“Okay. Okay.” She pulled me into a hug. “This is my fault. I’ve pushed you into something because I confided my premonition.”

I pulled back and wiped my face. “No. I was on this course months before you told me about that.” I opened the door. “I need to get back into the kitchen. Neely Kate’s gonna ask questions.”

I headed back to the kitchen to join my friend before Maeve could respond. She followed seconds behind me, carrying a photo album. “You girls can look this over while I scan that paper you brought me.”

“Oh. Yeah.” I had forgotten all about the photo album. I sat down at the table, hoping it wasn’t too obvious I’d been crying. Neely Kate gave me a weird look, but then turned back to the cake. She had finished icing it and was now slicing off three pieces. She set the plates on the table as I pulled the paper out of my purse and handed it to Maeve.

Maeve headed for the coffee maker, but I motioned for her to sit down. “I’ll do it.”

Once she was settled, she leaned over the paper and heaved out a sigh. “Rose, there’s a small notebook and a pen in that drawer by the refrigerator. Can you hand it to me?”

“Of course.”

I gave her what she needed and then poured three cups of the coffee.

When I sat back down, Maeve groaned and looked up at me. “I’ve forgotten quite a bit.”

“You can’t read it?” Neely Kate asked.

Maeve made a face. “I’m getting bits and pieces. It’s just been so long.”

“Do you have a shorthand dictionary or something?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I can try to order a book, but it will probably take a couple of days to get here.”

A couple of days? I knew I was being impatient, but we were so close …

“Rose, I’m so sorry.” Maeve must have seen the dismay on my face.

I forced a smile. “What’s a couple of days? I’ve got plenty to do to keep me occupied in the meantime. Can you make out any of it?”

“There’s something about a bank account. It looks like it says $35,000. But I can’t tell where the account is or why it’s important.”

I nodded. “Okay. Anything else?”

“It looks like there are a few times listed. I think they might be appointments, but I have no idea who they were with or where or anything.” She sounded frustrated.

“It’s okay, Maeve. It was a shot in the dark.” But I was sure it had to be important. J.R. had gone to great lengths to ensure no one saw that diary. “Do you see anything about a key?”

“A key?”

“Yeah, like a house key?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line of frustration as she scanned the paper. “No, but I’ve forgotten the mark for key. I’m sorry.” She sounded close to tears. “Can you take it to someone else?”

“We’d rather give it to someone we know we can trust. Can you think of anyone?”

She shook her head. “No. Shorthand is a lost language.”

I hated putting this pressure on her, so I turned to Neely Kate and lifted my eyebrows. She grimaced and shook her head. “I only know a few people who’d be able to do it, and they’d blab about it everywhere.”

I released a huge sigh. “Okay. It’s only a couple of days. It can wait.” But that meant I’d still have to go through with my meeting with J.R. If he called. It had been nearly eighteen hours.

What if he didn’t call? What if J.R. Simmons wasn’t even Mick Gentry’s backer?

My phone vibrated in my pocket, making me jump. For one brief moment, I thought I’d conjured a call from the devil himself, but it was the wrong phone. I pulled my cell out of my pocket and checked the screen before answering. “Mason! How did it go?”

“Well … good and bad. They’re going to look into a possible misuse of office by the investigator, but there’s no obvious tie to J.R. At least not yet. The state police detective ID’d the guy in the sketch, the one who kept coming to see the investigator. His name is Pete Mooney. He has a checkered past. He’s had a few charges brought against him, but he’s always managed to get off. He’s from the Pine Bluff area, so they’re gonna send someone to pick him up and ask a few questions.”

“But none of that really helps me, does it?”

He was silent for a moment. “No, sweetheart, but we’ll figure something out.”

I chose to ignore the fact that he sounded desperate.

“I’m sorry it took so long to call. I’ve been in meetings all morning.”

“That’s okay. I knew you’d call when you could.”

“Have you had an eventful day?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you about my morning later. Right now Neely Kate and I are with your momma, eating her delicious coffee cake.” I gave Maeve a warm smile.

“So no luck?” he asked, sounding more defeated than I’d ever heard him.

“She’s gonna order a book to brush up on her shorthand, but there’s a few things that sound promising. I can tell you about it later. When do you think you’ll be home?”

“I’m about to leave now. I should be there a little after four. I made an early reservation for Jaspers. Does that still sound good?”

“It sounds perfect.” For some reason tears sprang to my eyes. Then I realized what was bothering me. This could be one of my last dates with him. “I’ll see you when you get home.”