbing her eyes with her napkin. “It was good reminiscing about Chad when he
was a boy. Thank you for that.”
“Thank you, Rita,” Kate said, pulling out her wallet. She placed three twenties on the table.
“Mindy and I need to get back to Muskogee—we’re headed back to Dallas tomorrow so our aunt
wants to spend as much time with us before we go as possible—but we’re grateful you took the time
to meet with us.”
“Like I said, it was my pleasure.”
“If you think of something else, I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d email me,” Kate said as she
stood.
 I scooted across the seat toward her. “It was nice to meet you, Rita.”
“You too, Mindy. You girls take care.”
“Thanks,” I murmured as I got to my feet and followed Kate out the door.
As soon as we were in the car, I turned to Kate. “What was the point of that?”
“Which part?” she asked as she started the car.
“All of it,” I said, “but more specifically bringing up azaleas while we were talkin’ about Pearce
Manchester… I nearly had a heart attack, Kate.”
She turned to me with a serious expression. “Good. You need to desensitize yourself to the
triggers if you have any hope of keeping this under wraps. Especially if the state police come to
question you.”
“Why would they come to question me?”
She pushed out an exasperated sigh. “You’re asking the wrong questions. You need to press me
about the point of our visit.”
“I know what you’re trying to do. You want it to look like Pearce killed Chad and ran off with the
money.”
“Very good, NK,” she said with a snide grin. “And I suspect you’re wondering why I dragged you
here to be part of this setup.” She turned to me, all smugness gone. “You said you’re tired of everyone
taking care of things for you. Well, you got to see the start of this new web. Now you know firsthand
what I’m doing to clear your name.”
She had a point.
We were silent for a moment. “Did you really know Chad Manchester as well as you insinuated?”
I asked quietly.
She hesitated, then said, “Yes.”
“Why do you think he was in Henryetta?” I asked. “Why was he looking for his brother?”
“Truth?” she asked. When I nodded, she said, “He was more interested in getting his hands on that
damn bag of money.”
That money was going to haunt me until the day I died.
 CHAPTER 21

“N o more games,” I said as Kate pulled out of the parking lot. “What’s so special about the
money? You said you’d tell me.”
“We have another field trip.”
I reached over and grabbed her arm. “No more field trips, Kate. Just tell me.”
“Not yet. We need to get to Tulsa first.”
I let go of her arm and sat back in my seat. “Tulsa?”
She turned to look at me. “Ronnie.”
I took several breaths, feeling lightheaded. “Am I going to see him?”
I no longer needed to, not really. You couldn’t divorce someone you’d never married in the first
place, and I doubted he had the funds to pay back the money he’d stolen from me. And yet, part of me
wanted closure.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel. “You want to confront the lying, cheating bastard, don’t
you?”
I did, right? Suddenly it all seemed too real. “Yeah…”
“Well, there you go. Ronnie’s next.”
“Does he know I’m coming to see him?”
She laughed. “Do you think he’d stick around and wait if he did?”
Would he? Didn’t he think he owed me an explanation? But he hadn’t given me one when he left,
so I doubted he’d be upfront now. “Where is he?”
“Shackin’ up with his wife,” she said with a hint of Arkansas twang.
“You know why he did it, don’t you?”
She cast me a glance. “You’ll have to be more specific. Ronnie Colson’s done a lot of things.”
“Why he pretended to marry me. What was the point when he could have just ‘shacked up’ with
me?”
“I guess you’ll just have to ask him yourself.”
“He might not want to tell me.”
“I have ways of making him talk,” she said with her eyes on the road.
 I’d seen her handiwork. I was good and pissed at Ronnie, but I didn’t want Kate to get her hands
on him. My throat tightened and I struggled to take a breath. “I don’t want you to hurt him, Kate.” This
was one more reminder that Kate was a dangerous murderer—one who would likely murder again. I
needed to seriously consider turning her in to the authorities at the end of our little road trip was
complete.
So why did the thought make me feel like I was betraying her?
Maybe I was getting Stockholm syndrome.
“Then I guess he’ll need to be cooperative,” she said in a nonchalant tone. “But before we go to
Tulsa, we have a pit stop to make.”
“Are we going to have tea with Pearce Manchester’s first-grade teacher?”
Kate chuckled. “No, but that might not be a bad idea.”
“You really knew these people?” I paused, then added, “Did you know Pearce Manchester, too?”
She scrunched her nose. “He was before my time, but I’ve heard plenty about him. He and Carson
knew each other through their fathers, but there was no love lost between those two. Then again,
Pearce couldn’t get along with anyone and he was much too lazy to suit Carson, even if Carson has
his own special brand of laziness.” After a moment, she added, “Pearce stole from Carson.” She
thumbed to the trunk. “That money belongs to Carson Roberts.”
“Why does he want it back so bad?” I asked. “Is it the principle? It can’t be a lot of money to
someone like him.”
Only to someone like me.
She laughed. “No. Carson needs that bag of money for his own peace of mind.”
How in the world could a measly ten grand give a millionaire peace of mind? Obviously Jed had
missed something about the money, but he was a bright guy, so what could it be?
She shot me an ornery grin. “I could have given you and the money to Carson at any point in this
trip, and it would have ironed out things between us, but I’d like to point out that I haven’t.”
“Just because you haven’t yet doesn’t mean you won’t. You could be waiting until after you’ve
toyed with me.”
“Oh, NK. What’s it gonna take for you to trust me?”
“We’re getting’ there, Kate. But don’t double-cross me.”
She laughed. “Or you’ll what?”
What could I threaten her with that would devastate her? “Or I’ll never speak to you again. Ever.
I’ll pretend like you never existed.”
Her face fell into disbelief and she started to get angry, but I interrupted her.
“If you’re being honest and truthful, then you have nothing to worry about,” I assured her. Then I
offered her a smile of my own.
She was quiet as she continued north toward Tulsa. When we reached a suburb, she used her
phone to find a Home Depot near us. She parked in the lot and pulled on her ball cap. “Wait here.”
 “I don’t think so,” I said, reaching for the door handle. The fact that we were here was making me
nervous. What in the world did she need in a Home Depot? I’d either been involved in too many
criminal activities or watched too many episodes of Law and Order because my mind immediately
jumped to rope and blunt objects that could be used as weapons. “I’m coming with you.”
She reached over and grabbed my arm. “That’s a bad idea. If they go back and search the
surveillance video they might recognize you.”
That stopped me short. “Why would anyone be looking for us in a surveillance video?”
“Just trust me on this.” On that dubious note, she released her grip and got out of the car.
I watched her walk toward the entrance with a flounce she never used, and it struck me that she’d
be unrecognizable as Kate Simmons, what with her blonde hair, girly clothes, and her ultra-feminine
gait. She looked a lot like me. Was she setting me up?
Why would anyone even think to check the footage?
The car had to be stolen.
She’d taken the keys with her, but I realized I had access to the trunk with the release button. A
good half minute after she entered the store, I reached over and popped the button, hoping I didn’t
need the key to release it. Thankfully I didn’t.
I’d never been so happy to hear a clicking sound in all my life.
Keeping the cameras on the store in mind, I grabbed a hair tie from my purse and put my hair up in
a loose bun, then kept my head down as I got out and made my way around to the trunk.
Kate’s bag was next to mine, and it didn’t take much searching to find my phone near the top. It
was powered off, but it turned on without any difficulty, and I was relieved to see the battery was at
fifty-five percent. Once it had booted up, I saw I had dozens of voice messages and texts from Jed,
Joe, and Rose, but it was Jed that I called, and he answered right away.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice tight.
“I’m fine. Kate’s taking me on a discovery tour and we just met with Pearce and Chad
Manchester’s old nanny.”
“You what?”
“I’ll explain later, but first, we’re at a Home Depot outside of Tulsa. Kate made me stay in the
car, but I popped the trunk and found my phone in her bag.”
“So she hasn’t given it back?”
“No,” I said, casting a glance around the trunk lid to watch for Kate. “I’m going to put it back
when we’re done, but I’ll leave it on and turn on the location feature so you can find me.”
“No. Just get the hell out of there.”
“I can’t. She’s about to tell me what’s so special about the money. She said Pearce took it from
Carson Roberts and he needs it back for his peace of mind. She hasn’t gotten to the ‘why’ part yet, but
there’s more to the story. He sure as Hades doesn’t need ten thousand dollars.”
“Who the hell is Carson Roberts?”
 “He’s one of the leaders of Hardshaw. His father, Tony Roberts, started it with Arthur
Manchester, then added Randall Blakely—Carly’s father.”
“Shit.” He paused, then said, “How does Kate know all of this?”
“She’s been sleeping with Carson for the past two years. That’s how she took charge of the Fenton
County takeover.”
“Neely Kate, just run. The risk isn’t worth it. These people are dangerous, but Kate may be the
most dangerous of all.”
“I’m so close to knowing what’s special about the money, Jed. I need to know. She says she
accidentally got me into this mess and she’s trying to get me out of it.”
“That’s what she wants you to think, NK. She’s playing mind games with you. She doesn’t know
how not to do that.”
“She really wants a relationship with me,” I said quietly. “I’m using that to my advantage, so if
you look at it, I’m playing games with her too.”
He was silent for several seconds before he said, “I’m gonna trust your judgment, but I’m still
gonna track you down.”
I closed my eyes and smiled. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”
“Which part?”
“Both.”
“Be careful, Neely Kate. If things get dicey, just run, okay?”
“Okay.” I glanced toward the entrance again. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll turn on the location finder
when I hang up.”
“I’ll see you soon. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I hung up and quickly altered the settings before silencing the phone and tucking
it back into Kate’s bag. Then I closed the trunk and got back into the car a full two minutes before
Kate emerged with two bags and a couple of shovels.
My heart stopped. She’d agreed not to hurt Ronnie, so why had she bought shovels? Was she
planning to hurt someone else?
She sashayed to the car and popped the trunk with her key fob, placing everything in the trunk just
so before she got back into the car. “Are you hungry?” she asked as she started the engine.
“We just ate a couple of hours ago.”
“You hardly touched your lunch. You must be starving.”
“I lost my appetite the moment I saw you walk out with those shovels,” I said. “What do we need
shovels for?”
“All in good time, sister mine,” she said in a cheerful tone. “We can get something to eat now or
keep going. I want to get a hotel room before the next part of our trip. We’re about to kill two birds
with one stone.”
The word “kill” stuck out at me. I had a sinking feeling she might not mean it metaphorically.
“What are we doin’ with the shovels, Kate?” I asked in a more direct tone.
She turned to look at me, her eyes pleading. “Trust me.”
“I want to,” I said quietly, “but those shovels are makin’ me nervous.” Since nothing was going to
come to light if we were both cagey and withholding, I decided it would be better to be blunt. “Are
you plannin’ on buryin’ a body?”
“Just trust me,” she said, which wasn’t encouraging.
I remained silent as she pulled out of the parking lot then took a loop around the city and turned
west. She pulled off in a town called Shady Springs and stopped at a motel that looked like it charged
by the hour.
“You couldn’t get more different from our Dallas hotel if you tried,” I said in disgust as she turned
off the car.
“You have to be adaptable to survive,” she said, not seeming to take offense. She cast me a
weighing glance. “You’ve already learned that lesson.”
“True enough.” It was obvious we were hiding, but why? I was sure it had to do with those
shovels in the trunk. “Are we seeing Ronnie here?”
Her eyes lit up. “You want to meet your bigamist husband at a cheap hotel?”
If she was really out to protect and avenge me, she might have a devious plan. “You’re not gonna
kill him, are you? You’ll let him go if he talks?”
She looked amused. “Don’t you want me to kill him?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“A serious one. Murder is serious business.”
A cold chill washed through me. “How many people have you killed?”
Her eyes darkened. “Not nearly enough.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said.
“And you never answered mine,” she countered.
“No!” I shouted. “I don’t want you to kill him! I don’t want you to hurt or maim him either. That’s
not the way to solve problems, Kate.”
“He ruined your life, Neely Kate. Don’t you want to destroy him for that?”
“And you ruined mine, Kate, but I don’t want to destroy you. Not anymore.”
Her face hardened. “Then maybe you’re not a Simmons after all.”
“Why?” I demanded, turning sideways in my seat to face her. “Because I don’t want to murder
you? That would make me like our father. You wanted your revenge against him, and you got it. But if
you keep this up, you’ll be just like him.”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” she said, her anger simmering below the surface.
“No,” I said. “You don’t actually believe that. If you did, you wouldn’t be helpin’ me now. You’d
be set on destroyin’ me.”
“And how are you sure I’m not?” she asked, then got out of the car and headed for the lobby.
 She was right. How could I be so sure? Was it safe to bet everything on her? The answer was
obvious—it was downright foolish.
So why did I get out of the car and follow her inside?
 CHAPTER 22

