Family Jewels: Rose Gardner Investigations #1 Read online

  “Of course. I’d love to.”

  It warmed my heart to make her happy. Maeve had been like the mother I’d always wanted. I missed her. “Well, then that’s settled. You’re an official permanent employee at Gardner Sisters Nursery.”

  “I’ll send Anna right over. And Rose . . . thank you.”

  “No, thank you. I have no idea what we would have done without you these last four months.” I hung up and stuffed my phone back into my pocket. “Anna’s on her way.”

  “Well, now that this is taken care of . . .” Neely Kate said, brushing off her hands. “Let’s go talk to Raddy Dyer.”

  I held up my hand, blocking the exit. “Hold up. We’re not going anywhere just yet.”

  “But Anna’s coming to clean up, which means we can go.”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “I’m really sorry about Marci,” Neely Kate said with a sigh.

  “Everyone deserves a chance. I’m sorry if you’re in trouble with your aunt for firing her.” It was hard to hold this against my best friend. I’d met her aunt. I probably would have hired Marci too.

  She waved it off. “I might get stuck with the burnt ends of Aunt Jackie’s raccoon roast next Christmas, but I’ll manage.”

  I almost blurted out, Raccoon roast? But I wisely kept my mouth shut. Neely Kate’s family was one of a kind.

  She shuffled her feet and shifted her weight before giving me a hopeful look. “I checked the weather on my phone, and it looks like the rain won’t clear off until this afternoon . . . which means we have some time to talk to Raddy Dyer.”

  And there it was.

  I sighed. “Neely Kate—”

  “Now, before you say no, let me plead my case.”

  “Funny choice of words,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m listening.”

  Excitement filled her eyes. “You and I have solved cases before—”

  I started to protest, but she held up her hand.

  “—let me finish.”

  “Okay.”

  “I know we accidentally stumbled into some bigger things last fall and winter, but we got out of all of them, right?”

  Stumbled into some bigger things was an understatement. Our last off-the-books investigation had landed us in the web of J.R. Simmons, a man of wealth and prestige who’d considered himself above the law. For a long time, he had been. He’d gotten away with murder—literally—because he’d had the connections, money, and deviousness to cover his tracks. I had banded together with James Malcolm, the king of the Fenton County underworld, to bring J.R. down, and Neely Kate hadn’t hesitated to join us. J.R. was dead now—destroyed by his own evil doings rather than by us—but nothing had gone as planned. People had died; lives had been changed in an instant. After last February, I’d vowed to leave danger behind and live a quiet life.

  Only Neely Kate was bound and determined to make me live boldly.

  “Neely Kate . . .”

  She held up her hands. “You said you’d listen.” When I didn’t answer, she lifted her eyebrows. “Over the last four months, we’ve solved some mysteries that had nothin’ to do with us. Not to mention they were completely harmless.”

  “We found a missing garden gnome, a lost dog, and figured out a dispute between two neighbors.” And I couldn’t deny I’d loved every minute of it.

  “So why won’t you consider this?” she asked in frustration.

  “This is different. From what Marci said, this man thinks his ex-wife is holding his grandmother’s jewelry hostage. It’s not a mystery. It’s a hostage negotiation. You should tell Carter Hale,” I said, referring to our defense attorney friend. “It seems more like a situation for a law shark than for two landscapers.”

  “We’re not just two landscapers. We’ve solved mysteries before. You’ve worked with the crime lord of Fenton County, for Pete’s sake. Missing jewelry should be a piece of cake.”

  “Neely Kate . . .”

  “Let’s just talk to the guy, okay?” she asked, hope filling her eyes. “We can find out what he wants.”

  “He wants us to get his jewelry back. His ex-wife has it. Where’s the investigation? Maybe he expects us to beat the jewelry out of her with our shovels.”

  “Please?” She gave me a pout; then her eyes widened. “If it makes you feel better, you can have a vision. See how the meeting goes.”

  She had to be really desperate to ask me that.

