RG2 - Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (33 page)

“A motel? You were going to stay
alone
?”

While I appreciated his concern, his attitude was irritating. “You never said anything about not being able to be alone.”

“You told me you were going to your sister’s.”

“And I was goin’ to until she told me earlier this evening that her husband was leaving her.”

Officer Ernie walked over with a long flashlight and narrowed his eyes at me.

Mason took the flashlight and flipped it on. “I want to look you over, but the light’s going to be bright so you might want to close your eyes.”

“Mr. Deveraux—” A blinding light made my eyes squeeze shut. “Is this really necessary?” I asked, irritated.

“Yes.” He grunted. After several seconds the light left my face and I felt him lift my hand. I opened my eyes to find him examining my arm.

“I’m fine.”

He put my arm down with a gentleness that surprised me. Over his shoulder, he shouted, “Where is the ambulance?”

“It was on another call,” someone shouted back.

“Where’s the other ambulance?”

“It’s in the shop. It hit a deer this morning.”

Mason grumbled, then turned back to me. “Are you dizzy? Do you feel like you’re about to pass out?”

“No. I keep telling you I’m fine.”

He paced again, more agitated than I’d ever seen him. “If they don’t keep you at the hospital, we have to find somewhere for you to stay tonight. I’ll have Taylor put you under twenty-four-seven guard.”

“Mr. Deveraux, stop overreactin’.”

He stopped and turned to face me, his eyes burning with anger. “Overreacting?
Overreacting
?” He pointed to the front door. “Your bathtub was full of water, Rose.
He was going to drown you
!”

“What?” I felt lightheaded and began to sway.

He hurried over and sat next to me, wrapping an arm around my back. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that.”

“Mason.” I looked up into his face. “I’m okay. See?” I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised about the tub full of water. The man tried to strangle me on my living room floor.

“I almost didn’t stop to check on you. I almost didn’t go to the door.” His voice hitched.

“Why
were
you here?”

“I came to check on you. I called you a couple of times to make sure you went to your sister’s, but you didn’t answer. So when I left my office, I drove by and saw your car in the driveway. I kept thinking you were mad and you’d be even more furious if I showed up. I figured that you probably wouldn’t answer the door. I almost left when I heard you shout that you wanted to be left alone.”

Fatigue surged through me with a ferociousness I wasn’t prepared for and I rested my head against his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m not mad.” Neely Kate’s earlier statement came back to memory. He wanted to be friends. As foreign as the concept had seemed at first, it sounded nice. Mason Deveraux III was an egotistical man, but he had moments when he let his guard down. I liked the man I saw when that happened.

“I…sometimes what I say…it just doesn’t…”

“Shh. It’s okay. Thank you. You saved my life. That makes up for anything you didn’t mean to say.”

His arm tightened around my back, as though the intruder was waiting for Mason to let his guard down so he could snatch me away. He rested his cheek on top of my head. “You scared the hell out of me. If I’d been here two minutes later…”

“But you were here. See?
All’s well that ends with the bucket in the well
as my grandma used to say.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s right.”

“Wisdom according to my grandma. She was the oracle of LaFayette County. What she says goes.”

He turned to look into my face, confusion in his eyes, when Joe’s angry voice made me jump. “What the hell is going on here?”

Oh dear. This had to look bad. Mason was sitting next to me on the porch in the dark, his arm around my back, leaning into my face and probably looking like he was about to kiss me.

Mason sat up, dropping his arm and looking guilty. “It’s not what you think.”

“Try me.” Joe stood six feet away in my yard, hands clenched at his sides, chaos swirling around him.

My anger let loose. “You walk up and find half the Henryetta Police Department in front of my house and the first thing you notice is that it looks like the assistant district attorney is sitting too close to me?”

He didn’t say a word, but the anger I’d seen in his eyes faded.

Mason stood. “Rose had an intruder in her house. The police are here investigating.” After my reaction to his blurting out the drowning intent, Mason must have decided to ease his way into it with Joe.

“And you didn’t think to call me?”

