Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 (40 page)

Her nose scrunched up and she looked at me like I was crazy. “What notes? I didn’t leave you any notes.”

Jed took advantage of Beverly’s distraction and bolted toward her, but Beverly pivoted, pointing her gun at him, and pulled the trigger. Jed dove toward me, landing several feet away.

“
Jed!
” I screamed in horror, nearly dropping to my knees.

Dirk took advantage of her distraction and rushed me. Wrapping one arm around my waist, he used me as a human shield, pointing his gun at Beverly.

Panic raced through my head and I struggled to keep it at bay. Jed lay on the floor, unmoving. I tried to keep from crying, but I was terrified she’d killed him. Hysteria threatened to take over, but if I didn’t keep it together, I would never get us out of this alive.

“What are you
doin’
, Dirk?” Beverly snarled.

“I’m tired of taking orders from you, Bea. I want your word that you’re gonna split your money with me. I want at least fifty grand.”

I could only imagine what was in that coded journal that made it worth so much money to Joe’s father. There was no way I was letting them leave with it.

She gave him a look that told him she thought he’d lost his mind. “I ain’t payin’ you shit.”

“You ain’t gonna shoot her.” He waved his gun toward my head. “You need the journal to collect your money.”

She lowered her gun slightly, but her posture softened. “You’re right.” She studied him for a moment. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you, Dirk, baby. I’ll give you twenty grand?”

Dirk’s hold on me tightened. “Thirty-five.”

Beverly hesitated, then gave him a warm smile. “You always knew how to sweet- talk me, baby. Why’d we break up all those years ago?”

His body tensed. “You found someone with more money.”

“With all the money Simmons is gonna pay us, we can get back together.”

Dirk paused, appearing to consider her offer. “I still want thirty-five.”

She lowered her gun. “Done.”

Dirk’s hold on me loosened and he pushed me toward Jed. I dropped to my knees next to him. Blood seeped through a hole in the sleeve of his leather jacket. “Jed,” I whispered, fighting my tears. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer, but the way his eyes narrowed told me he planned to put up a fight.

Another gunshot went off and Dirk fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his head.

I shrieked and jumped backward. Jed made a move for me to cover me with his body, but I scrambled to my feet. I knew I was the only one left who could stop her, and it was time for me to step up. “I’ll show you where it is.”

“Rose,” Jed moaned.

“It’s okay.” I had a plan, but I had to get closer to her to execute it. Which meant I would probably have to act after I got the book, just as I was handing it to her. “It’s in here.” I carefully made my way to the desk and opened the drawer, hoping my plan didn’t backfire. She could very well shoot me as soon as I showed the journal to her. But maybe I could work it another way.

“Pull it out.” She motioned with her gun.

I reached into the drawer with my left hand and acted like I was trying to pull it out. “It’s stuck.”

“Pull harder.”

I grunted as I pretended to jerk it back.

“Get out of the way,” she said, moving closer. She turned her back to me as she reached into the drawer and I knew I had to time this right. I pulled the Taser from my pocket, feeling it with my fingers to make sure it was ready to shoot. Her back was covered with her heavy coat and the barbs had to come into contact with her skin. I’d have to wait until she turned around or aim it at her legs to make sure it worked. But she made the decision for me when she picked up the journal with ease and spun around with it in her hand. “What the hell was that nonsense?”

I aimed for her exposed stomach and pressed the trigger. The barbs landed on her abdomen. Her body went rigid and she began to shake, her gun and the journal falling to the floor moments before her body hit.

“Rose!” Jed shouted. I realized the desk blocked his view.

“I’m okay. I Tased her and it knocked her out.” I picked up her gun, but she’d fallen on top of the journal and I had no intention of leaving it underneath her. I tried shoving her body over, but the journal went with her. Cringing, I stuck my hand under her stomach, my fingers fanning out as I searched for the book. I finally found it and pulled it out, heaving and groaning in the process.

“What in the hell are you doin’ over there?” Jed barked.

“Bringing J.R. Simmons down, with any luck.” I stood, trying to figure out what to do with everything. I stuck the Taser in my pocket and tucked the journal into a pocket inside my coat, then carried the gun around the desk to him.

He was already sitting up, clutching his left arm. “Call Skeeter.”

I glanced over at Hattie’s still body on the floor. “I have to call 911.”

He tried to reach for his pocket and released a grunt. “Then get my phone out of my right coat pocket.”

I put Beverly’s gun down before I pulled out Jed’s phone and handed it to him. My heart raced as I cast another glance at Hattie, torn between helping her and making sure Jed was safe. “Make your call,” he said gruffly.

“But if the sheriff deputies find you…”

“I think she’s still alive,” he said, releasing his arm and punching numbers into his phone. “But she needs help now.”

He was right. I grabbed my phone and called 911, telling the operator where we were and explaining that multiple people had been shot before I managed to Tase the shooter.

Jed climbed to his feet as I searched for Hattie’s wound. She was splayed on her side and blood seemed to be oozing from her left shoulder. “Hattie?” I asked, looking for something to put on her shoulder.

She’d lost a lot of blood, but her eyes fluttered open and she grimaced.

“Hang on. The paramedics are coming.”

Jed picked up his gun off the floor and walked over to Beverly. “I need to go, Rose.”

I stared at him in panic. “What?” It made sense. He couldn’t be found here—for either of our sakes—but part of me was terrified to be left alone with this mess.

“You know I can’t stay. Just say that some mysterious man showed up and helped you.”

“But that’s not gonna work. Beverly’s gonna tell them I know you.”

