Family Jewels: Rose Gardner Investigations #1 Page 6

  Sighing, he opened my truck door and lifted me up onto the seat sideways so that my legs were hanging out the door. He took my hand again and gave me a soft smile. “Don’t be scared. Knowledge is power. If you see something bad, I can change it, but only if I know what to expect.”

  I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat, and then closed my eyes again. James. Friday night. James. Friday night. This time it worked.

  I found myself deep in a gunfight in James’ pool hall.

  I was hiding behind the bar with Jed and the bartender. Leaning around the corner, I squeezed the trigger on the gun in my hand, aiming at a man behind an overturned high-top table.

  “How many?” I shouted in James’ voice.

  “A good dozen—we’ve taken out four or five ourselves,” Jed shouted over the gunshots and yelling. A bottle shattered against the wall over our heads, spraying glass and alcohol down on us. “Merv and a couple of men are circling around back, trying to corner a few.”

  “Any sign of Wagner?”

  “No.”

  “You’re not leaving here alive!” a man yelled from across the room.

  I was leaning around the bar to take another shot when another bottle came flying across the room. This one had a burning rag sticking out of it. It smashed on a nearby pool table, and the felt burst into flames.

  “Shit.”

  “They’re gonna smoke us out,” Jed grunted, the cords on his neck standing out.

  “Or burn us alive.”

  The vision ended and my eyes flew open. “They’re gonna burn you alive.”

  James remained steady, still holding my hand and searching my face.

  “Why don’t you look more worried?” I asked.

  The corners of his mouth twitched with a grin. “I told you. We’ll figure out what he’s planning and beat him to it. Now tell me what you saw.”

  I relayed all the information, and he remained silent for a moment before he said, “Okay.” He nodded, then pushed my legs inside the truck. “I need you to watch your back. You still have that gun Deveraux gave you last winter?”

  Mason had given me a gun and a concealed carry permit. He’d obviously obtained it by illegal means, but he’d been the county’s assistant DA at the time. No one had really questioned him about it. “Yeah. At the farm.”

  “Good. Go get it. Keep it with you.”

  “Why? No one knows that you and I meet. There’s nothing tying us together anymore.”

  “Some people have memories like an elephant. I’m ninety-nine percent sure you’re safe, but I want you to be prepared for that unlikely one percent.”

  He tried to push the door closed, but I held it open. “Why’s he doing this?”

  “Control. Power. I have to be dead for him to take over.”

  “So you have to kill him or be killed?” I asked, my stomach churning again.

  “That’s the way I would have handled it a year ago,” he said, looking into my eyes, “but I made you a promise. I’m gonna try to work it out with him first. At least give him a fair shake.” He paused. “I’m not sure when I’ll see you next.”

  “Because of this mess?” I asked quietly.

  He gave me a brisk nod, then pushed my door closed and started toward his car.

  “James!” I called through the open window.

  He turned to face me, waiting.

  “Be careful.”

  He grinned as he got into his car. Then, as usual, he waited for me to leave first.

  When I pulled away from the parking lot, I headed back to the farm to get my gun. I watched him in the rearview mirror as he headed back into town, mulling over what he’d said about his promise. In the past, he would have simply eliminated the threat, but now he was waiting. I had to wonder if I’d put him in more danger.

  Chapter 6

  Neely Kate wasn’t in the office when I got back. I’d sent her a text from the farm, letting her know I was heading back to town, but she hadn’t responded to that either. Anna must have finished her task because the office was locked up tight, the lights had been dimmed, and there was a CLOSED sign on the door to alert any walk-ins.

  Where was Neely Kate? James’ concern for my well-being had stirred me up. If I was potentially in danger, then my best friend could be in trouble too. Pacing a little beside the truck, I tried her cell phone half a dozen times—my nerves ratcheting up each time she didn’t answer. Should I call Joe? But before I could pull up his number, I caught sight of her emerging from Carter Hale’s office across the street. Carter followed her to the doorway, and something about the way he watched my friend raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Was Neely Kate seeing her divorce attorney? Could he have been the man in that vision? While I honestly believed she was free to date, Carter Hale wasn’t the type of man she needed in her life. He was good at what he did, certainly, and I even liked the man. But there was no denying he was conniving and self-centered. She needed a man who would try to make sure she didn’t get hurt again.