  The visions were a birthright I’d spent my life hating, but I’d come to realize they had their uses. Seeing glimpses of the future had helped me save my life—and my friends’ lives—more times than I could count. Still, there were serious downsides. For one thing, I could only see other people’s futures. For another, I always blurted out whatever I’d just seen, which often put me in embarrassing situations. The visions usually happened spontaneously, but I’d learned that if I forced them regularly, I could sidestep the spontaneous ones. Of course, there were risks—sometimes I forced a vision and saw something I immediately wanted to unsee, like the time I’d witnessed Neely Kate’s first foray back into dating. Although I had no idea when the date would happen, or if it already had, she was going to go all in. Blessedly, the vision had ended before I was burdened with details, and the comment that had leaked out of me afterward had been about her black bra rather than anything truly indecent.

  Still, I had no desire to put myself through it again.

  I groaned. “Fine.” When she started to get excited, I held up my hands. “We’ll talk to him. That’s all. Then you and I will talk about it and decide where to go from there.”

  Her head bobbed as she nodded. “Sure. Of course.”

  I’d seen that look before. I suspected she’d already texted Raddy Dyer and accepted the case.

  My phone began to ring, and I pulled it from my jeans pocket, surprised to see the initials SM—Skeeter Malcolm—on my screen. I shot Neely Kate a glance before I answered.

  “James, I haven’t heard from you in a while.” A couple of weeks, to be exact.

  “Lady,” he said, his voice tight. “We’ve got a problem.”

  Chapter 2

  James Malcolm had become head of the Fenton County criminal underworld six months ago, and ever since he’d assumed that title, people had been trying to snatch it. While I’d met him the previous summer at the pool hall he owned, we hadn’t become better acquainted until November. Several peculiar twists of fate later, I found myself using my visions to help him maintain his position in exchange for his protection of my assistant district attorney boyfriend. My confident, powerful alter ego—the Lady in Black—was born to keep my true identity a secret. I may have worn sexy black dresses, heels, and a veiled black hat to disguise my appearance, but the persona had sunk roots into my soul and changed me. Some days I thought James was the only one who recognized how much.

  Although I’d retired the Lady in Black in February, my friendship with James had survived. We still met up weekly at the spot where I used to meet him and his right-hand man, Jed. James would tell me about the latest issues he was struggling to resolve, and I’d offer advice and sometimes force a vision to make sure he’d survive to show up the next week.

  I was sure part of him longed to give up his position in the underworld, but he worried what his successor would do to the people of the county. He had a strict code of ethics, and from the multiple attempts at his crown, he was well aware there were far more ruthless and unconscionable men waiting in the wings. So he stayed.

  About a month and a half ago, he’d caught wind of a new challenger. He’d told me about a guy named Wagner who was stirring up trouble, but James had refused to discuss him the last couple of times we’d met. I’d hoped he was no longer a threat, but the fact that James had been dodging my calls for the past two weeks had me more than a little worried. It looked like my concern had been justified.

  I had all kinds of questions to ask, but I didn’t dare ask any of them in front of Neely Kate. “What’s goin�
�� on?”

  “Can you meet me in three hours?”

  I snuck a quick glance over to Neely Kate. I wasn’t sure how I’d explain leaving to meet him, but then, we’d skirted where I went every Tuesday night for the past three months. This time we’d be meeting much earlier than usual, which meant she might ask more questions, but I’d figure it out. “I’ll make it work.”

  “Good,” he grunted. “I’ll meet you at our usual place.” Then he hung up.

  Neely Kate put her hands on her hips. “What was that about?”

  “Nothin’.”

  A scowl covered her face, but she wasn’t about to let anything get in the way of our meeting with Raddy Dyer. She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out in exasperation before she said, “Are you ready to go?”

  Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I squatted down next to Muffy and pulled the white flower petal collar over her head. I tossed it onto Neely Kate’s desk, then grinned. “Fine. But we’re getting coffee from The Daily Grind first.”

  She tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “I was the one who suggested we go there in the first place.”