He grunted and glanced at the pile of mechanical equipment we’d climbed through to get where we were before turning back to me. His fingers curled around his gun as his eyes looked deadly. “Don’t think for a moment that bitch would have let you walk out of here knowing what you know.”

I sucked in a breath, guessing what he would say next.

His jaw tightened. “I can take care of her and I won’t lose a wink of sleep over it.” He searched my face. “But I know
you would
. So your call, Rose. Do I make it a non-issue or do you come up with a story?”

He was asking my permission to murder Beverly. I shook my head. “But…I…”

His lips turned up into a slight grin. “I already knew your answer before I suggested it, but I had to let you know it was an option.” He stuffed his gun into the waistband of his jeans. “And don’t worry. You’ll figure it out. You always think of something.” He took several steps toward one of the broken windows. “Let us know when the dust settles.”

I was jealous of his ability to take off and leave all of this behind. “Thanks.”

He nodded and took off toward an open window, then climbed out into the field behind the building.

Relief flooded my body when I heard sirens in the distance. I looked down at Hattie, who gave me a quizzical look. “I take it he doesn’t want the authorities to know he was here?”

“No.” I swallowed. “I know it puts you in a difficult position.”

She gave me a soft smile. “I don’t know him from Adam. It’s easy enough to say a stranger showed up and helped.”

Before I could answer, I heard something behind me. I didn’t even have the chance to turn around and look. Someone knocked me to the ground and straddled my back, wrapping cold hands around my throat and squeezing tight. “You little bitch!” Beverly snarled. “You ruined everything!”

I bucked, trying to throw her off as I gasped for air. She lost her balance and fell off me. I started to scramble away, but she grabbed my coat and rolled me over so she could sit on my stomach.

I released a loud grunt as she pushed all the air out of my lungs. “You’re not going anywhere.” The hate in her eyes scared me as her hands wrapped around my neck again.

I reached for them, curling my fingers around hers, trying to pry them off, but she was pretty determined to finish the job and after several seconds I started to see spots.

“Freeze!” someone shouted. I wanted to cry with relief. The sheriff’s department had shown up.

Only I was still being strangled.

In fact, Beverly’s grip tightened even more. “I’m gonna make you pay for this!”

“Get off her.
Now!
” Joe shouted. The sound of his voice was enough to give me hope, but Beverly seemed more determined than ever to finish me off. My fingers went numb and my grip on her hands loosened. Everything was fading to black when another gunshot rang out. Beverly’s fingers went limp and I barely had a chance to suck in a breath before she fell on top of me, putting pressure on my chest and restricting my air intake again.

I struggled to push her off, but she had to outweigh me by fifty pounds.

Seconds later, Joe rolled her off me and I looked up into his terror-stricken eyes, never so happy to see him.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice sounding raspy.

He closed his eyes and his chest rose as he sucked in a deep breath. “You just scared the shit out of me,” he said when he opened his eyes again.

I started to sit up, but he grabbed my arm and helped me up, putting his arm around my back for support. “I’m gonna have a paramedic look at you.”

“Hattie…” I glanced behind me, grimacing from the pain in my neck.

“If Hattie is the woman who
wasn’t
strangling you, then she’s being taken care of by the paramedics right now. And if she
was
, then
she’s
waiting for the coroner.”

I cringed. “Did you…”

“Shoot her? Yes.” His words were harsh. I glanced up at him and I could see his initial concern was quickly turning to anger.

He helped me back onto my feet and kept his arm around me, making sure I was steady, as he surveyed the bodies and guns on the floor.

His mouth pressed into a tight line and a vein in his temple throbbed when he turned back to me. “
What in the hell happened here?
”

“I found Dora’s murderer.”

If I thought my announcement was going to calm him down, I had another thing coming.

“
What?
” he shouted.

The other first responders turned toward us in surprise.

“You told me I could investigate, Joe! You gave me your blessing!” I shouted back.

“I gave you my blessing to find out
who your father was!
I gave you my blessing to
talk
to people! Not shoot them!”

“I didn’t shoot anyone!” I protested. “Beverly shot Hattie and Dirk, then you shot Beverly. I only Tased her.” When he didn’t respond, I forged on. “And I came here to talk to Hattie. She told me who my birth father really was. So I was doing exactly what you told me I could do.”

Only I still couldn’t believe that Daddy wasn’t my father. It didn’t seem real.

Joe took several deep breaths, his vein still pounding. He pointed to Beverly’s body. His voice was low and tight when he spoke. “You know damn good and well this is not what I meant when I told you that you could to
look into it
.”

“How the cotton-pickin’ hell was I supposed to know that Beverly was gonna show up and start shooting everybody?!” I shouted.

He flung his arms from his sides. “Maybe the suggestion to meet in an abandoned factory could have been
your first clue!
”

I shook my head, wincing from the pain, and put my hands on my hips. “I’m not gonna talk to you if you’re gonna be like this.”

“You’ll damn well talk to me if I tell you to! You need to give me a statement!”

My chest heaved as I struggled to reel in my temper. “Well,
Chief Deputy
Simmons,” I forced out, trying my best to retain control. “When you can talk to me without shouting at me, I’ll be more than happy to give you my statement.”

His face turned red, but his next words came out calmer. “I can haul you to the sheriff’s office for questioning if you’d like.”

I crossed my arms. “I think I need to call my attorney.”

My words sobered him and he ran his hands though his hair before he answered. “Rose, I’m sorry. I’m being an ass. There’s no need to call Mason.”

I stared at him in shock. “Did you just apologize?
And
call yourself an ass?”

A ghost of a grin crossed his face. “I’m not repeating it.”

I pulled out my phone. “I need to call Mason anyway. He’s going to be upset if I don’t call him.”