Page 94 of Family Jewels

He stepped out of the shadows, pointing a rifle at me. “I don’t think so.”

I told myself that Raddy was scared, that he was only using the gun as a prop to get me to do what he wanted. But my heart sped up anyway. The fact that he was scared made him reckless. “Put that damn shotgun away, Radcliffe Dyer, before someone gets hurt. If you really want to get a deal with Skeeter, do you think shootin’ me is the way to go about it?”

He didn’t budge.

Oh crap. James was listening and probably on his way now. I couldn’t let this escalate. “Put it down, Raddy!”

He hesitated, then lowered the tip.

“Thank you for putting the gun away,” I said, even though it wasn’t totally gone. But hopefully it would be enough to hold James back. I took a breath and gave myself a second to gather my wits. “Now stop all this nonsense and let’s get to the heart of the matter. You want me to approach Skeeter and tell him what exactly?”

“Tell him to protect me.”

I shook my head. “Protect you from what?” I tilted my head. “Youwerepart of that shooting tonight, weren’t you?” A new worry hit me. “Did you shoot anyone?”

“No, but I was there.”

“What happened?”

“I went to talk to Buck, to try to reason with him and ask him to help me leave town. But he was good and pissed. He reminded me that I have until 8:00 on Friday night to hand over the necklace. If I don’t, I’m as good as dead.”

“So go to the sheriff.”

“No!” He ran a hand over his head in frustration. “That’s where those skeletons come in. I’ve done some bad things, and Buck Reynolds knows what they are. If I have him arrested, he’ll blab all my secrets to the sheriff.”

“So let me get this straight. You can’t find the necklace, and Buck has threatened to kill you if you don’t hand it over by tomorrow night?”

He nodded.

“And you want Skeeter to offer you protection. You know you have to give him something in return, right?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna promise to not tell anyone about you.”

I shook my head. “No. That’s never gonna work. He could just make sure you never talk to anyone again and be done with it.”

His eyes went as wide as pool balls.

“You have to give him something valuable.”

The tip of his gun rose again. “Yeah. And I’m lookin’ at it.”

“Dammit, Raddy!”I shouted. “Will you just stop and use the twenty brain cells God gave you? That’s not gonna work!”

My insult didn’t seem to faze him, but it didn’t sway him either.

I pushed out a tension-filled breath. “You have to give him something he can use.”

“You think he wants the rest of the jewelry?”

I shook my head and groaned. “Not the jewelry.Information.You’ve been playin’ poker with Crocker’s old cronies, right?”

His eyes narrowed. “What of it?”

“Are you part of their group?”

“I play poker with them on Tuesday nights, but that’s it.”

“Surely they talk about business while you’re there.”

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