Page 96 of Trouble Comes in Threes

Crap. He had a point.

“I could ask her to meet me tomorrow,” I said. “I really do need to go grocery shopping. If Joe’s home, I’ll just leave him with the kids.”

“And then I can go too,” Neely Kate said.

Jed shot her a dark look.

“We still need to figure out how to contact her,” Dermot said.

“I already got her contact info,” Neely Kate piped up.

“What?” I asked in shock. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

She shot Jed a look, then made a face at me.

“How did you get her information?” Jed asked.

Neely Kate propped her hands on her hips. “At Dena’s. I saw her head to the restroom at Dena’s while Rose was waiting on our order, so I followed her.” She tilted her head toward Jed. “So can we go meet with her now?”

“No,” Jed grunted.

Neely Kate grumbled as she opened her phone and texted me the contact information.

“Will she think it’s weird that I’m contacting her when you’re the one who convinced her to give you the information?” I asked.

Neely Kate shook her head. “I think it’s fine as long as you don’t give it to Joe or one of the other deputies.”

“How’d you get her to give you her number anyway?” I asked.

Her cheeks flushed, and she gave me a sheepish look. “I told her we used to investigate crimes, and if the sheriff’s department didn’t find out what happened to her brother, then we might be able to help her. And I may have mentioned that you knew what you were doing because you’d helped bring down the Hardshaw Group. In fact, I’m surprised she hasn’t reached out to us yet.”

I could have admonished her for putting us out there like that, but it would probably be hypocritical since we seemed to be doing the very thing she’d told Darlene we used to do.

“I’m going to text her,” I said. “If she doesn’t respond, then maybe Neely Kate can call. I’m presuming you gave her your number?”

“I gave her a business card with both our numbers.”

“A landscaping card or one of those sparkly cards you used to carry around in your purse?” Jed asked with a hard edge to his voice.

Before we’d had kids and gotten married, Neely Kate had wanted us to open a private investigation firm together. She’d wanted to call it Sparkle Investigations and had even ordered business cards. I’d nixed the name, but I’d been open to becoming PIs. We’d even worked some cases with a grumpy PI as our mentor.

Funny how things had changed so quickly soon after that.

“A landscaping business card,” she said, her chin lifted high. “If you must know.”

I picked up my phone, entered her number, and composed a text.

Darlene, this is Rose Gardner. Neely Kate gave me your contact information. I’d like to talk to you about your brother. Neely Kate and I are looking into a possible connection between your brother and the latest murder victim. Would you be able to meet me somewhere public, like a restaurant or the grocery store?

I pressed send, then set the phone on the table like it was covered in a deadly virus. My gut told me I needed to talk to her, but it still felt like sneaking behind Joe’s back. “Now we wait.”

Except we didn’t have to wait long. She texted back within seconds.

Are you gonna tell your husband? Neely Kate said if I talked to y’all it would be confidential, but…

I glanced up at Neely Kate and read the text to everyone. She moved behind me and stared down at my phone as I answered.

I won’t tell him if you don’t want me to, but I promise he’ll be understanding

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