“No, I have someone else in mind. The person who trained you.”
“Kermit?” she snorted. “You think we can count on him?”
At least she was being realistic about our mentor. “No. Not present tense. Past. I’m talkin’ about your cousin. Witt.”
Chapter 16
“Witt?” she asked in surprise.
“He’s the one who taught you self-defense and how to shoot, right?”
“Him and Alan Jackson.”
“He lost his job and he’s lookin’ for work.”
“He wants to open a garage, not be a bodyguard.”
“But he needs money, right?” I cocked my head. “Why don’t you seem more excited about this?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
My mouth parted in surprise. “You don’t think he can handle it?”
“I know he can.” She paused. “He’s been in trouble with the law before, Rose.”
“Oh.” Did she think that would prejudice me? “You of all people know I won’t hold that against him. Look at Bruce Wayne.”
“But we’re not askin’ Bruce Wayne to do anything illegal, are we?”
I blinked. “I wasn’t plannin’ on askin’ him to rob a bank.”
“He can’t legally carry a gun, Rose. If he shoots someone while defendin’ us, he could get tossed in jail and they’d throw away the key.”
“I didn’t know.”
She sighed and sat down at her desk. “I know.”
“We can’t do this alone, Neely Kate. It’s too dangerous. And we can’t use Jed. He might not be workin’ for James anymore, but his loyalty lies there, and everyone knows it. We have to look like we’re free agents.” I paused. “But I understand if you don’t want to work this case because it’s too dangerous or because of Jed. I can focus on it while you work on the parrot.”
She put her hands on her hips. “We’re working both cases together, so get that thought right out of your head. Jed Carlisle doesn’t get a say in this, and no one has connected the two of us with the exception of when he’s shown up to help you and me in the past. It’s a whole different story when it comes to you and Skeeter.”
I groaned. “You’ve heard rumors?” If Joe had heard them, then of course she had.
“After the parley, Buck’s been tellin’ everyone that you’re Skeeter’s woman.”
“Even though we took his side?” I narrowed my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What good would it have done? You were done with him. Or so I thought.”
I sat on the edge of my desk. “It made me a target.” If I’d known, I would have done a better job of looking out for myself. “Well, that’s neither here nor there. We need a bodyguard.”
She pressed her lips together. “I suppose Jed rarely sees any gun action with us, and when he got into a gunfight helpin’ you, he took off before the sheriff deputies showed up. Besides, Jed usually hangs in the background. If we used Witt, we wouldn’t need to hide that he’s with us. We’re likely to be safer that way.”
“Are you sure? We can try to think of someone else.”
“No. Let’s go see him and make the offer.” She pulled out her phone and called him. After nearly ten seconds, she sighed and hung up. “He’s probably still sleepin’. I say we just head over there.”
“I need to get a new phone first,” I said. When she opened her mouth to ask me what had happened to the old one, I added, “You don’t want to know.”
A half hour later, I was sitting in my truck with coffee number two in my hand and my brand-new cell phone on the seat next to me. Muffy’s tail looked like it was about to fall off from wagging so hard. Muffy had stayed in the truck with Neely Kate, who’d taken the opportunity to cancel our few appointments for the day. She’d spent an awfully long time on the phone with one of them, judging from what I could see from inside the store. (Most likely to Jed, although she refused to admit it.)
“I think we should go to Walmart next,” I said while we were still in the cell phone store parking lot. “It’s bound to be safe in public, and even if we had a bodyguard with us, he’d be more likely to tackle someone than shoot at them.”
“True,” Neely Kate said. “And I can handle that part.”
I shot her a glance out of the corner of my eye. “Beatin’ up Merv seems to have empowered you.”
A grin lit up her eyes. “You have no idea.”
Since Bruce Wayne had never told me what department Scooter’s girlfriend worked in, I decided to call him and find out. It seemed better than aimlessly wandering the store and drawing attention to ourselves by asking around.