W e checked in and the first thing Kate did was look in her bag and check to make sure
my phone was near the top. I held my breath, hoping the screen didn’t wake up, but
she must have been satisfied because she dropped it back inside and zipped the bag shut.
“I’m feeling like pizza tonight,” Kate said, suddenly in a good mood. I wondered if she’d left me
in the car with her bag as a test. She thought I’d passed. What would she do if she figured out what I’d
done?
It had been nearly two hours since I’d called Jed and I knew Tulsa was at least five or six hours
from Henryetta. Would he get here before we moved on to the next stop?
Would there be a next stop? What would she do to Jed if she caught him?
“I want to know what you have planned next, Kate,” I said in a no-nonsense tone. Those shovels
hadn’t once left my mind.
“I plan to order a pizza,” she said with a huge grin. “I’m thinking something with lots of meat.”
“Kate, I’m serious.”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I am too. I’m starving.” She found a pizza chain on her
phone and placed an order. When it arrived a half hour later, she was thoroughly engrossed in an
episode of the HGTV show I’d been watching in Dallas. At least she hadn’t picked the Food
Network.
“You need to eat,” she said when I didn’t take a slice. “You’ve got a busy night ahead.”
That’s what I was worried about.
Kate had gotten a room with two beds, so I lay down on the other bed and closed my eyes. The
next thing I knew, Kate was calling my name and telling me it was time to leave.
I sat up, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Does it matter?” she asked. “It’s time to go.”
I could see that it was dark outside, but that didn’t narrow things down much, and there wasn’t a
clock in the room.
“Are we coming back?” I asked.
“You need to bring your bag of money,” she said in a cheery tone.
 “I wasn’t planning on leaving it behind,” I said. “Not in this place.”
She laughed. “Who said blondes are stupid?”
“You’re a blonde now,” I reminded her.
“Like I said, who said we’re stupid?”
“Is this about Ronnie?”
“All in good time. You’ll get your chance to question him.” Having worked up enough drama and
mystique for the moment, she walked out the door.
I followed her, pausing in the doorway. If I went with her willingly, it would likely make me an
accessory to any murder she might commit. But I was playing with fire. If I didn’t go and Ronnie
showed up, she might decide to kill him despite what I’d said. Or maybe she’d castrate him like she
had Branson. Staying in the hotel room would mean giving up even the pretense of control, and I
didn’t trust her not to hurt anyone.
“Come on,” she called out to me, standing next to her open car door. “You’re not gonna find out
the secret about the money standing there.”
She knew the right carrot to dangle under my nose, and part of me wondered if I’d sold my soul
the minute I’d taken that bag of money. But I told myself my main reason for going with her was to
protect Ronnie and any other innocent people who might be in her crosshairs. The money was
secondary.
I tried to pry her plans out of her, but she remained tight-lipped as we got into the car. The clock
on the dash told me it was nearly ten o’clock, which meant Jed had to be getting close.
A sense of foreboding sank into the pit of my stomach as Kate drove down a dark two-lane road
out in the middle of nowhere, featureless but for a few trees and some low rolling hills. We were
heading west, out into the country. After about half an hour, she turned down a single-lane road, and
after driving far enough that we couldn’t see the main road, we came to a rundown farmhouse which
was next to a newer metal building that looked like an oversized six-car, two-story garage. It
appeared innocent enough, but I knew Kate had something special planned.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“Patience, sister mine. It’s a surprise.”
“Ronnie’s coming, isn’t he?”
“What part of ‘surprise’ do you not understand?” She pulled to a stop in front of the garage, then
got out of the car and walked around the car to the trunk. I hesitated. This trip had been fairly low key
until now, but Jed was right. Kate was violent and dangerous, and she left horrible messes and ruined
lives in her wake. If Ronnie was coming, she likely had some type of violence planned. Which meant
I needed to come up with a plan to stop her.
I got out of the car and a shiver ran down my back, partially from nerves and partially from the
chill in the fall air, which kept even the insects silent. It didn’t help that the quarter moon slightly
above the horizon provided a limited amount of light on the completely dark property. I walked to the
trunk, terrified to see what she was doing.
She didn’t disappoint. She was loading a handgun that hadn’t been in her bag when I’d searched
it. “Don’t worry,” she said when I approached. “I don’t plan to shoot you.”
“But you do plan to shoot Ronnie.”
“No,” she said, turning her head to glance at me. “I meant what I said. It’s up to you if you want
him dead.” Then she offered me the gun.
I took a step back, refusing to take it. “I don’t want to play games anymore, Kate.”
I agree,” she said. “It’s time to end this one, which is why you need to take this gun and end it.”
Stepping back, I shook my head. “No way. I’m not going to shoot him, and you’re not going to
either.”
The grin on her face wobbled. “Wait until you talk to him before you make that decision.”
I swallowed, fixated on the gun in her outstretched hand.
Kate released an exaggerated sigh, then stuffed the gun into the back waistband of her jeans. She
grabbed a bolt cutter out of one of the bags, then walked toward the front of the garage, leaving the
trunk open.
I stood by the trunk, second-guessing my decision. I should have taken it, then demanded the keys
and driven off to meet Jed. That would have been the sensible thing to do, so why hadn’t I done it?
Because there was no way I was leaving if Ronnie was on his way.
I told myself I was staying to protect him from Kate as much as I was staying to get answers, so
why hadn’t I taken the gun from her? I wasn’t about to shoot Ronnie, no matter how furious I was with
him. Besides, I wasn’t angry with him anymore. No, scratch that, I was angry he’d played me and
stolen from me, but I wasn’t angry that he’d left. Even before I’d found out he was already married,
I’d come to realize that I’d railroaded him into marrying me. Maybe I didn’t know the real Ronnie,
but I didn’t believe he’d physically harm me. I suspected part of the reason he’d run off was because
they’d expected him to.
“Neely Kate,” my sister called out, her voice lilting playfully. “If you want your answers about
the money, you better get in here before our guests arrive.”
Guests? Plural? Was Ronnie bringing his wife?
I expected some sort of jealousy to appear, but all I felt was anxiety. I really needed to finish this
chapter of my life, but I was terrified about what Kate had planned. After the last two spectacles
she’d orchestrated, both of which had ended in bloodbaths, I doubted this would go well. Had my
need for answers overrode my common sense? Obviously, I’d answered that question the moment I’d
agreed to come with her. Although I’d told myself I might be able to sway or control her, that had
been little more than wishful thinking.
Why hadn’t I taken that gun?
“And bring the money,” she said. “We’re gonna need it.”
That worried me, but I looped the bag’s strap around my shoulder. Making a snap decision, I
quickly unzipped Kate’s bag, grabbed my phone, and stuffed it into my pocket. Seconds later, the bag
was zipped and the trunk was shut, and I marched over to Kate as she cut the chain securing one of the
garage doors.
I put a hand on my hip and said with plenty of sass, “What’s so special about this place that you
feel the need to drive here in the middle of the night and break in?”
She pulled the heavy metal chain free and tossed it aside, the thump and clink louder than it should
be in the silence of the night.
Kate paused, his gaze holding mine, her previous seriousness returning. “This is part of your
story, Neely Kate. The reason Carson wants his money so badly. You wanted to know, so I’m showing
you. Isn’t ‘show’ so much more fun than ‘tell’?” Then she put her weight into lifting the metal garage
door and shoving it up enough to walk into the darkness.
Like a fool, I followed.
I only walked a few feet in before pausing to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. I could barely
make Kate out toward the back of the large space, big enough to house multiple large pieces of farm
equipment or six or seven cars.
A flashlight clicked on, revealing a work table in the back. There was an old-fashioned lantern on
it, and Kate set the flashlight down, flicked on a lighter she retrieved from her pocket, and lit the
lantern. When the wick caught fire, she turned off the flashlight.
Everything she did spoke of a familiarity with the place.
“You’re tellin’ me the secret to the money is in this garage?” I asked as I took a few steps toward
her.
She grinned. “Perhaps.”
“For heaven’s sake, will you just quit it with the games?” I snapped.
“Don’t sound so snippy, little sis. I don’t have to tell you any of this, you know. I could leave you
hanging in the dark.”
She was right. I’d do best to play along, but I was daggum tired of the games. “You got me into
this mess, Kate. You were the one who sent Hardshaw to Fenton County out of your need for revenge.
You’d already given them my scent when you sent Ronnie to woo me, and you made it worse when
you started pokin’ around in Ardmore. You owe me answers.”
She took several steps toward me. “I don’t owe you anything. I’m doing you a favor with this
little field trip.”
“Is that how you really see this?” I asked, taking several more steps toward her. “Because I
thought part of this was about growing closer. Becoming sisters.”
“You got yourself into this mess the moment you buried Pearce Manchester’s body instead of
going to the police. This is firmly on you.”
A small part of my soul agreed, but the rest of me raged. “Do you really think the police would
have let me off? A stripper and prostitute versus Pearce Manchester’s father with his limitless funds
to help the prosecution? I’d be rotting in jail for the rest of my life!”
“Then you shouldn’t have killed him in the first place. You should have just run.”
“It was me or him,” I said in disgust. “He would have killed me if I hadn’t killed him.” And for
the first time, I believed it.
She moved closer with an evil glint in her eyes. “That’s right, Neely Kate. You or him. Who
deserved to live and who deserved to die? He thought it was him, but you decided otherwise.” She
stopped and cocked her head. “Survival of the fittest, NK. You’re a Simmons. Embrace it.”
The coldness in her eyes scared me. “What does that mean?”
Her posture loosened as though I’d flipped a switch with my question. “You’ll find out soon
enough.”
“I’m not killin’ Ronnie.”
She chuckled. “No one asked you to.”
Yet. I knew she wanted me to kill someone. This had all been one big windup to another bloody
finale.
Spinning on the balls of her feet, she then headed back to the workbench. “Do you want to know
about the money or not? We don’t have much time.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “What’s so special about the money?”
She walked around the table before turning to face me. “Six years ago, Carson formed an
association with Derrick Smith.”
“Okay,” I said, moving closer.
“Carson needed a great deal of cash for a South American drug deal, and his funds were short.
He’d met Derrick Smith and knew he had talent.”
“What kind of talent?”
“Producing counterfeit bills. Derrick told Carson he could produce a large amount of money with
multiple serial numbers, but he needed funds to set up the production. So Carson funded him, but not
through Hardshaw. He went through Roberts Venture Capital. He called it a startup.”
“Why would he do something so stupid?” I asked.
“Arrogance,” Kate said, looking pleased that I was taking her bait. “And Derrick had a legit
business as an artist. The money Carson gave him was to start his own gallery, with plenty of money
for additional expenses, which actually went to Derrick’s more profitable business.”
“Making counterfeit money,” I said.
She moved to the open space at the center of the garage, carrying the lantern with her. “As you can
probably guess, Derrick rented this farm through his own business, with the full knowledge and
approval of Carson, although you’d never find a paper trail confirming it. Carson may have been
arrogant, but he wasn’t completely stupid. Derrick used his slush fund to get the equipment he needed
to make the counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. But unfortunately for Derrick and Carson, somebody
talked and the Secret Service and the FBI caught wind of what Derrick was up to. One early summer
night six years ago, they busted this very building and found a bunch of worker bees printing money.
Derrick was arrested the next day, and while the authorities were sure there was a tie to Carson—
given the timing of Carson’s investment and all—they couldn’t find proof. Carson denied any
knowledge of the counterfeit operation. He claimed to be just as duped as everyone else and was out
several hundred thousand he’d never recover since Derrick was going to prison. The agencies
couldn’t touch Carson because everything was circumstantial. Derrick knew better than to talk.”
“Lucky Carson,” I mumbled.
Kate laughed. “Only there was evidence and it was in Carson’s house. Derrick had given Carson
the first batch of counterfeit money. He’d used the majority of it in a drug deal, and, much to his
delight, the drug lord never figured it out. But he’d kept some of it in a black bag in his home office.
And there it sat until Pearce Manchester dropped by for a chat. Pearce resented the fact that Carson
had his own spot in Hardshaw. It didn’t help that Carson loved to rub it in his face. In any case, the
two had an argument and Carson told Pearce to leave. His big mistake was not walking to Pearce to
the door, because days later, he realized he was missing something—a bag of money.” Her eyes
sparkled. “Guess where the bag is right now?”
I shot a glance down at the bag at my side then back up at her.
“Carson was pissed, especially when Pearce disappeared soon afterward. Then Derrick was
arrested, and Carson freaked. His fingerprints were all over those bills, and it was the evidence the
Secret Service needed to connect him to his scheme. But Pearce never resurfaced, and neither did the
money, so Carson decided he was in the clear.”
“Until you started pokin’ into my past life like you were poking a beehive with a stick,” I said.
“You got everyone riled up and buzzin’.”
She made a face. “True. It was an unfortunate, unforeseen consequence.”
“You wouldn’t have cared back then anyway,” I said. “You were out to kill me too.”
Kate pushed out a frustrated sigh. “Can we not let bygones be bygones, NK? Must we keep
bringing up the past?”
My mouth dropped open as I stared at her in disbelief. “Are you kiddin’ me? The whole reason
we’re in this mess is because you couldn’t let the past go!”
Her jaw shifted to the side as she looked down, clearly agitated. For a moment, I worried I might
have pissed her off enough to retaliate, but when she looked up again, I saw none of the anger I’d
expected. “You’re right,” she said, her hands extended to her sides. The lantern swung on her fingers,
causing the shadows to sway on the walls. “But I’m trying to make things right, Neely Kate, I swear it.
That’s what I’m doing tonight.”
“By bringin’ Ronnie here?”
“I can’t tell you the plan,” she said, “not yet, but I swear to you that you’ll be free of Hardshaw
when it’s done.”
The earnest look on her face convinced me she meant every word of it. I also believed she’d go
about unconventional means to make it happen.
“There’s only one problem,” I said. “Jed said it wasn’t counterfeit. The bills all had different
serial numbers.”
She laughed. “Half of it is real. The other half is counterfeit. Each stack has a real bill on top, but
if Mr. Sexy had looked closer, he would have seen that half the bills have cloned serial numbers.
About twenty different ones. That’s how they snuck it past the drug lords. Quite brilliant.”
She was right.
The dull roar of an engine filled the silence. I’d never seen Kate look happier—which made me
anxious and then some.
She grabbed my arm and started to drag me toward the work table.
“Showtime.”
 CHAPTER 23

I jerked out of her reach. “Let go of me, Kate.”

