Page 126 of For the Birds

He stood. “They’re all blended together. They were movin’ around a lot. They may have been interrogatin’ him. They were pacin’. See the straight line that’s deeper than the others?” He pointed to it. “They walked the same path multiple times.”

“But there’s no clue as to where they took him,” Isaid.

“I’m pretty sure I know where they took him, and it won’t be as easy to get into as this house.”

“You think they took him to the junkyard?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yep. I do now thanks to what you’ve found.”

“So why didn’t they take me there?”

He turned to look at me. “I wish I knew. Maybe they’d already killed Scooter. We have to face that possibility.”

“I haven’t had a vision yet that shows him alive. But I haven’t had a vision that shows him dead either. There’s a gray haze whenever Ilook.”

“And what does that usuallymean?”

“That the future’s still being decided.”

“Then we’ll presume that he’s still alive . . . and that if he dies, it’ll happen tonight.”

He made it all sound very matter-of-fact, but I could see the pain in his eyes. “Okay.”

His gaze held mine. “Make no mistake about it, Rose. The kidnappers won’t be happy to see you if we findhim.”

“Good. I’m not too thrilled about seeing them, but I’ll be happy to get one over on ’em.”

“I guess I’m sayin’ it’s dangerous. Not something I’d involve you in before.”

“But I am involved. Just tell me what to do. I want to help you, not be a hindrance.”

He gave me a sad smile. “You’ve changed.”

“For the worse?”

“No. And I take it back. You haven’t changed. You’ve always been headstrong about doin’ what’s right. You’ve rubbed off on Skeeter, whether he wants to admit it ornot.”

“But not with this,” I said. “He’s still gonna start thiswar.”

“Not if we find his brother first.”

I was trusting in my vision. “Are we donehere?”

“Yep. Let’s goup.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. The thought of them holding Scooter down here and hurting him enough to make a puddle on the floor freaked me out. I made it up several seconds before Jed. “So now we head to the junkyard?”

“Not so fast,” he said. “I’d prefer to do this under the cover of darkness, but Merv screwed that up with his eight p.m. meeting time.” He paused, then shook his head. “What was he thinkin’? And what was Skeeter thinkin’ agreeing toit?”

“Whatever proof he thinks he found must have shaken himup.”

“No wonder Merv got me kicked out last night,” Jed said, looking out the back window toward Mr. Whipple’s aviary. “He knew I’d try to negotiate. Merv’s gonna be out for blood.”

“And James would listen toMerv?”

“Skeeter wants his brother back, and now that Merv’s poisoned Skeeter against me, he’s convinced him a show of force is best. Otherwise, he’ll lookweak.”

“He’s not poisoned againstme.”

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