“Joe, calm down.” I stood up and my legs gave out. Mason grabbed me before I hit the ground, but Joe walked over and shoved him out of the way.

“Get the hell away from her, Deveraux.”

Mason backed up. “I assure you, Detective Simmons, it’s not how it appears.”

“When you told me you’d keep an eye on her, I didn’t know what you
really
meant.”

“Joe!” I’d seen Joe jealous before, but nothing like this. “If it wasn’t for Mason Deveraux, I’d most likely be dead in my bathtub right now, so you treat him with respect. He saved my life.”

His body stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

“If you would stop jumping to conclusions I could tell you. Someone was in my house when I came home from the Garden Club meeting and attacked me. He meant to kill me. Mason showed up and scared the guy off.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“And what were
you
doing here?” Joe asked.

Mason had recovered, his condescending attitude returning. “I was here making sure she’d gone to her sister’s like she promised me earlier in the day. But I’m sure you know how stubborn she is.”

“I’m very acquainted with her stubbornness.” Joe angled his body, making his statement a challenge. “Why did you make her promise to stay with Violet?”

“I felt responsible for giving her name to Skeeter Malcolm. And when he put that threatening note on her windshield this morning—”

Joe took a step forward, shouting, “Why the hell would you give her name to Skeeter Malcolm?”

I put my hand on Joe’s arm. “Joe, this is my fault, not his. He showed up at the pool hall and saw that Skeeter had me cornered and he helped me get away but accidentally called me Rose.”

“
What the hell were you doing with Skeeter Malcolm in the pool hall
?”

I’d never seen Joe so angry and took a step backward. “You know who Skeeter Malcolm is?”

“Of course I know who Skeeter Malcolm is. Who the hell doesn’t?”

Apparently, I was the only one.

“Detective Simmons,” Mason said, his hands clenched at his sides. “She’s been through hell tonight and she doesn’t need the stress at the moment.”

“Excuse me?” Joe challenged.

“Joe, please.” I tried to sit down, but my head spun and I started to fall.

“Rose?” Joe’s voice softened, his arms around me.

“Where the hell is the ambulance?” Mason shouted. “This is goddamned Henryetta, not some metropolis.”

“Ambulance?” Joe asked, the word sounding strangled.

“She was attacked, Simmons,” Mason seethed. “Which part of that do you not understand?”

“She said she was fine.”

“And I suspect she’d say that if she had a gaping abdominal wound. She needs medical attention. If you would stop having a fit and
look at her
, you’d see she’s not fine.”

Joe led me to one of the chairs on the porch and helped me sit down.

A light flipped on inside the house, spilling through the open front door. Joe gasped, staring at me.

“I’m fine, Joe. Really.”

A police officer stepped out the front door. “Mr. Deveraux, we have the lights set up. Do you want to walk through the crime scene with us?”

Joe flinched.

“Coming.” Mason glared at Joe, his face hardening. “I suspect you want to go in?”

Joe glanced over his shoulder at the front door, then back at me. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

I groaned. “Will you just go already? I’m sick to death of tellin’ everyone that I’m fine.
I’m fine
!”

Mason asked Officer Ernie to keep guard. “If she needs anything, call me.”

Officer Ernie nodded, sterner than usual. After Joe went inside, the policeman moved closer, his gaze on the yard. “I checked on the ambulance. They got a flat tire but should be here soon.”

“I don’t need an ambulance. Everyone’s overreactin’.” I sighed, leaning my head into my hand. The pounding had gotten worse.

“Do you want me to get you something? A glass of water?”

“No, I’m
fine
.”

Five minutes later Joe burst out the front door. “Rose, where’s Muffy?”

“She’s next door with the neighbors. I left her there since I was going to go to a motel.” I looked out into the crowd. Sure enough, Heidi Joy and her husband Andy stood at the edge of the crowd. I bet they were rethinking their decision to move in next door.

“Thank God. After…I was…”

“What did you find in there?”

“Rose, for once let the police take care of it.”

My back stiffened. “That’s my house, Joe. This happened to
me
. I have a right to know.”

Mason walked out the front door. He cleared his throat. “The police said the suspect escaped out the back window, which is how they think he got in.”

