Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

" W e don't know that," she said insistently. "Did you see her face?"

"No. She was turned away, but even if she hadn't been, it was too fuzzy."

"What was she wearing?"

I closed my eyes as I tried to remember. "I don't know. Jeans, I think. Maybe a black shirt?"

"Lady in Black clothes?" she muttered under her breath.

The clothes I'd worn when I'd used that alter ego.

"I don't remember seeing a hat," I said. "And she wasn't wearing a dress."

"But at the end, you gave that up. The people who mattered knew you were her, and you stopped wearing the hat and the dress." She paused. "But sometimes you still wore black."

Had the dead woman been me?

"We're looking for the owner of a wooden box!" I cried out in dismay. "How could that get me killed?"

"Maybe there's something else going on," she said.

I dropped my hand. "You think there might be something dangerous in the box?"

"Maybe, but what if it has nothing to do with the box?"

"Okay…" She had a point. The box had been buried for who knew how long. Still, it wasn't like I was doing anything else liable to get me killed. "I don't see how it could be anything but the box. I haven't been involved in the criminal world for nearly three years, and when the Hardshaw Group was arrested and disbanded and James left, Dermot took over. Everything's been quiet ever since." I mulled it over a few seconds more. "The box is the only thing that makes sense."

She was silent as she turned to glance at her car. "We should open it. If whatever's in it is the cause of what happened to the woman you saw?—"

"The dead woman I saw?—"

"Then maybe it'll help us understand what we're dealing with."

I considered it. "No. We need to stop looking for the owner of the box."

"Rose," she said insistently. "We may not know what's inside that carved box, but we've opened a box nonetheless. Pandora's box. If this is related to the box, someone out there might know we're looking for the owners." She leaned closer and lowered her breath. "Just knowing about it might get us into trouble."

I took a step back, my heart beginning to race. "No. I can't do this again! When we did this stuff before, it was just me and Muffy. I was the only person I needed to worry about, Neely Kate. But I have four kids !" My panic began building. "I said nothing dangerous!"

"I know, Rose. I know," she said, reaching out to stroke my arm. "We'll stop."

Tears stung my eyes. "Thank you."

"But we still need to open the box. We need to know what's inside in case someone dangerous really is looking for it."

I took several breaths before I said, "Yeah. You're right."

She looked relieved. "We'll have to figure out how to get it open without damaging whatever's inside. Jed and Witt can probably do it."

"Okay," I said, feeling a sudden need to see and hug my kids. "Are you okay with doing that on your own? I want to take off early. I need to hold my babies."

"Yeah," she said, pulling me into a hug. "Of course." She squeezed me tightly, then released me. "I never meant to stir up any trouble, Rose. I swear."

"I know," I said insistently. "I never would have agreed to this if I'd thought it was dangerous."

"You have to know the last thing I want to do is put you in harm's way," Neely Kate said, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"I know," I said, offering her a half-smile. "This isn't on you, okay? You didn't do anything wrong, but now we need to stop."

I expected her to put up more of a fight, but we got inside her car and headed downtown to the office, both of us quiet for a few minutes.

"Do you want me to go to your consultation with you?" I asked. "If the vision was yours, then you're in danger too."

"No, I'm fine. I can do it on my own. We're going to put a stop to this, so we'll be fine."

"Okay," I said, feeling relieved. "I'll pick up the kids and work on the design for the earlier consultation at home."

"Work on it tomorrow," she said. "Enjoy the afternoon with the kids."

I started to protest, then I decided she was right. I was going to take them home and just be with them.

"Are you going to tell Joe?" she asked.

I drew in a breath. "I don't know." I hesitated. "I don't want to keep secrets from him, but I don't want to worry him. Besides, there's nothing he can do. It's just a vision." I turned to face her. "Are you going to tell Jed?"

"If you don't tell Joe, then no. But I don't want him hearing about it from Joe either."

"Let's see what's in the box, then decide."

"Okay." She shifted in her seat. "You're sure you don't want to come with me to open it?"

"No. Just tell me what you find."

"Okay."

She dropped me at the office, and I grabbed my stuff and headed to the daycare to pick up the kids. The elementary bus had just dropped off the older kids, so I grabbed Ashley and Mikey before they'd checked in and picked up the little kids. We stopped for ice cream cones and ate inside the restaurant while the windows became coated with drizzle. I tried to find out how Ashley's day had gone and get some details about her breakfast with Joe, but all she'd say was that she'd enjoyed spending one-on-one time with Joe, there'd been a substitute teacher, and the kids had been fine. I could tell there was more bothering her, but she was adamant about not talking about it, so I gave up, figuring I'd find out more about the breakfast part from Joe later. After we finished our ice cream—Liam, of course, was a sticky mess—and we headed home.

