Page 127 of For the Birds

Jed gave me a sad look. “It’s only a matter oftime.”

“I’m gonna call him again,” I said. “I have to put a stop to this.” I grabbed my phone and placed thecall.

James answered right away. “Everythingokay?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “You tell me. You’re about to do something you’re gonna regret.”

“Rose. Enough. I’ve got proof.”

“So you keep sayin’, yet you refuse to tell me what itis.”

“It’s a photo, okay? A photo of Scooter tied to a chair. It was sent from Buck Reynolds’ phone, along with a message tellin’ me he’ll kill Scooter if I don’t hand over my kingdom. He demanded a meeting, so we set up a meeting.”

Crappy doodles. That did seem prettybad.

“And what’s happenin’ at this meetin’?” I asked. “You’re not really goin’ to discuss handin’ it all over, areyou?”

“Hell, no. The only thing Reynolds is gonna negotiate tonight is whether or not he’ll get to enter the pearly gates. Now I gotta go.” And he hungup.

I stared at Jed in disbelief and quickly told him what James had said. “Why would Buck hire me if he did it? Dermot’s just as confused as weare.”

“Maybe Reynolds hired some outside guys and hid it from his own men. Less chance of what he’d done getting out. And as to why he’d hire you? Probably trying to throw Skeeter off track and buy some credibility. If you’re lookin’ for Scooter and you tell Skeeter, then you’ve planted some doubt on Reynolds takin’ him. And even if he’s not claiming responsibility for it, he could sure sow the seeds that Skeeter’s too incompetent to run the county if people aren’t too intimidated to snatch his brother and his girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

“But that’s not what some people think.”

I resisted the urge to groan. Why was I fighting my pull to James so hard if all these people thought I was with him anyway?

“Reynolds being behind all of this still makes no sense tome . . .”

“You said yourself that Reynolds is afool.”

“But my vision . . .”

“Did you flat-out see proof of his innocence?”

“No, but—”

“Then I think we need to presume Reynolds took him after all. Hell, three weeks ago he was on the verge of a power play. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he did it. In fact, it stands to reason that hedid.”

It made sense—his behavior had been off all along. Andyet . . .

“My gut says he didn’t do it,” I said, knowing I sounded like afool.

“Then how do you explain the text with the photo?” Jed demanded.

Good point. “I don’t know, but I think I should place a call to Tim Dermot.”

After it rang for several seconds, I wasn’t sure he was going to answer, but he picked it up just before it went to voicemail. “Lady. Whatchagot?”

“Did Buck Reynolds kidnap Scooter Malcolm or not?” I demanded in a no-nonsense voice.

“Of course he didn’t kidnap him,” he asked, speaking slowly as if he suspected I might have a head injury. “That’s why he hired you. What’s this all about?”

“Then why did he send Skeeter Malcolm a photo of Scooter tied to a chair?”

“What?”

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