For the Birds: Rose Gardner Investigations #2 (Rose Gardner Investigatons)

by Denise Grover Swank

  “I want to know if the transition from Skeeter to me goes as smoothly as planned.”

  I closed my eyes, terrified of what I’d see, no matter what the result would be. I found it hard to concentrate, and twenty or so seconds later, I still hadn’t had a vision.

  “Well?” he asked.

  I opened my eyes. “I’m tryin’.”

  He pointed his gun at my chest. “Try harder.”

  “You stupid son of a bitch,” James shouted. “If you’d paid any attention at all last winter, you’d know she doesn’t work well under duress.”

  “And yet she had plenty of visions of your enemies.”

  “Stop,” I said. “Stop shoutin’ at him and let me concentrate.”

  “Do you need me to cut your hands loose?” Merv asked.

  Under any other circumstances, I would have said yes. But I didn’t dare risk him seeing the knife. “Just be still. Give me a second to calm down.”

  Come up with a plan, Rose. Save James.

  But first I had to sign my death warrant by giving Merv his vision. I’d blurt out whatever I saw, whether he wanted to hear it or not.

  Will Merv succeed James?

  I saw nothing but gray.

  Will James kill Merv?

  Nothing.

  Will James survive?

  Nothing.

  Will Merv survive?

  Nothing.

  I had to tell him something, so I decided to psych him out. But first I came up with a plan of my own.

  Several seconds later, I opened my eyes and said, “James is goin’ to kill you.”

  His momentary reaction of fear and surprise was enough—I bucked up my legs and dislodged his hands as I brought the blade against the edge of the tape. It was sharper than I expected, and it sliced through the tape like butter. My plan hadn’t included Merv to still be squatting in front of me, but the opportunity was too good to be missed. Going off instinct, I swung my left hand around and buried the blade into Merv’s right bicep until it embedded into bone. Merv looked up at me with a stunned expression before I kicked his crotch so hard the top of my foot throbbed. The force of my kick sent him to the floor on his back. I grabbed my gun and stood, pointing it at Merv’s chest, then said in a deadly calm voice, “If you ever touch me again, I’ll bury that knife where my foot just was.”

  “Put the gun down,” Paul said in an exasperated tone. “Or I’ll shoot you.”

  Merv lay on his back with the blade still buried to the hilt in his right arm, his knees drawn up to his chest. Confusion and pain waverd in his eyes.

  I could see that Gary had his gun trained on me as well.

  “Put down your guns, or I’ll shoot Merv first,” I said.

  “Go ahead,” Gary said. “I’m second in command. I’ll get his place.”

  Paul looked torn between saving his brother and moving up to second.

  So much for loyalty among thieves.

  We stood like that for several seconds before a gunshot rang out. I was sure one of Merv’s guys had shot me and I just hadn’t felt it yet, but to my surprise, Gary fell to the ground. Merv rolled to his right side, away from the shooter, and jarred the knife in his arm. He shouted out in pain.

  I shifted my gaze to James, but he was already running for me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and picked me up off the ground, carting me around the front of Merv’s car and out of the line of fire.

  “That wasn’t the plan,” he snarled as he snatched my gun from my hand.

  “I did the best I could with what I had,” I said. I was starting to get light-headed from the adrenaline crash. “Sorry I lost your knife.”

  He glanced around the bumper. “Don’t you worry. I plan on gettin’ it back,” he said in a menacing tone. He aimed and shot—several rounds rang out, one bullet hitting the hood of the car.

  I glanced across the warehouse floor. “Where’s Scooter?”

  “He’s out of sight.”

  “How?”

  He ignored me and got off another couple of rounds.

  There was silence for several long seconds before James called out, “Jed?”

  “Here.” Jed’s voice echoed across the space.

  “Who’s left?”

  “Merv. Looks like he went out back. I stayed to make sure you and Rose were covered.”

  “You take the front. I’ll take the back.” James grabbed my chin and stared into my eyes with a stern expression. “Swear to me you’ll stay put.”

