Jed gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. “I’ll let you boys take it from here.”

He motioned for us to go out the back door, but Neely Kate ignored him and bustled up to Tiny.

“Where’s my husband?”

“Damned if I know,” he grunted.

A fire lit up my best friend’s eyes, and she grabbed his earlobe and twisted. “Try again.”

“I really don’t know, Neely Kate. Stop!”

“Take a guess.”

“He’s with Teagen.”

“I already figured that part out. Why’s Ronnie with him and not with you imbeciles?”

“Teagen took a special shine to him.”

“Why?”

Tiny cast a glance in my direction.

Neely Kate twisted harder.

“Oww!”

“Because of her?” Neely Kate asked. “He wanted to use my friendship with Rose to get closer to her?”

“I don’t know! I guess!”

Neely Kate gave another tug before dropping her hold. “You come near my friend and I’ll kill you myself, got it?”

“Yeah,” he muttered rubbing his ear. “I got it.”

Neely Kate stomped toward the back door, and I followed, my head reeling. I knew Ronnie. Mason and I had gone out with him and Neely Kate multiple times. I’d seen the terror in his eyes in the hospital waiting room while we waited to hear the news about his babies and his wife. I had a hard time seeing our friend choosing to plot against us.

“There has to be some explanation,” I said, hurrying to catch up to her as she walked around the side of the building, heading for the parking lot in the front. “Neely Kate!”

But she didn’t stop until she opened the back door of Jed’s car and slid onto the seat. I slid in beside her, and Jed got into the driver’s seat and started the car.

Silence hung between us for several moments, and I was the one to break it. “Neely Kate,” I said. “You know Ronnie—”

She glared at me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay.” I’d give her a little bit to cool down. I could only imagine how I’d feel if Mason had taken off with some guy who was out to kill her. I turned to Jed. “Thanks for coming inside when you did.”

He grimaced. “Skeeter would probably be pissed that I didn’t get in there sooner.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” I held out all the cell phones I’d gathered. “Where do we want to keep these?”

Jed took them and set them on the passenger seat. “This seems good for now. We’ll babysit them until one of them rings. Good call on grabbing them.”

“If Teagen’s got those guys doin’ his dirty work, it makes sense he’ll call them again.”

“It seems more likely that Simmons and the boss lady will want Teagen to be at the barn, where they asked you to meet them. It would make sense they’d want a whole lot of fire power—Teagen and a whole lot of other men.” I gave him a questioning look, and he added, “He knows that if you’re comin’, you won’t be alone. Simmons is counting on it.”

“So other than wait for one or all of those phones to ring, what do we do now?” I asked. “Seems like we’ve hit a dead end.”

“Not necessarily,” Neely Kate said, holding up her hand. “My friend texted while we were inside. I know who owned the antique store building twenty-five years ago.”

“Who?”

“The same couple who owns it now. Timothy and Sharon Pelgers.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “They seem as old as time, and that store’s been there as long as I remember.”

“So we go ask them questions,” Neely Kate said. “I think we need to split up.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” I asked. “You’re not thinking about going after Ronnie on your own, are you?”

“What if they’re tailing me, trying to get to you? That rat bastard Teagen targeted my husband because I’m friends with you. That’s why Ronnie kept telling me to stay away from you. He was trying to protect both of us.”

More like protecting his wife . . . not that I could blame him. I suspected Ronnie had gotten caught up in something he wanted no part of—only, he’d gotten himself good and stuck. He’d done the only thing he knew to protect Neely Kate—try to keep her away from me. But he had to have known all along that his headstrong wife wasn’t the type to follow orders.

What a mess.

I turned to study my best friend. Neely Kate loved her husband, no matter what she claimed. Why had she been so quick to file for divorce? I couldn’t help wondering if she was hiding something. But why? Surely she would tell us everything she knew to help get us out of this predicament. But what if she was trying to save Ronnie, too?

“Neely Kate,” I said softly, “I need to ask you some questions about Ronnie.”

Her angry gaze lifted to mine. “I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”

I couldn’t outright accuse her of hiding anything from me. That would tick her off. But there had to be a way around it. “Neely Kate, you know we need any information we can get. If Ronnie’s with Teagen, then maybe we should all go lookin’ for him.”

I gasped. I suddenly realized why she’d filed for divorce so hastily.

“You knew,” I said, making sure to keep any accusation out of my voice. “You knew Ronnie was with Teagen.”

Jed stiffened in the seat in front of us.

“That’s why you filed for divorce,” I continued. “You knew Carter would have to find him to have him served, and the person servin’ him would know his location. Then we’d be able to find Teagen.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t know it was Teagen. I swear. But I figured Ronnie was with the guys servin’ J.R. Simmons, and if I found him, then I’d find them, too.”

“Neely Kate,” I sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“And admit to suspectin’ my husband is out to kill my best friend? Besides, that alone seems divorce-worthy to me.”

“I personally have my doubts that your husband is out to kill me.”

“The proof is in the pudding, Rose.”

“I think he’s being coerced.” But Carter needed to know the real reason why Neely Kate had filed in such a hurry. It no longer seemed like such a great plan for his slowest man to be on the job.