Thirty-Two and a Half Complications (38 page)

“I saw the number of the guy who outbid you. His number was fourteen. It may have changed from my vision—it happens—but everything else is as I remember it.”

Skeeter snapped his fingers. “Merv, go find out who logged in as number fourteen and keep an eye out for that paddle.”

Merv walked off and Jed stood next to us, his arms at his sides.

I shifted my weight and kept my eyes on the crowd. “I thought this was supposed to go down tomorrow.”

“Let’s just say the wrong ears were perking up,” Skeeter said. “It was safer this way.”

“You don’t think I had anything to do with that, do you?”

He turned his gaze to the front of the room, his face expressionless. “You wouldn’t be here if I thought you did. And you sure as hell wouldn’t be at home cookin’ that turkey you’re so set on gettin’ back to.”

What the hell had I gotten myself involved in?

“Why did you threaten that guy who patted me down?” Skeeter had answered all my other questions and curiosity was getting the best of me.

He turned to face me and lifted his eyebrows. “Your suggestion was genius. Look at all these idiots with their bimbos. They’re a dime a dozen. But you’re dressed sexy as hell yet still classy and not only are you acting like the freaking Queen of England, but I’m treating you that way and making sure everyone else does too. They’re dying to know who you are and it makes me look important. And it’s all about appearances, R—” He grinned. “You need a name I can use in public.”

I blinked, not that he could see me very well. “That’s not necessary, seeing as how this is a one-time venture.”

He grinned. “Lady in Black. Lady for short.”

“That’s the stupidest name on the planet.”

“You got a better one?”

“No.” I looked around, getting impatient. “When does this thing start and how long will it last? I’ve got a—”

“I know, you’ve got a dinner to get back to. But think bigger than your family dinner,” he leaned close and whispered in my ear. “This here’s poetic justice when you think about it. You ended the Crocker empire and you’re here to see it reborn from the ashes.”

I hadn’t considered it that way, but I had to admit he was right.

Merv sauntered back, wearing a scowl, which I took to mean that he had bad news. “No dice, Skeeter. They say the list is confidential. They have a new page for each bidder so I couldn’t even look over his shoulder.”

Skeeter frowned as he surveyed the room. “Merv, take Lady here around the room to seek the guys out.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Who?”

Skeeter shook his head. “This is Lady. That, and only that, is how you will address her. Got it?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

I didn’t wait for Merv. My only purpose here was to find the robbers and point them out to Skeeter. He would have to handle the rest. At this point, I’d be happy to swing by the pool hall later tonight to collect my money. My first problem popped up when I didn’t see any of them. My next problem occurred when my phone vibrated in my hand with a call. I glanced at the screen and cringed. Mason. He would expect me to answer it if I was at Neely Kate’s. If I didn’t, he’d start to get worried.

I had to move this show along.

I made another pass through the crowd and saw two of the guys from church—Lars Jenkins and Eric Davidson. Lars had a paddle with the number six on it and Eric was hanging back at the edge of the crowd, looking like he wanted to blend in with the shadows.

I made a beeline to Skeeter, Merv trailing behind me like an abandoned puppy.

I turned to face Skeeter and leaned in toward his ear. “Lars Jenkins is here. When I had my vision at church, he was one of the four men near me. He fits the profile and he’s pretty rough. I wouldn’t put it past him to kill someone to get what he wants.” I took a breath. “Lars had a paddle, but the number on it is six, not fourteen. And he wasn’t the bidder in my vision.”

“And the other guy?”

“Eric Davidson. He works at the Burger Shack. He’s hanging at the edge of the crowd. He doesn’t even
have
a paddle.”

“And the guy who was bidding in your vision?”

“He was the guy from the grocery store. The one who wore the Batman mask in my vision. I don’t see him here. But it could have changed. I’m sure there are four of them. Maybe Lars is going to do the bidding instead.”

His face hardened and he held out his hand to me. “Make yourself have another vision.”

“Here?
Now?
”

“I need to know what I’m facing and your job is to help me do it.”

I shook my head and grumbled. “This is a terrible idea. You know I’m going to blurt out what I see. And there’s no guarantee I’ll even see anything related to the auction. I could see you sittin’ on the toilet for your morning constitutional.”

