Mason’s jaw was slack with shock.

“Your momma came to me last week and told me she had a feeling that you were in danger and that your life was tied to someone else’s. At first I thought it might be Joe, but then I realized I needed to think bigger. J.R. Simmons is out to destroy someone else in this town too. Your fate is tied to his.”

His eyes widened. “Skeeter Malcolm?” He jumped to his feet. “Oh, Rose. What did you do?” He was in a panic now. “Oh, God.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, then dropped them and grabbed my shoulders. “It’s okay.” He nodded slowly as if trying to convince himself too. “We’ll figure a way out of this. Malcolm’s in enough trouble that he doesn’t have time to mess with small fish like us.” He forced a smile. “He’s got to be more worried about his murder charges and the Lady in Black’s attempts to take over his territory.”

How had he heard that part?

He saw my confusion. “You and I put it together that Simmons is after Malcolm, so I called Randy on the drive home from Little Rock. He has a source who keeps him updated on all the rumors in the crime world. I figured if I could keep tabs on Malcolm, it might lead me to Simmons.”

I took a shallow breath. “Mason, the Lady in Black will lead you to J.R.”

He shook his head. “Finding her is like finding a needle in a haystack. She’s like a ghost. She doesn’t exist. She shows up at these meetings, and then she just disappears. No one knows where she lives. Rumor has it she’s from Louisiana, but there’s no evidence to suggest that’s true.”

“The Lady in Black has already set up a meeting with Mick Gentry’s backer. Tomorrow night at ten p.m.”

His eyes narrowed. “Did Malcolm tell you that?” He shook his head. “Why does he need you or me, anyway? What’s he getting out of this? And that story about my mother saying our fates are tied together is not an answer.”

I rubbed my forehead. “You asked me who saved me tonight.” I held his gaze with mine. “It was one of Skeeter’s men. He was watching the restaurant when he saw the guy carry me out of the back. He followed them to the cabin, and he called Skeeter on the way. They discovered Jed and dragged him into the room where I was being kept, but his orders were to protect me. So he beat the crap out of them, and they brought me here.”

“Malcolm’s men have been following you?” The terror in his eyes was nearly my undoing, but I had to keep going.

“I told you the truth in the text I sent you. Jed heard them plotting to kill me. They were supposed to video it with a time stamp and send it to you while you were in the sheriff’s office. They wanted you to watch me be murdered. Skeeter refused to let me go home after that. He’s worried they’ll kill me. So he brought me here to protect me.”

Confusion washed over his face like he’d been given a bag of spare parts and told to build a toaster. “Was he the one who posted your bail?”

“No, but he wants to know who did.” I licked my bottom lip. “He was the one who convinced Carter Hale to represent me.”

Anger burst on his face. “We’ll be finding you new representation in the morning.”

I didn’t respond. We had bigger things to worry about.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath and softened his expression, as though he worried his emotional pendulum would scare me. “It’s okay. We just need to figure out why Skeeter Malcolm is interested in you.”

I forged on, wondering whether all this buildup would help, or if it would be better to just rip off the Band-Aid. “Remember the extra blood stain on the factory floor? The one you asked me about? That was from one of his men.”

“They were at the factory to hurt you?” he asked in dismay. “Are they aligned with Joe?”

“No. They can’t stand Joe. They think he’s in allegiance with his father. Jed was there to protect me.”

“Last week?”

“And the fire at Gems … Skeeter knew I was there. When he realized I was in trouble, he sent his men in to get me. He and Jed were the ones who dragged you out of the burning building.”

“What?” He grabbed the sides of his head and gave it a couple of shakes, then dropped his hands. “How long has he had you under his thumb? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have figured out a way to help you!”

I fought the tears burning my eyes. I had to keep it together. “I’m the one who went to him.”

He grabbed my shoulders, fear washing over his face. “Why would you do that, Rose? What did you hope to gain from him?”

“Information. I wanted to trade information with him.”

He dropped his hold and took a step back, panic filling his eyes. “County secrets? You were feeding him inside information?”

“No!” I shook my head. “I swear to you, I never told him anything that was a county secret.” But then I realized that wasn’t entirely true. I’d told him about the knife in Mason’s drawer. I’d told him that Joe was fixing to pin the double murders on him.

“Then what? What could you possibly have that he wanted?”

I broke down, hiccupping on a sob. “Information about the robbers.”

He shuddered as it hit him. “The bank robbers? That was back in November!”

I gave him a pleading look. “I needed to get my money back. I found out the men who’d stolen it were going around the county, stealing more money to make a bid at the auction for Crocker’s business.”