Page 33 of For the Birds

“Since no one was living here, I turned the air up to eighty-five.”

“You’ve been paying the utility bills, haven’t you?” Neely Kate asked.

“Violet couldn’t do it.” I stood in the doorway from the kitchen to the living room. I gasped at the orderly room I found. Every last personal belonging, whether from Violet or the kids, was gone. “Mike moved everything out. Why didn’t Violet mention this sooner?”

“You two have been getting along lately,” Neely Kate said. “Maybe she was worried about upsettingyou.”

“Maybe.” I turned to my best friend. “Something strange is goin’ on. Mike was borderline rude when he asked me about the house. I’ve never seen him act like that before.”

“Do you think Violet said something bad about you? You know she spread some lies about you lastfall.”

I considered it for a moment. “No. She seems happy. I could always tell when she was up to something devious.”

“Maybe Mike was just tired and cranky from all the people.”

“Yeah,” I said, but something told me there was more toit.

I still felt uneasy about the whole enterprise—what was the rush?—but we went through the house, making note of what would need to be updated before it was put on the market.

“It looks great, Rose,” Neely Kate said when we’d reached the back bedroom. “It could use new windows, and the bathroom and kitchen could do with an update, but you should ask a realtor how much difference it willmake.”

“Thanks, Neely Kate.” I checked the time. Five thirty. “I have to meet Levi soon, so there’s no time to do anything else tonight. We need to go back to Mr. Whipple’s street tomorrow, but we can’t take my truck in case Anita’s around.” I headed down the hall toward the kitchen.

“Maybe I can get my car running again. I’ll have Witt look at it. He’s got plenty oftime.”

I turned around to face her. “What? Why? I thought he was working at the garage.”

“It closed. Witt’s tryin’ to find a place in town to rent so he can set up his own shop with a couple of friends.”

“It closed?” That seemed strange. Last I heard, it was open, just a few weeksago.

She shrugged. “Ted’s business has really slacked off since several of his guys were part of that mess in February. Witt knew business was bad, but Ted didn’t give them any notice. Witt’s gonna try to buy some of his tools and equipment. In the meantime, though, he’s got plenty of free time to work on my car. Then we’ll be less conspicuous.”

Neely Kate’s car was an old clunker. The inconspicuous part was debatable.

We went out the side door, and she watched me lock the house back up. “If it’s gonna take Witt a while to fix your car, maybe we can just park the truck around the corner and canvass the neighborhood.”

“I’ll call him and find out when he can comeout.”

“And let’s follow up on who sold Mr. Whipple the parrot. He never gave us the name. And we should find out everything we can about any enemies he might have—from old jobs, from church . . . if he goes. After what Anita said about Squawker’s disappearance hurting Mr. Whipple, it seems like it would be the perfect way for an enemy to get revenge.”

I noticed a dark sedan I didn’t recognize parked on the street in front of the house. There was a guy sitting behind the steering wheel, only he wasn’t on the phone or anything.

Neely Kate stared at me, grinning.

“What?” I asked, watching the car. The driver looked right at me and didn’t move, like he was challenging me to a stare-off.

“You’re sounding just like a private detective.”

The driver finally looked away, and the car started to drive down the street.

Neely Kate turned around. “What are you watching?”

“That car, but it took off. It was almost like he was watching the house.” Or me. What if whoever took Scooter was coming after menext?

“Maybe I should mention it to Joe. He might be able to get the Henryetta police to do a couple of drive-bys of the house.”

“Yeah.” Then I gave her my full attention. “It was probably nothing. I’m just being paranoid.”

It seemed like that was happening a lot lately. Too bad some of the paranoia was justified.

---