“Who?”

“Mason.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“His office number?”

“No. His cell phone.”

“What was Dolly Parton doing with Mason’s cell phone number?”

I sank back into the seat, tears burning my eyes. “I don’t know.”

“There has to be a good reason.”

I shook my head. “What could it be?”

“Dolly was arrested this summer. Maybe she plea bargained, and Mason gave her his number.”

I looked up at her in disbelief. “His cell phone?”

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

I dug my phone out of my pocket.

“Who are you calling? Mason?”

I stopped. Something wasn’t adding up. I knew Mason wouldn’t give his number out to a criminal—not that Dolly Parton was a criminal—and I’d mentioned her name to him without sensing any surprise or recognition on his part. It hadn’t fazed him at all to know Neely Kate and I were looking for her. “No. Not Mason.” I pulled up my contacts on my phone, and Skeeter answered right away.

“What do you know about Billy Jack Peters?”

“Well, well, an undemanded call from you. We’re making progress,” he said with a teasing tone.

“Cut the crap, Skeeter. I just found Billy Jack dead in his bed. What do you know about that?”

Neely Kate gasped at the mention of Skeeter’s name.

“What are you doing in Billy Jack’s bed?” He sounded sinister.

“Ew . . .” I cringed in disgust. “Don’t insult me. I wasn’t in his bed—well other than when I kneeled on it to look at something in his hand.”

“At what?” He didn’t sound any happier.

“A business card. For Gems.”

“I told you to stay away from Gems. And you didn’t answer my question: what are you doing at Billy Jack’s?”

“First, you didn’t tell me to stay away from Gems, only that it’s not part of the plot to kill Mason, and second, you asked what I was doing in Billy Jack’s bed, not in his house.”

“Answer me,” he growled.

“We’re still trying to find Dolly and Nikko, not that it’s any of your business.”

“What you do now is my business.”

I wasn’t having this argument right now. “Do you know how he’s connected to Gems?”

“Since I wasn’t clear enough the first few times I said it, stay away from Gems.”

“Why? What’s going on at Gems?”

“Stay away from Gems.”

“But what about Dolly Parton?”

“She ran off, Rose. Leave it at that.” Then he hung up.

The hell with that. I got into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“What are you doing?” Neely Kate asked. “Joe said to stay here.”

“And wait for Deputy Hoffstetter? I don’t think so.” I turned the truck around and headed for the highway.

“Where are we going?”

I fought back my anger. “To Gems.”

“I thought Skeeter just told you to stay away.”

I turned to her in surprise.

“What? He wasn’t exactly whispering. I heard him.” She paused. “Why on earth did you call Skeeter instead of Joe, anyway?”

“Because Skeeter seems to be the one with the answers, or at least the only one willing to share them.”

“It’s a bad idea, Rose, relying on him. You don’t even know if he’s telling the truth.”

And she wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know.

“Why didn’t you tell him about Dolly having Mason’s phone number?”

“He doesn’t need to know everything.”

“So why didn’t you tell Joe?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Do you think Mason has done something wrong?”

I shook my head. Mason? I would believe it of anyone else before I believed it of him. “We don’t even know if he gave it to her. What if someone else did? Also, he did have his phone stolen yesterday.”

“You’ve had Dolly’s box in your truck for three days, Rose.”

“I know.” I looked up the temporary number Mason had given me that morning, but when I called him, the phone went straight to an automated message. Tears welled in my eyes, and I fought back a sob. “He wanted to run off, Neely Kate.”

“Who? Mason?”

“After the break-in. He was really upset, and he begged me to run off with him on Saturday—tomorrow. He wanted to go somewhere far away, and he seemed desperate to go.”

Neely Kate put her hand on my arm. “I’m sure there’s a rational explanation.” But I heard a hitch in her voice.

“You know something.” When she didn’t answer, I started to freak out. “What do you know that you’re not telling me?”

“Rose . . . let’s go get some lunch and figure out what to do next.” She paused. “And I’ll tell you what little I do know.”

I nodded, fighting my tears. Whatever Neely Kate knew had to be bad if she wouldn’t tell me now. “Okay.”

I drove to the diner we’d eaten at the day before and parked my truck behind a big rig so it couldn’t be seen from the highway. Joe was gonna be ticked that we took off, but I’d rather deal with his wrath than be chained to the devil, who in this case happened to be Deputy Hoffstetter.