  “I’ll stay. You handle this one.”

  He took off running for the back door, and a wary silence descended on the warehouse.

  Where had Scooter gone?

  I glanced around the bumper and saw Paul and Gary lying on the floor in pools of blood, but there were no signs of Merv or Scooter.

  What if Merv had taken him hostage?

  I heard a sliding sound—metal against metal—followed by a bang. It took me a moment to process it, but I realized someone had slammed the warehouse doors shut and locked them with a bar.

  Had James closed me in?

  But then I heard footsteps walking toward me, and I knew Merv was still in the warehouse. He’d just locked me inside with him.

  And James had my gun.

  Chapter 28

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Merv called out in a singsong that sounded wrong in his deep voice.

  I stayed quiet, moving around to the passenger side of his car in my effort to hide. I tried to open the car door, but it was locked.

  There was banging on the warehouse doors, and James’ muffled voice shouted my name.

  “I should have made him choose,” Merv said, his voice getting closer. “He would have chosen you. It would have been . . . entertaining to watch his brother’s face when that happened.”

  I stayed quiet. How was I going to get away? If I ran for the door, he’d shoot me. Only these two cars provided any cover. Would we circle around and around until he caught me?

  James was still banging on the door and shouting threats at Merv.

  “Come on, Rose,” Merv said. “Don’t you want to know how I guessed he’d choose you?”

  I didn’t care one fig what that man thought, so it showed how stupid he really was to think that would make me bite.

  “I’ll kill Scooter.” He stomped closer, and I crawled back to the front of the car, but he strode toward the office, not even giving his dead brother a spare glance. He disappeared inside, and I noticed James’ larger gun ten feet away. I made a run for it and picked it up, thrown off by the weight. Did I have time to get to the door?

  But Merv emerged from the office seconds later, dragging Scooter out with him. He held his gun pressed to Scooter’s side. Scooter’s arms were still tied behind his back, pieces of the broken chair dangling from them, and after seeing Jed do the same thing once, I wondered if James taught a class on how to escape such situations.

  That crazy thought passed when I realized I was in the same situation James had been in with me less than fifteen minutes ago. The only difference was Merv still had a knife blade jammed into his right arm, but it clearly hadn’t stopped him. There was a reason he’d always reminded me of a bull.

  “Well, isn’t this a purty picture?” Merv asked with a menacing grin. “Skeeter Malcolm’s two reasons for livin’ in my clutches.”

  “I’m not in your clutches,” I said. “Not anymore. I’ve got a gun on you, so you could say you’re in mine.”

  He whipped his gun up and pointed it in my face. “Now we’re in a standoff.”

  The banging had stopped, and I heard gunshots and ricocheting metal. James was trying to shoot his way in.

  “I’m okay with that.” I took a step toward Merv. “Let Scooter go, and let’s make this about you and me. It’s me you’re really pissed at anyway—am I right?” I said, repeating his earlier phrase. “You hate that James needed me last winter. That he used me and didn’t turn to you.”

  “You’re full of shit,” he sneere
d.

  “Am I? You hated having to protect me last February. And you hate me even more after you got shot because of me. How dare I usurp your position in Skeeter’s life? It’s bad enough you had to contend with Jed. But you got rid of him. I was the only one left.”

  “I’m not some seventeen-year-old girl with a crush,” he said in disgust as he moved closer, dragging Scooter with him as an afterthought.

  “And neither am I,” I said. “I’d be easier to dismiss if I were.”

  “He relied on you too much. Too fast. I spent years workin’ my way up the ranks.”

  “I know,” I said without malice. “And I stole it from you.”

  “I thought after Skeeter got rid of J.R. he’d be done with you, but he couldn’t let you go. He’s never been infatuated with a woman like he is with you.”

  “See? This is about me. So let his brother go.”

  “Skeeter killed my brother, so now I’ll kill his. An eye for an eye, just like the good book says.”

  “And it also says to love your neighbor as yourself.”

  He gave me a wry grin. “Well, that’s just it. I suspect Skeeter Malcolm doesn’t think too much of himself these days.”