“
Do it.
”

Sighing, I reached for his hand and closed my eyes. I was anxious and nothing happened for nearly half a minute.

“What’s takin’ so long? They’re about to start.”

“You are making me nervous,” I hissed. “Apparently, I have to be relaxed to force one.”

“Then calm down.”

“You
calm down
. You’re making it worse.”

I could see Jed over Skeeter’s shoulder, his eyes widened in shock. I supposed not many people spoke to Skeeter that way and got away with it. “Okay, I’m going to try again, but don’t tense up.”

“How the hell am I not supposed to tense up when there’s a good chance someone is still gonna try to kill me?”

“Skeeter,” I hissed. “Jed’s got your back, quite literally. Now let me do this.”

He took a deep breath, then looked at my veil.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to settle down. The vision appeared within seconds, playing out identically to the first two.

“Someone’s gonna kill you while you’re bidding.”

He jerked his hand from mine. “Again?” He shook his shoulders. “
Son of a bitch!
”

Several people turned around to stare at us.

“Skeeter,” I said in a low voice. “Maybe you should leave and let Jed or Merv bid for you.”

He shook his head, his face red with anger. “That’s not how this works. I want the power. I have to bid. I told you that it’s all about appearances.”

“And you’re making a fine impression throwing a fit like a five-year-old.”

His eyes narrowed and I knew I’d gone too far. But he forced his shoulders down and took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

Jed’s mouth dropped open like a trap door.

The auctioneer climbed a small stage and banged a gavel on the podium. “Attention. We’re about to start the bidding. The rules are simple. We accept bids until there’s a winner. The winner will come immediately to the stage and pay with cash. If he doesn’t have enough, he forfeits and the second-highest bidder will be the winner.” He cleared his throat. “The winner procures all territorial rights previously belonging to Daniel Crocker along with his land and greenhouse. This does not include Weston’s Garage. Are there any questions?”

No one spoke, but the room filled with nervous tension.

“If there are no questions, we’ll let the bidding begin.”

Skeeter leaned in close to me. “Do you see him yet?”

My stomach twisted with anxiety. “No.” I glanced at my phone to check the time and saw Bruce Wayne had sent me a text.

Merrill, the PW asst manager is hanging around outside.

I gasped and Skeeter turned toward me. “What?”

Bids were being made, but they were still low, lingering around five thousand dollars.

“Bruce Wayne says the Piggly Wiggly assistant manager is hanging around outside.”

Skeeter flicked his finger to Merv. “Take care of it.”

I grabbed Skeeter’s arm. “What’s he going to do?”

Skeeter rolled his eyes. “Take care of it.”

I couldn’t shake the thought of what Merv might be doing to
take care of it
. What if I was wrong? “I’m not giving you another piece of information unless you promise me you won’t kill any of the men I tell you about.” I couldn’t live with that on my conscience.

“It’s a dog-eat-dog world, Lady. And if you step into this ring, you have to accept that. Besides, I already told you that you can’t trust my word.”

I moved close enough to him so that he could see my face. “Skeeter Malcolm, I won’t help you with another blessed thing unless you promise me right now that you won’t kill these men. And if you don’t hold true to your word, I’ll find your great-grandmother, Idabelle, and tell her you lied to me.”

His mouth gaped. “
Grandma Idabelle
?”

“You may be a malcontent, but I hear your great-grandmother has quite the temper, so I bet she can still cut a switch to tan your hide. Didn’t she start the family business with moonshine during Prohibition, back when all business deals were made with handshakes?” I knew the first part was true. I was counting on the second.

His face darkened. “Times have changed.”

“Maybe so, but we need to be able to trust each other, and if I find out you haven’t lived up to your word, I’ll tell Idabelle.”

“Fine,” he growled, looking over his shoulder at Jed. “Call Merv and tell him the new rules.”

Jed looked like Skeeter had told him go cuddle puppies.

Skeeter’s gaze turned back to the podium. “You don’t see anyone else who could be involved?”

This wasn’t going well. “No.”

“Keep searching. The bid is at twelve thousand, and we have until twenty-one or so.”

He didn’t have to tell me that, but it obviously made him feel better to say it.

