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

  For the Birds

  Rose Gardner Investigations #2

  Denise Grover Swank

  Contents

  For the Birds

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Also by Denise Grover Swank

  About the Author

  For the Birds

  Rose Gardner Investigations #2

  Book two in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Rose Gardner Investigations series.

  Rose Gardner is trying to build a new normal. One that leaves the Fenton County crime world—including James “Skeeter” Malcom, the current king—behind. Her best friend and roommate is a big part of that effort, but Neely Kate is busy building her own life anew. She disappeared for a few days, scaring the spit out of Rose—which is why Rose finds it impossible to deny her when she suggests they look for a missing parrot. Only this time Neely Kate isn’t interested in the reward money; she’s set them up to work with a cranky private investigator known as Kermit the Hermit. Rose sees it for what it is: another bid for them to become private investigators.

  If nothing else, it’s a good distraction…until one of James’s nemeses, Buck Reynolds, comes calling for help. James’s brother has gone missing, and Wagner is number one on the crime king’s suspect list. Only, according to him, he’s innocent.

  Rose had promised herself she was through with the crime world, but she wants to see his James’s brother safe. Besides, can she really say no when she might be the only one who can keep order in the county?

  Copyright © 2017 by Denise Swank

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design: Damonza

  Developmental Editor: Angela Polidoro

  Copy editor: Shannon Page

  Proofreader: Carolina Miller-Schneider

  ISBN: 978-1-939996-53-4

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter 1

  I hadn’t intended to start off my day with a hostage negotiation, much less for it to happen at my landscaping company.

  “Just put the gun down, and nobody gets hurt.”

  “But he took Mr. Bearington!” my niece Ashley said, pointing a water gun at her brother. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes had filled with tears. “He’s going to rip his head off!”

  “No, he’s not.” I turned to her brother, then said with forced patience, “Mikey. Give the bear back to your sister.”

  “He’s not just a bear, Aunt Rose!” Ashley protested, waving the pistol. Lord only knew where she’d gotten it . . . probably from my best friend Neely Kate’s desk drawer. “He’s Mr. Bearington, and Mommy gave him to me before she left.”

  Before my sister Violet left for Houston for chemo and a bone marrow transplant. She was finally coming home this afternoon, and everyone was on edge. The kids hadn’t seen her in over three months. The last time they saw her, she’d just been through an aggressive round of chemo, and they’d had to wear masks and gowns whenever they were near her. Both kids had returned with nightmares.

  I knelt down in front of my two-year-old nephew, who eyed me with distrust—not that I was surprised. I hadn’t seen much of him or Ashley in the last six months, and six months had been a quarter of his life. Mike had asked me to keep my visits with them to a minimum. He’d claimed that seeing me reminded them that their mother was gone. I’d agreed to it in the beginning, but something felt off. His parents were out of town this week, which had made me the most logical person to watch the kids while he flew to Houston to bring Violet home, but he’d seemed reluctant to accept my offer.

  “Ashley loves Mr. Bearington. Don’t you want to give him back to her?”

  His tiny brow furrowed and his lips puckered as he shook his head in defiance. “No.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him as I tried to figure out how to handle the situation. I could just reach out and take the bear from him, but I was hoping to reach a more diplomatic solution.

  The jingling bell on the front door of my office alerted me that someone was walking in, but I was too invested in my battle of wills with a toddler to greet them.

  “This looks like a standoff—and I would know.” The voice unmistakably belonged to Joe, my best friend’s brother.

  I turned and saw him standing in the doorway in his sheriff’s uniform, his broad shoulders filling the space. Though I was exasperated with my nephew, Joe’s grin was contagious.

  “What seems to be the problem here?” he asked, walking in and closing the door behind him.

  “Uncle Joe,” Ashley said as she ran for him and wrapped herself around his leg. “Mikey won’t give me Mr. Bearington.”

  Uncle Joe. The name caught me off guard. Ashley had started calling him Uncle Joe last summer, while he and I were dating, and she’d kept it up because he’d lived next door to my sister for a while after our breakup.

  He leaned over and cupped her tiny shoulder with his large hand. “Let me see what I can do. I’m pretty good with negotiations.” Joe grabbed my desk chair and rolled it in front of Mikey and took a seat, making him closer to the boy’s height. “Hey, Mikey. Remember me?”

  Mikey glared up at him and shook his head, clutching the bear tighter.

  Joe grinned. “That’s okay. It’s been a while, but you and I go way back.” Joe leaned closer and lowered his voice. “It just so happens that I know your favorite ice cream used to be strawberry. Is it still strawberry?”

  Mikey’s eyes widened in surprise, and he nodded.