  That caught me by surprise, but I held my tongue.

  Scooter stood still, watching me with cautious eyes, but he didn’t seem to be jumping into the conversation, so I kept up my badgering. I needed to save him. I’d failed so horribly with Jeanne, and I couldn’t do the same with him.

  “You don’t need Scooter. Besides, you like him. Everyone does. You’re liable to piss off half the county if you kill Scooter Malcolm. Nobody gives two cents about me.”

  “Except for Malcolm.”

  “That’s right,” I said, trying to sound self-assured, but my heart was racing and I was struggling to catch my breath. “You have to think this through, plan for the long run, right? Isn’t that why you asked me to have a vision? Because you’re worried about how Skeeter’s men will react to your coup?”

  “Most of ’em know he’s not himself.”

  “Then all the better to make your move,” I said. “You timed it right, but you can’t be a hothead. You have to think about the transition. Killin’ Scooter’s gonna piss off your new men something fierce. Maybe you can make a deal with Scooter to make him back up your version of how things went down. I can help you cook something up if you’d like.”

  “I don’t need shit from you,” Merv spat out.

  “Why do you think James kept me around? It wasn’t just for the visions. I helped him think things through sometimes. I’m an outsider, so I can think outside of the box, and you need a whole new box, Merv Chapman.”

  He didn’t say anything, so I continued. “The way I see it, you’re in deep shit. Skeeter’s men are loyal, even when they don’t agree with his judgment. So when they find out you killed Scooter and betrayed James . . . it’s not goin’ to bode well for you.”

  Panic filled his eyes. “You think I don’t know that? But we’ll go through the ranks and make them pledge to me or die. We’ll make examples of the ones who don’t.”

  “That’s downright stupid,” I said. “You need every single one of those men. You can’t afford to lose any of them.”

  “I’ll be gettin’ Reynolds’ men too.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” I said. “Buck never showed, and Gary’s dead.”

  The look in his eyes told me he hadn’t reasoned things through that far.

  This was a dangerous game, but the only one I knew to play at the moment. I had to save Scooter, and that meant pushing all of Merv’s buttons. He knew my weakness, but I also knew his. He couldn’t see further than the power grab in front of him.

  “If you send out Scooter, you might still be able to salvage this thing,” I lied, and I wasn’t sure I should be proud or ashamed that I sounded so convincing. “I’ll help you come up with a plan to survive this, but you have to send out Scooter now.”

  “You’re only doin’ this to save your own ass,” Merv sneered, but he didn’t look so sure of himself.

  “No. I’m as good as dead, and I know it,” I said. “You want to make James suffer, and this is the best way to do it. He’s sufferin’ right now. You heard him out there.”

  “You’re sure as hell not doin’ this to help me.”

  “Not directly, but turns out helpin’ you out of this is the best way to save the county. That’s always been my goal. To protect the innocent people in the county. I’ve made no secret of that.”

  Merv gave Scooter a shove. “Go out the back door.”

  “What?” Scooter asked in confusion.

  “Go,” I said. “Tell Skeeter that Merv and I are workin’ things through.”

  Merv looked pissed. “Go before I change my mind. And tell Skeeter and Jed that she’s dead if I see either of their faces.”

  Scooter ran out the back door, and it swung shut behind him. I heard multiple voices shouting, but the clamor outside stopped moments later. Even the banging and gunshots cut off.

  “Go on,” Merv said, looking dubious. “What’s my plan for redemption?”

  I couldn’t say I blamed his skepticism. I wasn’t sure I could help Merv, let alone whether I wanted to. My only goal had been to get Scooter out of the line of fire. “Depends on whether you’re still tryin’ to stage a coup or not.”

  He snorted. “Once you start one, you can’t just change your mind.”

  “Maybe not. You can ask for forgiveness.”

  “Never gonna happen. And even if I felt inclined, there’s no stoppin’ this now. Besides, you said you saw Skeeter kill me.”