  She finally headed across the street toward the shop, and I stood beside the truck and waited. It was close to four, which meant we had time to go to the pawn shop, visit Raddy’s mother, and still be home in time to start dinner.

  Neely Kate lifted an eyebrow as she approached me. “You been waiting there long?”

  “You didn’t answer my text. When I didn’t see you in the office, I was worried.”

  “What on earth for? I was talking to Carter about my options since he still can’t track Ronnie down.”

  She walked around the truck and climbed into the cab. I got in next to her and started the engine.

  “What did he have to say?” I asked.

  “I can try to have Ronnie declared dead. Normally, I’d have to wait seven years, but we all know he was probably killed in that whole mess in February.”

  “Really?” I chewed on my bottom lip, wondering if I should tell her about Joe’s lead. “How soon could he get that started?”

  “He’s not sure. He’s going to do some digging to see if there’s a precedent.” She glanced at me. “He’s worried because of Ronnie’s life insurance money.”

  My jaw dropped. “You never told me he had life insurance.”

  She shrugged. “I hadn’t really considered it. Ronnie’s boss called me last week to see what I wanted to do. There’s not much money, but I could afford to buy a new car. And maybe put a marker on a grave somewhere so I could take him flowers.” Tears filled her eyes. “It seems wrong not to have a grave to visit.”

  I reached over and grabbed her hand, guilt washing through me. It seemed wrong not to say anything about Joe’s trip, but what if it didn’t go anywhere? The last thing I wanted to do was rewind her grieving process, especially since there was a pretty good chance Ronnie was dead. “I know.”

  She sniffed and pulled her hand free. “I’m fine. Let’s go see what Alberto has to say.”

  I backed out of the parking space, and once I was headed in the direction of the pawn shop, I cast a curious glance in her direction. “Carter looked mighty intrigued with what you had to say outside his office.”

  She frowned. “Nothing’s goin’ on.”

  “I know that.” Or so I hoped. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want something to be goin’ on.”

  She was silent for a moment. Finally, she said, “I could do worse than Carter Hale.”

  Her tone was noncommittal, but I couldn’t resist saying, “You could do a lot better.”

  She just stared out the window, keeping quiet. I’d definitely have to corner Joe tonight and tell him about this latest development.

  I pulled into the gravel parking lot of Rainy Day Pawn, then glanced around the nearly empty lot. “Doesn’t look like they’re very busy.”

  “I heard they’ve lost business since Ripper Pawn opened.”

  “Huh.” Could Alberto have told Rayna the brooch was fake so he could make more money?

  When we walked into the shop, I was surprised by the b
rightness of the fluorescent overhead lights. I had expected the place to look dark and seedy, but it seemed more like a cross between a miniature Kmart and the Goodwill store.

  A woman stood behind the huge glass case at the front of the store, watching us as if worried we’d grab the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall and make a break for it.

  I gave her a friendly smile. “Is Alberto here?”

  She leaned backward, tilting her chin over her shoulder, and yelled, “Alberto! Someone to see you.”

  The curtains to the back parted, revealing a medium-height, average-weight guy with mousy brown hair and pale skin. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as he walked toward us.

  “Alberto?” I asked, trying to keep the surprise out of my voice. He definitely wasn’t what I’d expected, especially after what the woman had said about his tattoo. But the black plastic taped to his forearm suggested he’d followed through.

  “Yeah, that’s me.” He stopped and placed his hand on top of the case. I couldn’t help thinking what a pain it had to be to have to clean that thick pane of glass every night. But then, judging by all the smudged glass, I suspected the glass was lucky to get cleaned once a week.

