Tears stung my eyes, and I took her hand in mine and pulled her farther down the hall to Max’s office, out of sight of the customers. “Ruth, you need to know that Jerry’s accident probably wasn’t random.”
Her jaw quivered, and she cleared her throat. “I ain’t stupid, Carly. I knew it wasn’t an accident.”
I stood agape.
“I also know Bart Drummond is part of this somehow, just like I’d bet Tiny’s biscuit recipe that he’s tied up in Louise and her mysterious toolbox.”
I knew I should say something, but I was a blank.
“I know you don’t know much about him, but he’s not a good person, Carly.”
I started to laugh.
“What?” she asked with a worried look.
I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Carly, what the hell’s so funny?” she fumed.
I took a breath and held it for a moment before speaking. “Ruth, Bart Drummond is blackmailing me.”
Her eyes went wide, but she quickly got ahold of herself. “We need to talk. Tonight. Neither one of us is leaving until I know what the hell is goin’ on.”
“You can’t tell Max,” I said. “Please.”
She held my gaze and then nodded. “Agreed. We need to keep him out of this as much as possible.”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s go see what this woman wants.” She headed for the dining room, tugging me behind her, but I pulled her to a halt before we reached the doorway.
“Let me handle it. I don’t want to scare her off.” While I was somewhat relieved and a good bit terrified about what I’d just admitted, I wasn’t ready to share all my secrets with Ruth. I had no idea what this woman wanted or why she was here, but I intended to find out.
I headed toward the bar, nearly laughing at Max’s look of confusion upon seeing his two waitresses emerge from the back. He intercepted me before I reached the bar.
“Do I even want to know what that was about?” He motioned his head toward Ruth.
“An employee meeting about what to do with the pink T-shirts. Ruth said something about making a circus tent out of them and selling them on eBay.”
He rolled his eyes. “Very funny.”
“What’s up with the woman at the bar?”
“She says she’s here to see you. Says her name’s Cassie Nabors.” His forehead creased with concern as he added, “She said Ricky Crimshaw sent her?”
This time I couldn’t help but laugh. “I love that kid.”
“What the hell is goin’ on?”
“Nothing, Max. I promise. Ricky said that Cassie was close with Barb Chalmers, and I wanted to talk to her is all.”
He squinted at me. “What on earth for?”
“Does it really matter?”
“Well . . . I . . .”
I could see I’d stumped him.
“Look,” I said in a softer tone. “It’s no big deal. I’ve been talking to people who knew Mary, Barb, and Seth.”
“Does Hank know you’re doin’ this?” he fretted.
“No.” Before he could ask me to explain what I was up to, I asked, “Do you mind if I take a short break to talk to her?”
He gave me an aggravated look. “Weren’t you gonna do it anyway?”
“Not if you insisted I keep working.”
He grinned. “I guess I keep expectin’ you to start actin’ like Ruth and makin’ your own rules.”
“You’re still the boss, Max,” I called behind me as I walked away.
Except when it came to which shirts we wore, how we were paid, and what kind of merchandise the restaurant carried.
I stopped next to Cassie, who was sitting on a barstool sipping a clear drink with a lemon. “I’m Carly.”
She held out her hand. “Hey, Carly. I’m Cassie. Ricky said you needed to talk to me.”
I gave her an apologetic look. “I do, but it’s definitely not urgent. I’m sorry if you changed any plans to come here.”
She laughed. “I didn’t have anything goin’. And yeah, Ricky seemed insistent, but I have to admit that I was intrigued. He said you wanted to know about Barb Chalmers and her son.”
I gestured to an empty booth near the front window. “Why don’t we go sit down and you can tell me what you remember about her.” I paused. “Do you mind if I take notes?”
“Not at all.”
I hurried to the back and grabbed my notebook out of my purse before returning to the booth and sitting down opposite Cassie.
“What do you want to know?” she said, then took a sip of her drink.
“I don’t know if Ricky told you, but I was the person who found Seth after he was shot. I hate that his death was the only part of him I knew, so I’ve been asking people to tell me about him.”
“That’s sweet,” she said. Then she reached into her purse and pulled out a small photo album. “I brought some pictures, if you’d like to start with them.”
A huge smile spread across my face. “I’d love that.”
She turned the photo album around to face me, then opened the cover. “I made this album after Barb died.”
The first photos were elementary class photos. “This is us in fourth grade,” she said, pointing to a stereotypical riser photo of Mrs. Franklin’s class. “This is me,” she said, pointing to a cute blonde girl. “And this is Barb.” Barb had pigtails and a wide smile. “We were close friends back then.”
“Is one of them Michelle Abernathy?” I asked.
She gave me a surprised look but pointed out a girl with dark hair. “This is her. She struggled in school and kind of kept to herself, until she started workin’ for Hank. Then she and Barb got kind of close.”
Michelle had called Cassie “prissy,” but I wasn’t getting any animosity from her.
“Was Louise Baker in your grade?” I asked.
She blinked at me, taken back.
“You’re related, right?”
“I don’t claim her if I can help it,” she said, forcing a laugh. Then she drew a breath and said, “We were friends until she started dating my uncle Walter, and then it was just weird, you know?”
“I can imagine,” I said sympathetically.
“Plus, she was sleepin’ around and cheatin’ on Walter.” She paused. “I couldn’t sit back and watch her break his heart, so I stopped hanging out with her.” She made a face. “Not that she seemed to mind all that much. She was too busy with all her gentlemen friends.”
I couldn’t say I blamed her for backing off.
She turned the page in the photo album. “I started hanging out more with Barb before she left for college, and then we saw a lot of each other when she came home over the summers. Our mommas were best friends, you know. I was the one Barb called when she found out she was pregnant with Seth. Some boy from college, but she’d never tell her daddy who he was. I sat with her when she told them, and Hank was fit to be tied when she wouldn’t reveal the baby daddy’s name, but it was a smart move on Barb’s part. I suspect he might have cut the guy’s balls off.”
I cringed, because I didn’t have trouble believing he would.