Page 128 of For the Birds

“That’s right. He sent him a photo—from his number—and demanded Skeeter show up at a meetin’ to discuss handin’ over the county. I want to know where they’re meeting.”

“How could Buck text a photo he has no way of gettin’?”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “Maybe Buck’s cuttin’ you out of theloop.”

He paused for several seconds. “Shit.”

“Am I chasin’ my tail here, Dermot? What was I really hiredfor?”

“Buck went to a whole lot of trouble to hire you if he did it himself.”

“Then how do you explain the photo from his phone?”

His tone turned cold. “How do you explain knowin’ about Skeeter Malcolm’s texts?”

I could have lied, but I wasn’t feeling up toit.

“Yeah,” Dermot said. “You’re not workin’ independent. For all I know, you’re lying about the photo and settin’ usup.”

“I called him, just like I called you. I’ve made no attempt to cover up that I’ve worked with him, and he knows I’m helpin’ Buck with something. I’m usin’ all the resources at my disposal to find Scooter, just like I said. But I need to know where Buck is meeting Skeeter.”

“I’m tellin’ you,” Dermot said in a snotty tone. “Buck doesn’t know anything about it. All he knows is that he got an ultimatum from Malcolm via text to meet tonight.”

“You saw the text yourself?” I asked. “Did you see the photo of Scooter?”

“I saw the damn text, and there was no photo.”

“Then how did Skeeter get the photo from Buck’s number?”

“How can you be so sure Malcolm’s not lyin’ to you?” But before I could answer, he said, “But in any case—you’re fired. You agreed to keep Malcolm out of the loop, and you disregarded the terms of the contract. We’re breaking the terms of the agreement.” Then he hungup.

“He’s still declaring their innocence,” I said, overwhelmed with frustration. “And he claims he saw the text and there was no photo sent to James. Yet James says it came from Buck’s number.”

“Reynolds sent it and deleted it,” Jed said. “It’s the logical explanation.”

I wanted to argue, but it made the most sense. “We have to stop this. Can you find out where they’re meeting?”

Jed shook his head. “No. I’m definitely out of theloop.”

“Any ideas where it couldbe?”

“No. Maybe I would if Skeeter had planned it, but it sounds like someone else set itup.”

“Maybe I should try to talk some reason into James in person.”

“You’ve tried twice on the phone. We’d do better to use our time to find Scooter and get the truth from his own mouth.”

I mulled it over for a few seconds, then said, “Okay. What do we donext?”

“We scope out the junkyard.”

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