RG2 - Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons by Denise Grover Swank Read Free Book Online

hall…”
    “I told you. I know things.” She waved her hand vaguely. “Don’t question my methods.”
    For twenty-four years I had known things and people questioned every utterance that came out of my mouth, yet Neely Kate, who knew things that no one should know, self-assuredly sat there telling me to accept it.
    I loved her already.
    “Yeah, he was a bit snippy.”
    “Rumor has it he’s like this all the time. He’s the new assistant D.A., but he doesn’t want to be here. He had a job up in Little Rock workin’ in the state courts. But something happened up there—something so top secret I can’t even find out. Now he’s stuck here in Fenton County and he’s takin’ it out on everyone. I guess I can’t say I blame him. I’d do anything to get out myself.”
    I shrugged. I used to think that too.
    “His name is Mason Van de Camp Deveraux the Third . Could you imagine having such an awful name? No wonder he’s so crabby. Anyways, he just started a little over a month ago. About the time that big crime ring got busted.”
    I pinched my mouth shut, but my guilty look alerted Neely Kate. She shrieked, pointing to me. “Rose! Rose Gardner ! Oh my stars and garters! You’re her. How did I not realize it before?” She covered her mouth with her hand with a dramatic swoop then just as quickly dropped it. “Did you really find your mother dead on your sofa?”
    I refrained from asking her how she didn’t know already, but I suspected she did. She just wanted the firsthand account. Glancing down in embarrassment, I fiddled with a sugar packet. “Well, there’s really not much to tell.”
    Her hand covered mine. “I’m so sorry, Rose. There I go again, buttin’ into things that aren’t my business.”
    Her sincerity grabbed my heart and I found myself wondering if we could actually be friends. “No, it’s not that. Honest. It’s just that I haven’t really talked about it with anyone but Joe. Not even my sister.”
    “ Really ?”
    I shrugged.
    “You’re kind of famous. You were one of the few to beat the Henryetta police.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Her eyes widened and she bobbed her head. I swore she missed her Broadway calling, sticking around Fenton County. “Once they make up their mind someone’s guilty, nothing sways their opinion. But you proved them wrong, not to mention you helped bust that crime ring that was going on right under their noses.”
    No wonder Officer Ernie hated me so much.
    “It was nothing. Honest. It was mostly Joe.”
    Her eyebrows rose in excitement. “ Joe ? I see the way your eyes twinkle when you say his name. He’s your boyfriend, isn’t he? Spill it.”
    The rest of our lunch period I told her about Momma’s murder and my Wish List and how Joe helped me with it even though he thought I might be the extortionist. And I told her about Daniel Crocker and the flash drive. I even told her about Hilary, Joe’s old girlfriend, and how she worked for the State Police with Joe and how I couldn’t help being jealous of her.
    “Why would you be jealous?” Neely Kate asked, licking chocolate pudding off her spoon with big sweeps of her tongue. I suspected Neely Kate did everything in an exaggerated manner.
    “Well…” I hated to admit such ugly feelings. What possessed me to confess it? No wonder Neely Kate knew so much. She had a way of making people forget themselves and say whatever popped into their head. “She’s really pretty for one thing. And obviously smart.”
    “You’re pretty. And you must be smart to not only put Mason Deveraux III in his place today but Mr. Yates too.” She shook her head in amazement. “You keep it up, Rose Gardner, and you’ll be a local legend.”
    My face heated.
    She laughed. “I don’t know why you’re so worried. If your Joe wanted to be with Hilary, he’d be with her, not you.”
    “But they have history.”
    Patting my hand, she laughed again. “So do you! How many couples bust up a crime ring?”
    I smiled