“Did she say who she protected her from?”

“No, but it was related to what I . . .” Neely Kate paused, looking uncomfortable. I covered her hand with my own.

“Neely Kate shared that her mother’s boyfriends showed more interest in her than she would have liked. Hilary alluded to having experienced the same thing.”

Skeeter was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke, I could hear the fury in his voice. “The fucking bastard.”

“What?” I asked.

Neely Kate looked down, her face expressionless.

“J.R. often had closed-door meetings,” Skeeter said. “I have no idea what went on behind those closed doors, but I could guess on some of them.”

“Do you think he . . .” My voice trailed off.

“After Roberta left? Yeah.”

“So Hilary got upset because her protector left, making her fair game?” I asked.

“Seems likely,” Skeeter said. “But that still doesn’t tell us why Roberta left. I suspect Hilary knows. And if Anna is in town, then she probably knows, too.”

“Which brings me to my next point,” I said. “What if Anna wasn’t snatched? What if she kidnapped Bruce Wayne?”

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know,” I said in exasperation. “Maybe he was askin’ questions and got too close to the truth.”

“Maybe . . .” He didn’t sound convinced.

“If Anna’s workin’ with Kate, it would explain why she doesn’t seem to like me.”

Skeeter remained silent.

Jed shook his head. “We don’t even know what part the housekeeper plays in all this.” His voice was heavy with irritation. “I think we should focus on finding Teagen and Marshal. They’ll lead us to Simmons, which is our ultimate goal. The housekeeper is a moot point as long as we get him.”

“Not necessarily,” Neely Kate countered. “We can’t forget Kate in all of this.”

“Well, Kate’s nowhere to be found,” Skeeter said. “I decided to pay her a visit, but her apartment is toast due to the fire, and no one knows where she is.”

“Well, in all fairness,” Neely Kate said. “It’s not like she has a lot of friends in this town.”

“So we focus on Simmons and hope his daughter is there when we catch him,” Skeeter said.

It wasn’t ideal, but he and Jed had a point.

“We spent more time than planned at the church,” I said. “We’re gonna miss lunchtime at the garage.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Skeeter asked.

I cringed. I wasn’t sure what he’d think about this part. “I got a better description of the van that drove past the nursery. It had air intake pipes, so we’re going to stop by Ted’s Garage and see if anyone knows anything. We thought we’d butter ‘em up with some chicken wings from Big Bill’s.”

“The shop where Neely Kate’s husband works?”

Jed gave me a pointed look. “Don’t look so shocked that he knows,” he said. “You think Neely Kate would be here if we didn’t know all about her?”

She lifted her chin in defiance. “Not all about me.”

Jed held her gaze. “More than you probably think.”

I glanced between the two of them. “What does that mean?”

“It doesn’t mean shit,” Skeeter barked. “We need to stay on task. My bookkeeper is waiting for you. Just drop the photocopy off with Mellie before you head over to the shop.”

“What are you doin’?” I asked.

“I’m doin’ my own real damn job,” he snapped. “The whole damn county is fallin’ to shit.” Then he hung up.

“Someone’s crabby,” Neely Kate grumbled.

“He’s under a lot of stress.” Jed pocketed the phone and started the car. “He’s not only dealing with Simmons’s breakout, but with all the men who had sided with Mick Gentry. They’re crawling back like the cockroaches they are, begging for mercy.”

My breath caught. This was the side of Skeeter I liked to pretend didn’t exist. “Will he give it to them?”

“Skeeter’s in a tough spot. He hates to dole out harsh discipline, but if he lets them off scot-free, he’ll be seen as weak and some upstart will try to take over.”

“So he needs a punishment harsh enough to discourage disloyalty,” I said. “But not harsh enough to make them hate him even more.”

He looked at me in the mirror. “He was right to choose you.”

I didn’t know what to say. I could take the intended meaning of his statement a half-dozen different ways, but I was pretty sure he was referring to Skeeter’s offer to make me a partner in his business.

Neely Kate gave me a strange look but didn’t say a word.

The bookkeeper’s office was on the west side of town, which happened to be in the area of Big Bill’s Barbeque. As with most businesses around town, Mellie’s Accounting was in a repurposed house off County Rd 24.

Jed pulled into the gravel parking lot, which had replaced the front yard, and got out of the car. “You ladies go on in,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll stay out here and place some calls.”

Mellie was waiting for us when we walked through the door.

“I’m Rose,” I said, clutching my purse to my side, adjusting to the weight of the weapon inside. I’d left it in the car for our visit to the church, so the sensation of carrying a gun was still totally new and foreign. “Skeeter said you might be able to help us.”

“You’re the girl with the shorthand message that needs translating, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s like a treasure hunt,” she said, walking around her desk and moving toward us.

“I guess,” I said, digging the paper out of my purse. “Do you think you can just read it to me?”

Neely Kate stood behind me, uncharacteristically quiet.

Mellie laughed. “Oh, honey, I don’t know diddly about shorthand. My friend Ruthie is coming over to take a gander at it.”

She reached out her hand, but I didn’t let loose my grip.

“I’m not sure what Skeeter told you, but if this got into the wrong hands—”