Page 61 of Family Jewels

Time to text Jed. I hid my phone under my desk and speed-typed a text that sounded like a Clue guess:Homer Dyer in our office with a knife.

“Have you officially lost your mind, Homer Dyer? Or are you just plain drunk?” Neely Kate asked in disbelief, pointing her finger toward the door. “The police headquarters is just down the street.”

I slowly reached into my purse and pulled out my Taser, keeping it out of sight.

Homer moved in front of her desk. “Where’s my boy?”

She got to her feet, rising to her full five-foot-four inches. He towered over her, and she had to tilt back her head to glare up at him. “How in the world would I know?”

“You’ve been talking to him. Where is he? He’s not answering his phone.”

Was Homer worried about his stepson? He didn’t strike me as the worrying sort.

“I don’t know,” Neely Kate said. “Haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

My phone vibrated in my lap with a response from Jed.

Hang tight.

Homer was still staring Neely Kate down with the knife in his hand. “That’s not what I heard,” he snarled. “I heard he was hiding out in your barn.”

“Never saw him.”

Homer's face reddened and he looked ready to pounce.

Hiding the Taser behind my back, I stood upright and said, “Iwas the one who saw Raddy last night.”

Homer turned his beady eyes on me. “Is that right? Did he have the necklace?”

“What do you think?” I asked, walking to the side of my desk.

“Don’t get smart with me,” he snapped.

“He hired us to find the necklace,” I countered. “We didn’t make any secret of that when we were talkin’ to Miss Mable. If we didn’t have it when we left your house, when would we have found it to give to Raddy?”

“How the hell would I know?” he asked, moving closer.

“Stop right there or I’ll shoot,” Neely Kate shouted, now pointing her gun at him.

Homer turned to face Neely Kate, giving her the scariest grin I’d ever seen. “I think I’ll take my chances.”

“I’ve got this covered, Neely Kate.” I hoped she believed me. Tasing a guy would be a whole lot easier to explain than shooting one, and while I wasn’t convinced he didn’t deserve it, I didn’t want his blood on our hands. Or the floor.

“Raddy said he saw someone running out of his wife’s house after he found her dead,” I said. “Know anything about that?”

“How would I know about that?” Homer asked, but he didn’t come across as one hundred percent convincing.

“Because you knew Rayna was the last person to have seen that necklace.”

“I didn’t have nothing to do with killing her.”

I tilted my head. “No one said anything about her being murdered.”

He lunged for me with the knife, and I pulled my hand out from behind my back, aimed the Taser at his chest, and pressed the button.

Homer was on the floor within seconds, and the smell of urine filled my nose.

“Oh, my stars and garters,” Neely Kate groaned as she walked over to him. “Did he just pee himself?” She glanced up at me with a dark look. “I’m not cleaning up that mess.”

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