She turned back and shot me a glare. “Don’t ruin this, Neely Kate. This won’t work if
you end up dead.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear you have my safety in mind,” I snapped, wondering what I should do.
Who’d shown up? Was it Jed?
It was more likely Ronnie. That thought sent a flurry of butterflies loose in my stomach, although
not because I was eager to see him. I was worried about what my sister was planning.
She pointed to the workbench and narrowed her eyes. “Go wait there.”
“Why?”
“Oh for God’s sake, Neely Kate,” she groaned, leaning her head back dramatically. Then, just as
quickly, she straightened and leveled her gaze on me. “I’m going to make sure we don’t have an
unexpected visitor who could do you harm,” she said through gritted teeth. “Now be a good little
sister and do what I say.”
Running out front would be a downright stupid thing to do, so I tilted my head and said, “Sure.
Fine.”
“Then go,” she said, suddenly looking nervous as she jogged toward the front of the building,
staying out of the view of the open door, which was outlined with light from the headlights of the
approaching vehicle. She blew out the lantern.
I hurried back to the work table and examined the top for anything I could use to protect myself. It
was empty but for some loose screws and bolts and the flashlight Kate had used. Desperate, I circled
around the desk to check the shelf behind it. It was too dark to see anything, so I flicked on the
flashlight and searched the shelf, stopping short when I saw what Kate had no doubt sent me over to
find.
The handgun she’d tried to give me minutes ago. This time I took it, placing the flashlight on the
table to pop out the clip (fully loaded) and make sure the safety was on. I stuffed it into the waistband
of my jeans at the small of my back and put the flashlight in the other back pocket.
The car engine stopped, and I heard the squeak of a car door. “Neely Kate?”
 Ronnie.
Heart in my throat, I scanned the front of the garage for Kate, but she was gone.
“Neely Kate!” Ronnie called out again, more insistent.
What did she expect me to do? I decided it didn’t matter. I was going to him anyway.
“Ronnie, wait out there,” I called out to him as I shifted the bag of money at my hip and headed
toward the entrance. “I’m coming out to you.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. “Are your kidnappers here?”
Had Kate told him I’d been kidnapped? Did he think he was here to save me? I stopped at the
edge of the open garage door, suddenly realizing this might be a trap. “Who’s with you?”
“No one. They told me to come alone and you’d give me the ten thousand dollars Hardshaw
wants.”
Foolish or not, I walked into the opening, seeing the man I’d thought was my husband face to face
for the first time in nine months.
“Neely Kate.” He said my name as though it were an answer to a prayer and rushed toward me as
though he was about to pull me into an embrace.
I held up my hand. “You wait right there,” I snapped. “Don’t you touch me.”
He came to an abrupt halt, pain and embarrassment washing over his face. “I suppose I deserve
that.”
“You suppose?” I shouted. “You married me while you were married to someone else! Then you
took off without a word to anyone.” Tears filled my eyes, much to my chagrin. “I thought you were
dead, Ronnie!”
“I know,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry!” I shouted. This wasn’t the time or place, especially since I had no clue what Kate
would do next, but this had been building for months and there was no stopping it now. “You’re
sorry? Sorry doesn’t even begin to cover what you put me through!”
“I know, Neely Kate. Now can we just go?”
I took a step back. “Go? Go where?”
“I don’t know!” he said in frustration. “Away from here before your kidnappers come back.”
“I wasn’t kidnapped, Ronnie. My sister set this up.” I glanced around, wondering where she’d
gone. Her car was still there, parked next to Ronnie’s.
“Sister? You don’t have a sister.”
I gave him a dark look. “A lot of things have changed since we last talked. I have a sister and she
knows everything.” I took a step closer, lowering my voice. “Who called you? A woman or a man?
What did they say?”
“A man. He said you’d been kidnapped but you had the money.”
A man? Was Kate working with someone again like when she’d escaped from the psych ward? Or
had she double-crossed me after all?
 “He said all I had to do was come get you and the cash, turn the money in to Hardshaw, and we’d
both be free.”
“Are you really stupid enough to believe that?” I spat. “Seriously?”
“They just want the money, Neely Kate,” he pleaded. “I take the money to them and this is all
over. No more running.”
“I haven’t been running,” I shouted. “I’ve been back in Fenton County searching for your sorry ass
so I could serve you with divorce papers. Only it turns out I didn’t need to worry about that.” I
smacked his chest. “Speaking of money and messes, you owe me eighteen thousand dollars, Ronnie
Colson.” I shook my head. “Scratch that. You owe me an additional fifteen hundred for the lawyer’s
fees for the divorce paperwork we don’t need, so make it an even twenty grand. The extra five
hundred can be for my pain and suffering.”
“Are you out of your mind?” he demanded.
“What in the world were you spendin’ all that money on?”
A sheepish look crossed his face. “I was sending money to Amanda.”
“With a credit card?”
“Cash advances.”
I propped a hand on my hip, madder than all get out now. “You sent money to your wife and left
me to foot the bill?” I shoved his chest. “Now I really want that money!”
“Where the hell am I supposed to come up with twenty thousand dollars?”
“I don’t know,” I said, tilting my head as I glared at him. “Maybe you should give me that ten
grand you’re supposed to turn over.”
His eyes grew wide. “We can’t spend that money, Neely Kate.”
“No shit,” I said. “Do you even know what it is?”
“I know Hardshaw wants it something fierce.” Then his posture changed, and he turned
accusatory. “Have you had it all along? We were scrapin’ for money to get that house you wanted so
bad, and you were sittin’ on that money?”
“I didn’t know about the money, Ronnie! I only found it this summer and it was nowhere close to
home. It was in Ardmore.”
“Ardmore? What in the hell were you doin’ back in Ardmore?”
“I went to pick it from the money tree I’d planted back when I was a stripper,” I said
sarcastically. “What else would I be doin’ there?”
The soft whine of an engine broke the silence.
We both froze in our tracks. It was growing closer, which meant someone else was about to join
Kate’s party.
“Is your wife comin’ to meet you here?” I asked in a hateful tone.
“Neely Kate…”
“Just answer the daggum question.”
 “No, I left Amanda back in Tulsa.”
“Where are you supposed to meet the Hardshaw guy to give him the money?”
“I’m supposed to bring it back to Dallas.”
“Well, somebody’s on the way.” Was it Jed? I pulled the phone from my back pocket and called
him.
“Neely Kate,” he answered. “Are you okay? I can see that you’re out in the country and have been
there for a while.”
“It’s a long story, but I hope you’re close.”
“Probably a half hour away.”
Which meant the approaching car wasn’t Jed. “Then I’ve gotta go. Somebody’s about to show up
on my doorstep.” I hung up and stuffed my phone back in my pocket. I’d probably encouraged him to
speed, but if any situation called for a ticket, this one did. “We’ve got to hide.”
“Where?” Ronnie asked, glancing around. “In the garage?”
“Seriously? And you’re supposed to be the criminal!” I shook my head in disgust. “That’s the first
place they’re gonna look.” I pulled the flashlight out of my other pocket, turned it on, and panned the
light over the ground surrounding the house and barn. My hope shot up when I saw a one-lane road in
the yard to the west of the house. I pointed in that direction. “There.”
“There’s nothing out there but an empty field,” he countered. “There’s nothing around us at all,
Neely Kate!”
Good God, what had I ever seen in this man?
I pushed him to the passenger side of his car, the same old clunker he’d had while we lived
together. “Get in. I’ll drive.”
And just like he’d always done in our fake marriage, he did exactly what I told him to do.
I hurried around the car and got into the driver’s seat. It was pushed back too far, but the bag of
money at my back provided enough support to keep me in place. I glanced at the dashboard and froze
for a second, remembering how many times this car had broken down on us. At least I’d know what to
expect while I was driving it—not much. I turned the key and put the car in reverse. “Do you see
headlights yet?”
“No.”
“Good.” I hightailed it down the small dirt road, hoping the dust I was kicking up died down
before our visitors arrived, because I planned to drive like a bat out of hell, then slow down and turn
off all the lights.
Where the heck was Kate? All the more reason to think she’d set me up.
“The moment you see any sign of that car, you let me know,” I ordered, focusing on staying on the
road, which didn’t look too different than the fields on either side.
Ronnie turned in his seat to watch. “Who were you talkin’ to on the phone?” he asked.
I gripped the steering wheel as I concentrated on the road. “My boyfriend, Jed.”
 “You have a boyfriend?” he asked, sounding put out.
“Let me remind you that you have a wife!” I shouted.
“Jed…” he mumbled under his breath, then said, “Jed who?”
“Jed Carlisle, not that it’s any of your business.”
He turned to face me. “Skeeter Malcolm’s right-hand man?”
My eyes bugged out. “Turn around and watch for the car, Ronnie!”
He swiveled back around to look out the rear window. “How’d you hook up with Jed Carlisle?”
“How’d you hook up with your wife?”
“Neely Kate…”
“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why on God’s green earth did you marry me?”
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I guess because you wanted to.”
“And you didn’t think that marryin’ me was a bad idea?”
“I suspected you’d break up with me if I didn’t do it and I really needed you to not do that.”
“Because you’d get in trouble with Hardshaw,” I said.
“I told them they were barkin’ up the wrong tree,” Ronnie said. “I told them you didn’t have a pot
to piss in, but they weren’t interested in money at first. They just wanted me to keep an eye on you.”
“A pretty close one if you had to marry me to do it,” I said, casting him a dark glance.
He lifted his shoulder into a shrug.
“If you were lookin’ for the money, then why didn’t you ask me about it?” I asked.
“Like I said, they didn’t ask about the money until the last few months.” He paused. “I never
understood why they were interested in you. You seemed like no one of interest to anyone.”
That hurt, but I had to admit he was right. “It was Kate’s doin’. She was lookin’ into me, and
havin’ you watch me was one more way to do it.” When he looked confused, I added, “She was out to
get me, but she’s since changed her mind about that part.”
“Who’s Kate?”
“My sister.”
“When the heck did you get a sister?”
“A lot’s changed since you left, Ronnie.”
He sat up straighter. “I see the car.”
I took my foot off the gas and turned off the lights. “Do you think they saw us?”
“I don’t know.”
The car was creeping along, but I didn’t dare speed up since I couldn’t see what I presumed to be
the road, and if I hit the brakes, the brake lights would give us away.
“He’s comin this way, Neely Kate!” Ronnie shouted in a panic. “Go!”
Light glared in my eyes the moment I glanced over my shoulder. The car’s headlights were right
behind us. Unfortunately for us, the vehicle following us looked like an SUV…which likely had four-
wheel drive.
 I turned on the headlights and hit the gas—and immediately drove the beat-up car into a small
ditch that banged the bottom of the vehicle against the ground.
“Neely Kate!” Ronnie shouted. “What are you doin’? He’s gainin’ on us!”
“He’s driving a car meant to be driven on rough terrain,” I said, swerving to avoid another hole. It
was clear we were no longer on a road. “Your piece of crap is rear-wheel drive and is low to the
ground.”
“It don’t matter what kind of car any of us are drivin’ if he catches up to us and shoots us.”
He was right, but I wasn’t willing to concede defeat. I had the gun Kate had insisted I take—even
more proof she’d set me up in her stupid game. Besides, I was still ahead of the car. It would be
better to stop and take cover than let him shoot at us while we were driving…if he planned to shoot
us. Although given the situation, I figured it was a fair assumption.
I spotted a small grove of trees to the left, so I veered off what might have been the road and
headed for them.
“What are you doin’?” Ronnie wailed.
“Tryin’ to save your sorry hide.” The car skidded to a stop and I hopped out and ran for the trees,
taking cover. Ronnie seemed reluctant to leave the shelter of his car and stayed put.
“Ronnie!” I shouted. “Get out of there!”
He got out of the car, but seemed frozen, as though unsure which option was his best bet.
I got out the gun and turned off the safety. I was about to holler at Ronnie again, but the SUV slid
to a stop in front of the beater car. A man hopped out—a big, beefy guy who looked like an enforcer
—pointing his gun at Ronnie as he stalked toward him.
“Where’s the money, Colson?”
“I don’t have it,” Ronnie said.
“I do believe that,” the man said with an evil laugh. “You’d hand it over in a heartbeat to get this
gun out of your face.” His amusement fell away. “But I think you know where it is, so start talkin’.”
“I told the guy I’d get it and bring it to Dallas,” Ronnie said with a shaky voice. “What are you
doin’ here?”
“Makin’ sure the money gets to its rightful owner.”
“And who’s that?” I called out from behind the tree, my gun pointed at the shadowy guy. “I’d like
a name.”
“What are you doin’, Neely Kate?” Ronnie demanded.
The man turned his attention to me. “The infamous Neely Kate.” He took a step toward the trees,
his gun pointed in my direction, but I wasn’t sure if he could actually see me in the shadows or if he
was just pointing in the direction of my voice. “I want that money.”
The tree I was hiding behind wasn’t wide enough to completely protect me from bullets, so I
needed to be careful. “Here’s the thing,” I said. “I’m pretty sure the money’s not yours either.”
“True,” he said, “but I’m authorized to hand it over to the person lookin’ for it.”
 “You know, I suspect there’s a lot of people lookin’ for it,’ I said. “So you’re gonna have to be
more specific.”
“Or,” he said with a grin in his voice, “I could shoot you both and call it a day.”
“I don’t think you want to do that,” I said. “There’s a few people you’ll tick off if you try to shoot
me.”
“Try?” He laughed. “I like your spunk, so what do you say we make a deal?”
“And what’s that?” I asked, taking a step closer.
“How about I kill this worthless bastard first?”
“If you kill him, then no deal.”
“Maybe I’m not in the mood to negotiate, after all.” He lifted his gun higher and pulled the trigger.
Ronnie let out a screech as the bullet hit the tree to the right of me. I caught a glimpse of him
racing off toward the open field as I dropped flat onto the ground, grateful there weren’t any dry
leaves to give me away.
The gunman released another shot that went to my left, confirming he couldn’t see me, then spun
around and called out to Ronnie. “Where do you think you’re goin’?” He shot in Ronnie’s direction,
but from my vantage point, I could tell he’d shot too high to intend on actually hitting him. It was just a
warning shot. That was something to keep in mind.
Ronnie released a grunt then dropped flat on the ground in the field, covering his head with his
arms.
The gunman let out a disgusted groan as he started walking toward Ronnie, now pointing the
weapon at him. “Maybe I should kill you first and be done with it. You always were an annoying
twat.”
I quickly got to my feet and stepped away from the trees, my weapon trained on the man’s mid-
section. “Remember, I’m not makin’ a deal with you if he’s dead, so you better think this through.”
The gunman stopped walking and laughed. “Seems to me you’d be happy to be free of him after
what he did to you.”
His knowledge of Ronnie’s deception seemed to confirm he was with Hardshaw. “True,” I said,
moving closer, now standing next to the car, “but shootin’ almost seems too good for him, you know
what I mean?”
“Neely Kate!” Ronnie shouted in protest, still cowering in the open field.
The gunman laughed and shifted his weight as he slowly turned to face me, keeping his gun trained
on Ronnie. He looked shorter than six feet, but his bulky muscles made up for his lack of height.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said, slowly taking a few steps closer. “But I do know that negotiatin’
with guns pointed at each other isn’t the best idea.”
“I beg to differ,” he said, looking a little too sure of himself to suit me. “All that pressure tends to
provide a useful advantage.”
 For him. He was obviously used to holding guns on people. “You want the money,” I said, “and I
want to get even with my wayward husband, but we have one small problem.”
He put one foot in front of himself, shifting his weight slightly. “And what’s that?”
“I’m not givin’ you the money.”
“Then there’s nothing stoppin’ me from shooting this asshole.” Quick as a wink, he turned,
pointing his gun at Ronnie.
“Stop!” My instincts took over and I squeezed the trigger, aiming for the guy’s head as he turned to
glance at me.
Ronnie released a cry as the gunman dropped to the ground with a thud.
 CHAPTER 24