  “Hi,” I said, giving him my sweetest smile. “I’m Rose and this is Neely Kate. We’re looking for a necklace.” I glanced at Neely Kate, who needed no further prompting to pull out her phone and find the image she’d captured of Raddy’s photograph.

  His brow furrowed as he glanced down at it. “You’re looking for that piece of junk?”

  “Have you seen it before?” Neely Kate asked, shifting the phone so it was in front of the skeptical older woman next to Alberto.

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  “Me neither,” the woman said.

  Neely Kate held his gaze. “A little while back, a woman brought in an owl brooch. Her name was Rayna Dyer. The owl had ruby eyes.”

  He tried to look confused, but his fingers tapped out a rapid pattern on the glass. “You don’t say . . .”

  Neely Kate pulled out her notebook and pen, holding the pen so the tip hovered over the paper. “Are you saying you don’t remember her?”

  “Don’t recall the name.”

  “Do you remember the brooch?” I asked.

  “Hmm . . .”

  “We ain’t got any brooches in ages,” the woman grunted with a look of disgust. “Nobody’s buying brooches. Can’t move ’em. If you’re looking for jewelry, you should head over to Ripper. They have all kinds of gaudy jewelry like the necklace in that picture.”

  I studied Alberto. “So if you don’t get many brooches, I would think you’d remember the one Rayna brought in.”

  He cringed, his head shrinking into his shoulders. “Well, I might remember something.”

  Neely Kate placed a hand on the glass and leaned closer. I was going to have to give her a generous amount of hand sanitizer when we left. “And what might you remember?”

  “Some woman brought in an ugly-as-sin owl. It was gold, but it looked dirty. And it had red eyes.”

  “She says you told her it wasn’t worth much. That the eyes were cut glass.”

  The woman gave him a look of disbelief. “When did you become a gemologist?”

  His eyes widened with fear. She was clearly the one in charge, and the vibe between them suggested she might be his mother. “A what?”

  The woman whacked him in the arm.

  “I didn’t tell her that!” he protested. “I told her we weren’t buyin’ jewelry and she should take it to Ripper.”

  “Did she?” Neely Kate asked.

  He pouted and rubbed his upper arm. “How should I know? She just left.”

  Neely Kate wrote something in her notebook, then pulled out a copy of her business card. “If you remember anything else, be sure to give me a call.”

  He picked it up, took a long look at it, then scratched his head. “This says you’re a landscaping specialist.”

  “So?” she asked in a challenge.

  “What does that have to do with looking for a brooch?”

  She tucked her notebook and pen into her purse. “We use gold owl brooches to scare off the bugs.”

  “Really?” he asked in surprise.

  The woman whacked his arm again. “No, you stupid fool. She’s shittin’ you.” She grimaced. “You never were quite right after I dropped you on your head when you were two.”

  My mouth gaped open in surprise, but Neely Kate was already backing up. “Thanks for your help.”

  As soon as Neely Kate and I climbed back into the truck, I turned to face her. “I don’t believe him.”

  “Which part?”

  “All of it?” I shook my head. “I don’t know. Did you see him drumming his fingers? He was nervous.”

  “So which one was lyin’? Rayna or Alberto? You know . . . Rayna never said whether she sold him the brooch or not. Only that he said it was cut glass.”

  “True.” I put the truck in reverse. “Maybe we should talk to Rayna again.”

  “I think we should pay a visit to Ripper.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Isn’t it rough?”

  Neely Kate snorted. “We’ve dealt with rough characters before.”

  “I don’t have a hat and veil to hide behind this time.”

  While I’d gone into plenty of dangerous situations without my Lady-in-Black disguise, I was undeniably out of practice. Plus, I’d always had a bodyguard before, thanks to James, and both he and Jed had made it clear that I still had protection if I wanted or needed it.

  “We’ve got Jed,” I said. “We could call him to come with us.”