“Hey, Bruce Wayne,” I said when he answered, putting him on speaker. “Can I ask you a few questions about Scooter? I have Neely Kate with me.”
“Still not investigating?” he asked in a dry tone.
“Okay . . .” I conceded. “You know me too well.”
“You’re good at it, Rose. You and Neely Kate are a force to be reckoned with. If you two are looking, I feel a whole helluva lot better. You’ll both find him . . . one way or another.”
That caught me off guard. “Do you think he might be dead?”
He was quiet for a moment, and when he finally spoke, he sounded subdued. “There are only three reasons someone would have snatched him. One, to get back at Skeeter, and that one could go either way. Two, if he heard or saw something he shouldn’t have, and someone felt threatened. He spends time at the Trading Post and One Eyed Joes, and everyone knows he’s Skeeter’s brother.”
“I can’t imagine that would have a good outcome,” I said.
“It wouldn’t.” He sounded guarded. “The third possibility is that it has nothing to do with Skeeter at all. Maybe Scooter pissed someone off. He’s runnin’ a few side deals of his own.”
“Wait.” I held up a hand even though he couldn’t see it. “I thought Scooter wasn’t mixed up in that anymore.”
“He’s not with Skeeter.”
“What’s he doin’ then?” Neely Kate asked.
“Selling pot. He’s growin’ it in his field.”
“Well, crap,” I said. “That puts a whole new spin on it, doesn’t it?”
Neely Kate didn’t say anything.
“What are the chances he pissed someone off?” I asked.
“Everything’s a mess right now,” Bruce Wayne said. “So I’d say fifty-fifty.” He paused. “The fact you’re askin’ questions must mean you don’t think Buck Reynolds snatched him. That’s what everyone else is sayin’.”
“I’m certain of it,” I said. “Which means we need to be lookin’ in other places because nobody else is. Would Scooter’s girlfriend know details about his pot dealing?”
“She’s likely to know more than me,” he said. “Now that I’m travelin’ down the straight and narrow, he won’t tell me anything.”
“It’s safer for you that way. He’s bein’ a good friend,” Neely Kate said.
“But we’re not as close as we used to be,” he said, sounding sad.
“Maybe Scooter should have taken the straight and narrow too,” I said. “Sounds like James gave him the chance when he cut him off from his world.”
“Sure, it sounds good,” Neely Kate said. “But it’s not so easy to do on a Walmart paycheck.” Then she added, “Besides, his brother does far worse.”
While she had a point, she definitely sounded judgey. Was she trying to make a point about James? I’d already told her it was over.
“You’re right,” I said. “And I obviously wasn’t thinkin’ things through.” Probably in more ways than one.
“I know Scooter’s made a few new friends since last fall,” Bruce Wayne said. “Jeanne will know who they are better than I would.”
“Okay,” Neely Kate said. “We’ll ask her. Do you know what department she works in?”
“She’s a cashier.”
That would certainly make it harder to talk to her. If she’d worked the floor, we would have been ab
le to hide in an aisle.
“Anything else you can think of?” I asked.
He paused for a moment. “Not off the top of my head, but if I think of something, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks, Bruce Wayne,” I said. “We’ll let you know something as soon as we can.”
“Rose, I . . . thank you. You too, Neely Kate. Scooter was there for me when I needed help. I just want him safe.”
“Just doin’ our job, Bruce Wayne,” Neely Kate said.
Except this case was personal to all three of us, for a variety of reasons, and we all knew it.
I hung up and turned to Neely Kate. “I want to have a vision of you.”
She went stock-still. “Why?”
“I want to see if I can force a vision of where Scooter is.”
“Oh, my stars and garters. That’s a great idea.”
“But . . .” I said hesitantly. “I’m not positive what I’ll see.”
“You’re worried about finding me in a compromising situation,” she said. When I nodded, she reached over and grabbed my hand. “Now that you know about me and Jed, I’m fine with it.”
I cringed. “I really don’t want to see you in bed with Jed.”
