Thirty-Two and a Half Complications (23 page)

But then the visual of Neely Kate hanging over a toilet bowl and retching filled my head and I started to gag.

Neely Kate heard me and turned around. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I pushed past her and ran to the bathroom, bursting through the swinging door. I found the first empty stall and ran in, barely getting the door shut before my meager breakfast of toast and coffee came up. When I finally stopped heaving, I waited another minute to make sure I was done.

Neely Kate was standing outside the stall when I opened the door, her eyes filled with worry. I rinsed out my mouth and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

“You still haven’t taken the test yet, have you?”

I shook my head, tears blurring her image.

“Rose, just find out one way or the other. Put an end to your misery.”

Tears started to stream down my cheeks and Neely Kate made a pouty face and pulled me into a hug, stroking the back of my head as I cried.

“It’s not just my worry about being pregnant. It’s Mason. I’ve screwed up something wonderful, Neely Kate. How could I let that happen?”

“Oh, sweetie. You kissed Joe for a few seconds before coming to your senses and pushing him away. Did you want to jump his bones when you were sitting in the car with him?”

“Of course not!”

A loud thud came from the end stall followed by the clatter of something hitting the tile floor. I swung my attention to the corner in time to see a plate of dentures skitter across the floor and land at my feet.

I screeched and jumped backward, dragging Neely Kate with me until we bumped into the counter. We gasped at the same time when we saw who was inside the stall.

Chapter Sixteen

The stall door had flown open and Miss Mildred stood in the opening, her dress hiked up and tucked into her panty hose on one side in the back. Her face was so red I worried she’d have a stroke. She pointed her finger at me. “Jezebel!” she said, her voice heavy with judgment. Only without the top portion of her teeth, it came out muffled.

“Miss Mildred,” I muttered, backing up more even though there was nowhere else to go. “I didn’t know you were in here.” I shot Neely Kate a glare and her eyes widened as she mouthed,
I’m sorry. I didn’t see her
.

“Fat’s obious,” she mumbled out, looking around until she spotted her dentures on the floor at my feet.

Scrunching her nose in disgust, Neely Kate bent over and picked up the fake teeth. She rinsed them off in the sink—looking like she was about to lose her own breakfast—and then handed them to the elderly woman. Miss Mildred snatched them and popped them into her mouth, wiggling her mouth around to settle them into place.

Neely Kate, already pale, covered her mouth with her hands and bolted into a stall. The sound of retching soon followed.

But that didn’t distract Miss Mildred, whose face had settled back into a sour grimace now that her teeth had been restored. “After you helped find Dorothy’s killer, I thought maybe you had seen the light. And I was willing to overlook how you’re tainting the district attorney’s reputation, living with him out there on that farm doin’ God knows what. And now
this
.” She pointed to my stomach. “While fornicating with another man? It’s inexcusable.”

“She wasn’t fornicating,” Neely Kate piped up, her voice muffled inside the stall. “She was only kissing him.”

I froze in shock. My secrets were out in the open, and the president of the Busybody Club knew all of them. “Miss Mildred… I….”

She advanced toward me. “How can your heathen soul stand to be in the sanctuary of our Lord?”

I swallowed and lifted my chin, fighting a new wave of nausea as I listened to Neely Kate start another round of vomiting not six feet away from me. “Jesus welcomed the sinners into his fold, Miss Mildred. And so does Jonah.”

“That boy’s a fool.”

“
Jesus
?” Neely Kate called out from behind the closed door.

“Of course not
Jesus
! Blasphemy!” Miss Mildred shuddered, then recovered enough to continue, “
Reverend
Jonah. Lettin’ all them heathens in the door.” She leaned forward, squinting her eyes. “Tattooed ladies and men with earrings. Have you
ever
seen such a sight?”

“Jesus ate with the tax collectors, Miss Mildred.”

“Well, then Reverend Jonah can go out to lunch with Dennis Pontel at the Golden Corral buffet. Dennis works for the IRS.”

“He works for H&R Block,” Neely Kate called out.

“Same thing.” Miss Mildred waved her hand in annoyance. “The point is that this is a place for holy people, Rose Anne Gardner. You don’t belong here.”