  “No Jed,” she said in a short tone that caught me by surprise. Then she hastily added, “We need to do this on our own. We can’t have Jed following us around like we can’t take care of ourselves.”

  While she had a point, I had a feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me. But now didn’t seem like a good time to ask. “I have my gun in my purse in case we need it.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “What? When did you start carrying your gun?”

  I couldn’t tell her about my visit with James, even if part of me wondered whether my silence was endangering her. But James wanted our visits to remain a secret, and I needed to respect his wishes. “I picked it up when I went home. I knew we were going to visit some pawn shops, so I thought it might be better to be on the safe side.”

  “Well, I have my gun too, so we’re covered.”

  We were sitting in my truck, calmly talking about pulling guns on bad guys. This did not bode well for our visit.

  Rainy Day Pawn was on the east side of town, but Ripper Pawn was in a small strip mall on the north side, just outside of the city limits, in a section that was known for being rough. A few new businesses had popped up over the last year. Besides the new pawn shop, there was a tattoo parlor and an adult “toy” store. A biker bar rounded out the offerings.

  A neon sign that read open till midnight flashed in the window of Ripper Pawn.

  I glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard. “At least we don’t have to worry about them closing before we’re done.”

  “I’m not sure we’d want to come here after dark,” Neely Kate said, opening her bejeweled bag and looking inside. She pulled out her gun and checked the chambers. She carried her grandfather’s old gun—the six-shooter revolver one of her cousins had used to teach her to shoot.

  She flicked the barrel closed, then tucked the weapon into the back waistband of her jeans. “Better to be prepared.” Her flowy top covered the bulge at the small of her back.

  Neely Kate clearly had more experience with whipping out guns than I did, and the last thing we wanted to do was go in looking hostile, so I left mine in the bottom of my bag.

  “We need a plan,” Neely Kate said. “I think we should pretend to be customers. We can ask about the jewelry like we’re shopping.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  We got out of the truck
and headed into the shop. The difference between this pawn shop and the other one was like night and day. One entire wall was lined with guns, the center section of the shop was filled with stereo equipment, which might or might not have been legally obtained, and there was a long glass case at the back.

  Neely Kate squealed and pointed. “Oh, lookie there, Beth Ann! I told you they’d have jewelry here!” She made a beeline for the back case.

  “You were right, Nancy,” I said in an exaggerated drawl. “It’s a far cry from that other place.”

  “Other place?” a man asked from the back corner. He closed a padlock on a metal bar covering a row of guns. “You mean that sorry excuse of a pawn shop on the other side of town?”

  We both spun around, coming face-to-face with a six-foot-something burly guy who was muscled up enough to be a body builder. He was wearing a T-shirt that looked two sizes too small from the way it stretched over his chest and biceps. His hair was long enough to cover his ears and his collar, and he sported a neatly trimmed beard.

  Neely Kate quickly fell into her role. “I knew we shoulda come here first, but Beth Ann was sure that other place was more respectable.”

  Well, crappy doodles. She’d just thrown me under the bus. “No offense, Mr. . . . ?” I looked up at him with innocent eyes.

  He stared at me for a long moment, as if trying to place me, but I was pretty sure we’d never crossed paths before. Not even back when I’d interrogated criminals as the Lady in Black.

  “Wagner,” he said, extending his hand with an amused grin. “Hugh Wagner. I’m the owner.”

  Wagner. I fought hard not to react. This had to be the man who was planning to attack James on Friday night. One of the few things James had told me about Wagner was that he worked in retail. I’d presumed that meant stolen merchandise, not an actual bricks-and-mortar store, but there were plenty of expensive, rare items filling Ripper Pawn. Maybe I hadn’t been that far off.

  He was waiting for me to respond, so I quickly got back on topic. “Well, Mr. Wagner,” I said brightly. “I’m a firm believer in supportin’ local businesses. Nancy wanted to head over to El Dorado, but I insisted we stay local. And since Rainy Day’s been here longer, it seemed the most logical place to start, ya know?”