M y head exploded with panic, but I kept my arm extended as I inched my way closer to
the gunman.
Ronnie scrambled to his feet. “What did you do?”
“You’re welcome for saving your sorry ass,” I said in disgust. “Thanks for stickin’ around to help
me.”
“You’re the one with the gun,” he protested. “I would have only been in the way.”
“You made a nice target runnin’ off like that,” I said, shifting the bag to my back as I came to a
stop next to the gunman, who lay on his side. “Check and make sure he’s dead.”
“I’m not touchin’ him!” Ronnie shouted.
“Oh for Pete’s sake,” I groaned as I pushed the gunman’s shoulder with the heel of my boot. He
rolled onto his back, his vacant eyes staring.
I turned the gun’s safety back on and tucked it behind my back as Ronnie moved closer.
“Jesus Christ, Neely Kate,” he said in shock. “You shot him dead center in the forehead. When did
you get to be such a great shot?”
I turned to face him, scrunching my nose in disbelief. “Was it all a lie?”
He took a few steps back. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“You and me. I know you were only with me because Hardshaw made you, but did you care about
me at all?”
His eyes softened. “Neely Kate. Of course I did or I wouldn’t have shown up lookin’ for you.”
“Maybe so, but the more I think about it, the more I realize you never really knew me at all.”
When he didn’t respond, I pressed on. “I sort of understand why you married me, but havin’ babies
with me was a whole other thing. Why did you agree to it? Did you plan on abandonin’ us once
Hardshaw set you free?”
His face hardened. “That fall I realized there was no goin’ back to my old life. No just walkin’
away. I was gonna be stuck with you for life, so I figured one of us should be happy.”
I gasped, surprised that he still had the ability to hurt me.
He held out his hand. “Let’s be done with this, Neely Kate. Go our separate ways. Hand over the
money and I’ll take it to Hardshaw, then we’ll both be free.”
I studied him, wondering if I’d ever known him at all. “I know you ran from Hardshaw. So why
would I believe you would take this money to them now?”
His hand shook slightly, but he didn’t take it back—he held it out farther. “They just want the
money, Neely Kate. I’ll give it to them, and they’ll leave us both alone.”
“No,” I said. “You’re gonna take it and run. Then they’ll still be after me.” I gestured to the guy
behind me. “How’d he know you’d be here?”
“He was the one who called me.”
Shaking my head, I pushed out a huge sigh. Kate. “I take it you knew him.”
“He was my handler.”
I nodded, mulling everything over. Kate had implied everything would go back to normal if I
turned over the money, and thus the evidence that Carson had his hand in the counterfeit ring. Only that
wasn’t entirely true. Hardshaw was still descending on Fenton County, money or no money. Kate had
set that in motion, and it wasn’t going away unless we made it go away.
Mason had asked me if I had people protecting me. It occurred to me that I held the power to
protect a whole county.
I glanced down at the bag at my hip.
“Give me the money, Neely Kate,” Ronnie said, sounding more insistent than I’d ever heard him.
“No,” I said, “I’m turning it over to the authorities.” But which ones? I could turn it over to
Mason, but would that hurt Rose? Besides, Hardshaw was in Texas. I needed to think bigger.
“Have you lost your mind?” Ronnie asked. “Is this some vendetta against me? A plan to make me
come back to you?”
“Are you serious right now?” I demanded. “I don’t want you! You couldn’t pay me enough money
to take you back. I want to be free of you!”
“Then what are you doin’, Neely Kate?”
“We need to stop Hardshaw.”
Ronnie started laughing.
“This isn’t funny, Ronnie!”
He kept laughing, although he choked out, “No, it’s definitely not.”
“Then why are you laughin’?”
“Because you’re deluded. Look at what you did, Neely Kate! You just killed a man! You think you
can call the police?”
“Did you really believe he was gonna let us go?” I released a snort. “Look who’s deluded now.”
When he didn’t respond, I said, “Hardshaw’s comin’ to Fenton County and this is my chance to stop
them. I’m givin’ the authorities the money. Let the chips fall where they may.”
That didn’t mean I had to stick around and accept responsibility for killing the Hardshaw man. An
anonymous call would have the same effect. I considered leaving the bag of money with his body, but
I didn’t feel the need to tell Ronnie that. If I did, he’d probably lie in wait and try to snatch the money
himself.
“You can’t do that, Neely Kate. If you get the police involved, Hardshaw’s gonna think I had
something to do with it.”
I shot him a look of disbelief. “They’d think you shot someone in the forehead? Have you ever
even pointed a real gun at someone?”
Shame washed over his face.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s what I thought. I’ll deal with this, just like I’ve dealt with everything
else.” When he stared at me in confusion, I pointed toward the farmhouse. “Get the hell out of here
and run. You’re really good at that, aren’t you?”
Anger filled his eyes. He started to say something then stopped, his anger bleeding out. “I never
meant to hurt you, but I was stuck. I made some stupid mistakes when I was seventeen. They helped
me get out of some burglary charges, but in exchange, I had to promise to help them with something
whenever the time came. I was young and dumb. I figured no sweat. And the fact that I never heard
from them again? Even better. Nearly two years ago, they came to me and said they had a job for me.
A big one. They needed a blue collar guy. Fairly clean cut. Nice guy type. They thought you’d fall for
someone like that—me—and not any of the guys on their payroll. It helped that we already knew each
other. I told them I’d just married Amanda. I couldn’t start a fake relationship with someone else, in
Arkansas no less. But they said they’d kill my wife if I didn’t.”
I didn’t say anything, just looked away.
“You have one of the kindest hearts I know,” Ronnie said. “I thought about confessin’ it all to you
a million times because I knew you’d understand.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“I figured why hurt you too.”
I swung my gaze back to him. “Surely you planned to go back to her.”
“I’d hoped to, but I wasn’t sure it would happen. Amanda knew Hardshaw had sent me on a job,
but she didn’t know what it entailed. In any case, it all just kept snowballin’ out of control, and the
next thing I knew they had me tryin’ to infiltrate Mick Gentry’s group. I was sweatin’ bullets—I’m no
criminal. Then I found out that Rose was part of it, only she was on the opposite side. I was genuinely
scared for you, Neely Kate, but I couldn’t tell you nothing, so I tried to get you to distance yourself
from her. You know that went over like a lead balloon. When Gentry was killed, I knew my handler
would be pissed that I’d gotten absolutely nothin’ from him. They wanted me to hurt you to get you to
tell me where the money was, but like I told them a million times before, you didn’t know nothing
about the money.” He shook his head. “They didn’t care. So I ran. I felt awful because the timin’ was
so bad. I knew how tore up you were about losin’ those babies.”
Tears stung my eyes at the mention of my babies. “You bastard!” I shouted. “You blamed me for
losin’ the babies! And you didn’t even want them!”
 “I know, Neely Kate, but I was confused.” His voice broke. “When you almost died…I realized
how much I really did like you.” He licked his lower lip, then lowered his voice, holding his hand out
toward me. “I think I loved you.”
“You think?”
“Did you really love me?” he asked quietly. “Really?”
I didn’t answer, instead turning my side to him. “I was already hurtin’ over our babies, and then
you turned away from me after the doctor told us why I’d never get pregnant again. You were
disgusted by me.”
He took a few steps then said, “I was disgusted by the whole situation. Hardshaw had brought me
in because they thought you’d go for a nice boy, then I found out you’d slept around with God knows
how many men in Ardmore…” His voice hardened as he shot me a glare. “And now you’re sleepin’
with Jed Carlisle? I gave up my life for nothin’!”
He was right. He’d given up everything to return to Henryetta—and then he’d lost his new life,
too. “But you didn’t lose Amanda,” I said. “And you saved her life. So you didn’t lose everything.”
“She’s different now,” he said, not meeting my eye. “She changed after she found out you and I
were sleepin’ together.”
“Oh.” Then I added, “But if you want me to say I’m sorry, that’s not happenin’. My life was ruined
too.”
Anger filled his eyes. “I never asked you to apologize.” He pointed to the bag at my hip. “But I am
askin’ you to give me the money. I need a fresh start, Neely Kate.”
“And I need to find a way to protect Fenton County, Ronnie. Are you really sayin’ your life takes
precedence over a whole county full of people?”
His jaw clenched. “A whole county of people aren’t gettin’ hurt. Only the criminals, and you reap
what you sow.”
My heart hurt at his callousness. “That’s bullshit and you know it. Whenever Hardshaw moves
into a city, the crime rate drastically increases—burglaries, rape…murder.” Seeing he was unmoved,
I decided to make it more personal. I lifted my chin. “Rose is pregnant and in Hardshaw’s crosshairs.
If we don’t try to stop them, they’re gonna hurt her.”
“She reaped what she sowed, Neely Kate,” he said in a half-pleading, half-angry voice. “With all
that Lady in Black nonsense.”
“And what about me, Ronnie? I guess I reaped what I sowed when all those men screwed me in
Ardmore. A slut like me doesn’t deserve to be a mother.”
“I never said that.”
“But you sure as hell thought it.”
His silence was answer enough.
“I was raped,” I whispered, but his head jerked up and he stared at me with wide eyes. “I was
held against my will and sold to man after man after man until one man nearly killed me and I got
away.” My voice hardened. “And I took his bag of money with me.” I took a step closer. “I paid for
this money with my body, my soul, and the chance to have more babies.” Poking his chest, I said
through gritted teeth, “So if anyone is owed this money, it’s me, Ronnie Colson.”
His eyes flew wide in shock. “Neely Kate. I didn’t know…”
“There’s a world full of information you don’t know, so keep your judgin’ to yourself.”
For a moment, I thought he was going to leave willingly, but the phone in my pocket rang and he
took a step back, his back stiffening. “Is that your criminal boyfriend?”
That pissed me off. “I don’t know, criminal bigamist. Let me check.”
I took several steps away from him to the back of his car, keeping him in sight as I pulled my
phone out of my pocket and checked the screen.
Jed. But then it stopped ringing and the screen said no service.
“Dammit!” I walked several feet from the car. One bar popped up and I quickly placed the call.
“Neely Kate,” he answered, sounding leery.
“Are you at the farm yet?” I asked in a rush.
“I’m here,” Jed said slowly. “And so is Kate.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Is she threatenin’ you?”
“Let’s just say she currently has the upper hand.”
“I’m coming,” I said, running a hand over my head as I kept Ronnie and the dead man in my line of
sight. “I promise, I’m coming.”
I hung up and raced for the driver’s door.
“Where do you think you’re goin’?” Ronnie asked.
“I’m goin’ to save my boyfriend from my sister. I suggest you stay here, far from the barrel of
Kate’s gun.”
“You keep talkin’ about your sister, Kate. Kate who?”
I laughed. “You really are out of the loop.” Then I added, “Kate Simmons.”
His eyes flew wide. “Wait. What?”
“That’s right. Remember how I always wanted to find my father? Well, turns out he was J.R.
Simmons.”
He shook his head as though trying to clear it. “That would make Joe Simmons your brother.”
“Look at you,” I said in a derisive tone as I opened the driver’s door. “It’s like you’re a geneticist
all of a sudden.”
“Neely Kate…” Then his gaze narrowed and his jaw ticked. “I need that money. I can’t let you
leave with it.”
I tossed my gun onto the floorboard of the driver’s seat, then slammed the door shut and turned to
face him. “Did you just say you can’t let me?”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Neely Kate.”
My brows shot up to my hairline. “You don’t want to hurt me.” I snorted. “It’s okay, Ronnie. You
can go ahead and try, because I have absolutely no intention of givin’ it to you.”
He moved closer, looking more unsure of himself.
“Smart man,” I said in disgust. “You should look scared of me.”
“You’d shoot me, Neely Kate?”
“I don’t have the gun on me, you fool. I tossed it into the car. I had to try to make it somewhat fair
for you. I’d tie a hand behind my back, but I don’t have any rope.” I patted the bag at my side. “How
about I just hold onto the money. That should even things up.”
Anger flooded his eyes. “Are you insinuating you can beat me up?”
“Insinuatin’? By all means, no. I’m not insinuatin’ any such thing.”
A smug look curled his lip. “Good, because—”
I put my hands on my hips. “I’m flat out tellin’ you I can beat you up.”
“I’ll fight you if I have to,” he said, taking a sidestep toward me. “I need that bag.”
“Then come get it,” I taunted. “Unless you’re scared of a five-foot-four blonde woman.” I cocked
my head. “You’ve got a good half foot on me and at least eighty pounds based on the paunch you’ve
got under that baggy shirt.” I waggled my fingers at him. “Come on. Come get it.”
He lunged for me and I lifted my left hand and throat punched him as he approached with his arms
wide, likely intending to pin my arms to my sides. Staggering backward, he made a gagging sound as
his hands lifted to his neck.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I asked.
His face reddened and, still gagging, he lunged for me again, this time with an upraised fist. When
he was close enough, I wrapped both hands around his wrist and spun around, pressing my back to his
chest, then dropped to my knees and jerked him forward, flipping him onto his back.
He groaned, tears filling his eyes as he looked up at me with a mix of confusion and fear.
“I can keep this up all day, Ronnie. Let it go.”
“When did you learn to fight like that?” he whispered, wincing with each word.
“Long before I met you, but didn’t want you to feel threatened by little ol’ me, so I kept it to
myself. You weren’t the only one who compromised yourself. I gave up a lot of myself to try to make
you happy.” I placed my foot on his crotch, pressing slightly. “But screw that. If a man can’t handle
me, then that’s his loss.” I pressed harder. “It’s your loss, Ronnie.” He cried out and I removed my
foot, taking a couple of steps backward. “Now tell me you release all claim to this money.”
He pressed his lips together, clearly pissed but too scared to make another move.
“Ready for round two then?” I asked in a playful voice. “This time I start breakin’ bones.”
“Fine!” he shouted in a panic. “It’s yours.”
“No, now it belongs to the Secret Service, but I’ll accept your surrender.” I spun around and
headed for the car.
“You’re just gonna leave me here?” he shouted as he sat up. “You’re gonna take my car?”
“Call Amanda. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to pick you up.” I opened the car door and
stared at him before I climbed in. “Oh, and Ronnie? You might want to wait for her someplace else.
This field’s about to be swarming with all kinds of law enforcement officers.” I got in the car and
drove past him, giving him a finger waggle goodbye, happy he was finally out of my life for good.
 CHAPTER 25