  “If you give Ashley back her bear, I’ll take you over to Dena’s cupcake shop and get you some ice cream. What do you say to that?”

  “I’d say that’s bribery,” I said. “And it’s only ten in the morning.”

  Joe glanced up at me, his eyes twinkling. “You’re just sorry I thought of it first.”

  I tried to glare at him but couldn’t quite pull it off. “Okay. Maybe.”

  Joe turned back to Mikey and gave him an intent look. “What do you say, big guy? Ice cream?”

  Mikey nodded and shoved the bear at his sister, who clutched it to her chest and buried her face into it.

  “I’m not sure I should ask,” Joe said, “but how’s babysitting going?”

  I laughed. “Pretty much what you’re seeing. Lots of crying and obstinance.”

  Joe grinned. “And how are the kids doin’?”

  “Ha. Ha.” I swatted his shoulder. “You think you’re so funny.”

  Joe turned to Ashley. “I am funny, aren’t I?”

  She slowly shook her head. “No, Uncle Joe,” she said, her tone solemn.

  He laughed. “No? Then it’s obvious you
haven’t spent enough time with me lately.”

  Just as obvious that they hadn’t spent enough time with me. Or their mother. In any case, they were here now, and I was pretty sure they were acting out due to nerves.

  Ashley’s mouth tipped down. “My mommy’s coming home today.”

  If Joe was surprised by her subdued tone, he didn’t let on. “She’s been gone a long time, huh?”

  She nodded, then just as quickly gave Joe a pouty face. “Can I get ice cream too, Uncle Joe?”

  Joe grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, tickling her belly. “You could have had ice cream if you’d said I was funny. Now . . .”

  She squealed and giggled, and then Mikey felt left out and grabbed Joe’s leg, and Joe scooped him up into his other arm.

  A wave of nostalgia washed through me, and I caught Joe’s equally subdued gaze. He’d always been amazing with my niece and nephew when we were together. But Joe had more cause to be melancholy than I did. As obvious as it was that he’d make a great father, over the past year and a half he’d lost two babies by two different women . . . and neither one of them had been me. My niece and nephew were no doubt a bitter reminder of what could have been.

  But as quickly as his sadness appeared, he pushed it away and flashed a smile. “Aunt Rose,” Joe said, “can you leave the office to go get ice cream?”

  I grimaced. “Can you either take the kids or bring the ice cream back to them? I’d like to call Neely Kate. She’s still not back yet.”

  Joe’s jovial expression slid right off his face, concern filling his eyes. “Where’d she go?”

  “She was going to talk to a potential client about a design, but she should have been back by now.”

  His eyes shuttered, and he was Chief Deputy Simmons now. “How long ago was she supposed to be back?”

  After finding out that Neely Kate was his half sister in February, Joe had taken his new role as a brother to heart.

  “An hour ago,” I said, waving him off. “I’m sure it’s nothin’.”

  “Not necessarily.” He set both kids on the floor and stood, walking over to me. “That’s why I’m here. To find out what you know about what’s goin’ on in the criminal world.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

  “I know you’ve had ties to Skeeter Malcolm,” he added.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “That was in the past.”

  His eyebrows rose as his gaze pierced mine. “Rumor has it you had dealings in the criminal world only a few weeks ago.”

  My mouth dropped open. “And what do you know about that?”

  “I know that you took a meeting with Malcolm, Wagner, and Reynolds at the Putnam Industrial Park.”

  I tried to hide my surprise. The only way he could know about that meeting was if someone had talked. I’d bet my farm that it hadn’t been one of James Malcolm’s men, but I didn’t trust Buck Reynolds or Kip Wagner any farther than I could throw them. Still, if Joe knew about it, I saw no reason to hide it from him. “I did.”

  “As the Lady in Black.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I was doing my part as a concerned citizen to keep peace in this county.”

  His lips pressed together in a tight line, and several seconds passed before he said, “You have to see that you’re playin’ with fire.”

  “I’m not playin’ with anything anymore,” I said with a hint of attitude. “I’m done with that world.”

  Joe didn’t look convinced, not that I was surprised. My alter ego had wreaked havoc on my life, so I’d hung up my hat as Lady in February. But I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t liked pulling her out of mothballs weeks ago. Unfortunately, James Malcolm, king of the Fenton County crime world, had double-crossed me during that meeting, and I had neither seen nor heard from him since. I was starting to think I might never hear from him—a thought that had me vacillating between “good riddance” and a hopeless feeling of loss and regret.

  He lowered his voice. “I know you were meeting over that damned missin’ necklace.”

  “The only thing I’m gonna tell you is that the matter was resolved and peace was restored.”

  “You sure about that?” he asked in a dry tone.

  “Uncle Joe,” Ashley said, tugging on his arm. “You said we could get ice cream.”

