“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.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

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.”

I started to pull up his number, but Joe covered my hand. “Rose, wait.”

I squinted at him in confusion.

He grabbed my arm and tugged me to the edge of the open area, away from the other three deputies, who were openly gawking at us as they went about their duties. “Don’t call him. It’s only gonna upset him and he’s preparing for…something big.”

Joe had to be talking about his and Mason’s meeting at six, but I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to know or not. “Joe, I have to call him. He’s going to be furious with me if I don’t. And justifiably so.”

“Then I’ll take full responsibility for it. Please. He needs to be on his game tonight. Knowing you were almost strangled to death will distract him.”

I could see his point.

I heaved out a sigh, and against my better judgment, stuffed my phone back into my pocket. “Okay, but this feels wrong.”

Joe looked relieved. “Thank you. Now how about I take your statement?”

My eyebrows rose in mock surprise. “Isn’t that the job of someone with a lower rank?”

He grinned. “I’ll slum it for you.”

He led me outside to his sheriff’s patrol car and I gave him a statement, holding nothing back except for my involvement with Skeeter and Jed. I saw no point in mentioning Jed at all now that Beverly wasn’t around to tell stories. When I told Joe that his father was involved and I had in my possession a journal that was likely filled with evidence implicating J.R., I expected some kind of reaction from him. I wasn’t prepared to get absolutely nothing.

Joe continued to write down his notes. “And where is this journal now?”

I pulled the book out of my inner coat pocket, but kept it in my hands. “Here. But I can’t make heads or tails of what’s inside it. It’s just numbers that look like dates and times, along with what looks like shorthand. Beverly was convinced it contains evidence against your father.”

Joe reached for the journal, but I held onto it. “I think I should give it to Mason myself.”

His gaze remained on the book in my hands. “I’ll give it to him. It needs to go through the proper channels.”

“I still—” I started to say, but without saying a word, he snatched it, stuffing the book inside his coat without even looking at it. “That’s mine!” I protested, leaning over and reaching for him.