I didn’t hide the fact that I was pulling up to the garage. There was no point. Kate knew I
was coming, so I might as well walk in as big as I pleased. I stuffed the gun in the back of
my waistband, hoping I wouldn’t need it. I had no delusions about what Kate was, but we’d formed
some weird kind of bond, and wrong as it might be, I hated the thought of having to shoot her. I’d
rather turn her over to the police.
“Kate,” I called out as soon as I opened the car door. “I’m here.”
“We’re in the back,” she called from the garage.
They were by the work table. One of them had relit the lantern and Jed was sitting on the floor
with his hands tied behind his back, secured to the table leg. Kate was standing to the side, cradling a
rifle in her arms.
“I take it you and Ronnie had a good talk,” she said with a smile.
“We hashed things out,” I said nonchalantly as I walked closer, not wanting to set her off.
“And Sebastian?” she asked.
I forced a laugh even though I was reeling at the reminder. I’d just taken a man’s life. “His name
was Sebastian?”
“Was?” she asked hopefully.
She’d obviously wanted him dead for some reason—likely for something mundane like stepping
on her shoe. “I took care of your dirty work if that’s what you’re askin’.”
A huge smile spread across her face. “I didn’t doubt you. And your bigamist husband?”
“I made sure I’ll never hear from him again.” I knew she’d presume that meant I’d killed him. It
seemed like the safest way to get her to leave him alone. I felt bad that he’d been forced into this
situation, but he’d made plenty of bad choices, especially tonight. Still, he’d paid for his choices, and
as far as I was concerned, we were even.
As I suspected, that pleased her even more. “So all that we have left is Mr. Sexy here.”
I moved between her and Jed, tilting my head as I narrowed my eyes. “He’s mine, Kate.”
“I thought sisters shared.”
“Not him.”
 She made an exaggerated pout. “That’s disappointing.”
“Would you have shared Nick?” I asked quietly, without malice or goading.
Her entire body stiffened. “Don’t you bring him into this.”
“Kate,” I said softly, moving one more step closer. “You said the hardest part of losing your baby
was knowing that it was half Nick.” I gave her a small smile. “That’s love, Kate. You loved him with
everything in you. He was your soul mate.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“That’s how I feel about Jed. He’s my soul mate.”
She curled her upper lip. “You can’t know that.”
“I do,” I said, reaching for her forearm and holding on. I ignored the cold metal of the rifle barrel
that brushed my knuckle. “Every man before him made me feel like I wasn’t good enough, smart
enough, rich enough, pretty enough. But Jed…he makes me feel like I’m enough. Just the way I am.”
Her eyes softened, and she glanced over my shoulder at him. “Do you love her?”
“More than my own life,” he said in a firm voice. “I’d give up everything to keep her safe.”
His answer seemed to confuse her. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
She turned her attention to me. “So he’s really what you want?”
I couldn’t help thinking this was a test. “Jed’s not an all-or-nothing deal, Kate. I have plenty of
room left in my heart for you. And Joe. And—”
“And Rose Petal,” she said, the words thick with disgust.
“Yes,” I said evenly. “And Rose. She believed in me before anyone else, then the others followed.
You seemed to be late catchin’ on, but I won’t hold your tardiness against you.”
She stared at me with a blank expression, then started laughing. It took her a moment to settle
down, but when she did, she turned serious.
“I don’t know what you had planned for Jed,” I said softly, “but I’m beggin’ you to let it go. If you
care about me at all, Kate, you’ll never want me to go through the pain you felt with Nick.”
Tears filled her eyes again. “We haven’t spent enough time together.”
“Just because you don’t hurt Jed doesn’t mean you and me are done.”
“You’re going back with him,” she said, sounding defeated.
“You’re my sister, Kate,” I said. “I can love you both.”
Her face lit up, but she quickly covered her reaction. “You don’t love me.”
“You’ve answered questions I never would have gotten the answers to. You didn’t have to give
them to me. You didn’t have to share your heart.” I paused, holding her gaze. She was a monster.
She’d done horrendous things, but she was family. Like she’d told Rita, it was possible to detest
someone and love them at the same time. I could detest what she’d done with everything in me and
still care about her. “Of course I love you, Kate. You’re tryin’ to save me.”
“After putting you in danger in the first place.”
 I shrugged. “So you made a few mistakes.”
She released a small laugh. “You need to learn to hold a grudge better, NK. Simmonses hold
grudges.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the future. But for now, I want the grudges between you and me to be
done, but I can’t be lookin’ over my shoulder, worried you’re gonna hurt me or the people I love.”
“You’re safe,” she said, then glanced down at the bag resting on my hip. “Or you will be as soon
as I take that money back to Carson.”
I steeled my back, prepared for a fight. “No. I’m gonna keep it.” Then I added, “I paid for this
money with my literal blood.”
She looked surprised. “I’m gonna get them off your back, Neely Kate.”
“I have my own plan.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
“You’re gonna have to trust me,” I said, echoing what she’d told me time and again over the last
couple of days.
I could see she didn’t want to. She wanted to take the money and hand it over to Carson herself.
Lowering her face to mine, she said in an undertone, “I need to make this right.”
“You already have,” I said. “You’re leaving Jed be and you’re lettin’ me handle the money. We’re
good.”
“So this is where we part ways?” she asked, sounding sad.
If I’d been smart, I would have called the police on the drive back to the garage, but I’d worried
Jed and I would get caught up in the mess. It would be impossible to call them and have them arrive
in time to catch her now. But I couldn’t help wondering if that wasn’t such a bad thing. Not yet. I knew
Kate had unfinished business with a few people back in Dallas. Hopefully she’d put a halt to what
she’d started. “You have to get back to Dallas to smooth things over. Who knows what Paula
Manchester is up to.” Then I added, “That is, if you want to go back. Maybe you should just run.”
She slowly shook her head. “I’m not done with Hardshaw yet.”
I’d been counting on that answer. I wasn’t done with them either, not by a long shot, but now
didn’t seem like a good time to tell her that.
“If we were a normal family, this is where we’d hug,” she said. “But I’m not a hugger.”
“Too bad,” I said, lifting my arm around her neck and pulling her close, the barrel of her gun
pressed against my chest. “I am.”
She barely hugged me back, but I took it as a good sign that she didn’t shove me away or shoot
me.
“Mr. Sexy’s car key fob is in his pocket. And sorry about his headache.” She wandered over to
him, staring down at him as though he were an exhibit at a zoo. My heart started to race when she
squatted only a couple of feet away from him, resting the rifle across her thighs.
I started to reach around my back for my gun. “Kate…”
 “Calm down, little sis,” she said, casting a glance back at me before turning her focus back to Jed.
“You better do my sister right, or I’ll come back and make you sorry for the day you met her.”
Jed’s jaw clenched as he stared up at her. “I’ve never hurt her. Ever. All I’ve ever done is protect
her…unlike you.”
Her mouth lifted into a grin, but she didn’t look as certain as before, which made me nervous.
“Things change, Mr. Sexy.”
“Not for me,” he said. “I will always do whatever it takes to protect Neely Kate, do you
understand what I’m sayin’?”
Kate’s back tensed. “You’re not exactly in a place to be negotiating.”
“Who the hell said I was negotiatin’?” he spat. “I’m doin’ my damnedest to threaten you.”
I sucked in a breath, ready to pull out my gun and shoot her if need be. Still, I let Jed say his
piece, because he needed to, and I couldn’t help thinking she needed to hear it.
A smile stretched across her face. “Oh, I hear you. I hear you loud and clear. And as a reward for
being so loyal to my sister, I’ll give you a special present.” She leaned into his ear and whispered
something I couldn’t hear. After a few seconds, she leaned back and asked, “Can you remember that?”
He looked up at her with a healthy dose of skepticism. “Yeah. I can remember.”
“Good.” She stood and gave me one last look. “As long as he’s good to you, I’ll do my best to
make sure he’s safe. But if he hurts you, all bets are off.”
I suspected that was the best I would get from her for now. “Understood.”
She started to stride for the open garage door, then turned back to face me, giving me a mock
salute as she walked out of the garage. Less than ten seconds later, she tore down the long driveway
in her fancy car.
I hurried over to Jed and dropped onto my knees next to him. “What did she tell you?”
“The PIN to the Murray Portfolio.”
I shook my head. “The thing you’ve been tryin’ to get out of her for months?”
“One and the same, but fat lot of good it’ll do me now. That’s Skeeter’s concern—part of his
entanglement with Hardshaw, I suspect. I’d never heard of it before he sent me to the hospital to ask
about it.”
“You mean he needs the PIN and you don’t intend to give it to him?”
“I sure as hell don’t.”
I studied him for a moment, wondering if he felt any guilt about turning his back on his best friend,
but the way Jed saw it, Skeeter had turned on him first. ”Okay. So you keep it safe until maybe you
find a use for it?”
“Exactly. And we keep it to ourselves. Just the two of us. Not even Rose can know.”
She didn’t need the reminder of Skeeter’s betrayal. Plus, if she changed her mind about him, she
might let it slip. “Agreed.”
Jed winced, reminding me of what Kate had said about giving him a headache.
 “Did she hurt you?”
“She got the jump on me. My own fault for underestimatin’ her.” His eyes hardened as they trained
on the open garage door. “You’re seriously lettin’ her go?”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing my phone out of my back pocket and turning on the flashlight. “I’m lettin’
her go.”
“You shouldn’t have done that, Neely Kate.”
“I understand why you think so, but I’m goin’ with my gut. She’s gonna help take down Hardshaw
from within.” His hands were bound to the heavy table leg with a zip tie, and there was no way I
could get it off with my bare hands. Nor could I lift the table, which turned out to be bolted to the
floor. “Do you have your pocket knife or did Kate take it?”
He fumed for a moment, then said, “It’s in my pocket.”
The bag on my hip put me off balance when I squatted, so I slipped it over my head and set it on
the work table.
His gaze, still dark with irritation, sought mine. “What are you plannin’ to do with the money?”
“Do you want to know the truth or the lie I just told Kate?”
“The truth,” he said. “Always the truth.”
I squatted in front of him. “It’s half counterfeit.” When he started to protest, I pressed a kiss to his
lips to silence him. He remained still for a second, then groaned and started to kiss me back. I nearly
forgot where we were and what I was doing, but I finally rocked back on my heels and said, “The
counterfeits have about twenty different serial numbers and are mixed with real bills.”
“I didn’t see it.” The disappointment on his face hurt my heart.
“Jed, it fooled South American drug lords, and Hardshaw gave them hundreds of thousands of this
stuff. Why would you pick up on it when all you had was a measly ten grand?”
“Still…”
I kissed him again, keeping it shorter this time but showing him how much I loved him. “I missed
you,” I whispered against his lips.
“I missed you too. Now cut me loose so we can get out of here before Kate changes her mind.”
“She won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” he insisted. “You can’t trust her.”
“I trust her in this,” I said. “Do you want to know about the money?”
“Tell me as you cut me loose.”
I slipped the knife out of his pocket and cut the plastic band as I told him about the abrupt ending
to Carson’s partnership with Derrick Smith and how Pearce had stolen the money and planned to use
most of it to buy me.
As soon as Jed’s hands were loose, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his lap.
“So what do you plan to do with the money?” he asked.
“You’ve always worn gloves when you handled it, haven’t you?”
 A leery look filled his eyes. “The bills but not the bag. Why?”
“I know how to take down Hardshaw from the inside out.”
“How?”
“Carson Roberts’ fingerprints are all over the money. It’s the evidence connecting him to the
counterfeiter ring.”
“So Carson gets arrested and weakens the group.”
“Carson doesn’t have an heir to take over his position, not to mention he and his dad before him
seemed to be the brains of the operation.” I gave Jed a hopeful look. “A weakened Hardshaw could
save Fenton County.”
“Or,” Jed said, “it could make them come at us with a vengeance.”
“It’s better than just handing the money over to them.”
“What about Kate? It sounds like she’s in thick with them. Won’t you set her off?”
That was the part that worried me. Kate was unpredictable, and when it came down to it, I just
wasn’t sure. While I hoped she’d help bring Hardshaw down, I certainly couldn’t count on it. “She
doesn’t love him, so unless it interferes with whatever she’s got cookin’ up, I don’t think so. What I
don’t understand is what she’s after now. She wanted revenge on J.R., which was why she started this
whole ball rollin’, and she got it. But now…I don’t know why she’s invested other than keepin’ me
safe.”
“Handing the money over to the authorities…” He was silent for a moment as he pondered the
ramifications, then said, “It’s risky, Neely Kate. Risky to you.”
“I know, but I haven’t touched the layer on the bottom. Maybe we could leave it with the dead
body out in the field.”
“No. We’d need to make it more direct.”
“So maybe we mail it to them. We could just send them a few bundles, not all of it.”
“And hope Carson Roberts’ fingerprints are on them? He might not have touched it all.”
“It’s still worth the shot if we can get them to arrest him. He’ll be too distracted to care about
Fenton County.”
He nodded after a few seconds, although he looked grim. “I guess it’s worth the risk.”
“Good, now let’s go,” I said, getting to my feet, then reached out to help him up. “I’m ready to get
out of here.”
He stood and wrapped an arm around my back, steering me toward the open garage door. When
he saw Ronnie’s car, he did a double take, probably mistaking it for my older clunker of a car, then
shook his head. “Ronnie’s?”
“Yeah.”
His back tensed. “That’s a message if I ever saw one.”
I stopped short. “What’s that mean?”
He turned to face me. “Ronnie Colson may have used you, but he loved you in the end. It was
either hurt you or run, and he chose to run.” He paused. “You didn’t kill him, did you?” he asked,
slowly reaching for my hand and threading our fingers together.
“No,” I said, looking up at him. “I didn’t. But I did kill Sebastian.” What worried me was the lack
of suffocating guilt. While I was sure his eyes would haunt my sleep for a while, I knew he likely
would have killed me and Ronnie both. That made the whole thing easier to live with. Or maybe I
was just getting used to killing people.
Maybe I really was a Simmons at heart.
“Do you still love Ronnie, Neely Kate?” Jed asked quietly, for the first time sounding uncertain
about where he stood with me.
Still holding his gaze and his hand, I shook my head. “No. I never really loved him. I just thought I
did.”
“And now?”
I took a step closer and pressed my chest to his. “Jed, I meant what I said to Kate. You’re my soul
mate. This is real love.” I gave him a watery smile as his face turned blurry through my tears. “I love
you so much. Don’t you ever doubt how much you mean to me.”
He gave a single nod and swallowed, then said, “I had to be sure.”
“Now that that’s settled, take me home.”
“Gladly.”
 CHAPTER 26