  I scrawled a quick note to Anna, apologizing in half a dozen different ways, and then kissed Muffy goodbye. We closed the door to the disaster zone behind us and locked it, although any potential burglars would take one look at the mess and assume someone had beat them to the place. Anna had a key.

  The rain had turned into a light drizzle, but my hair was pulled into a ponytail and I’d given up fighting the weather today. I saw no reason to worry about how the rain might affect my appearance, but judging by Neely Kate’s long strides, she didn’t share my sentiment.

  “So where do we find Raddy Dyer?” I asked as I followed her into the crowded coffee shop. Turned out half the courthouse was in the long narrow space.

  “Archer’s Hardware,” Neely Kate said, searching the menu board as we took our place in the back of the long line. “He runs the plumbing department.”

  “I’m not sure I should be goin’ in there,” I muttered. “You know they hate me now.”

  The owner of Archer’s Hardware had been none too happy with Violet and me since we’d opened the nursery, although I wasn’t sure why. While they used to sell plants in the spring and early summer, they’d done a poor job of taking care of them. Each year had marked a new massacre—the plants would look fresh enough at first, but on each successive visit, another half dozen would have joined the crispy half-off shelf. Truth be told, that was part of the reason I’d agreed to open the nursery in the first place. There’d been no decent places in Henryetta to buy bedding plants.

  Neely Kate waved her hand dismissively as she continued to search the menu. “It’s just the owner who’s ticked. Remember that thank-you card and five-dollar gift certificate we got from a few of the employees, telling you how grateful they were to not have to mess with the greenhouse and all those plants? They were gonna have a Garden Witch Day in your honor.”

  I shook my head with a scowl. “I can’t help thinking that gift card was a trick to get me to come in, because I’m pretty sure the whole witch thing wasn’t a compliment, Neely Kate.”

  “Sure it was. It was like calling you the Good Witch of the South. Just like in The Wizard of Oz.”

  “Witch of the East.”

  She gave me a haughty look. “I’m not sure what you learned in geography, Rose Gardner, but we’re in the South.”

  I pushed out a heavy sigh and realized it wasn’t worth the effort to correct her. “So what do you know about Raddy Dyer?” I asked.

  “Nothin’ good,” I heard a male voice say behind me.

  I spun around in surprise to see my former boyfriend. “Joe.”

  He was wearing his tan sheriff’s uniform, and I had to admit he was stunningly handsome in it. But at the moment, he also wore a frown. “Why are you asking about Raddy Dyer?”

  I gave Neely Kate a look that said, This is your idea, so you take this one.

  Instead, she smiled ear-to-ear and threw her arms around his neck. “It’s my favorite brother.”

  He gave her an affectionate hug.

  A lump swelled in my throat at the sight of them. They were both, to their shared disgust, the children of J.R. Simmons. They had only learned that they were half-siblings back in February. Joe had left town soon after and ignored Neely Kate for a couple of months. But he’d finally reached out to her when he came back to Henryetta around the first of May, and they’d started making up for nearly twenty-five years of lost time. After Neely Kate’s mother’s abandonment, Neely Kate needed a family member who was truly there for her.

  Joe grabbed a strand of Neely Kate’s hair and gently tugged. “And it’s my mischievous sister. What are you two up to?”

  Neely Kate stepped back, and her eyes widened in mock innocence. “We’re getting coffee, of course. What are you doin’?”

  His eyes darkened. “I just got done taking the new DA to task for caving with one of your divorce attorney’s clients.”

  “Carter Hale?” Neely Kate asked in surprise.

  He lifted an eyebrow in mock annoyance. “You have more than one divorce attorney?”

  It was her turn to scowl. “I’d hire a dozen if I thought any of them could find my missing husband.”

  Since Neely Kate was Carter Hale’s only divorce case, I presumed that Joe was referring to a criminal client.

  Joe’s shoulders dropped. “I’ve been looking, Neely Kate.”