My stomach rolled. “That window’s seen a lot of action, huh?” I joked.

Joe didn’t look at me.

“They haven’t found the attacker yet, but they’re bringing Skeeter Malcolm down to police headquarters to question him.”

Skeeter’s name reminded me of Miss Eloise’s information. “Wait. I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I found out that Malcolm’s family had a pin like the one found at Frank Mitchell’s murder scene.”

Joe took two steps back. “Will you let it go, Rose? You are not qualified nor trained to do this. You’ve put yourself in danger,
unnecessary danger
, as evidenced here tonight.”

While I couldn’t argue with him, the anger in his voice strangled my heart. “I didn’t…” My voice broke as I tried to ignore the pain from Joe’s outburst. “I didn’t do anything dangerous to find that out.” I looked into Mason’s sympathetic eyes. “When I was at the Garden Club meeting, Miss Eloise was wearing an identical one and I asked her where she got it. It was her grandmother’s. She and three friends had them to symbolize their friendship. Miss Eloise didn’t know what they meant, but she knew that one had been in the Malcolm family, another in the White family and the fourth she wasn’t sure about.”

“That’s good, Rose. Thank you. I’ll pass it along, but the police will want to question you about it too.”

“I’m going to talk to Taylor.” Joe bounded off the porch.

I watched him walk away, trying to stuff down my hurt. “They want to question me? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No one thinks you did anything wrong. They need a statement about what happened.”

“I want a lawyer. I want to call Deanna.”

Mason squatted next to me, his face level with mine. “Rose, I assure you that you don’t need an attorney. If you like, I’ll sit with you during questioning, and if there’s anything I don’t think you should answer, I’ll let you know.”

“But won’t you be the one
prosecutin’ me
?” I was getting hysterical, but I couldn’t stop myself. Joe was leaving me.

Mason turned to watch Joe. “He’s coming back. He just needs to feel like he’s doin’ something.”

I didn’t want to be alone. I was more scared than I thought, but what scared me most was the thought that Joe had had enough of my shenanigans and wouldn’t come back.

Mason sat in the chair beside me and put his hand on my knee. “Do you remember when you were picked for the jury? You went through
voir dire
, right?”

I tried to settle down. Crying wouldn’t solve anything and it sure wouldn’t bring Joe back. “Judge McClary wasn’t very happy.”

Mason laughed. “That’s an understatement. I can’t prosecute you because I couldn’t be partial. Someone else would have to do it. But I promise you, you are not a suspect.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll find who did this.” His voice faded and his mouth stretched as if he was in pain.

There was more to his look than just worry about me. “You told me that you’re an assistant DA because you want to protect people. Did something bad happen to someone you care about? Is that why it’s important to you?”

He nodded, looking straight ahead.

“Who was it?”

A grim smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “My sister.”

“Was she okay?”

His face hardened. “No.”

“Did you find who did it?”

He turned to look at me, his eyes dark and brooding. “Yes.”

Mason sat with me until Joe returned several minutes later then he got up and walked away. I expected Joe to get angry that Mason had sat next to me again, but instead Joe sighed and pulled me into his arms.

“I love you, Rose.”

Nodding, I held back my tears.

The ambulance never showed up so Joe took me to the hospital himself. I spent an hour in the ER before going to the police station to give my statement. True to his word, Mason sat next to me during questioning, despite the fact it was well past midnight. Joe sat on the other side, not saying a word, but cringing when I gave the details of the attack.

The three of us stayed in the room when Detective Taylor left.

Mason put his hand on the table and looked at Joe. “Malcolm had an alibi.”

“Well, of course he did. He wasn’t going to do this himself.”

“Joe, Malcolm didn’t have anything to do with this and you know it.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, my fear rising at their seriousness.

“Because the intruder filled your tub with water and most likely intended for it to look like an accident.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Malcolm would never send someone so sloppy. You have multiple contusions on your face and bruises on your arms and legs. Even if he had succeeded and staged your murder, the Henryetta Police wouldn’t have believed it was an accident.”