  “I sure did,” he said, bestowing his bright smile on her. “But Mikey’s taken off his shoes. Why don’t you help him get them back on so we can walk across the town square?”

  I started to protest that Mikey had his shoes on—I’d put them on myself—when I saw his little bare feet. He’d tucked his shoes under my desk.

  I resisted the urge to sigh. I’d been watching my niece and nephew for the past two days, and it had been nonstop action. Since Neely Kate lived with me in my farmhouse, I couldn’t help wondering if she was staying away for longer than necessary to catch a few moments of peace.

  As soon as the thought crept into my mind, I chased it away. Neely Kate had loved every minute of having Ashley and Mikey around, but she had seemed a little sad this morning.

  Neely Kate and Joe had both lost babies before they were born. She had miscarried her twins last January, and the doctor had told her she’d probably never have more children. If there was ever a woman who was meant to be a mother, it was my best friend. Spending two days with my niece and nephew had likely broken her heart.

  But at the moment, I was concerned that Joe was questioning peace in the county.

  Ashley scrambled under the desk to get Mikey’s shoes, and I took advantage of the few moments of reprieve. “What do you know that you’re not telling me?”

  “Seems like you’re in a better position to know than me,” he said.

  I shook my head. “I wasn’t lyin’. I haven’t heard a peep about that world since that meeting.”

  He studied me as though deciphering whether I was telling the truth. Finally, he said, “There’s some rumblings goin’ round. Something about Skeeter Malcolm’s brother.”

  “Scooter?” I asked in surprise, then shook my head. “He has nothing to do with that world. Bruce Wayne said James refuses to let him take part.”

  Joe looked surprised that I was talking about it so freely, but Joe knew the higher-up politics of the county criminal world. I saw no point in beating around the bush.

  “Scooter’s missin’.”

  “What?” I said louder than intended. “What happened?”

  “Hell if I know.” Then he cringed and glanced back to see if the kids had noticed his swear. They hadn’t; Ashley had returned to playing with Mr. Bearington, and her brother was now playing with the Velcro straps rather than putting the shoes on. Joe leaned closer and lowered his voice even more. “It’s not like Malcolm filed a missing person report.”

  “No, I guess not,” I said with a frown, my imagination working overtime. “So how do you know about it? I take it you have some super-secret source since you knew about the parley from a few weeks ago.”

  “Parley?” he asked in surprise.

  I gave him a smug look. “I guess you don’t know everything.” I looked up into his worried brown eyes. “I told you. I worked out a peace agreement over the necklace. James invoked parley to discuss it.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure it worked,” Joe said, “because Scooter’s missin’, and word has it that one of Malcolm’s rivals took him.”

  “Which one?” I asked.

  He gave me a look of disgust. “Exactly. The man has more enemies than I can count.” He eyed me with suspicion. “You really didn’t know?”

  “No.” Nevertheless, I was worried. While I’d never met Scooter, he was a close friend of my business partner, Bruce Wayne. And James . . . he had to be beside himself with worry. Scooter was a simple man, not capable of the machinations that could help him escape a kidnapper’s grasp—and everyone who knew him said he was as kind as he was uncomplicated.

  But I couldn’t concern myself with James. He’d made it clear he didn’t
want me to.

  “With Neely Kate’s and your connections to the underworld and Scooter missin’ . . .”

  My heart lodged in my throat. “I should be careful.”

  Ashley tugged on Joe’s arm again, and Mikey, who’d finally stopped playing with the shoes and put them on, tugged on the other.

  “Come on, Uncle Joe. You can talk to Aunt Rose later,” Ashley said, trying to strong-arm him toward the door. “We have to get ice cream before Mommy comes home.”

  “Ice cream,” Mikey said, pulling on his other hand.

  I swallowed my worry and forced a smile. “You know Neely Kate—she’s gotten distracted by something. I’m sure she’s fine. Go ahead and take them to Dena’s, and I’ll call her and see what’s keepin’ her so long. I’ll have an answer by the time you three get back.”

  “Okay,” Joe said with a concerned look. Then he pretended to let the kids pull him to the door. “Call me if you find out anything alarming.”

  I grabbed my phone off my desk and pulled up Neely Kate’s number. When she didn’t answer, I told myself not to panic. There could be half a dozen reasonable explanations, but I was worried nonetheless. Joe was right. We’d inserted ourselves into the Fenton County crime world with that parley, and we hadn’t even bothered with a disguise—we’d gone as ourselves. Yes, I’d attended as the Lady in Black, but this time I hadn’t been wearing any kind of veil or mask.

  Besides, Neely Kate hadn’t been herself over the last few days. And after her disappearance last week, that had me worried.