The young woman’s eyes glazed over. “That’s so weird that you have Nikko’s last paycheck and your cousin disappeared with him.”

If Nikko’s sister was the brighter of the two of them, Nikko was in grave trouble.

Neely Kate shot me an exasperated glance before she said, “I know, right?”

“I’m always sayin’ it’s a small, small world.” The young woman looked over her shoulder at her hairdresser. “Ain’t I saying that, Nancy?”

Nancy released a low whistle. “You sure are, Alaina.”

“Do you have any idea what was goin’ on at Gems?” I asked.

Alaina shook her head. “I don’t know. But I know it was illegal. Nikko got mixed up with Crocker’s guys this summer. Then when Crocker broke out of jail and went cuckoo, Nikko quit and said he was done. But times are tough, you know?”

“I know,” I said.

“He kept trying to find an honest job, but the bills were piling up. Then he found out that Gems needed a bartender.” She shook her head. “I told him not to take it, but he was desperate. He was gonna lose his trailer, and he swore that Mud promised him the business was on the up and up even though it was a strip club.”

“But it wasn’t on the up and up? What did he say?’

“Nothing specific, just that he knew something was going on. There were weekly meetings on Friday nights, but if he knew why, he didn’t say. He did tell me that Mud was taking orders from someone else.”

“Who?”

“The owner. Mud’s just the manager.”

“So who’s the owner?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Do you know if your brother was dating Dolly Parton? She went by Sapphire at the club?”

She shook her head, emphatic. “No. He had a thing for another girl at the club, Becky. I think she goes by Crystal there.”

“Is there anything else you can think of that might help?”

“No. Nothing. Nikko never told me nothing about workin’ for Crocker. The only reason I know as much as I do is because he got drunk one night and told me. The next day he seemed real sorry and told me to forget it.”

I glanced at Neely Kate, and she looked worried. We had more information, but it wouldn’t get us very far.

“Do you think we could look around his trailer with you? We know Mud sent some guys over to Nikko’s place. We’re trying to figure out what he was looking for,” I said. “I know you don’t know us, but maybe there’s something there that will help us find your brother and Dolly Parton.”

She studied us for several seconds. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll take you there after I get done here. It shouldn’t be much longer, should it?” She looked up at the hairdresser.

“Yeah, you’ve got about five minutes left with the foils. Then I’ll wash it and cut it. Say twenty-five minutes?”

“Does he live around here?” Neely Kate asked.

“Yeah, just outside of town.”

“Say, is there any place around here to get donuts?” Neely Kate asked.

Judging from the silence that descended on the room, everyone was confused by her question.

Neely Kate shrugged. “We’ve got twenty-five minutes to kill, and Ronnie Jr. wants donuts.”

Nancy, the hairdresser, came to her senses first. “The closest place to get donuts is the gas station on County Road 22, but I gotta warn you, they’re not very fresh.”

“You probably passed it when you came into town,” said the older woman who was getting her hair fluffed to resemble a lion’s mane.

“Thanks,” Neely Kate said. “We’ll be back.”

I followed Neely Kate out to the truck. “We just ate lunch. Are we really getting donuts?”

“Sure we are. Ronnie Jr. likes the jelly-filled kind. Plus, this’ll give us a chance to go over all the facts we’ve gathered.”

“Well, let’s hope they have what he wants.” I laughed. At least she wasn’t craving spicy Buffalo wings again.

The only donuts the Feed and Fuel had were dried-out glazed donuts and hard long johns. Neely Kate settled on a package of powdered sugar donuts instead, along with a bottle of milk. We sat in the parked truck, looking out the windshield at the cars passing by on the county road.

“So the last people to see Dolly Parton and Nikko were at the club on Friday night—or rather early Saturday morning,” I said. “But neither one has been seen since.”

“That’s nothing new,” Neely Kate groaned. “I feel like we’ve beaten that dead horse to death.”

“But something’s bothering me.”

“What?”

“Billy Jack said that Nikko came and picked Dolly up from his house. Why would Nikko do that? It doesn’t sound like they were friends, and Alaina said her brother was running late. He wouldn’t have had time to run to Pickle Junction to pick her up before heading to Gems.”

“But why would Billy Jack have lied?” Neely Kate asked. “What happened at Gems doesn’t seem to have anything to do with them.”

“I don’t know, but I don’t believe him. It’s really suspicious.”

“Maybe that’s why he wanted to talk to me.” Neely Kate’s words were mumbled around a big bite of one of the donuts. “Maybe he lied and feels guilty.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Between the thing with the TV and his claim that he saw Dolly Parton and Nikko after Friday, his story is suspect,” I said.