“Once I showed up with Joe and convinced Malcolm that we were working with him and not against him, he gave us access to your mic feed. And the cameras.”

“So you saw and heard it all?”

“Yeah.” He looked into my eyes, but something was missing. Maybe he was just tired. “You handled yourself very well. You’re right. You’re good at it.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I said nothing.

“If nothing else, J.R. will face charges for the murder of Mick Gentry. It was captured on tape, and we have eyewitnesses. Maybe if Simmons is in jail, people will be willing to turn state’s evidence and confess to setting up your charges.”

I turned my attention to the man who had destroyed so many lives. Joe already had his father in handcuffs on the floor, and J.R hadn’t lost any steam issuing his threats. “You’ll pay for this, Deveraux! I’ll destroy you!”

“You can try,” Mason said, sounding exhausted. “But you’ll find it difficult behind bars.”

I had to wonder how difficult it would actually be. J.R. Simmons behind bars could still be a threat.

The towel Joe had wrapped around J.R.’s leg was already soaked with blood, and a new worry hit me.

“Do you think he’ll die?” I asked.

“We wouldn’t get so lucky,” Jed murmured.

“No,” Mason agreed. “But his leg’s going to be messed up for some time.”

“So if he’s gonna make it, what’ll happen to him?”

“He’ll be arrested for murder and attempted murder and a whole host of other charges, and I suspect there will be a grand jury to investigate the crimes on this tape. They can’t press charges from what he said in the tapes, but it can open an investigation. And like I said, people might be willing to turn state’s evidence.” He paused. “You’ll probably have to testify.”

“Will people find out I’m the Lady in Black?”

Mason lowered his voice. “Honestly, I’m not sure anyone would believe it. We can stick with the story that you assumed her persona to trap Simmons. We’ll need Malcolm and Jed to testify about that.”

“We will,” Jed said without hesitation.

“But you would have to commit perjury, Mason,” I whispered.

His face was expressionless. “I told you I’d do anything to keep you safe. That included.”

I might have gotten out of my mess with J.R., but I was still smack in the middle of another. “I love you, Mason.”

He searched my eyes, then pulled my cheek to his chest and held me tight. “I love you too.”

I closed my eyes, feeling renewed hope we’d work this out.

He just needed time.

Chapter 33

Mason wanted to take me to the hospital for my arm; I refused. It had become a bad routine. Rose gets into danger and someone goes to the E.R.

I was ready for a new chapter in my life.

Besides, I was fairly certain J.R. Simmons would need to go to the E.R. Let him fill the vacant spot.

Joe said he would come by the farmhouse to take our statements in the morning. Since he himself had been an eyewitness to J.R.’s confessions—and crimes—he had everything he needed to press charges. Mason wandered off to talk to a sheriff’s deputy, so I took the opportunity to tell Joe about my suspicions about Kate, including the evidence I’d found in her apartment.

Worry filled his eyes. “I know my sister and I don’t see eye to eye, but I honestly don’t think she’s capable of such a thing, Rose.”

“But you’ll look into it, right?”

“I’ll need to deal with this mess first,” he said, watching as his father was hauled out of the house on an ambulance stretcher, escorted by two deputies I didn’t recognize. “But I promise I’ll look into it first chance I get.”

“Will you?” I asked, but my words were missing any bite. Instead, they sounded as weary as I felt.

He looked me square in the eye. “No more sweeping anything under the rug. My family’s goin’ to atone for our misdeeds.”

“Thank you.” I paused. “I’m sorry you thought I was dead. I … I know how hard that must have been.”

His eyes clouded. “I want to know more about all of that, but I’ll take your statement in the morning when I question you about what happened here.”

“Okay.”

I started to turn away, but he said softly, “Rose.”

I turned back to face him.

“I don’t know what I would have done if …”

I gave him a determined look. “You would have been just fine, Joe Simmons.”

“Maybe so, but Joe McAllister wouldn’t have been.”

And the sad truth was that Joe McAllister was probably the man Mason had found on Joe’s old front porch. I didn’t know what to do about that either.

I started to look for Mason, but I saw Jed standing in a corner, taking in the whole scene. I’d worried that he and Skeeter would be in trouble with the law. Joe assured me that neither of them would face charges, at least not for their role in taking J.R. down, but what would be the long-term repercussions? The fact that he and Skeeter had walked into this with eyes wide open didn’t make me feel any better. The truth was, all of this had been orchestrated at my insistence.

He smiled and held out my personal cell phone as I approached him. “Skeeter says he’ll be in touch.”