Page 117 of Family Jewels

“Hello?”

“I found out some interesting things from Raddy before he died.” I recognized the man’s voice.

My eyes flew open. I looked at Neely Kate and mouthed, “Buck Reynolds.”

Her mouth turned into a surprised ‘o’.

“So you’re the one who killed him?” I asked. “He turned over the necklace?”

“No necklace, but he had some things to say aboutyou.”

So James had been right. Raddy had tried to see if Buck would give him a sweeter offer, and he’d died for it. Neely Kate and I exchanged a dark look.

“What you want, Mr. Reynolds?” I asked.

“I want my necklace back.”

“Sorry. Our client was Raddy Dyer, and he’s no longer around. We’re done.”

“You’renotdone. You will bring me that necklace to the Trading Post by eight p.m., or you’ll be meetin’ Raddy sooner than you’d like.”

I hesitated. Buck hadn’t straight out told me what Raddy had revealed to him. I didn’t want to tip him off, but I also needed to know what he knew. “If you believe what Raddy told you, then I would think that would be a very bad decision.”

“Oh, that’s the beauty of it. Malcolm’s outrage and vindictiveness will be his downfall.”

Neely Kate’s eyes looked as large as quarters. Maybe it was petty, but a part of me wanted to say I told you so. The rest of me was confused by why Buck didn’t just kill me and set James off now. If a turf war was what he wanted, it would be a sure way to get it. Maybe I was stupid, but I decided to call him on it. “How do I know you’re not gonna kill me and be done with it?”

“Where’s the fun in that? Besides, before my ultimatum, I thought you were my best shot at recovering that necklace. With the added threat to you and your boyfriend, I’m sure of it. And make no mistake, Rose Gardner, I want that necklace.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

He laughed. “Yeah, and I’m the king of France. See you at eight.”

We were in big trouble.

“How did Buck Reynolds have your number? What aren’t you telling me?” Neely Kate asked.

Well, crap. I still hadn’t told her about going back to One Eyed Joes. “When I was on my way home last night, I got another call from Trixie. She asked me to meet her at One Eyed Joes. She wanted to see me right away, and I didn’t think there was time for you to come.”

The fire in her eyes told me that she wasn’t buying it.

“When I got there, Trixie had a black eye and Buck was sittin’ at the end of the bar. I’m still not sure why she called the earlier meeting, but apparently Buck found out and forced her to call me last night so we could have a chat. It was a setup.” I paused to gauge her reaction.

“Go on.”

“He said to skip the middleman and bring the necklace to him. That it was his. Then he asked how I was tied to James. I told him it was a coincidence, but I wasn’t sure he bought it. After James gave Raddy that deal to protect him, Raddy must have called Buck and offered to give him information about me and James, presumably in exchange for an extension on turning in the necklace.”

She looked ticked. “You had quite the night.”

“Neely Kate.”

My phone rang. Jed. I could see him in his car, the phone lifted to his ear, but of course he couldn’t come out and confront us in person. I put him on speaker.

“What the hell are you two doing?” he practically shouted. “I thought you had to be across town in thirty minutes.”

“We’re chatting.”

“Uh-huh,” he mumbled. “Why did you split up and Neely Kate came out on her own?”