Page 7 of For the Birds

She caught my short tone. “Yeah.” She set Mikey down on the floor and moved toward her desk. “Bruce Wayne doesn’t have the altered plans for the Greens’ backyard. He’s not supposed to get to it until tomorrow, but would you drop them off just incase?”

“Of course.”

She dug through a stack of documents on her desk, then handed me a paper. I reached for it, but she held on and looked me in theeyes.

“I’m sorry, Rose.”

“You should have told me, NeelyKate.”

“It wasn’t for me to tell. Jed asked me to keep it quiet, so Idid.”

“Even from me?” I asked, the pain clear in my voice.

“And how many secrets have you kept from me?” she asked without a hint of malice. “How many secrets have you shared with Skeeter Malcolm that you never once considered sharing withme?”

I sucked in a breath.

“And before you try to deny it,” she said, her tone picking up some heat, “don’t forget about those Tuesday night meetings you refused to tell me about.”

I’d been meeting James every Tuesday night for months right up until our falling out three weeks ago. Neely Kate had known about the arrangement, but I’d never acknowledged it. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Her gaze still held mine. “I wanted to tell you about Scooter, but I couldn’t. I kept my word. Just like I’m sure you kept yours.”

She was right. About all of it. I’d kept more secrets from her than I could count. And they were all tied to James Malcolm. Why did it feel like everything tied back to James? “Well, we’re not mixed up in the Fenton County crime world anymore, so no worries about keeping secrets.”

I snatched the paper from her, kissed Ashley and Mikey goodbye, and headed out to my truck. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the street that I realized Neely Kate hadn’t agreed.

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