  “You and everyone and his brother,” she said sarcastically. “We’re not meant to find him.” But he’d been gone a long time, and her phrasing told me that she suspected he was dead.

  Joe had returned to his chief deputy sheriff position a month ago, and one of the first things he’d done was launch an investigation into the whereabouts of Neely Kate’s missing husband, Ronnie. He’d left her months ago, and Neely Kate and I had later discovered that he had some bad connections—ones that had tied him, however peripherally, to J.R. Simmons. When J.R. Simmons’ empire had come tumbling down, it had taken plenty of lives with it. I knew Neely Kate believed Ronnie had been one of the casualties, and the evidence seemed to support it. It was like he’d fallen off the face of the earth, and so far, Joe and Carter’s multiple private investigators hadn’t turned up a single clue.

  She shook her head. “You did the best you could.”

  He grimaced and looked over his shoulder, as if he might get lucky and find Ronnie right behind him, before turning back. “If I’d only looked sooner . . .”

  “No. Joe. It’s not meant to be.”

  Worried Neely Kate would feel down, I changed the subject. “Why were you upset with Carter Hale?”

  “When am I not upset with him?” Joe asked. “His passion in life seems to be undermining my work. He represents sleazeballs. And he often wins.”

  Neely Kate lifted her chin in defiance. “Which is why I hired him.”

  Joe sighed. “For the umpteenth time, let me hire you an attorney from Little Rock.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Carter’s doin’ just fine. Besides, you know I can’t afford a hotshot Little Rock lawyer, and I’m not letting you pay for it.”

  Joe looked like he wanted to dig his heels in, but he shook his head. “I like how you tried to deflect my question about Raddy Dyer.”

  Neely Kate cocked her eyebrow. “I think the real question is what do you know about him? I went to high school with Raddy, and he’s never been one to stir up trouble.”

  Joe gave her the side-eye. “I’m pretty sure he’s a good five years older than you.”

  “So he’s a bit slow.”

  “How recently have you had contact with him?”

  Neely Kate shrugged. “I see him from time to time.”

  “Well, steer clear of him. We’ve been called out to his property and his estranged wife’s house multiple times over the last month for domestic disturbances. His wife kicked him out, but he keeps trying
to get into the house. He seems to be becoming more desperate and more violent in his attempts, so I don’t want you anywhere near that nonsense.”

  I turned to Neely Kate, my mouth gaping. The look on her face told me she already knew about Raddy’s trouble with the law. Great.

  “Innocent until proven guilty, Joe,” she said.

  His gaze held hers and the muscle on his jaw twitched. “Stay away from Radcliffe Dyer.”

  Huh. This was a change. Joe was usually barking the orders at me. I couldn’t say I minded one bit that he was barking them at my best friend instead.

  She lifted her hands in surrender, and a soft smile covered her face. “I hear you.”

  “Oh, I know you hear me,” he said in exasperation. “I’m asking you to please do as I request.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Joe . . .”

  “What can I get for you?” the girl at the counter asked. We’d been talking so long we’d made it to the front of the line. The clerk, who didn’t look more than twenty, had on a bright, cheerful green apron embroidered with the name Bernadette.

  Neely Kate took a deep breath, then said, “I want a medium white mocha, but I want it warm—not too hot and definitely not cold. And instead of three shots of white chocolate syrup, I’d like two. Add a shot of raspberry syrup for the third shot.” Neely Kate paused. “You got that so far?”

  “Got it.” Bernadette’s shoulder-length brown hair brushed against her shoulders as she wrote the instructions on the cup.

  When she started to set the cup down next to the espresso machine, Neely Kate stopped her. “There’s more.”

  Bernadette’s face lifted in surprise. “Okay.”

  “What kind of soy milk do you have?”

  When did she start drinking soy milk?

  The owner, Vance Rankin, a man in his forties, leaned around from behind the espresso machine. “You know good and well what brand of soy milk we use,” he growled. “It’s the same damn stuff we used yesterday.”

  Neely Kate gave him a look of annoyance. “Then I want almond milk.”