Page 3 of For the Birds

Joe didn’t look convinced, not that I was surprised. My alter ego had wreaked havoc on my life, so I’d hung up my hat as Lady in February. But I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t liked pulling her out of mothballs weeks ago. Unfortunately, James Malcolm, king of the Fenton County crime world, had double-crossed me during that meeting, and I had neither seen nor heard from him since. I was starting to think I might never hear from him—a thought that had me vacillating between “good riddance” and a hopeless feeling of loss and regret.

He lowered his voice. “I know you were meeting over that damned missin’ necklace.”

“The only thing I’m gonna tell you is that the matter was resolved and peace was restored.”

“You sure about that?” he asked in a drytone.

“Uncle Joe,” Ashley said, tugging on his arm. “You said we could get ice cream.”

“I sure did,” he said, bestowing his bright smile on her. “But Mikey’s taken off his shoes. Why don’t you help him get them back on so we can walk across the town square?”

I started to protest that Mikey had his shoes on—I’d put them on myself—when I saw his little bare feet. He’d tucked his shoes under mydesk.

I resisted the urge to sigh. I’d been watching my niece and nephew for the past two days, and it had been nonstop action. Since Neely Kate lived with me in my farmhouse, I couldn’t help wondering if she was staying away for longer than necessary to catch a few moments of peace.

As soon as the thought crept into my mind, I chased it away. Neely Kate had loved every minute of having Ashley and Mikey around, but she had seemed a little sad this morning.

Neely Kate and Joe had both lost babies before they were born. She had miscarried her twins last January, and the doctor had told her she’d probably never have more children. If there was ever a woman who was meant to be a mother, it was my best friend. Spending two days with my niece and nephew had likely broken her heart.

But at the moment, I was concerned that Joe was questioning peace in the county.

Ashley scrambled under the desk to get Mikey’s shoes, and I took advantage of the few moments of reprieve. “What do you know that you’re not tellingme?”

“Seems like you’re in a better position to know than me,” hesaid.

I shook my head. “I wasn’t lyin’. I haven’t heard a peep about that world since that meeting.”

He studied me as though deciphering whether I was telling the truth. Finally, he said, “There’s some rumblings goin’ round. Something about Skeeter Malcolm’s brother.”

“Scooter?” I asked in surprise, then shook my head. “He has nothing to do with that world. Bruce Wayne said James refuses to let him takepart.”

Joe looked surprised that I was talking about it so freely, but Joe knew the higher-up politics of the county criminal world. I saw no point in beating around thebush.

“Scooter’s missin’.”

“What?” I said louder than intended. “What happened?”

“Hell if I know.” Then he cringed and glanced back to see if the kids had noticed his swear. They hadn’t; Ashley had returned to playing with Mr. Bearington, and her brother was now playing with the Velcro straps rather than putting the shoes on. Joe leaned closer and lowered his voice even more. “It’s not like Malcolm filed a missing person report.”

“No, I guess not,” I said with a frown, my imagination working overtime. “So how do you know about it? I take it you have some super-secret source since you knew about the parley from a few weeksago.”

“Parley?” he asked in surprise.

I gave him a smug look. “I guess you don’t know everything.” I looked up into his worried brown eyes. “I told you. I worked out a peace agreement over the necklace. James invoked parley to discussit.”

“Well, I’m not so sure it worked,” Joe said, “because Scooter’s missin’, and word has it that one of Malcolm’s rivals tookhim.”

“Which one?” I asked.

He gave me a look of disgust. “Exactly. The man has more enemies than I can count.” He eyed me with suspicion. “You really didn’tknow?”

“No.” Nevertheless, I was worried. While I’d never met Scooter, he was a close friend of my business partner, Bruce Wayne. And James . . . he had to be beside himself with worry. Scooter was a simple man, not capable of the machinations that could help him escape a kidnapper’s grasp—and everyone who knew him said he was as kind as he was uncomplicated.

But I couldn’t concern myself with James. He’d made it clear he didn’t want meto.

“With Neely Kate’s and your connections to the underworld and Scooter missin’ . . .”

My heart lodged in my throat. “I should be careful.”

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