Page 69 of For the Birds

I laid my head on the back of the seat. “Buck Reynolds didn’t take Scooter.”

“The fact that he took you strongly hints otherwise.”

“Buck Reynolds saved me.” I told him what I’d told James, again leaving out what Buck had hired me todo.

“And you’re sure your vision proves he didn’t doit?”

“Positive. Does James have any enemies in Shreveport?”

“None that I know of, but he might have made some while he was working for J.R. Simmons.”

“I don’t think so. He seemed just as surprised by the Shreveport connection as I was.” I decided to try to ask him questions about Scooter, hoping I could play it off in a way that wouldn’t rouse his suspicions. Maybe it didn’t much matter either way. James already suspected something. “James said you got a lead on Scooter. Someone saw him get taken at Walmart. Was it another employee?”

“It was his girlfriend.”

“And she just came forward with that information?” I asked in disbelief.

Jed didn’t say anything for several seconds. “She says she was scared.”

“But you don’t believeher?”

“I’m notsure.”

Thanks to Bruce Wayne, I already had Scooter’s girlfriend’s name. I made a mental note to stop by Walmart to see if Jeanne Putnam was working today. Maybe Bruce Wayne would have some more information about her too. “Joe knows Scooter’s missin’, but he says there’s no missing person report.”

“We take care of our own,” Jedsaid.

“Even though you’re not working for James?”

“We all go back further than me working for Skeeter. We’ve known each other since we were kids. Scooter’s my friend. I’m tryin’ to findhim.”

“So what have you found?”

“A whole lot of nothin’. No one knows anything. This was the first solid lead wehad.”

“Y’all were so certain Buck took him. How much effort were you puttin’ into pinnin’ it on Buck versus findin’ out who actually tookhim?”

Jed didn’t say anything, which was an answer in itself.

“Did James really fireyou?”

“I told him that I was takin’ Neely Kate to Oklahoma, and he told me to come back or I was fired. There was no way I was leavin’ Neely Kate to deal with her past alone, so he fired me by default. He’s done this before, but this time I decided enough is enough.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of James leaving Neely Kate unprotected. Maybe he’d figured she’d come back with Jed. I’d probably never know now that I wouldn’t be talking to him anymore. The realization that our weekly talks were officially over left a gaping hole in my heart.

“You really don’t want to work for him anymore?” I asked.

“He’s treated you more like a partner than he’s ever treated me.” He tried to hide the pain in his voice, but I heard it just the same. “I think it’s time to moveon.”

“Will you still be his friend?” I asked.

“I’m not sure Skeeter can be friends with someone who’s not an associate.”

“He and I have been friends since last winter,” Isaid.

He cast a dubious glance at me in the rearview mirror. “I’m worried about who’s got his ear. If you and I aren’t there talkin’ sense into him, I’m not sure anyone else will. Merv isn’t to be trusted.”

“Neely Kate said he got physical with her last week and that you intervened.”

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