“They might not all be here,” I said. “It would only take two of them to do this. One to bid and the other…”

“To kill me,” he finished. “You said there’s two possible guys here. Jenkins and Davidson. If Jenkins is bidding, that leaves Davidson.” He glanced at the place where we’d last seen Eric. “Where is he?”

Sure enough, he was gone. “I don’t know.” But the more I thought about Merrill and Mr. Sullivan being part of this mess, the more it made sense that Eric Davidson was likely involved too. He must have been the guy whose vision I’d experienced at church. That only left Mick and the man from the fertilizer plant unaccounted for.

“I sent Merv to take care of the grocery store manager, but I can’t send Jed away.” He sounded worried.

“Surely Big Bad Jed can take care of a scrawny thing like Eric Davidson.”

“He can, but…”

“Twenty thousand!” the auctioneer shouted. “Do I hear twenty-one?”

No one responded.

“Do I hear twenty-one?” the auctioneer repeated. “Going once—”

Skeeter growled, then lifted his paddle and shouted, “Twenty-one.”

“Do I hear twenty-two?”

“Twenty-two!” the last bidder called out.

“Twenty-three!” Skeeter shouted without being prompted.

“Do I hear twenty-four?”

No one answered.

Jed stood almost directly behind Skeeter, scanning the crowd.

“Do I hear twenty-four?” the auctioneer shouted. “Going once.”

I tensed, my nerves pinging with anxiety. This was going differently than my vision, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

“Going twice!”

I held my breath.

“Twenty-four!” a quiet voice rang out from a corner.

All eyes in the room turned toward it. Skeeter and I gasped simultaneously.

“He was in my vision at the fertilizer plant,” I hissed.

“That’s my goddamned dentist!” Skeeter growled. “You said it was the grocery store manager who was bidding!”

I shook my head, trying to figure out what was going on. “Merv must have stopped him. So your dentist took his place.”

“Do I hear twenty-five?” the auctioneer called out.

“Twenty-
six!
” Skeeter hollered, lifting his paddle. Then he lowered his voice, shooting a glance back to Jed. “Do either of you see the Burger Shack guy?”

“No,” we both said.

“Twenty-seven?” The man at the podium looked toward Skeeter’s dentist.

“How much money do you think they got from the Piggly Wiggly?” Skeeter asked Jed.

His minion looked scared. “It’s hard to say, Skeeter.”

“Take a goddamned
guess!
”

“Maybe ten thousand or so.”

“So they have at least thirty K,” Skeeter muttered. “Where’s the damn fast food guy? How hard can it be to find a scrawny kid?”

“I don’t know,” Jed answered.

Skeeter lifted his paddle. “
Thirty thousand
!”

A man was slowly inching his way toward us, hanging at the periphery of the crowd. I knew I’d seen him somewhere, but I couldn’t place him.

Skeeter’s dentist cast a glance in our direction, then stood straighter and called out with more confidence, “Thirty-one!”

“Thirty-three!” Skeeter rumbled out, flexing and unflexing his hand.

“Thirty-four!” the dentist practically shouted.

“Jed.” I glanced back at him. “Over there. The man standing by the guy with the blue shirt. He’s making a beeline toward us and I know him somehow.”

“That’s Doc Gentry,” Jed said. “The big-animal vet.”

“Oh, my word,” I exhaled. In my vision, Skeeter had been killed with a syringe of something. Doc Gentry had access to powerful tranquilizers that could down a man in an instant. It made sense that he would smell of fertilizer.

He was about six feet away when someone bumped into the vet and he shouted, “Get out of my way.”

I recognized his voice. “Dr. Gentry is Mick. The bank robber.”

“My dentist. The vet. The damn grocery store manager.
What the hell is going on here?
” Skeeter hissed. “Stop him, Jed.”

“You’re the one who said they’d watched too many episodes of
Breaking Bad
.”

“I didn’t actually
believe
it!”

Jed took off after Mick. Mick saw him coming and turned around, heading for the exit.

“Going once,” the auctioneer called out. “Going twice…”

Skeeter lifted his paddle, watching Jed grab the veterinarian. “Thirty-five!”

“Do I hear thirty-six?”

All eyes turned to the dentist, who was watching Jed lead Dr. Gentry to a back corner. His face paled.