Ashley helped me make dinner—a chicken and noodle casserole—then she and Mikey worked on their homework while Hope, Liam, and Muffy played in the living room. Neely Kate still hadn't called to tell me what was inside the box, and it took everything in me not to call or text her. She probably hadn't had time to get to it yet.

Joe had texted while we were eating ice cream to say he'd be home around five-thirty, but he walked through the door a few minutes after six, right as the timer was going off for the casserole to come out of the oven. "Perfect timing," I said as I opened the door, pulled the casserole dish out, and set it on the stove burners.

He walked over with a sheepish look and gave me a kiss. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay. Did something come up?"

Grimacing, he shot a glance at the kids and lifted his brow.

He didn't want to talk about it in front of them.

"Should I be worried?" I whispered. My vision was fresh on my mind.

He kissed me again. "Nah, but…"

It wasn't something he wanted them to know about.

The kids were excited to see Joe, and he scooped them up one by one and showered them with kisses, then told them to wash their hands for dinner while he ran upstairs to change out of his uniform.

Hope and Liam were too little to take part fully, but we still liked to go around the table and talk about our days. Ashley was usually chatty, but tonight, she was subdued and told us a few facts about her day without saying anything of substance. Mikey made up for her lack of enthusiasm, telling us how he'd convinced his friends to play soccer at recess instead of kickball, but to his dismay, they'd had an indoor recess because of the rain. He followed up by telling Joe about getting ice cream before we came home.

"Was there some kind of celebration?" Joe asked.

"No!" Mikey exclaimed. "Aunt Rose said it was just because! She's the best!"

Joe gave me a warm smile before returning his attention to our nephew. "She sure is."

When it was Hope's turn, a huge grin lit up her face. "I colowed with mawkas and made lots of Ts."

"Ts?" Joe asked. "Like golf tees or iced tea?"

"No, silwy." She covered her mouth with a giggle. "The letta T. I colowed twees and tuwtles green. Miss Mandy let us use mawkas, Daddy!"

"Markers!" Joe exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. "You don't say!"

Ashley rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself, while Mike giggled.

"They was washable mawkas."

"Good thing. I'd hate for you to get marker on your favorite T-shirt," he said.

She looked down at her pink T-shirt with white, embroidered flowers. She'd worn it so many times; it was faded and had stains that wouldn't come out. But she loved it, so I still let her wear it. "How'd you know it's my favowite?"

"Because I'm your daddy, silly," Joe said, then leaned over and touched her nose with the tip of his finger.

"Everyone knows it's your favorite, Hopey," Mikey said good-naturedly. "You tell us all the time."

"Oh," she said, as though considering it.

"Anything else happen?" I asked, picking noodles off Liam's highchair tray and putting them back into his bowl.

"Only one mow thing," she said. "Cole thwew up on his shoes."

Joe and I exchanged looks, both of us offering silent prayers that Cole didn't have a contagious stomach bug.

"And one mow thing!" she exclaimed. "We ate ice cweam afta school."

"Mommy let you and Liam have ice cream too? It wasn't just for Mikey?"

"No, silwy," Hope said with a wide grin. "Mommy shawas."

"Yes, she sure does," he said, giving me a soft look I couldn't interpret.

Liam's turn was next, but he just crammed noodles into his mouth, so I told them that his paper from daycare had said he'd played with his friends, was a good napper, and ate all his lunch.

"Your turn, Uncle Joe," Mikey said enthusiastically.

"Oh, my day was boring," Joe said, shooting me a glance. "Lots of bor-ing paperwork."

Mikey must have bought the hard sell because his nose wrinkled before he swung his attention to me. "Did you dig up another box today, Aunt Rose?"

"Not today," I said with a dramatic sigh. "But I made a new friend named Miss Adolpha. She lives in a place with lots of other older people. I thought maybe we could all drop by to see her sometime. I'm sure she'd love a visit from some sweet children."

"Sweet children? Where are you gonna find some of those?" Joe teased.

Mikey burst into laughter, and Hope and Liam joined him, mostly because he was laughing, which meant something had to be funny, even if the joke had gone over their heads. To my relief, Ashley cracked a smile.

"What were you doing at a nursing home?" Joe asked as he scooped more casserole onto his plate.

"She was one of the homeowners from the house where we dug up the box."

"Did she know anything about it, Aunt Rose?" Ashley asked.

"She didn't. She said her husband had passed a few years ago, and her kids were too young to bury it, so we hit a dead end."

Joe lifted his brow in surprise but didn't say anything.

"So what happens to the box?" Ashley asked.

"I told Neely Kate to open it and see what's inside."

"What was in it?" Mikey asked, his eyes bugging with excitement.

"What was in it?" Hope parroted, even though I was pretty sure she didn't have any idea what we were talking about.

"I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders in an exaggerated move. "She hasn't told me yet."

Joe's eyes widened. "You didn't open it with her?"

