“If she hasn’t fired me. We’re still working together, as long as you’re here. And someone’s still hoping to do away with me.”
There was no reason to not continue things as they’d been—the walks to and from BethAnn’s, the brainstorming sessions where they told each other what they’d learned and bounced ideas off one another, even the occasional meal together, because it beat eating alone. Nothing had changed, at least on his end. On hers, she’d just given herself a dose of realism. Nurturing impossible dreams was a waste of time. No matter how strong the attraction, no matter how intimately they connected, Shane would never let himself love again.
“I really wish you’d pull back and let me handle everything.” He cast her a worried frown. “Branch is determined to get you out of the way. Since this didn’t work, I hate to think about what he might try next.”
“I’m not giving up until Prissy’s killers are caught.” She had voiced the argument before. More than once. But she couldn’t seem to get the same conviction into her tone. Shane was right. Branch and his buddies weren’t likely to give up easily.
The chief was going to be furious when he learned she was out. He’d probably figured with most of her ties to Harmony Grove having been severed eight years ago, she’d be on her own. The friends she’d had then had moved away, and the three weeks she’d been back hadn’t been enough time to forge new friendships.
Besides, friends generally didn’t bail one another out of jail. Parents, maybe. Never hers. Her mother would leave her to rot there rather than inconvenience herself to help her, and her stepfathers were probably still celebrating having her out of their hair.
Given her circumstances, Branch likely thought she’d be stuck in jail long enough that when she finally saw freedom again, she’d turn tail and run. What he hadn’t counted on was Shane.
He slid into one of the parking spaces in front of BethAnn’s. “I know you want to be involved, but it’s not worth the risk. As much as I enjoy working together, I can do this without you.”
“I’m being careful. Alan’s working on things, too.”
“What kind of things?”
“I don’t know. Branch, I assume. Prissy’s murder. The suspicious things that have been going on.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told me. When he read me my rights, his back was to Branch. After he finished, he whispered for me to hang loose, that he was working on it.”
“Can you give me his number?”
“Sure.” Alan wouldn’t mind. As Shane was fond of saying, two heads were better than one. She pulled up her contacts and gave him the number. As she turned to climb from the vehicle, his voice stopped her.
“I have your purse. BethAnn brought it to me.” He reached behind the seat and lifted it from the floorboard.
“Thanks.” She hadn’t even thought about it, but when Branch had hauled her away that morning, it had been tucked into the bottom drawer under the counter. She turned to face him fully. “Thank you for the ride from Bartow, and thank you for bailing me out. I know I didn’t seem very grateful, but I do appreciate it. And I will get you paid back, even if I have to make installments.”
“Installments are fine, but you don’t need to pay me back.”
“I know, but I—”
This time he held up a hand. “I know, you always pay your bills.”
She watched him pull away from the curb, then stood for several moments in front of BethAnn’s, trying to work up the courage to go in. She wasn’t beyond begging. She really needed the money. For her own bills as well as Prissy’s. Mark had tried repeatedly to schedule another hearing before Judge Peterson. Each time he’d been told there was nothing available on the docket until April.
So she was on her own, handling both her bills and Prissy’s. She was going to be hard-pressed to keep her head above water long-term. If BethAnn didn’t want her back, her prospects for employment in Harmony Grove were pretty hopeless. No one else was likely to hire her after Branch had marched her across Main Street in handcuffs, lights flashing. The only way he could have made her arrest into a bigger spectacle was if he’d used his siren.
If BethAnn fired her, she’d have to leave Harmony Grove. Maybe she’d be able to start over somewhere else—a place where she was just another nameless face, without a past, her mistakes and secrets locked up tight.
Then Branch would have won. Whatever involvement he’d had in Prissy’s murder would be between him and his Maker.
She squared her shoulders and swung open the door, ready to give it her best shot. Maybe she had half a chance. BethAnn seemed the type to want to see the best in people, to give others a second chance. Whether or not she believed Jess was innocent, she’d at least gone to Shane as Jessica had asked.
When the bell over the door sounded, BethAnn pivoted with a ready smile. It faded instantly, and her eyes widened. “Jessica?”
“Shane bailed me out.” That was all she was going to tell her. She wouldn’t do anything to blow his cover or put his life in danger.
“That’s…great. Wow, I didn’t expect to see you for a while.”
Jessica tried to read her. She seemed hesitant. Was it because she’d been caught off guard? Or did BethAnn no longer want her in the store?
“I was framed. You can ask Shane. Branch has my prints, but he didn’t get them at the factory.” Spending the day in jail had given her plenty of time to think. For the charges to stick, Branch would’ve had to have lifted her prints from somewhere. “The day the store was broken into, he spent an awful lot of time dusting. Silly me, I thought he was trying to lift the intruder’s prints. Instead, he