W e didn’t head directly home, instead driving into to Fayetteville, Arkansas to spend
the night. During the drive, I told Jed everything about the trip and the information
Kate had given me. He asked questions, but by the time we pulled into the parking lot of the nice hotel
he’d booked online while I drove, it was clear he was good and tired of my half-sister.
Kate had driven off with my bag of clothing and toiletries, but Jed always kept a packed bag in his
car, a leftover habit from when he’d be sent away at a moment’s notice at Skeeter’s orders. Each of us
carried a bag—him, his overnight bag; me, the money—as we walked hand in hand into the hotel to
check in.
When we reached the check-in counter, he wrapped his arm around my back, holding me close. I
gave him a questioning glance, and he leaned into my ear and whispered, “Sorry. I need to hold onto
you so I know you’re not gonna disappear on me.”
I smiled up at him. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” he said, tugging me closer.
We finished the paperwork and got the room key, then headed to the elevator. Once we were
inside, a wave of exhaustion flooded me, but it was balanced by another sensation: relief. I finally
had answers. We had a weapon to use against Hardshaw. And the most understanding man in the
world had his arm around me.
I glanced up at him, and when his gaze instantly found mine, a new wave slammed into my chest.
Jed had endured so much with me and he’d never once blamed it on me, instead, offering unwavering
love and support. My thoughts went back to Ronnie’s behavior tonight, and it struck me again that the
men were like night and day.
Ronnie Colson had done me a favor the day he’d run off. Otherwise, I’d never have known the
love of the man beside me.
“Thank you,” I said.
His arm tightened around my back, pulling me closer to his side. “For what?”
“So, so many things,” I said, feeling overwhelmed with emotion. “First, thank you for loving me,
despite the chaos of my life.”
 He leaned over and kissed me. “Neely Kate, loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It’s
like breathing.”
I stared up at him in amazement. “How do you always know the perfect thing to say?”
He looked stricken. “I’m not feedin’ you lines, NK.”
“I know,” I said, resting my hand on his chest. “I didn’t mean it like that. You just always seem to
know what I need.”
Adoration filled his eyes. “Now look who knows the perfect thing to say.”
The elevator doors opened on our floor and we stepped out. It was well after midnight on a
Sunday night, so we were the only people in the hall. Jed didn’t waste any time letting us into our
room and locking the door behind us. He tossed his bag onto the dresser, then pulled the strap of my
bag from over my head and dropped it next to his.
He turned to face me and the raw hunger in his eyes stole my breath.
“I don’t have any clothes to wear tomorrow,” I whispered. “I don’t have anything to sleep in.”
He slowly reached for my face, his thumb brushing my cheekbone. “If you think you need
somethin’ to sleep in, then I’m doin’ this wrong.”
I laughed, despite the fact he was in full-on seduction mode.
He grinned. “Do you know why I call you sunshine?”
I stepped closer and reached for the hem of his T-shirt, letting my fingertips brush the skin on his
taut stomach. “No.”
He gently placed a finger under my chin and lifted my gaze to his. “Because you fill my life with
so much joy and happiness. You warm my heart and make me feel like I’ve finally found a home.
You’re the closest thing to sunshine I’ll ever get.” He leaned down and kissed me, softly at first, but
his hunger for me took over. His hand sank into my hair, deepening our kiss as his free hand reached
for the zipper at my back.
As soon as he had it unzipped, he pushed the dress over my shoulders, then stepped back to look
at me. The top half of the dress rested at my waist, so I pushed it over my hips and let it fall to the
floor.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” Jed said, his voice tight with emotion.
A shiver ran down my spine. “You’re pretty gorgeous yourself,” I said with a smile. “But this is a
bit unfair.”
He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the side, where it landed on the floor, then
reached for the button of his jeans.
“Let me do it.” I brushed his hand away, taking over. “It’s like unwrappin’ a gift.”
He grinned at me.
I slowly lowered his zipper, making sure to tease his growing erection with my knuckles.
He sucked in a breath and a fire ignited in my groin. His reactions to me always turned me on
even more.
 Slipping my hand inside the front of his jeans, I wrapped my hand around him, over his
underwear, making slow even strokes.
“I want to touch you, Neely Kate,” he groaned, keeping his hands fisted at his sides.
I looked up at him, amazed that he still respected and loved me enough to ask to touch me every
time we made love. He knew that my previous trauma still haunted me at times, and he was
understanding enough to realize my now-decreasing moments of panic had nothing to do with him and
everything to do with my PTSD from my multiple rapes.
“Touch me, Jed,” I whispered, removing my hand from his jeans. “Show me how much you love
me.”
He reached behind my back and unfastened my bra, slowly dropping it to the floor. His mouth
lowered to mine as his hand cupped my breast. His thumb brushed lightly over my nipple, teasing it,
but it was enough to send a jolt of electricity straight to my groin. I moaned into his mouth.
“Bed,” he murmured against my lips, suddenly scooping me up into his arms and carrying me the
short distance to the bed. After pulling down the covers, he lowered me to the bed, then stripped off
his underwear and crawled in next to me. He lay on his side, smiling down at me as his gaze swept
over my nearly naked body. “How do you want me to show you how much I love you?”
He often asked me that too, giving me control, but I gave him the answer I’d been giving him more
lately. The answer that gave some of my control to him. “Surprise me.”
His gaze was so full of love and pride that it stole my breath. I’d meant it when I’d told Kate that
Jed was my soul mate. I could search the world over and never find another man who could treat me
half as good, who could love me half as much.
He pressed a line of kisses from my shoulder down to my breasts, kissing, licking, and sucking
until I was breathless and arching off the bed. Then he worked his way down my stomach until he
reached my panties. I sucked in a breath as he slipped them off, then released it as a moan when he
started stoking my already burning fire of passion with his fingers and his tongue.
Soon I was sinking my fingers into his short hair, holding him in place between my legs as my
head twisted on my pillow in my need for release. My need to feel even closer to him. “Jed…”
“Tell me what you want, Neely Kate.”
“You. I want you.”
“You already have me,” he said, brushing his lips against my inner thigh.
“Jed.”
He took mercy on me. Sometimes he made me be more direct, but tonight he kissed his way back
up my stomach, stopping to show his devotion to each breast, before his mouth found mine.
I wrapped one arm around his neck. “Jed. Please.”
He slipped an arm under my right thigh and lifted my leg higher as he slowly entered me, fully
seating himself in one thrust.
“Jesus, Neely Kate,” he grunted. “We can do this every day for the rest of our lives and I’ll never
get enough of you.”
His fullness added to the delicious pressure in my groin, and I moved underneath him, lifting my
hips to take him deeper. “Good thing we have the rest of our lives.”
He kissed me as he began to move, and I could tell he was trying to hold back, trying to be careful
in case my few days with Kate had brought back bad memories that might make me fragile. “Jed,” I
whispered.
He paused, searching my face with a worried look.
“I’m fine,” I said with a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to be careful.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Neely Kate, and I know not all wounds are on the outside.”
“You would never hurt me, Jed. Never. You’re incapable of it.” I lifted my hand to his face. “I
love you. I need you. I trust you. Show me how much you love me.” Then I raised my head to kiss
him.
He kissed me back with a hunger he’d been holding back, and I met and matched it with my own
need.
He began to move again, picking up the tempo and the pace.
I wrapped my legs around him, the pressure building tighter and tighter, and yet I could tell he was
still holding back.
“Give yourself to me, Jed,” I said, breathless. “Give me everything.”
He groaned as he slipped an arm under my side, his hand cradling my butt as he drove in even
deeper. My world exploded, wave after wave of release washing through me, and just as I started to
fall, Jed changed his angle and another orgasm slammed into me with an unexpected force. My world
shattered into pieces but for the first time, I truly gave myself to it, knowing Jed would be there to
pick up every piece.
When I started to climb out of my orgasm-induced daze, Jed was giving one last thrust as he
released a long groan. He collapsed next to me, panting.
It took nearly a minute for both of us to recover, but then Jed rolled onto his side, pulling me with
him so we were chest to chest.
Searching my face, he said with a soft smile, “I’m lookin’ forward to the rest of my life with you.”
Contentment washed through me. “Me too.”
“I want to marry you, Neely Kate.”
That gave me pause, and he noticed. “You seem hesitant.”
“I want to marry you too, Jed. You have no idea how much happiness the thought of being married
to you gives me. But now seems like a terrible time.”
He paused. “Do you want a big wedding?”
While we’d discussed getting married many times before, this was our first conversation about it
since we’d learned I was really a free woman. “Do you?”
“I want what you want, NK.”
 “But I’ve done the big wedding. I don’t need or want it.” I gave him a pointed look. “Unless you
do, and I need you to be honest if you do.”
“I don’t want a big wedding. Maybe a small one at our house next spring?” he said.
“Before Rose has her baby?”
He frowned. “I don’t know. Do you think we should wait?”
The thought of Rose having her baby filled me with equal parts happiness, sorrow, and jealousy.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
He looked lost in thought, then said, “I want to adopt.”
“A dog?” I asked, trying not to give in to my hopes.
He grinned. “A baby.”
I sucked in a breath.
His smile fell. “But we need to deal with Hardshaw first. I don’t want to bring a baby into this
mess.” He held my gaze. “In fact, we need to get it cleaned up before Rose has hers.”
“Agreed.”
“But I want to adopt,” Jed said, his earlier happiness returning. “Several times if you are open to
the idea.”
I gave him a long, lingering kiss.
When I pulled back, Jed grinned. “I take that is a yes?”
I laughed. “It’s definitely a yes.”
But the thought of Hardshaw stole part of my happiness, as well as reminding me of the discussion
we needed to have with Carly when we got home. “What we learned about Hardshaw…” I said, sad
that the real world was slipping back into our lives and our bed. “Where does this leave Carly?”
“Obviously, we need to tell her what you’ve learned,” he said quietly, his fingertips lightly
brushing up and down my arm. “Ultimately, it’s her decision.”
“But if you were to give her counsel,” I said, my words thick with dread, “what would you tell
her?”
He was silent for several seconds, then said, “You know.”
I nodded, my throat burning. I did know, but I was so tired of saying goodbye to the people I cared
about.
 CHAPTER 27

