Page 40 of Family Jewels

“Dammit.” He glanced down as he rinsed a plate in the sink and set it on the counter.

“You have to tell her.”

“No.” He turned his face close to mine and lowered his voice. “This will only take a day or two, tops. I have to be back by Friday afternoon for my evening shift, and that will be enough time to know if my source was accurate or not. If he’s alive, I’ll have the divorce papers signed; if not, she’ll be none the wiser.”

I pursed my lips together as I weighed my options. Did I tell her anyway? “Where’d you get a copy of her divorce papers?”

He gave me a look that told me I’d asked the most ridiculous question in the world.

“How’s she been acting with you?” he asked. “Because with me, she hasn’t been herself for the last week or so.”

“I know,” I said grudgingly. “She’s been that way with me too.” I wasn’t about to tell him that she’d laid into Jed right after she’d whipped out her gun and shot the ground between Homer Dyer’s feet. Besides, that wasn’t the only thing that had felt off. She usually talked a mile a minute, but she’d been quieter lately. More withdrawn.

“She’s already upset about going through the motions to declare her husband dead. I refuse to tell her he might still be alive until I have hard proof.” He paused. “I won’t hurt her for no reason.”

“She’s going to be angry with you,” I said. “When she finds out that you kept this from her, she’s going to be furious.”

“Maybe when she first finds out, but not when she takes a good look at the situation. She’ll understand I’m only trying to protect her.”

“I think you’re delusional,” I said, shaking my head. “But I’ll keep it to myself for now.”

Relief filled his eyes. Maybe because we’d been on the precipice of an argument and we hadn’t tumbled over. “What did Skeeter Malcolm say when you talked to him?” he asked, focusing on rinsing off another plate.

“Who said I talked to James?” I asked as I pulled three dessert plates from the cabinet.

He gave me a dubious look.

“Who I talk to is no longer your concern, Joe Simmons.”

He pulled back his shoulders, seeming to grow a few inches taller before my eyes. “I never said it was. I just wanted to know—” His words cut off when his cell phone started to ring. He groaned and pulled it out of his jeans pocket.

Whatever he saw on the screen made him frown. “Simmons,” he barked into the receiver.

I set the plates on the counter and studied him. From his expression, it was obvious whatever the person on the other end was telling him was serious.

Joe rubbed his forehead and said, “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“What happened?” I asked as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

“Rayna Dyer is dead.”

I gasped and took a step back, my butt hitting the counter. “What?”

“You knew her?” he asked. Then his eyes narrowed. “You were asking about her husband this morning. Did you go see her?”

I saw no reason to lie. Not if it could help Joe figure out what had happened to her. “Yeah,” I said, feeling a little lightheaded. “We talked to Rayna just this morning.”

“What’d you talk to her about?”

“Raddy had some jewelry that belonged to his grandmother. Rayna hung onto it after she kicked him out, but then she gave most of it back to Raddy’s mother. There was a necklace missing, and Raddy wanted it back. He asked Neely Kate and me to help him.”

Neely Kate moved through the kitchen doorway. “Raddy thought I could talk to Rayna and get it back for him.”

Joe’s expression darkened as he turned his attention to his sister. “After I told you to stay away from Radcliffe Dyer?”

Neely Kate put a hand on her hip. “Talking to Rayna Dyer isn’t the same as talking to Raddy.”

“Well, you’re done talking to anyone that has anything to do with either Dyer right now, because Rayna Dyer was just found dead in her hot tub.”