She squeezed my hand. “You won’t. We haven’t slept together.”
“What?”
She shrugged and gave me a shy smile. “He wants to take it slow.”
As soon as I picked up my jaw, I gave her a warm smile. “That’s great, Neely Kate. I think he really likes you.”
“I think he does too. So go ahead and have the vision.”
I closed my eyes and focused on us finding Scooter. An unchanging gray void surrounded me. I consoled myself with the fact that it wasn’t black, which signified death. Gray meant the future was yet to be determined. I changed the question slightly, thinking instead about what would happen after we found Scooter, and the vision changed.
It was nighttime and I was standing next to Neely Kate’s beater car on the side of an empty road. I was frantically calling Jed on my cell phone, but I couldn’t get any service.
“I’m comin’,” I said. “I promise I’m comin’!”
The vision ended and I said, “You’re still comin’.”
Neely Kate’s face blushed. “Oh, my word. I’m scared to ask what you saw.”
I grinned. “Not what you seem to be thinking.” Then I explained the vision to her.
“What does it mean?”
“Heck if I know. I could try to have another, but they usually turn out the same.”
“Why was I alone?”
“I don’t know, but you were calling Jed. Maybe you were goin’ to meet him.”
“What does that have to do with findin’ Scooter?” she asked.
“I couldn’t see anything about findin’ Scooter, so I asked what happened after we found him. Maybe you’re gonna go straight to see Jed.”
“Maybe . . .”
We couldn’t figure it out, so I started to drive to Walmart. Muffy made a contented sound as she snuggled up with Neely Kate, drawing my attention to her. “I think it’s too hot to leave Muffy in the truck, but I think both of us should go in.”
“Do you want to drop her off with Maeve at the nursery?”
“I know I should, but I’m still reeling from Mike’s insistence that we sell Momma’s house. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to Violet about it yet.” I didn’t necessarily mind selling Momma’s house. I had very few fond memories of the place. It was the way it was being handled, like Mike wanted to sell it out from under Violet. Something was off. Especially since he’d asked me to keep it a secret. I wanted to talk to Violet, but we needed to discuss this alone.
“I doubt she’s gonna be there anyway,” Neely Kate said. “She’s still settlin’ in.”
I thought about it for a moment. “Let’s try to keep Muffy with us. I didn’t get to see her at all yesterday.” Truth was I missed her.
“How are we gonna take her in?”
“How about we make her a purse dog?”
Neely Kate snorted. “Your brand-new purse? She’s barely gonna fit.”
She was right. While Muffy wasn’t that big, she was nearly ten pounds and about a foot and a half long. But my new purse was a lot larger than my old one, mostly because I’d started carrying assorted self-defense items. “I’ll take everything out.” I reached down and rubbed Muffy’s head. “I want to keep her with me.”
A couple of minutes later, we were walking across the parking lot, me with my bag slung over my shoulder and a dubious Muffy stuffed inside. Her head stuck out under my armpit, making me wish Neely Kate had remembered to pack deodorant in my cosmetics bag. But Muffy didn’t seem to mind that part—it was the lack of anything hard to sit on in the bottom of the bag that was making her anxious. She was trying to stand and couldn’t get her footing.
Then a nasty smell hit my nose, and I realized my BO was nothing compared to the smells my little dog was producing.
“I’m not sure this is gonna work,” I mused as we walked through the automatic entrance doors.
“I’ll make it work. We’re gonna sneak you right in,” Neely Kate said, walking in with her head held high like she owned the place. We started to walk past the greeter, and Neely Kate squealed as she rushed over to him. “Oh, my goodness! Ben! Is that you?”
The gray-haired man looked confused, not that I was surprised. I was part of this operation, and I was confused, but Neely Kate subtly waved me past her. As soon as I was a good ways past them, I edged into an aisle and looked back.
The elderly gentleman squinted at Neely Kate. “Sarah Beth? You sure have gotten big. And prettier.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I thought you were my granny’s old beau. My mistake.”
