Part of me wondered how much time I actually had.

Chapter Nineteen

Monday brought more sunshine and warm weather, which was ideal because Bruce Wayne and I were hard at work trying to finish the Timberland job.

“You didn’t tell me that David had a girlfriend,” I said to him. Muffy was stretched out in the sunshine. Since Mason and I were both working through lunch so we could be home before his mother arrived at dinner time, I had brought Muffy with me.

“Oh, yeah. He does,” he mumbled. “I guess it didn’t seem important.”

“You two used to spend all of your time together and he’s probably gone a lot now. I bet that’s hard for you.”

He made a face. “It ain’t nothin’. He’s happy.”

But I realized he’d been quieter than usual over the last two weeks. I’d been so self-absorbed with Mason I hadn’t noticed. Some friend I was.

“I saw Samantha Jo with her boyfriend at Carla’s trailer. I can’t figure that guy out. One minute he was groveling at her feet and the next he was talking like he hated her.”

“I think he does.”

I looked up. “Does what?”

He shrugged. “Hates her.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Then why is he with her?”

“He thinks she had something to do with that bank robbery, and he’s hoping to benefit off it.”

My mouth dropped. “Well, did she?”

He looked up at me and rolled his eyes. “That girl’s dumber than a dried stick in a match factory. What do you think?”

I sighed.

“Moose needs to give up the hunt. Even if Samantha Jo was part of the bank robbery, he’s not gonna get two pennies to rub together from it. It certainly wouldn’t be enough to help him raise the money to buy Crocker’s business.”

“What?” I screeched.

Bruce Wayne’s face puckered in annoyance. “There’s going to be an auction on Friday night for the territorial rights to his business.” He shrugged. “Not Weston’s Garage, but the drug part of his business as well as some equipment.”

My eyes widened. “And someone would need a lot of money for that.”

“Yep.”

“Do you know who’s interested?”

“Well…they don’t exactly go around advertising it, but it’s common knowledge that Skeeter Malcolm wants it. He and Crocker always had a rivalry. Skeeter’s trying to head off any competition at the pass.”

“Does he have enough money?”

“Who knows? Skeeter makes a lot of money, but he ain’t exactly frugal with it. And no one knows what it’s gonna go for. Could be five thousand, could be fifty.”

“But who owns it? Crocker’s dead.”

“His second-in-command, Bull Tribideau. But he don’t want it. The whole thing’s been run into the ground since Crocker’s arrest last summer. There’s been competition from Columbia County as well as some from Shreveport. Bull’s tired and ain’t got the heart for it anymore. It’s gonna take someone gunnin’ to be king and that ain’t Bull. So he’s selling it on Friday.”

“That’s crazy.”

Bruce Wayne shrugged.

When we took a break later, I called Jonah’s cell phone.

“Hey, Rose,” he answered. “You don’t happen to know anything about the robbery at Big Bill’s, do you?”

“No,” I said in annoyance, then softened my tone. “Do you?”

He laughed. “Probably the same as what you know through Mason.”

“We had a huge fight last night. After that, we spent the rest of our time making up, so I didn’t get much information at all.” My cheeks burned when I realized what I’d said. “In any case, all I heard was that it had been robbed and they got about eight thousand dollars. Also, they had on the same ski masks those bank robbers had on, so there’s no question it was them.”

“The Fenton County underworld in an uproar. Big Bill’s is considered sacred. No one local would rob that place.”

“Mason said that Taylor suspected that was the case. That made us wonder if whoever robbed it was from out of town.”

“There’s a strong likelihood of that.”

“Bruce Wayne told me that Crocker’s business is going up for auction on Friday.”

“So it’s true,” Jonah muttered. “I’d heard rumors, but they seemed crazy. How do you auction off something like that?”

I told him everything Bruce Wayne had told me. “I bet Lars is going to try to buy Crocker’s business. Bruce Wayne says whoever buys it will have to be hungry for success. He looks ravenous.”

“I agree.”

“But Moose had access to the hats, so maybe they are both part of it and the group is a lot larger than we think.”

Jonah was silent for a moment. “This is getting dangerous, Rose. You need to tell Mason. Did you tell him everything you found out yesterday?”

“Yes, I told you I would. And I told him everything else too…”

“Good.”

“Bruce Wayne says Skeeter Malcolm isn’t frugal with his money,” I said, steering us back on task. “What does he spend it on?”

“Booze. Women. Cars. The same things a lot of guys spend their money on. Skeeter just has more of it to spend.”

“Do you think he’d go after Crocker’s business?”