Page 78 of For the Birds

Chapter16

“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’ forwork.”

“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 aboutthis?”

“Because it’s dangerous.”

My mouth parted in surprise. “You don’t think he can handleit?”

“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, arewe?”

I blinked. “I wasn’t plannin’ on askin’ him to rob abank.”

“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 thekey.”

“I didn’tknow.”

She sighed and sat down at her desk. “Iknow.”

“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 shehad.

“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 tellme?”

“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 thatway.”

“Are you sure? We can try to think of someoneelse.”

“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 toknow.”

* * *

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 admitit.)

“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 atthem.”

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