Hell in a Handbasket by Swank Denise Grover

Author:Swank, Denise Grover [Swank, Denise Grover]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Suspense
ISBN: 9781939996640
Amazon: B07931TMZ6
Goodreads: 38089452
Publisher: DGS
Published: 2018-04-13T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

I called Neely Kate as soon as I pulled away from the house. “Any luck finding Becky?” I asked.

“The manager’s running late, so we haven’t talked to him, but we found a neighbor who remembers her. He said he sees her walk to the convenience store nearly every day in the early afternoon. He pointed out the apartment he thinks she lives in, so we’re watchin’ the door while we wait for the manager. What about you?” she asked. “Find out anything useful?”

“You wouldn’t believe what I found out.” I spent several minutes filling her in on both Carol Ann and Patsy.

When I finished, she was quiet for a moment. “What do you think she was up to?”

“Honestly,” I said, “I would have said she was jumping into the drug business, but why would she tell Poppy she was doin’ something her mother would be proud of? Carol Ann’s daddy got thrown into prison because he messed with the drug trade, or at least Lucille thinks so. She would not be happy.”

“Yeah, that’s throwin’ me off too.”

Since I didn’t know where I was going next, I pulled into a convenience store parking lot. “Her cousin in Big Thief Hollow didn’t know anything specific about Carol Ann’s business?”

“No, she only mentioned it in passing. She made it seem like no big deal.”

“Or she was bein’ super secretive about it. How’d it come up in the conversation?”

Neely Kate was quiet for a moment. “Come to think of it, Charlene’s mother’s the one who mentioned it. She kind of played it down.”

“Sounds like we need to have another chat with Charlene.”

“Yeah . . .”

“Did you know anything about Patsy cheatin’ people in her real estate deals?” I asked.

“I’ve heard rumors. I know there was a lawsuit filed against her that got dismissed, but the people who sued her weren’t the most trustworthy citizens of Fenton County. I figured it was a wash.”

“Yeah, but Judge Berger’s the one who threw out the case. Plus, you said Patsy’s office staff acted weird. There’s something fishy going on with her. All the more reason for me to talk to Calvin again.”

“Agreed, but when are you plannin’ on seeing him?” Neely Kate asked. “Witt had to leave Marshall in the panic room while he went to talk to someone about renting garage space for his mechanic shop. He won’t be able to go with you until later this afternoon.”

“Huh.” I didn’t want to wait to go see him. I’d built some momentum, and I would hate for it to grind to a halt now. I heard the beep of a text message and saw James’ name on the screen.

We need to talk. Can you meet me at the Sinclair at noon?

My heart skipped a beat. What did he want to talk about? Was this about Marshall or about us? Maybe he’d decided to end things before I could give him an answer. Maybe the whole situation had begun to seem like too much of a gamble.

“Rose,” Neely Kate said in an insistent tone.

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