  “My visions change,” I said. Telling Merv I’d lied seemed like a bad idea. “Maybe sendin’ Scooter out of here wasn’t part of the universe’s original plan. Maybe you changed things.”

  He looked unsure.

  “I’ll have another.” And when he looked unconvinced, I tossed my gun to the floor. “Releasing Scooter was your sign of good faith that you want to stop this madness. Ditchin’ my gun is my sign that I’m in this with you.” I wasn’t sure if I’d just done the stupidest thing in the world or the smartest, but it felt like the best way to get him to listen.

  “Okay,” he said. His gun was still pointed at me, but he hadn’t pulled the trigger, so there was that. “Go on. Have a vision.”

  “I need to hold your hand,” I said, taking a cautious step toward him.

  He reached his left hand forward, and I took it between both of my hands, partially because my legs were so rubbery I could barely stand up.

  “What do you want to see?” I asked softly, looking up into his eyes.

  Some of the hardness fell. “Why are you doin’ this . . . really?”

  “Partially because of the county,” I said. “That part’s true.”

  “And the rest?”

  “I don’t know.” But that was a lie.

  Merv had been loyal to his boss—to his friend—for years until I moved into the mix. I had literally been no one to James, worse than no one—I was the girlfriend of the assistant D.A. and definitely not to be trusted. And yet James had trusted me. Again and again and again. Then the next thing Merv knew, I’d inserted myself into James’ life with no sign of leaving.

  While I didn’t condone the choices he had made—he’d hurt and outright killed people—I partially understood them.

  “What do you want to see?” I repeated.

  He started to say something, then stopped and started again. “How much can you see?”

  “Only the future,” I said. “Your future.”

  “Can you see the afterlife?” he asked.

  A lump formed in my throat. I had every reason to hate this man. He’d killed people. He’d told his brother to kill Jeanne . . . and yet I could still see his humanity. He needed to pay for what he’d done, but maybe there was still hope for him. “No. Only death itself.”

  “That’s what’s in my future,” he said as his voice broke.

  “Mayb
e we can change it. I can ask James to hand you over to the sheriff’s department. You’ll go to prison, maybe for life for your part in killin’ Jeanne, but you’ll still be alive.”

  “I’ve done time. I ain’t goin’ back.”

  “Then let’s think this through.”

  His hand squeezed mine, painfully. “Enough talkin’. Have the vision.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to try to calm my rattled nerves, then asked, Will Merv survive this?

  I heard a single gunshot as I leapt into my vision.

  Gray surrounded me for milliseconds before plunging me into an icy blackness. It sucked me in and pulled me under, stealing my breath away. I panicked and tried to climb out, but I was trapped. A vise squeezed my chest, and it was impossible to breathe. A warm, thick liquid covered me, pulling me deeper into the darkness.

  I was going to die too.

  “You’re gonna die,” I whispered, but I was only semi-alert. The vision was pulling me back in.

  The warm stickiness spread across my chest, and I knew it was blood. Lots of blood. Had Merv tricked me and shot me anyway?

  “Rose!” I heard James’ voice, faint but also near. “Get him off her!”

  The sucking blackness lifted just as suddenly as it had fallen, and I could breathe again. I was back in the warehouse, and James was pulling me off the floor and into his arms.

  “Jesus. Her body’s ice cold, and she’s covered in blood. You shot her.” He snarled the last part.

  “It was a clean shot. I made sure of it.” I recognized the voice and turned to see Tim Dermot. Jed was there too, dropping Merv’s body onto the floor.

  “I’m okay,” I pushed out through chattering teeth as I started to violently shake. I think.

  “She’s in shock,” Dermot said, kneeling next to me. “Maybe Chapman shot her. Let’s get her dress off so I can look her over.”

  “Like hell you’re takin’ off her dress.” James’ arms tightened around me.

  “Just hold me . . . warm me up,” I said, shaking even more. “I was havin’ a vision. The coldness is something I’ve experienced before when seein’ death, but this is different. I’ve never had a vision of someone while they were bein’ killed . . . I got stuck.”