Page 82 of Trailer Trash

“Jed.”

“Don’t fight me on this, Neely Kate.”

Part of me wanted to try to get him to confront Branson, but I’d promised him I’d go along with his decisions at the club.

He put me into the passenger side and then circled around to the driver’s seat. Seconds later, he was pulling out of the parking lot, darting glances at the rearview mirror to make sure we weren’t being tailed.

“How did Branson know we’d be here?” I asked.

“Stan. He must have told Stan to call him if you ever showed up. Money talks. Plus, Stella and Beasley could have alerted him that you were asking questions.” He checked his rearview mirror again. “You have something Branson wants. What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Neely Kate.This isn’t the time to keep secrets from me. What does Branson want?”

The blood rushed from my head. “I don’t know. Maybe he wants the video.”

“What video?”

“The video of me committing murder.”

Jed’s face went blank. “Why would Branson want that?”

“I don’t know. Payback?”

He dug his vibrating phone out of his pocket and then stuck it back in. “Who did you kill, Neely Kate?”

My mouth went dry.

“Was it the man who wanted you to sign the paper?”

I hesitated, but I couldn’t keep it from him. He needed to know. “Yes.”

“But you killed him in self-defense.” When I didn’t say anything, he cast me a questioning look. “It had to be self-defense.”

I’d relived that night over and over in my head, trying to justify what I’d done, but no amount of self-reflection could change the facts. I hadn’tneededto murder the man. There had been other options available to me. “I don’t think it was.”

“I need to know what happened. Who did you kill? What was his name?”

“I don’t know,” I said, starting to shake. “He never told me his name and neither did Branson. They said he was from Dallas.”

“What’s on the video, Neely Kate? Everything?”

“You mean what he did to me? Yeah.”

“Where’s the video now?”

“Buried under the azaleas. With his body. I didn’t intend to bury it, but I wasn’t thinkin’ straight after . . . everything. I didn’t realize the video was still in the camera until after we finished.”

“Beasley helped you bury the body,” he said.

My mouth dropped open. “How did you know?”

“You said he was in jail because of you. I knew he had to have helped you somehow, and I sure as hell haven’t heard what he did to help you in any other way.” He paused. “How do you know he hasn’t told his brother where you buried him?”

“Because he doesn’t remember.”

“How is that possible?”

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