T he next day, I texted Rose, Joe, and Carly, asking them to meet us at Rose’s farmhouse
around three. I was concerned that Rose and Carly would have trouble getting away early
from work, but Rose insisted wild horses couldn’t keep her from seeing me straight away.
She was waiting on the porch when Jed pulled in front of the house, and she rushed down the
steps to meet me in the yard, pulling me into a tight hug when I got out. “You scared me to death.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not mad,” she said, still hugging me. “You had to track down your demons.” Again. I’d run
off from her twice, leaving her to worry and stew both times, and both times she’d welcomed me
back with open arms and a loving heart.
She leaned back and looked me in the eyes. “Did you get your answers?”
I nodded. “And some I wasn’t even looking for.”
Worry filled her eyes, but then Rose was always quick to pick up on things. She wrapped an arm
around my upper back and steered me toward the porch steps. “October is hittin’ us full force and
you’re not wearing a coat. Let’s get you inside.”
I glanced back at Jed. He gave me a soft smile and a nod.
Carly was waiting by the front door and she gave me a hug too, tears in her eyes. “I’m so grateful
you’re safe. We were all worried.”
I swallowed the burning lump in my throat, hugging her again. I knew it would have to last me.
Rose looked really concerned now so I said, “I’m fine. I promise.”
Carly went to the kitchen to make us all some tea while we waited for Joe.
He arrived a few minutes later and hugged me with such exuberance he lifted me clear off the
ground. “Thank God you’re safe and you’re home.”
“I missed you too.”
When he set me on my feet, he searched my face for bruises. “You’re sure she didn’t hurt you?
You’re not hidin’ it from me?”
“No, Joe. I’m fine.”
He hugged me again and kissed the top of my head. “I love you, NK. I need you.” His voice broke.
 I smiled up at him. “I need you too.”
Carly emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with three mugs. “Oh, Joe. Would you like me to
make you some tea?”
“No,” he said, releasing me again. “I’m good.”
“Did you find out anything else about the break-in at the attorney’s office?” I asked.
Joe shot Rose a worried look. “No. None of the neighbors saw a thing.”
We all sat down in the living room and I nursed my tea for a moment, trying to figure out where to
start. I was slightly worried about Carly’s reaction to Joe finding out her secrets, but he needed to
hear it all, and she had bigger concerns. After our stop in Little Rock this morning on the way home,
Jed was prepared to address them.
I might as well start at the beginning.
I launched into the story, starting with Kate showing up at the landscaping office.
Carly turned white as a sheet when I got to the part about her father being part of the crime
syndicate, but Rose grabbed her hand and squeezed, reassuring her that we were here for her.
That hurt my heart even more. If Carly left, she’d be on her own again, and I knew how that felt.
All too well.
When I finished nearly forty-five minutes later, having told them everything except for the more
personal parts of my conversations with Ronnie and Kate, Joe said, “I have a few questions.”
I nodded. “I would expect nothin’ less.”
“Do you really plan to send part of the money to the Secret Service?”
I prepared myself for an argument. “Yeah. I do.” I glanced at Jed, then back to my brother. “We’re
going to give it to them anonymously. We’re still figuring out the best way to make that happen, but
we’ll make sure they know what they’re getting so they can check for Carson Roberts’ prints.”
“Can I make a suggestion?”
“Yes…”
“Send part of it to the FBI too. Just to hedge your bets.”
My mouth parted in surprise. “Good idea.”
Jed tensed behind me, still not fully on board with the plan, but he’d agreed to let me take the
lead.
Joe asked a few more questions about Hardshaw and the counterfeit business. I told him what I
could, and when he’d exhausted his questions, we all sat in silence for several seconds.
“We need to figure out what’s next for you, Carly,” Jed said in a subdued tone.
Her eyes flew wide, then her gaze darted from me to Jed. Rose reached over and took her hand
again.
“You have several choices,” Jed said. “None of them ideal.”
“I suspected as much,” she said, keeping her gaze on him.
“One, you stay in Fenton County, but I’m certain they’ve either caught wind you’re here or will
soon enough. Hardshaw’s too big of a presence in this county for you to keep flyin’ under the radar.”
She was quiet for a moment, tears flooding her eyes. She swiped a stray one, then something about
her changed. Her back straightened, and while she still held Rose’s hand, it was as if she’d become
the comforter rather than the one in need of comforting. “Go on.”
“Two, you can go to the authorities, but it wouldn’t be an open and shut deal. They’d need
evidence that your father is involved. Do you have any?”
She shook her head. “Nothing but hearsay.”
Joe piped in, “They’d probably ask you to try to entrap your father. Wear a wire. Place bugs in his
office. They’d expect you to go back home.”
Her eyes filled with fire. “That’s not my home.”
Joe nodded. “If you go to the authorities with what you know, they’ll try to convince you to do it
anyway, tellin’ you how many people you’ll save, etcetera, etcetera, but I’ve never gotten the
impression you’re close to your father.” He held her gaze. “Knowin’ what I know now, I suspect you
saw something and took off runnin’, which means you’d be totally ineffective as a plant. I worry that
the Feds’ eagerness to get someone on the inside would make them take chances with your life.
Chances that aren’t worth what I would expect to be a very low payout. Your father would be unlikely
to confide in you and your life would be at risk for nothing.”
“What did you see, Carly?” I asked. “What made you run?”
Her gaze turned to me. “I overheard my father and Jake talking,” she said. “Jake was only
marrying me to be part of the oil company board.”
“But you heard more, didn’t you?” I said. This was the story she’d told Rose and me before.
For a moment, I wasn’t sure she’d tell us, but then she nodded. “They were talking about
Hardshaw, and how Jake would be transitioned into it. Jake told my father he never wanted me to
know about the real reason he was marrying me, that he genuinely cared about me even if he didn’t
love me. My father assured him they could keep all of the group’s discussion under the guise of
Blakely Oil business.” She paused and a distant look filled her eyes. “My father told Jake the real
issue would arise when it came time for him to pass on his position. I’m the one who would inherit it,
and while I could name Jake as my proxy—what would a woman like me understand about the
business?—my father suspected I would never go along with it. Jake agreed.” She released Rose’s
hand and lifted her chin. “My father told Jake that when the time came, Jake would be required to
make a hard choice, just as my father had done when he’d discovered that my mother had slept with
his brother.” Her jaw tightened. “That hard choice was to kill my mother. Everyone thinks she died in
a car accident, but it was my father’s doing. What’s worse—if that’s possible,” she said with a bitter
laugh, “is that my father encouraged Jake to get rid of me if that’s what he needs to do to clear the path
to take his place on the board.”
“How could a father condone the murder of his own child?” Rose asked in shock, then shook her
head. “I’d hoped J.R. Simmons was a rarity.”
 Carly turned to Rose, her face a carefully constructed mask of indifference. “Because it turns out
Randall Blakely is not my father. His brother is.”
Rose’s face paled. “Carly.”
“I suspect that’s why he never gave me the time of day after she died. He didn’t see me as his.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” Rose said defiantly. “I found out last year that my own mother wasn’t
my biological mother. She couldn’t look past it either. That makes them both fools.”
“My father’s a dangerous fool,” Carly said, getting to her feet and moving toward the front door.
“I need to tell you the real reason I came here.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rose said. “You’re part of our family now.”
“I truly believe that,” Carly said, her voice breaking, “which is why I need to tell you this.” She
turned to me, then Joe. “I’m not sure if your plan’s going to work. Carson Roberts isn’t the only one
with an interest in Fenton County. My father and Jake were discussing Henryetta and Fenton County
too. I didn’t understand what they were talking about, but that’s why I really came here. I had hoped to
get some answers about what they were up to, When you started talking about Hardshaw, I didn’t fully
trust you yet, and truth be told, I was scared. It didn’t take me long to figure out we were on the same
side, but in the beginning, I was scared you’d hold my father’s association with Hardshaw against me.
And then when I did trust you, I was too ashamed to admit I’d lied.”
“So you were lookin’ for us?” Rose asked without any recrimination.
“No,” Carly said, her eyes pleading with Rose. “Divine providence put me in your path. I swear.”
After no one said anything, Carly said, “I’m sorry if I put you in danger. I’ve been researching my
father’s involvement in Hardshaw online, trying to find anything useful, but I came up with nothing.”
Something in her posture told me she still wasn’t telling us everything.
“You found something,” I said softly.
Carly blushed. “I’ve been trying to find my uncle…well, I guess my biological father. He
disappeared around the time Mom died. I’m not sure if he knows about me.”
“We can help with that,” Jed said.
She shook her head. “No. With everything else going on right now, I think I need to put that on the
back burner.”
Jed gave her a nod. “If you change your mind…the offer stands.”
“Thank you.” Tears filled her eyes as she turned to Rose. “I’m so sorry. You took me in and I lied
to you. I was just…”
“Scared, like you said,” Rose said. “And we were strangers to boot. You’d just discovered you
couldn’t trust your own father and your best friend turned fiancé. How in heaven’s name could you
trust us?”
Carly gave her a shaky smile. “I trust you now.”
Rose nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. “I know, and that’s a gift I’ll cherish forever.”
Carly shifted her weight, looking resigned. “So what do you suggest I do, Jed? Because going
back is not an option.”
“The truth?” he said solemnly. “The safest thing you can do is run.”
Rose started to cry in earnest, and I pressed my knuckles to my lips in an effort to keep from
breaking down. I’d known this was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier.
Carly turned to me and Joe. “No objections?”
Joe shook his head as he got to his feet and started pacing in front of the study. “But it doesn’t
have to be permanent. Just until this all gets sorted out.”
“Will it get sorted out?” Carly asked. “Even if Hardshaw backs out of expanding into the county,
they’ll still exist. My father will still need me to marry Jake.” I almost gasped at that, and Carly
nodded. “Yeah. That’s why he’s looking for me. Jake can’t take over without our marriage, and now
that I know, I suspect they’ll shut me up permanently before the ink dries on the marriage license.”
Now I was even more determined to not only kick Hardshaw out of the county, but to burn it
down.
“You have to go,” Jed said, quietly, “but you also have to know that none of us wants you to
leave.”
Carly wiped a tear from her cheek. “I know. So what do I do?”
Jed took a breath. “You’re Charlene Moore now. So you can still go by Carly if you want. You’re
now twenty-nine, and your birthday is March 16. You were born in Michigan, and you’ve been living
in Atlanta for the past ten years, working in retail sales.” He paused. “I’m sorry. We tried to get
something set up with an education degree, but there just wasn’t time. That means you can’t be a
teacher anymore. Unless you go back to school and start over.”
She nodded, forcing a smile. “Maybe you were right before. This won’t be forever. Only until
Hardshaw gets taken down.”
“That’s right,” Jed said, meeting her gaze. “That’s our goal.”
“Then you can come home,” Rose said, her voice breaking.
Joe sat down next to Rose on the sofa and wrapped an arm around her back. She sank into him as
he pulled her to his side.
“You have a driver’s license,” Jed said. “A passport, a bank account with three thousand dollars,
a Social Security card, and a car registered in your name with Georgia plates. You’ll pick it all up in
Little Rock. The paperwork is almost ready, but they still need your photos for the IDs.”
She nodded, looking dumbstruck. “Okay.”
“But there’s one last thing you need to do,” he said, sounding reluctant. “Neely Kate can help
you.”
“Your hair,” I said. “You need to change your appearance. We need to cut and dye it.”
She reached for her long blonde hair, and I understood her reluctance. I’d feel the same way about
mine. “It’s just hair,” she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself just as much as us. “I
can change it back when this is all done.”
 I gave her a weak smile. “Do you want to be a brunette or a redhead? I brought dye for both.”
She laughed, but tears streamed down her face. “Brunette, and if I’m cutting it, I want one of those
cute shoulder-length bobs. I always wanted one of those but was too scared to try it.”
“I’ve cut my cousins’ hair,” I said, “but I’m not Rose’s Aunt Bessie. I considered having her do it,
but Jed said the fewer people who know about your hair change the better.”
She nodded. “Then let’s get started.”

