Page 94 of For the Birds

“Oh,” Neely Kate said from behind me. “That’s the ultimate Rivers swear. It’s how you know he meansit.”

I wasn’t above a pinky swear. It sure beat spitting in each other’s hands and shaking.

I hooked my pinky finger with his. “Consider anything you hear from me or Neely Kate having to do with Lady, or Skeeter Malcolm, or anything to do with the crime world confidential.”

He shook our hooked fingers. “Deal.”

We dropped our hands, and I said, “The people who took Scooter tried to take metoo.”

“They got you,” Neely Kate said again. “You just gotaway.”

Witt held my gaze. “So you’re lookin’ at someone who has a grudge against Skeeter.”

Witt seemed like a jovial, somewhat lazy kind of guy, but when I looked in his eyes, I could see it was a façade. He wanted people to underestimate him. I didn’t need to read between the lines forhim.

“We figured as much,” Isaid.

“Not professional—although it might be that too—I’m talkin’ personal. He wants to take Skeeter Malcolm out at the knees. He wants him to hurt. The logical person is Buck Reynolds or Kip Wagner. Maybe both. But you knowthat.”

“Well, it’s not Buck. He hired me to find Scooter.” I felt like a traitor telling Witt when I still hadn’t confirmed what I was up to with James or Jed, but he needed to know everything if he was going to help us. Besides, he’d just pinky sworn to keep my secrets.

Based on the look on Witt’s face, I’d finally managed to catch him by surprise. “Maybe he’s tryin’ to throw Malcolmoff.”

“Buck Reynolds and his guys busted in and saved me from the kidnappers. The whole thing’s suspicious, but I’m going to come out right now and tell you they didn’t snatch Scooter. James—”

“James?”

Crap.

His eyes bugged out. “You call Skeeter Malcolm James? Does Buck Reynolds knowthat?”

“He doesnow.”

He made a face and leaned back in his chair. “That’s not good, Rose.”

“Tell me aboutit.”

“I’m confused. Are you and Malcolm a thing?”

“No,” I said as firmly as I could muster. “We are not a thing. We became friends when I worked with him last winter.”

The look in Witt’s eyes suggested he wasn’t convinced. “We need to do damage control. If you’re really not with Malcolm, we have to get the word out fast, or you won’t just be a target for whoever kidnappedyou.”

“Whose side are you on, Witt?”

He cocked his head. “Who says I’m on aside?”

“Everybody in the criminal world took a side last winter,” I said. “Whose side did youtake?”

“No one’s. Sure, most of the guys from the shop turned on Skeeter last winter and pledged themselves to Gentry, but I made it clear that while I didn’t have a beef with Malcolm, I wasn’t loyal to him either.” He shifted in his chair. “I don’t want back in that world. I did my time. That was enough. But I still hear plenty of things. How can you be so sure Reynolds isn’t behind all ofthis?”

Witt didn’t know about my visions, so this could get tricky.

“Tell him,” Neely Kate said, setting the pancakes and the bacon down on the table. I glanced up at her, and she nodded with a knowing smile. “He’ll understand. Remember Granny?”

Alarm covered Witt’s face. “What about Granny?”

“Nothin’s wrong with Granny,” she said, grabbing syrup from a cabinet. “But knowin’ Granny will make you more receptive.”

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