Page 16 of Family Jewels

“I was chased out of the store with a pitchfork!”

She rolled her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

I pointed to the door and gasped. “Look! Now they have aliteralpitchfork!” The two employees stood at the door, glaring at my truck. A customer stood next to them with a shovel in one hand and a pitchfork in the other, presumably waiting for the rain to let up.

Neely Kate sighed. “I could have sworn they were over it. And you made it out just fine. That’s what counts, right?”

I scowled as I started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot, heading back toward our office.

“Look on the bright side,” she said. “We just made five hundred dollars.”

“And guess where part of that five hundred dollars is gonna go?” I said in a smug tone. “We’re gonna need to hire two guys from Jonah’s temporary work program so we can get those bushes planted while we’re traipsing around looking for a necklace.”

Her smile fell. “Oh. I hadn’t considered that.”

I sat back in my seat, feeling like a terrible friend. Wasn’t this supposed to be about cheering her up? “Hey, that’s a bonus, right?” I said with a grin. “Did you want to be plantin’ bushes in the mud?”

She grinned back. “No.”

I pushed out a big breath. “Okay, let’s look at what we know. So Raddy has this necklace that he and his pseudo wife thought was costume jewelry. Then Rayna kicks him out, he finds out it’s worth something, and suddenly it’s gone. We need to talk to Rayna.” I turned toward her. “Do you know where we can find her?”

“She works at Walmart. We can stop by and see if she’s there.”

I turned at the next corner and started driving toward Walmart. “But first we need to call Jonah.”

I grabbed my phone. Jonah was a semi-famous televangelist and pastor at the New Living Hope Revival Church. His non-denominational church had a band that played praise songs instead of hymns, and his uplifting sermons were the exact opposite of the fire and brimstone speeches I had listened to at the Henryetta Southern Baptist Church since before I could remember. It was no wonder he’d won over a good portion of the churchgoers in Henryetta after moving to town at the end of last summer. But he’d also started a controversial Onward and Upward program for ex-cons and teens at risk, part of which was his day laborer program for men who had trouble finding work because of their non-violent criminal records. I was counting on him having a couple of men available for the afternoon.

“Rose,” he said warmly when he answered the phone. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you after church on Sunday. How are you doing?”

“Oh . . . things have been better. Say, do you have a couple of guys from your work program available this afternoon? I need them to plant a few bushes.”

“Today?” he asked in surprise. “It’s still raining.”

“It’s supposed to let up soon.”

“Won’t it be too muddy?”

He had a point, and part of me wondered if it would be easier to admit defeat and just give the Hendersons a refund. “Maybe, but if they could at least get them in the ground, I can go fix them when it’s dryer. I can pay them each fifty dollars.” I gave him the address and simple instructions, and he promised to supervise the job.

Neely Kate was surprisingly silent on the rest of the drive to Walmart, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, she opened her car door and popped open her umbrella. She waited for me at the end of the truck, but I waved her off again.

“I’m already drenched.” The rain had let up again, but there was still a light drizzle.

We hurried for the entrance, and once Neely Kate had shaken the rain off her umbrella, we headed into the store. She grabbed a cart and tossed her umbrella inside. “We might as well get a few things while we’re here. Muffy’s almost out of dog food.”

But she headed straight for the personal hygiene aisle. A box of tampons went into the cart, followed by some shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste.

I gave her a look. “I thought we were here to talk to Rayna Dyer.”

“We can’t just march up to her and start interrogatin’,” Neely Kate said, picking up a curling iron from a display and opening the clamp. “We need to make it look like we’re shopping, so I might as well get these things while we’re here.” She glanced up at me. “Weren’t you saying you needed new socks? Why don’t you head over there and pick some out? I’ll meet you in the dog food aisle; then we’ll go find Rayna.”

“What department does she even work in?”

“Housewares. But I’ll meet you by the pet supplies.”

Shaking my head, I headed toward the shoe department, only to realize once I got there that the socks were by the women’s lingerie. I started to walk across the aisle when I heard my name.

“Rose?”

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