Behind a classic car that looked out of place, Cordelia ran across a five-drawer filing cabinet. Three of them were locked, and seeing as how she didn’t possess Daisy’s picking skills, she had to skip over those. The fourth drawer held old tax forms, while the bottom drawer contained a whole dossier on her Great-Aunt Penelope. A list of the ladies who had been employed by her over the years, where they were now, and what kind of record they each possessed. Arline had a folder three times thicker than everyone else’s. Cordelia could only imagine what it held. There were also records of Great-Aunt Penelope’s clients, business associates, charity contributions, and taxes.
Torn between wanting to protect the privacy of the chicks and gathering as much evidence as possible, Cordelia snapped pictures of Great-Aunt Penelope’s dealings and left everyone else’s files alone. It wasn’t her business to know that information any more than it was Corbin’s, though she figured her great-aunt wouldn’t mind the privacy invasion.
Cordelia had just begun to stuff the files back in the drawer when a thin folder came loose from the binder and caught under the cabinet. She picked it up, stopping cold when she came across her own name. They had maybe another fifteen minutes before they needed to hightail it out of there, but Cordelia plopped down right there on the filthy floor, not caring about the dirt forpossibly the first time in her life, and read every note hastily scribbled on the papers.
Corbin Abernathy had an entire breakdown of Cordelia’s life. Her history with the people of Sarsaparilla Falls, her mother’s every indiscretion, her odds of seeing through the terms of the trust, her reception from the locals she’d interacted with, a list of possible enemies and alliances. He’d even managed to learn that she hadn’t been honest with her momma about her return to town at first, and he’d jotted down a few notes on how he intended to use that to his advantage.
It didn’t look like he knew she’d since told her momma the truth, but he must’ve had eyes on her in Dallas in a limited capacity. At least enough to know her routines and working hours. The thought of that sleazy snake going anywhere near her momma made her blood run cold.
It was one thing to mess with her—she understood that Corbin Abernathy was not her friend—but to drag her momma into his dirty dealings? After everything she’d overcome? That was a bridge too far for Cordelia. If she’d had a match, she would’ve been real tempted to light fire to that filing cabinet and watch the whole thing burn.
As it was, she wasn’t leaving these notes behind. If Corbin wanted a war, he’d have to stick to her. Her momma had already fought her share of battles and had won them by the skin of her teeth. Cordelia wouldn’t allow her to go back. Not to her dark days, when her demons got the best of her, and not to the town that refused to help when she’d been down.
Cordelia stuffed the papers into the lining of her dress where she’d sewn a secret pocket for things like house keys and chewing gum. Knowing she only had minutes left, she debated on taking the chicks’ folders, too, just to stick it to Corbin, but the goal had been to get out of there without him ever being aware they’dpaid him a visit. So she reluctantly left the filing cabinet behind and hustled back to the open window.
Dragging a sturdy metal stool with a dented seat to the window, she hoisted herself up and worked her way back through the opening. Just as her foot touched the barrel on the other side of the warehouse, flashing red-and-blue lights lit up the surrounding area. Sirens blared loud enough to make her teeth rattle.
Without a backward glance, Cordelia hopped off the barrel and started running for her car. Thick clouds blanketed the moon, extinguishing the light, and shrieks echoed in the near pitch black as a dark figure charged her from between two of the smaller buildings. Cordelia recognized the deputy guarding Honey’s cell. She dodged him with ease, her heart pounding faster than green grass through a goose.
The front of her foot slid into a divot in the ground, rolling her already tender ankle, and Cordelia went down hard. Rough dirt bit into her palms. She pushed herself to her knees, but it was too late. The deputy was on her like a duck on a June bug.
“If you fight me, you’re only going to make it worse for yourself, Miss Cordelia.” The deputy yanked her arms behind her back as she flailed against the useless ground. She couldn’t find so much as a loose stick to grab on to. “The sheriff has the others in the back of his car. You’re not getting out of this one.”
With that, Cordelia gave up the fight. There was no point. She wasn’t going to let the chicks be hauled off to jail while she went home and did what? Took a hot bath? Relaxed with a book and a cup of tea? The sheriff already knew they’d broken into the Abernathy compound. His deputy had her on the ground with her hands pinned behind her back. The jig was up.
“I’ll come quietly,” Cordelia said. “You don’t have to pull so hard.”
“Sorry about that.” The deputy lifted her to her feet and triedto dust off the front of her clothes, then turned red and dropped his hand when he realized just what he was whacking away at. “Corbin Abernathy told us to rough y’all up a bit, but I told the sheriff I don’t want nothing to do with that. My momma would tan my hide and sell me at a discount.”
“Your momma sounds like good people,” Cordelia said absently.
She swiveled her neck as she tried to catch sight of the chicks. They must’ve been scared out of their minds. Had Belinda Sue taken her heart medication this morning? Was Arline’s blood pressure climbing through the roof? She’d get them out of this. Though she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d go about doing it, she had a need to protect that ran down her bones.
Maybe this was what it felt like to be a madam.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THE SHERIFF AND HIS DEPUTY LED CORDELIA AND THE CHICKS INTO THEcell next to Honey’s. The smug smile on Honey’s face as they were ushered in was the least of Cordelia’s concerns, though Belinda Sue and Arline had to hold Daisy back from grabbing her hair through the bars. They were in a real mess that went a lot deeper than a simple break-in. Now Corbin knew they were digging into him, and that they’d possibly found something he’d been putting a considerable amount of effort into guarding.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before y’all wound up in here with me.” Honey pretended to scratch the side of her mouth with her middle finger. “Y’all know I didn’t kill the pastor. The whole time I’ve been rotting in this cell, I’ve been waiting for karma to call.”
Honey could hardly holler about rotting, considering she had someone bringing her clothes, giving her access to makeup, nicer linens, and a television set. She even had a diffuser sending puffs of lavender-scented mist into the air. To hear her tell it, she’d been chained to a dungeon wall and served nothing but bread and water.
“I’ve been trying to help you,” Cordelia said. “How do you think we ended up in here?”
“I don’t much care how you ended up in here, so long as I getout.” Honey leaned against the bars, shooting daggers at the four of them. “You don’t know what it’s been like.”
Daisy narrowed her eyes. “You look like you’re surviving all right.”
“It’s still jail.” Honey flung her arms out. “Who’s feeding my cats? Watering my plants? Unlike some people, I have others depending on me.”
“I imagine whoever is helping you decorate your cell is taking care of the other stuff,” Belinda Sue said. “Of course, if they were a real friend, they’d post bail. But maybe they’re just happy to get a break from your constant jawing.”
“And who’s bailing you out?” Honey lifted her chin as she stared them down, a cruel smile touching her frosted pink lips when they didn’t respond. “That’s what I thought.”
Cordelia hated Honey Stevens, of all people, getting one over on them, but she couldn’t deny the blow had hit its mark. The Chickadee might’ve been everyone’s favorite cathouse, but when it came down to it, who could they lean on when they needed help? The chicks spent so much of their time and effort giving to the town, showing them their hearts, but they were still sex workers in a world that held its judgments as close as its religion.
If they up and disappeared, would anyone look for them? Or would they just think it was an inevitable part of the job? That any hardship that befell the chicks was of their own making? Not so long as Cordelia had breath in her body. That way of thinking was how people like the Abernathys got away with walking all over anyone they perceived to be less than them.