"Neely Kate's the one who's been eager to see what was inside," I said. "So I told her to go for it, and I took off early and took the kids for ice cream."

He studied me for a moment before shifting his focus to his casserole.

After we finished dinner and cleaned up the kitchen, we played a game of Candyland at the kitchen table. I reveled in this moment of peace, even though Ashley was still too quiet. I tried not to let myself dwell on my vision.

I was still struggling with the fact that I'd seen part of the vision in my nightmare. It didn't make sense because my visions had never worked that way before. That suggested that perhaps it wasn't a vision of either Neely Kate or Mrs. Whitlock, which could be a good thing, but it also raised questions. Were my visions changing? If so, what did that mean?

After a couple of rounds of the game, we started on the bedtime routine, splitting our duties. All the kids piled into Ashley's bed so Joe could read them a story, and even though he'd told me I could have a moment to myself, I sat in a chair in the corner and thanked God once again for giving me this man to be my husband and the father of my children.

When he finished the story, he put Hope and Mikey to bed while I rocked Liam in his room for a few minutes.

After I got him down, I found Joe downstairs in the living room with the remote in his hand. "How about we watch some Netflix?"

I sat down next to him, took the remote from his hand, and placed it on the coffee table. " Or you could tell me the reason you were late."

He turned sideways on the sofa to face me. "There was a murder down in Pickle Junction."

My heart skipped a beat. "What happened?"

"There's still a lot under wraps, but a man was shot." His eyes narrowed. "Why are you freaked out, Rose? There've been murders since…" He paused. "Since everything."

He was right. There had been murders, but this one felt different, which was crazy, since I didn't know anything about it.

He was waiting for an answer, so I shrugged and snuggled up next to him. "Things just feel off ."

He wrapped an arm around me. "How so, and does this have anything to do with you deciding to stop trying to find the owner of the box?"

I was close to telling him I'd had a vision, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He'd worry, and obviously, it was a vision, which meant the only thing that could be done was to try to avoid the situation that might have caused it. So the fact I was letting the search for the box's owner go meant I should be safe.

"I think it had more to do with me wanting time with the kids." I placed my hand on his chest. "Do you think your investigation is going to interfere with our trip to Little Rock?"

He squeezed my arm. "No. I think we're still good. We've been planning this for months. I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen."

"Thanks, Joe, but I'll understand if it doesn't work out." Wanting to change the subject, I lifted my gaze to his. "How did this morning go with Ashley?"

He let out a sigh. "She wasn't very open about what was going on, but I assured her that I'm always there for her, and she never has to worry about telling me anything." He was silent for a moment. "It still kills me that she thought I was going to be mad at her."

"I know, but I don't think it had anything to do with you. Not really. She was hesitant to tell me too. I think it was shame holding her back, although I assured her that she had nothing to be ashamed about."

"I tried to tell her that," he said, his hand tightening on my arm. "I told her that her father is a good man who made a terrible mistake, and that he loves her and Mikey like crazy." He paused. "She brought up Violet."

My heart skipped a beat. I tried to talk about my sister with them as often as felt natural, but Ashley wasn't always open to it. "And?"

"She said she misses her, and sometimes she gets angry that she died."

"Oh, poor baby," I said, my heart breaking. Then I remembered that Jonah was supposed to talk to her after school. "Oh no! I screwed up."

"How in the world did you screw up?" he asked in disbelief.

"I was about to suggest that we have Jonah talk to her about Violet, but then I remembered she was supposed to talk to him this afternoon. I picked her up before she even checked into afterschool care."

"You know," he said softly, "I think ice cream and hanging out with you and the other kids was good for her. She can talk to Jonah tomorrow."

"Unless I pick them up early again."

He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. "You ready to make the move to part time?"

"No, not yet. But leaving early a few days this week isn't exactly part time."

"True, but you can go part time if you want, Rose."

I drew in a breath. "I'm not sure I want to. I'd like to spend more time with the kids, but Ashley and Mikey are in school all day anyway." And if I were honest with myself, part of the reason I'd agreed to search for the owner of the box was because I was a little bored. Part time wasn't going to help with that. I wasn't like Violet, who had loved being a stay-at-home mom.

"And besides," I added, "if I did go part time, money would be tight, and it's already tight."

"And the sheriff's position in Fenton County doesn't pay all that much." I heard guilt in his voice.

"Stop," I said, lightly elbowing his side. "I have absolutely no regrets about you taking this job, Joe. We discussed it before you ran. I knew you'd have days with long hours."

"But I still feel like I'm shirking my responsibilities to you and the kids."

I shifted on the sofa to look up at him. "You're keeping the county safe, and that means more to me than you know." I held his gaze. "Was the murder in Pickle Junction a run-of-the-mill murder, or is it something to be worried about?"

"The truth?" he asked with a guarded gaze.

I nodded. "Always."

"I don't know yet."