Page 19 of The Witness

“No how! No how!” The bird sang out. On this, he and I agreed.

“See, he wants to stay.” I threw up my hands, hoping this would be the end of the story.

“Not a bird guy?” Sabrina asked.

I winced. “Not even a little.”

“He’s coming or we’re staying here. You can tell me all about the misunderstanding that landed you on the local news and had FBI agents visiting my home.” Minerva flounced to the cream loveseat and plopped down, arms crossed, waiting.

Sabrina looked at me, her eyebrows raised so high they almost touched her hairline. Fuck my life. I was about to agree to take the damn bird with us; I knew it.

“Is the traveling box secure?” I wondered if it could be strapped to the roof or if that might be an animal welfare situation.

“What kind of irresponsible parrot owner do you think I am?” Minerva’s icy tone made clear how I’d offended her.

“Point taken. Alright, I guess Tweety rolls with us.” I rubbed a hand over my beard and tried not to envision a parrot plucking out my eyeballs with his long, curved beak. Or the look John Smith would give me when the Captain arrived at the office.

“Thank you. Now Noah, would you be a dear and grab the dog crate in the hall closet? Keep it out of Morgan’s view. He can get a little flustered.” Minerva stood, smoothing her dress and walking with a determined stride toward the bird while making cooing noises. She left her cane leaning on the sofa.

I moved behind Sabrina and bent to whisper in her ear. “I’m already regretting this.”

She leaned back until she was almost pressed to my chest. Her chin lifted, and she looked up at me. We were almost touching, the barest hint of space separating her back from my front. It would be easy to rest a hand on her hip and tuck her against me. Too easy to drop my head and press a kiss to her lips. So tempting.

“Hush, the Captain can smell fear.” A hint of a smile played about her lips.

Chapter 9

Michael

Misgivings about riding in an enclosed space with the murder chicken aside, I decided that things could have gone worse. Noah’s parrot bite had stopped bleeding, and Minerva’s pile of luggage worked as the ideal barricade around the parrot crate to ensure the bird didn’t escape during the drive.

I put The Tank in gear and rolled down the palm-tree-lined driveway and past Silver Palms’s security booth. We gave the security team a friendly wave.

I exhaled. Mission accomplished.

In the back seat, things weren’t going as smoothly for Sabrina.

“What do you mean you will not tell me?” Minerva pressed Sabrina for more details.

“Mother. I saw a man break the law. He wants to keep me from talking to anyone about it. That’s all I can say.”

“No, that’s silly. If you were some kind of witness, you’d be with the police, not these men.”

“It’s complicated.” Her frustrated whimper made me want to give Sabrina a hug.

“So make it simple so I can understand. Wait, who’s paying for all this? I know it’s not you; all your money is tied up in that restaurant.” Minerva’s waving hand flashed in my rear-view mirror as she indicated me, Noah, and the SUV.

I tuned out Sabrina and her mother. A white sedan, one car behind us had caught my eye. It had followed us for the last two turns.

At random, I turned into a neighborhood of small villas along the golf course, wanting to see if the car followed. And fuck me, it did.

“You see it?” I asked Noah in a low voice.

“The white car.”

I nodded. “We have a tail.”

The neighborhood street circled back to the main road, and I turned right. A black SUV pulled off the shoulder and cut in front of me. The white sedan sped up and closed the gap between us. I sat up straighter and clutched the steering wheel at ten and two, ready for anything.

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