TWO HOURS LATER, after I’d cut her hair into an angled bob and dyed it a rich chestnut, Rose and I
oohed and aahed, telling her we loved her new look. Rose suggested cutting her hair into a similar
style as a means of solidarity, but Jed convinced her against it, on account of it could give Hardshaw
a clue about Carly’s new appearance. Carly stared into the mirror, looking shell-shocked.
“It’s like looking into the face of a stranger,” she said, turning her head from side to side.
“You’ll get used to it,” I said encouragingly.
She gave me a sad smile. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Then she got up and finished packing,
handing her bags to Jed and Joe, who insisted on carrying them out to the trunk of her car.
Finally, she stood in the living room ready to say her goodbyes, and no one seemed to know what
to say.
Jed handed her a phone. “You can use this burner for now, but I suspect you’re gonna want a
smartphone, so once you get settled somewhere, use your new identity to get one. Your credit will be
good enough and no one will ask questions.”
She took the phone with a shaky hand. “Okay.”
Next, he held out a paper. “You’ll need to go straight there tonight to get your photo taken, but it
might take a couple of days to get all of your documents finalized.” He pointed to the second address
on the paper. “I’ve booked you a room for four nights at a motel in Sherwood, outside of Little Rock.
It’s prepaid, and they won’t ask questions.”
“Which means it’s not very nice,” I said. “You might need this.” I handed her the gun Kate had
given me. “I have no idea who it’s registered to, if it’s registered at all, so be careful with it. Use it
only as a last resort.”
She stared at the gun in horror as though it was contaminated with Ebola. But she reached for it,
checked to make sure the safety was on, then dropped it in her purse.
“There are also two email addresses on the paper,” Jed said. “The one with the login and
password is yours. The other is an account I set up to communicate with you. I’ve also included
directions on how to access a VPN. Be sure to use it every time you use this email account. Only call
if absolutely necessary, but feel free to email all you want. Neely Kate, Rose, and I are the only ones
with access.”
 She nodded. “Thank you. For everything. I can’t even imagine how much all of this cost to set
up…” Pride washed over her face. “I’ll pay you back, Jed. I swear.”
“You’re family, Carly. And family takes care of each other.”
She started to cry and Rose stepped forward, pulling her into a hug. “Jed’s right. You’re family. I
can’t even begin to thank you for everything you did for Violet. You are always welcome here and I’ll
be lookin’ forward to the day you come home.”
Carly laughed through her tears. “I’ve got to be home to meet your new baby.”
“That’s right,” Rose said. “You need to meet the baby.”
“If you run into legal trouble, call me,” Joe said. “I made Jed plug my number into your phone. I’ll
make sure you get an attorney—a good one—but try your best to fly under the radar. It’s the safest
way.”
“Thanks, Joe.” She reached for him and gave him a hug, then turned to Rose and hugged her again,
hanging on for several seconds.
“Do you know where you’ll go?” I asked when she turned to me.
She paused, as though weighing her words. “I think so, but I need to give it more consideration.”
She gave me a tight smile. “But it sounds like I’ll have plenty of time to figure it out while I’m waiting
in Little Rock.”
“Be safe,” I said. “And give us regular updates so we don’t worry ourselves sick.”
Carly hugged me tight. “I will.” Then she pulled free and looked up at Jed again.
Jed took her hand. “You’re strong enough to do this, Caroline Blakely, but if you ever think that
you’re not, we’re only a phone call or email away.”
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for several long seconds. “I’ll
never be able to repay you for this.” She released him and swung her gaze around the room as she
said, “Any of you.” Then she wiped her face with both hands and said, “Wish me luck.”
“I can do you one better,” Rose said, reaching for Carly’s arm and closing her eyes, and I knew
that she was forcing a vision of Carly’s future. Seconds later, she opened her eyes and gave Carly a
blank look as she said, “You’re gonna find a new family to love.”
Carly looked taken aback. “You think I can just replace you?”
Rose cupped her cheek and gave her a warm smile. “No. But it’s easier to let you go when I know
you’ll find other people to love you too.”
Carly gave her another hug. “Thank you for that.” Then she spun on her heels and walked out the
door, not stopping until she got into her beat-up car and started to back up.
We all stood on the front porch, watching, as Rose and I cried.
Just as Carly was about to drive away, she stopped and took one last look at us on the porch, as
though she was trying to commit us to memory. She gave us another wave and then drove away.
We all stood there for nearly a minute, none of us saying anything, still trying to wrap our heads
around the fact that Carly was gone.
 “So Hardshaw…” Joe said. “We have an added incentive to take them down.”
“Yep,” Jed said.
Joe turned to me. “The best place to start is with the money.”
I nodded, even more sure we needed to take them down. “Let’s get started.”

J OIN the Denise Grover Swank newsletter to read Rose’s journal entries for free on Denise’s
website, starting in the fall of 2019. Bonus content in the Magnolia Steele Mystery world will be
releasing in my newsletter starting in July 2019.

Read the continuation of Carly’s story:

A Cry in the Dark
Carly Moore #1
November 12, 2019

Preorder the next Rose Gardner Investigation book:

When the Bough Breaks
Rose Gardner Investigations #6
April 21, 2010
A L SO BY D EN ISE GROVER SWA N K

Rose And Neely Kate reading order:

Family Jewels
Trailer Trash
For the Birds
Hell in a Handbasket
In High Cotton
Up Shute Creek
Come Rain or Shine
Dirty Money
When the Bough Breaks

Rose Gardner Investigations

Family Jewels
For the Birds
Hell in a Handbasket
Up Shute Creek
Come Rain or Shine
When the Bough Breaks

Neely Kate Mystery

Trailer Trash
In High Cotton
Dirty Money

Carly Moore
A Cry in the Dark

Magnolia Steele Mystery

Center Stage
Act Two
Call Back
Curtain Call

Darling Investigations
 (Humorous mystery romance)
Deadly Summer
Blazing Summer

Rose Gardner Mysteries

Novellas are bonus material
TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES
TWENTY-NINE AND A HALF REASONS
THIRTY AND A HALF EXCUSES
FALLING TO PIECES (novella)
THIRTY-ONE AND A HALF REGRETS
THIRTY-TWO AND A HALF COMPLICATIONS
PICKING UP THE PIECES (novella)
THIRTY-THREE AND A HALF SHENANIGANS
ROSE AND HELENA SAVE CHRISTMAS (novella)
RIPPLE OF SECRETS (novella)
THIRTY-FOUR AND A HALF PREDICAMENTS
THIRTY-FIVE AND A HALF CONSPIRACIES
THIRTY-SIX AND A HALF MOTIVES
SINS OF THE FATHER (novella)

The Wedding Pact

(Humorous contemporary romance)
THE SUBSTITUTE
THE PLAYER
THE GAMBLER
THE VALENTINE (short story)

Bachelor Brotherhood
Spinoff of The Wedding Pact series
ONLY YOU
UNTIL YOU
ALWAYS YOU

Young adult contemporary romance

ONE PARIS SUMMER

Off the Subject Series

(New adult contemporary romance)
AFTER MATH
REDESIGNED
BUSINESS AS USUAL
 ALSO BY D.G. SWANK

CURSE KEEPERS WORLD

(Urban fantasy)
Curse Keepers Trilogy
The Curse Keepers
The Curse Breakers
The Curse Defiers
Curse Keepers Collection (box set)
Piper Lancaster Series
Of Ash and Spirit
Of Fire and Storm
Of Blood and Monsters
Of Death and Ruin

The Chosen Series

(Adult urban fantasy)
Chosen
Hunted
Sacrifice
Redemption

Book of Sindal
(Paranormal romance)
Coming May 2019
Descended from Shadows
Reign of Mist
Crown of Blood

On the Otherside Series

(Young adult sci fi romance)
Here
There
 A B O U T T HE A U T HO R

Denise Grover Swank was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lived in the area until she was nineteen. Then she became a nomadic
gypsy, living in five cities, four states and ten houses over the course of ten years before she moved back to her roots. She speaks
English and smattering of Spanish and Chinese which she learned through an intensive Nick Jr. immersion period. Her hobbies include
witty Facebook comments (in own her mind) and dancing in her kitchen with her children. (Quite badly if you believe her offspring.)
Hidden talents include the gift of justification and the ability to drink massive amounts of caffeine and still fall asleep within two minutes.
Her lack of the sense of smell allows her to perform many unspeakable tasks. She has six children and hasn’t lost her sanity. Or so she
leads you to believe.

For urban fantasy: dgswank.com

For mystery and romance: denisegroverswank.com