Page 92 of Talk Birdie to Me

“The noises,” he said. “You know the ones. You’re smart enough to have figured out why I need that bird. So make him talk.”

It didn’t sound like she had much of a choice. And honestly, the status of Anthony Montesano’s funds wasn’t her problem. She didn’t even care if James got free and clear of the police and Anthony to disappear on some remote island.

All she cared about was getting Gary and herself out of danger.

But there was one problem.

Geena didn’t know how to make Gary “talk.” She certainly couldn’t get him to perform specific sounds on command. Except to apologize, which wouldn’t help much here. He clucked and beeped randomly on his own haphazard schedule.

She needed another way out of this.

Or at least to stall until she came up with one.

“Okay,” she said. “But I need to let him out of the cage.”

“What?” James looked confused and annoyed. “No. Why?”

“That’s when he talks,” Geena said. “He doesn’t like being locked up. I only hear him talk when he’s free to roam around.”

James glared at her. “You’re lying.”

“No, it’s true. Cody showed me how to let him out and how to get him back inside.”

She tried to keep her voice steady, but even she could pick up the slight wobble of her words. It was less about the lie, however, and more about what her next step could be without getting herself or Gary shot.

That’s when she noticed the scabbed over puncture wound on James’s hand. It looked fairly recent, like in the last few days. Gary had never bitten Geena, but James clearly hadn’t respected the parrot’s boundaries like Lauren had warned them about.

James narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. “This better not be a trick.”

“It’s not,” she said. “If you want him to talk, you need to let him out.”

James steeled his gaze and aimed the gun directly at her. “All right. Let him out. But no funny stuff.”

Geena gave a tight smile of reassurance. She had no idea what her next move would be. All she could do now was turn toward the cage and reach for the door.

24

Cody parked his car near the end of the long driveway, out of sight behind a gigantic azalea bush. He walked quickly, ducking around trees as he made his way toward the beachy green house.

The silver car he’d been following was parked just in front of the steps leading up to a porch that had seen better days. Cody decided against climbing those steps, fearing that one wrong floorboard would alert the man to Cody’s presence outside.

Instead, he crept along the side of the house, standing on his toes to peer into the bottom of the first window he came to. Thankfully, there were no curtains or blinds, so he could see clearly into what looked like an empty living room.

No Geena. No Gary.

Nothing.

The next window gave a view of what appeared to be a bedroom. A very empty bedroom.

Where the heck were they?

He walked to the back of the house, rounded a corner, and found another large window. He stood on his toes, barely able to see inside another mostly empty bedroom.

Mostly empty except for the man, Geena, and a birdcage.

But no Gary. Not that he could see, anyway.

The man stood with his back to the window. Unlike the last time Cody had seen him in the accounting firm’s parking lot, the man was now armed. And he was aiming the gun directly at Geena.

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