Page 44 of Family Jewels

The man on the ground dropped his hands and started to push himself up to sitting. “Don’t shoot! Rose, it’s me! Raddy!”

“Raddy?”

“Can you put the gun away?” he begged.

“Not until you tell me what you’re doin’ here.”

“Lookin’ for you. I’m in trouble, and I need your help. Yours and Neely Kate’s.”

I shook my head in confusion, my gun still trained on Raddy. “James, what’s goin’ on?”

“I found this piece of shit in your barn.”

“I told you!” Raddy said to James. “I was waiting until the coast was clear to go talk to them. The deputy sheriff was here, and I had to wait until he left.”

“You were hiding in my barn?” I asked Raddy in disbelief.

“No.” He shook his head frantically. “Well . . . I guess so, yes. But I didn’t plan on hurtin’ you like Malcolm thinks. I only wanted to talk to you.”

I was still shocked that James was here. As far as I knew, he’d only been to my farm once—and that was months ago, after we’d teamed up to bring down J.R. Simmons. I kept trying to get him to come over to my house for one of our Tuesday night meetings, but he always refused, saying he didn’t want anyone knowing we were friends. Yet now he was standing in my barn and beating the sense out of Raddy Dyer. That couldn’t be a coincidence. None of it could be.

“You were beating him up?” I asked.

James met my dark look with a scowl of his own. “Before you start judgin’,” he said in a tight voice, “I never laid a hand on him.”

I lifted an eyebrow in challenge.

He lifted his hands from his sides. “I didn’t say I didn’t hurt him. But I only kicked him after he kicked your dog.”

“You did what?” I demanded, still holding the gun on Raddy.

“She was gonna bite me!”

“Bullshit,” James growled. “You owe her dog an apology.”

“What?” Raddy shouted in disbelief.

“Did I stutter?” James snarled. “Tell her dog you’re sorry for hurting her.”

“I ain’t apologizing to no damn dog.”

That ticked me off even more. “Hernameis Muffy.”

Muffy heard her name and crawled toward me. Fear shot through me; Muffy never crawled. I squatted down next to her and gently placed my hand on her back, then slid it down to her side. She let out a soft whimper when I pressed my finger on her back hip.

Now I was good and pissed.

“Why are you here, Raddy Dyer?” I demanded as I stood, pointing my gun at him again. “What was so important that you had to sneak around in my barn?”

“It’s Rayna,” he said, climbing to his feet. “She’s dead.”

That was like a bucket of cold water on my anger. I lowered my gun and turned on the safety. I didn’t trust Raddy, but I knew James wouldn’t let him get away with anything. Still, I wasn’t about to put the gun away. “I know. Joe got called in to help with the investigation. That’s why he left.”

“They’re gonna pin this on me,” he said, pressing his hand to his side where James had kicked him. “They’re gonna say I did it.”

“Did you?” I asked in a firm voice.

His eyes flew wide. “No! Why would I kill her? I’d already left. We were through.”