My anger rose up. I was tired of this woman belittling me at every step. “Last I checked, Miss Mildred,” I took a step forward, feeling bolder, “we’re in a restroom, which is where crap belongs.” I lifted an eyebrow and gave her a snotty look. “I guess that explains why
you’re
here spoutin’ off.” Then I stomped out of the bathroom, leaving Miss Mildred frozen in shock by the sinks and poor Neely Kate still barfing.

I took a second to steady myself, which is when I saw Samantha Jo and her tattooed date talking to a couple of guys who looked like they belonged to the church’s Onward and Upward support group. The majority of the group’s members worked—or had worked—at Weston’s Garage. When Jonah started his church, one of the first things he did was found a support group for men in need of rehabilitation, which included a number of members who had worked for Daniel Crocker. I glanced back at the bathroom door. I would have preferred to wait for Neely Kate before talking to Samantha Jo, but she was doing the telltale tug on her boyfriend’s arm.

That settled it.

I made my way through the crowded foyer, approaching her and the group of four men. When I was less than three feet away, I felt my peripheral sight fading as a vision descended.

I was in a dark room, lit only by the pale light beaming in through a curtainless paned window. One of the panes had a diagonal crack in it, shaped like an upside-down Y.

“You didn’t have to kill him,” a man grunted as he came into my view, the red glow of the tip of his cigarette lighting up his face. His face was covered in heavy stubble and his cheeks hollowed in as he took a long drag. “You said no one would get hurt.”

“He wanted out and he never would have kept quiet. It was too risky,” said a guy in the shadows. I couldn’t make out any defining features, but I recognized his voice. “Have you picked out where we’re going next?”

“It ain’t that easy, Mick. That nine thousand in the cash bag helps, but we need another ten K. This is Henryetta. Where in Sam Hill are we gonna find that much money?”

Mick laughed, but the sound came out garbled. “I know just the place.”

The church foyer came back into view and I blurted out. “You’re gonna rob another place.”

The heads of all four men turned toward me, their eyes burning with hostility.

Oh, crappy doodles.

Even though I’d recognized Mick’s voice, none of the men’s faces matched the guy with the cigarette or the Batman robber whose face I’d seen in my previous vision. I realized in that split second that the person I’d been in the vision had never said a word or given me any other clue of his or her identity. It could have been any of the four men or even Samantha Jo. That meant there were at least four of them, five if I included Mr. Sullivan.

One of the men in the group stomped over to me, clearly angry. “What did you just say?”

I put the back of my hand to my forehead and took a step back. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember what I said. I’m not feeling well, and I’ve been blurting out odd things right and left. Must be delirious.”

I took another step back. He took one forward.

Fear cramped my already delicate stomach, but the rational part of my brain screamed that we were in church. What could happen?

The contorted face of the man in front of me made me reconsider that question.

“Hello, gentleman,” Joe said from behind me, moving to my side and putting a hand on the small of my back. “I’m not sure I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you.” He extended his right hand, keeping his left at my back. “I’m the new chief deputy sheriff. Joe Simmons.” A bright smile lifted his mouth, but his eyes were hard.

His hand hung in the air for a long moment before the man finally gave it a short shake and then dropped it like it was covered with maggots. “Welcome to town,
Sheriff
.”

Joe gave him a cocky grin. “Oh, I’m not the sheriff.” Then he winked and cast me a quick glance. “But you just never know what the future may hold.”

I wanted to shake him off, but I couldn’t deny Joe had intervened in something that was about to get ugly. To try banishing him now would be foolish.

The man looked from me to Joe, narrowing his eyes. “Is there anything I can do for you,
chief deputy
?” He grinned. “Sorry we haven’t had a chance to drop off a plate of cookies to welcome you to town.”

The men behind him laughed.

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Joe drawled, rolling back his shoulders. “There’s plenty of time for all of us to get acquainted. And I have a feeling we will.”

The man staring down Joe grumbled, then turned away, heading out the doors with his friends. And Samantha Jo.

“What the hell were you doing, Rose?” Joe’s angry voice barked as soon as they were out of earshot.

