“What do you know?” I asked after we’d given the waitress our order.

She grimaced. “Some things are better left unknown, Rose. Especially when it’s only bits and pieces.”

“You said you’d tell me.”

“Okay.” She reached across the table and took my hand. “I was up by Mason’s office one day a week ago—I thought you were there with him for lunch, so I dropped in to say hi. His secretary wasn’t at her desk, so I was outside his door when I heard him . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she sounded unsure.

“Heard him doing what?”

She released a heavy breath. “I wasn’t sure what I heard, Rose. I think he was on the phone because he was talking and no one was talking back. Something about money and meeting on a Friday night.”

I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any sense, Neely Kate.”

“I agree, it didn’t make any sense, but then on Monday I heard Joe talking to the DA. He mentioned Mason’s name, and I heard something about bribes.”

My heart skipped a beat. “You can’t seriously suggest Mason is taking bribes.”

“I didn’t think that’s what it meant at the time, but now . . . I don’t know, Rose. I have no idea what’s going on. But consider this: Mason said he wanted to leave tomorrow because he had something he needed to do tonight. And the owner of Gems is supposed to be showing up at the club tonight. Dolly Parton had Mason’s cell phone number, and now she’s missing.”

I couldn’t believe that Mason would knowingly do something bad.

“Has he done anything else to suggest he’s in trouble?”

Tears burned my eyes. “Mason had a meeting with his boss on Wednesday, and that never happens. Skeeter even knew about it and said it was rare. Then Mason told me he thought he might lose his job.”

“Rose, it doesn’t look good.”

“Neely Kate,” I begged. “This is Mason we’re talking about. Mason. He’s one of the good guys.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I agree. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“What about Billy Jack? Where does he fit into this? He lied to us the last time we spoke to him.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

The waitress brought our food out, and we were silent for several minutes.

“Gems is the common denominator. It connects them all,” I said. “Skeeter—even if he swears against it—Billy Jack, Dolly Parton . . . Mason. What’s going on there?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m going there tonight.”

“Rose! Are you crazy? We need to tell Joe and let him handle it.”

“If I tell Joe, he might arrest Mason and throw him in jail.” I shook my head. “No. If Mason is really going to be at Gems, I have to be there to stop him.”

“This is the craziest stunt we’ve ever pulled. How are we going to explain being there?”

“Not we. Me. You can’t go back in there after your audition fiasco.”

She held up her hands. “No way. You’re not going in there alone, especially on a Friday night. You could barely handle it last time. Tonight it will be packed with men.”

“I have to, Neely Kate, and I have the perfect in. My job offer.”

“You’re going to dance?”

“Shoot, no! Crystal said something about bartending.”

“Do you even know how to make drinks?”

“No, but I’m sure I can download an app on my phone telling me how to make them.”

“Do you have to be topless?”

“No, she said I could wear something low-cut.”

She shook her head. “You never wear low-cut shirts.”

I shot her a glare. “I wore a low-cut dress last night, thank you very much.”

“When you were with Skeeter dressed as the Lady in Black. You can’t hide your face under a veil if you work a shift at Gems. You’ll be lucky if you make it through the night hiding your boobs.”

“I’ll do whatever I have to do for one night if it helps me save Mason. I have to talk sense into him, and I won’t be able to get ahold of him beforehand because Joe put him into protective custody.”

Neely Kate’s mouth twisted to the side. “So Mason’s caught up in two messes—the Gems thing and someone’s trying to kill him. You can’t ignore that Skeeter’s probably tied to it too. He keeps insisting that you stay away from there.”

Could I be fooled by Skeeter? He had promised to help protect Mason, but I knew he’d do whatever he had to do to advance his business. And he’d made no secret of the fact that he considered me a valuable asset. He might hide things from me on purpose for fear of how I’d react. Plus, Neely Kate was right. I couldn’t ignore how adamant he’d been about getting me to stay away from Gems. As I stared into my best friend’s worried face, there was one thing I was certain of: I couldn’t trust anyone except Neely Kate.

She released a heavy sigh. “So you think you’re just gonna show up and get a job? Then what? What’s your plan?”

I frowned. “I don’t know.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m helping you.” Her mouth pursed. “After we finish lunch, we’ll run by there, and you can tell them you want the job. Now we just need to figure out how I’m gonna get in.”