She smiled. “We have, haven’t we?”

No one was in the dry cleaners when we entered, but the woman I’d seen in the bakery walked up to the counter. “Can I help you?”

Neely Kate gave her a bright smile. “Hi! I’m Neely Kate and this is Rose. We just opened RBW Landscaping.” She held out the box. “We brought you some cupcakes from Dena’s to say hi.”

She took the box and looked down at it before glancing back up at Neely Kate. “I’m not the owner. I just work here.”

Neely Kate leaned forward and cupped her hand around her mouth and said in a stage whisper, “It’s okay. I’m just an employee too.”

She smiled. “I’m Marta.”

She looked so grateful, I didn’t believe for a minute she’d left those nasty notes on my truck, but we might as well finish what we’d started. “Don’t let Neely Kate fool you, I couldn’t run the place without her.”

Neely Kate gave her a sly grin. “I abandoned the courthouse to run her books. I’m not sure you can get a worse job than working in the personal property department.”

“You never worked at the DMV,” I said. “That’s the worst job ever.”

“What about you, Marta?” Neely Kate asked. “You have any previous crummy jobs?”

“Well, I’ve worked here for a long time. About twelve years. Before that I worked at a nursin’ home.” She grimaced. “Nothing like wipin’ old people’s butts and cleaning up their poop all day.”

Neely Kate made a face. “You definitely have a point.”

“Did you work anywhere before that?” I asked.

“I worked at the Burger Shack when I was in high school.” She lowered her voice. “Which is why I don’t eat there anymore. The things they did with their hamburger meat…”

She didn’t finish and I didn’t want her to. As it stood, I wasn’t sure I wanted to eat there anymore either.

“That’s it?” Neely Kate asked.

“Ain’t it enough?” Marta laughed. She opened the box and held it out. “You girls want a cupcake?”

I felt guilty for even considering the possibility she could be capable of something so devious. “You keep ’em. We got them for you.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I was havin’ the worst day and you girls just made it better.”

Neely Kate leaned over and grabbed her hand. “We’re just down the street if you ever need someone to talk to, you hear?”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

The bell on the door dinged again and a man walked in, his arms stacked with garments.

Neely Kate waved and headed for the door. “We’ll see you later, Marta.”

We walked out onto the sidewalk. “Now what?” Neely Kate asked. “We’re back to square one.”

I let out a loud sigh. Other than meeting someone new who looked like she needed a friend, we’d learned nothing.

“Rose,” Neely Kate hissed. “Could that be Merv?” She pointed to a man lurking outside the landscaping office.

We were a good fifty feet away, but there was no mistaking his bulky frame and perpetual scowl. “Oh, crap.”

She grabbed my arm. “Come on.” The she dragged me over to an office space, pushed open the door, and pulled me into the small reception area. I didn’t even have time to look at the sign.

“Hey, Ebola girl!” a familiar man’s voice exclaimed. “I knew you couldn’t stay away from me.”

I spun around to see Carter Hale, the attorney who’d helped Neely Kate in the ER waiting room back in December, after she’d insinuated she had Ebola. He was standing in a short hallway, a smug smile on his face. His secretary stared at us from behind her desk like we were Martians.

Neely Kate put her hands on her hips. “Not likely, Carter Hale.”

“Then to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

She lifted her chin. “Rose is a co-owner of the landscaping business across the street, and we’re makin’ the rounds and saying hi to all our new neighbors. We just took cupcakes to Marta at the dry cleaners.”

He held out his hands. “So where are mine?”

She made a face, then looked out the window. “I ate them.”

He walked over next to her. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“Nothin’.”

“Is ‘Nothin’’ the name of that beefy guy hanging around outside your office?”

Carter Hale was too perceptive by half.

She scowled at him.

“Do I need to call Henryetta’s boys in blue?” he asked, but there was a sparkle in his eye. “Officer Sprout might run over faster if you tried dangling one of those cupcakes you’re not offering me.”

“There’s no need for that,” I said. “He’s harmless.” Or he would be if we kept avoiding him.

Neely Kate stepped back from the window, but Carter kept looking out of it. “So what’s your plan?”

“We’ll sell you on our services,” Neely Kate said, flashing him a cheesy smile. “Then you can write us a big fat check.”

“That’d be like selling a fishing pole to a camel in the desert,” Carter laughed, still watching out the window. “I live in a condo and my office has no green space.”

“Lucky for you, we have a plan for everyone,” Neely Kate countered.