Page 86 of Family Jewels

“You set me up,” I said to Trixie, trying to decide if I should be ticked or scared. Probably both.

She gave me an apologetic look. “After he found out I called you earlier . . . he made me.”

Before or after he’d given her that black eye?

“Did Buck kill Rayna?”

Tears filled her eyes. “Rayna was my best friend.”

That didn’t answer my question. I lowered my voice. “Do you need help?”

She cast an anxious glance at Buck before turning back to me, her eyes now hard. “Buck’s waitin’ for ya, and he doesn’t like to be kept waitin’.”

The bartender handed me an open bottle, and I hopped off the stool and headed over to Buck’s side of the bar. If I’d learned one thing last winter, it was this: if you find yourself in a dangerous situation, one you can’t leave, take charge of it. Buck may have called this meeting, but I could still gain the upper hand.

I walked over to him with a confident strut, reminding myself that I had a full arsenal. My loaded gun was in my purse, along with my Taser—loaded with a new cartridge and my full can of pepper spray. I could handle this. But now I was cursing myself for not contacting Jed.

No one knew I was here.

I stopped next to Buck. He’d turned in his stool and leaned his forearm on the bar. “Well, aren’t you like a cold glass of water on a hot day?”

I shot him a glare. “What do you want, Mr. Reynolds?”

He laughed. “Mr. Reynolds? Do I look like an old fart to you?”

I could play this two ways—nice or sassy—and right now I was feeling pretty cranky. I decided I could take the nice approach with the next Fenton County lowlife I encountered.

If therewasa next time . . .

Who the heck was I kidding?

I put my hand on my hip. His features were strong, but there was a bit of droopiness under his eyes, plus some crow’s-feet in the corners. I’d guess him to be in his early forties, but I decided to goad him. “As a matter of fact, you do. So what do you want, gramps?”

His jaw tensed, but the surprise in his eyes was quickly replaced by amusement. “You’re a funny one . . . Rose Gardner.”

I tried not to show my shock. I’d definitely given them my fake name at Jaspers. “Aren’t you the clever one,” I said, slipping into my Lady persona without even thinking about it. Something else I’d learned while masquerading as the Lady in Black was that attitude mattered, particularly with dangerous men like this one. “You obviously went to a lot of trouble to bring me here—beating up your girlfriend and all—so why don’t you just cut to the chase?”

“I want that necklace.”

“You and everyone’s brother.”

His eyes narrowed to dark slits. “It’s mine.”

“Well, congratulations,” I said with a hint of sass. “I’m not sure what you wantmeto do about it.”

“I know Raddy hired you and your friend to look for it. And I know you two have been known to get results. So when you find it, you’re gonna skip the middleman and bring it straight to me. Got it?”

“So you’re gonna pay us the five hundred dollars Raddy promised us upon delivery?”

He laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Yeah. Sure.”

We were far more likely to win the bucking bronco event at the Fenton County Rodeo than we were to get our money from Buck. But that was beside the point.

“I’m gonna need that necklace by tomorrow night,” he said.

“I’m very well aware of the deadline.”

“How’d you get mixed up with Skeeter Malcolm?”