Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies
Page 49

“If you’re goin’, then you can drive,” Jed said. “I outrank you.”
A grin spread across her face, and she looked up at him and winked. “For now you do.” Then she slid behind the wheel. “Nice car.”
Jed groaned as he shut both of our car doors and walked around to the passenger side.
“Where to?” Neely Kate asked.
“We’re heading west. Out to Westminster, but don’t leave yet.” He pulled his phone out his pocket.
“Westminster?” Neely Kate asked. “That’s neutral territory, right? No one’s staked a claim there.”
Jed jutted his head back in surprise. “How’d you know that?”
Neely Kate rolled her eyes. “Please.”
I placed my hand on the front seat and leaned forward. “She knows things, Jed. Don’t question it.”
He looked at his phone screen, then shifted his gaze to me. “She has the gift of sight?”
“No. She knows them the good ol’-fashioned way. Snoopin’.”
I sat back as Neely Kate gave him a smug grin.
Jed shifted in his seat to face Neely Kate. “Gentry’s laid claim to it, but there’s an undercurrent of anger in the community. Quite a few people don’t like him there. We might be able to use it to our advantage.”
“Where are we meeting him?” I asked, feeling the gun between my legs. The weight of it made me even more nervous about this meeting.
“You got any other guys comin’?” Neely Kate asked. “As backup?”
“Yeah. But I don’t want Gentry knowin’ that. That’s why we’re holding up a minute.” He turned to me. “Before I tell you where, I want you to have a vision.”
“What?”
“Force a vision and see how this all plays out.”
That was actually a great idea. “Okay, but I have to touch one of you.”
“Me,” Jed said. “If one of our guys turns traitor, he’ll definitely go after me. And if Gentry double-crosses us, he’ll take me out first too.”
“So either way, you’re a goner?” Neely Kate asked dryly.
“Neely Kate!” I shouted.
“What?” she looked at me in the mirror. “It’s true.”
“Jed’s not goin’ to be a goner. I’ll put a stop to it.” There was no way I was going to let anything happen to him. I literally owed him my life.
I put my hand on his shoulder and closed my eyes, thinking about what was going to happen when we showed up for the meeting.
Darkness filled my vision, and for a few terrifying moments, I thought I was seeing Jed’s death, but it quickly gave way to a neighborhood road.
In the vision, I was sitting in the passenger seat of the car as Neely Kate pulled up to the curb in front of a small white clapboard house that had seen better days. A faint glow lit up the curtain-covered windows. I looked around, but I didn’t see anything worrisome, so I said, “Okay, let’s do this.”
As soon as I opened the door and stood, I heard a gunshot and ducked behind the door.
“Lady. Get down!” I growled as I spotted the shooter. He was in the window of the neighboring house, his shotgun pointed out the second story window. The cocky bastard hadn’t thought I’d seen him. It was Bert Winnowman, one of Skeeter’s men. I took him out easily with one shot, even though I wished I could have played it out to make him suffer.
Another shot rang out, but I expected this one. If Bert was part of this, his buddy Gil was a player too.
Gil was on the other side of the street with his gun aimed right at us, which made it awkward for me to get a shot at him. Several more shots rang out, one coming through the middle of the windshield. Then Gil fell flat on his face. Neely Kate was turned in her seat, her arm sticking out the window, her gun pointed across the street.
“Rose?” I called out in panic.
“I’m okay,” I heard myself say.
“Any more?” Neely Kate asked.
I scanned the street. “No. Let’s go. The police will be on their way any minute.”
The vision faded, and I blurted out, “Bert Winnowman is a traitor. He and his friend Gil tried to kill us when we pulled up to the house.”
Jed’s shoulder tensed under my hand. “I suspected as much.”
“And you asked him to guard us anyway?” I asked in disbelief.
“No, that’s why I asked you to have a vision first.”
“So what are we gonna do?” I demanded, pulling back my hand.
“I’m gonna tell Merv to take out the trash,” he said, sending a text. “Where were they?”
“Bert was in the house to the left, up in a second story window. Gil was across the street hiding in a bush.”
He nodded and sent another text.
“So we’re not meeting Gentry after all?” I asked.
“We’ll still meet him, but I’ll suggest we meet at the old fertilizer plant instead.” Jed glanced back at me. “Can you have a vision of that?”
“Yeah.” I returned my hand to his shoulder. I started to look for what would happen if we met Gentry at the fertilizer plant, but at the last moment, I made it more generic—what would happen when we met Gentry.
The vision filled my head in seconds. We walked into a warehouse. I set the pace, while Vision Rose and Neely Kate filed in behind me. Mick was waiting for us at a table, and Bull, the former manager of Mick’s strip club, sat beside him. They stayed seated, and I moved to one side, letting Vision Rose stand next to me at the head of the table.