A smile lit up his face. “If your granny looks anything like you, I’ll be happy to be her new one.”
Neely Kate gave him an ornery grin. “Isn’t that a wedding ring on your hand?”
He laughed and winked. “What Carol don’t know won’t hurt her. Especially since she ran off to Florida with the yard boy. I can’t get this damn thing off.”
“You should get it cut off,” Neely Kate told him. “Get you a fresh start.”
“And ruin a perfectly good gold ring? I’ll just save it for my next wife.”
She laughed and leaned closer. “My granny plays bingo every Tuesday night.” With a wink and a wave, she said, “I’ll be there too.”
He waved back as she walked toward me.
“Did you really just try to set up your granny?”
“It’s never too late for love, Rose. Besides, Granny’s frugal enough to appreciate not havin’ to buy him a weddin’ ring.” Then she grabbed my purse arm, getting a lick from Muffy in the process, and led me down to the checkout lanes.
I wished we’d thought to ask Bruce Wayne what Jeanne looked like. It would have been easier to find her . . . if she was working. There was no guarantee of that.
We walked down the line, trying to read the name tags of the four cashiers we could see, but two of the women were turned away from us.
“I think we can eliminate the older woman,” I said as we passed a woman with gray hair who looked to be in her sixties.
“Not necessarily,” Neely Kate said. “Maybe she’s a cougar. You never know these days. Wait here.” Bold as could be, she strode up the aisle and looked over an endcap display of sunscreen. Then she wandered down a few more aisles, checking out the candy selection in the lane of the other cashier we hadn’t identified. A few seconds later, she returned.
“The second woman is her. I say we do a little shoppin’,” Neely Kate said. “Then we can ask Jeanne questions while we check out.”
“Good idea. I need to stock up on a few things while we’re here.”
Neely Kate grabbed a cart. “Let’s do it.”
After I picked up some deodorant, I headed to the sporting goods section.
“You plannin’ on going camping?”
&
nbsp; “Nope.” I picked up a small pocket knife, two rolls of duct tape, some zip ties, and two five-pound dumbbells.
“Do I want to know what you’re plannin’ on doin’ with all that?” Neely Kate asked.
“A little extra self-defense preparation.” When she looked at me, I added, “I plan on carrying one in my purse to pull out and smack someone in the head if I need to. Then I’ll keep the other one under the driver’s seat of my truck as backup.”
I started to roll the cart away, but she put her hand on my arm to stop me. Muffy leaned over and nuzzled her hand, and Neely Kate absently rubbed her head.
“None of that would have helped you last night, Rose,” she said in a quiet voice. “You didn’t have your purse with you. Levi had it.”
I looked her in the eye. “I need to be more prepared. I’m going to start wearing my gun, and I need to figure out a way to wear a pocket knife too.” My anxiety increased. “What if I hadn’t found a pair of scissors to cut myself loose last night?”
Muffy released a small whine and reached out to lick my hand holding the purse strap.
“Then Buck Reynolds’ guys would have freed you,” Neely Kate said.
“What if they hadn’t shown up? I sure as Pete don’t want to depend on someone like Buck Reynolds to save me. I need to learn how to save myself.”
“You already do save yourself.”
“Not all the time.”
“Sometimes you’re the one doin’ the savin’. Mason. Joe. Have you forgotten about that?”
“I almost got killed last night, Neely Kate. I need to be able to help myself every time.”
She gave me a sad smile. “Then we’ll figure it out together. And Witt too. Let’s go check out and find him.”
There were two people ahead of us in Jeanne’s checkout lane, both with a lot more things than we had, but Jeanne was so efficient, she had them checked out in no time.
“We don’t have enough stuff,” I said.
Neely Kate studied the cashier as she handed a receipt to the woman in front of us. “I don’t feel like buying a bunch of junk just to ask questions.” Her eyes lit up. “I have an idea.”
For the Birds: Rose Gardner Investigations #2 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Page 17