“I’m in
church
, Joe.” I shrugged off his hand and stepped away. “Surely you can’t object to that.”

“That’s not what I’m objecting to, and you know it.” He moved closer. “Why were you talking to those guys? Did this have anything to do with you talking to Toby Wheaton at Jasper’s?”

“Why do you always assume the worst of me? I was heading over there to talk to Samantha Jo. We went to school together and she was in the bank robbery too. I was going to check on her and see how she was handling it.” It wasn’t a total lie.

Joe’s anger visibly faded. He seemed to be buying my story.

“You can check the police report to verify that she was at the bank that day,” I volunteered. “And ask your
date
if I went to school with her.”

His mouth dropped in shock. “Date? Who said we were on a
date
? Violet asked me to help her get the kids to church.”

“Why on earth would you agree to that?” I scoffed. “You can’t stand Violet and you never once went to church the entire time we were together.”

His grin turned wicked. “Maybe that’s because when I was with you I had better things to do in the morning before I got out of bed.”

A blush rose to my cheeks, but thankfully Neely Kate appeared beside me.

“Well look at you, Detective Simmons,” she said, looping her arm through mine and pulling me back a step. “I didn’t know you were a church-goer.”

“Seeing as I’m no longer with the state police, detective is no longer necessary,” he said, tilting his head good-naturedly, but I knew him well enough to read the challenge in his eyes. “It’s Chief Deputy Simmons now.”

This was all for show. Joe was well aware that my best friend knew about his current employment. So what was he trying to prove?

“Do you know what’s so strange?” she asked. “You always hated this town. Yet here you are, living in it by choice.”

He shrugged one shoulder and gave her a smug grin. “Well, that’s the beauty of being in the sheriff’s department. I don’t have to live in town. I only have to live in the county.” He turned his attention to me and winked. “Are any of the places by your farm available for rent or sale, Rose?”

“Leave her alone, Joe Simmons,” Neely Kate spat out.

Joe’s smile fell, and a mask of authority settled over his features. “If you just wanted to talk to Samantha Jo,” he asked me, “what caused all that ruckus?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they recognize me because of Crocker.”

It was obvious he didn’t believe me, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. “You better not be trying to investigate this case, Rose.”

Neely Kate’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “What case?”

He grinned, but it wasn’t friendly. “Don’t encourage her, Neely Kate. Tell her to leave this one to the authorities. Next time I might not be around to save her.”

“I’ll tell her to keep that in mind.”

I snorted. “Or you two could pretend that I’m actually here.”

Neely Kate looked past Joe and smirked. “Someone’s not happy, Joe,” she singsonged.

Sure enough, Violet walked up with Mikey on her hip. Ashley was with a group of little girls on the other side of the foyer. Violet put her hand on Joe’s upper arm, her face tight with anger. “Joe, I wondered where you had gotten off to.”

“I had some official business to take care of, and lo and behold, I ran into Rose.” He waved a hand toward me as though he was presenting a prize.

Violet gave me a withering look. “Imagine that.”

“I’m surprised you’re not here with Brody MacIntosh,” Neely Kate sneered.

Violet tried to look affronted, but instead she looked like she’d been caught red-handed. “What a silly thing to say, Neely Kate. Everyone knows that Brody got back together with his wife.”

Neely Kate glared at my sister. “As if that would stop you.”

Rage flooded Violet’s face. She glanced around, but I knew it was all for show. “Where’s Mason?”

“Working.”

“On a Sunday morning?” she gloated. She’d warned me before that she thought he was a workaholic.

“He’s working on a big case.”

“Oh, really.” Joe shifted his weight. “Which one?”

I straightened my back and crossed my arms. “Seeing as it’s official county business, how do you suppose I’d know, Chief Deputy?”

Violet put her hand on Joe’s arm. “Sundays are sacred. And how you choose to spend them says a lot about your character.”

“Yeah, it sure does,” I said dryly, arching my brow at her pointedly. “And in Mason’s case, it says he’s a dedicated, hard-working, conscientious man who works long hours to ensure that the citizens of Fenton County get justice.”

Violet grabbed Joe’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “No, Rose. It shows where his priorities lie. And that’s clearly not with you.”