Page 97 of For the Birds

Chapter19

Both Neely Kateand Witt obviously wanted to know about my vision, so I told them as much as I could. In truth, I was worried—she’d seemed out of sorts in the vision, and the situation had clearly involved the sheriff. I couldn’t help worrying that I kept seeing the same murky gray haze every time I asked anything about finding Scooter.

We started to clean up the kitchen, and my phone vibrated with a text from Buck’s number.

I have info. Come seeme.

I glanced over at Witt. “Buck Reynolds says he has some info and wants me to meet with him. If you don’t want to do this, I understand.”

He was quiet for a moment. “So if I’m stayin’ here with you two, does that mean I’m getting breakfasts like that everyday?”

Neely Kate threw a dish towel at him. “You’re a mooch, Witt Rivers!”

“I’m a Rivers, ain’t I?” He grinned and tossed the towel back at her. “And you better wrap up the cleanin’ if we’re goin’ to meet Reynolds.”

“Where are we meetin’ him?” Neely Kate asked.

“I don’t know,” Isaid.

When and where?

He texted back seconds later, and I read his response outloud.

The fertilizer plant. Thirty minutes.

“Okay,” Neely Kate said, putting a clean dish in the cabinet. “I bet Buck Reynolds is gonna be excited to seeme.”

“I’m not sure ‘excited’ is the word I’d use,” Isaid.

“Do I want to know what that’s about?” Witt asked.

I laughed. “Let’s just say Buck Reynolds doesn’t want Neely Kate anywhere near any more of his jewels.”

I locked an upset Muffy in the house, and as I walked down the porch steps, I took a long look at Witt’s car. It didn’t look much newer than Neely Kate’s car, and it was a clunker. “How well does your carrun?”

“You’re seriously asking a mechanic that question?” he asked in disbelief.

I gave him a pointed look. “Well?”

He shrugged. “It’s decent.”

“Then we’re takin’ your car. My truck’s too conspicuous.”

He grinned. “Well, all right. I guess I’m on the clock.”

Witt drove, Neely Kate took shotgun, and I sat in the back. My lack of sleep caught up to me despite my nerves over meeting Buck, and I found myself drifting off. I woke up when we were about five minutes away, roused by a combination of Neely Kate calling my name and the throbbing in my leg. I’d transferred the important items from my purse to my backpack, including a bottle of ibuprofen. I fished it out and wished I’d thought to bring a bottle of watertoo.

“I thought maybe we should come up with some sort of plan,” Neely Kate said. “You still have a headache? Have you had too many visions in arow?”

That sometimes happened when I first started forcing one on top of the other, and sometimes after particularly intense visions. “No, I’m fine.” I popped the pill in my mouth and swallowed it dry, praying it didn’t get stuck on the way down. “Neely Kate, you can stay in the car if youwant.”

Neely Kate snorted. “You can’t be serious.”

I sighed. “It was worth ashot.”

“You really want to do this without me?” I could hear the hurt in her voice.

I reached over the seat and put my hand on her shoulder. “Of course not. If I did, you wouldn’t be with me right now, but we haven’t talked about what happens if we don’t find Scooter. There’s bound to be a penalty. It doesn’t make sense for all three of us to pay it. So I’ll go in and be the front person, and then I’ll come out and tell you what hesaid.”

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