Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 97

He laughed and walked around to the front of the desk. “You want to do this like last time?”
I nodded as he settled against the edge. He held his hand out to me. I took it and closed my eyes, surprised when a vision hit me within seconds. I was also surprised that it was the exact same vision I’d experienced two days earlier. That had never happened to me before.
“Someone’s gonna kill you at the auction,” I blurted out when it was done.
“Again?” he shouted, standing.
“You haven’t done diddly-squat to find those guys!”
“I’ve been doing things.”
“Your guy just said I gave you more information than you’ve dredged up in three days!” I shouted in disgust. “I’m beginning to wonder whether you’re as good as everyone says you are.”
“What did you just say?” he bellowed, hurting my ears from our close proximity.
Bruce Wayne, who had been standing quietly behind me, took a step forward. “She didn’t mean anything by it, Skeeter.”
I put my hands on my hips. “The hell I didn’t. A man like you should have been able to dig up something by now!”
Skeeter’s eyes narrowed. “I have information, but not enough. Not until you filled in some pieces.”
“Filled in some pieces?” I shouted. “I just gift-wrapped it for you and handed it to you with a bow on top! If you expect me to help you, then you have to live up to your end of the bargain,” I said, irritated as all get-out. I was tired of all the half-truths. “They have my money. Tell me what you know. If you know anything at all, that is,” I snorted in contempt.
A low rumble came from Skeeter’s chest and the other men in the room froze. “Fine,” he growled, pushing away from the desk. “The word is they aren’t your normal bidders.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked up at me. “It means these guys have watched one too many episodes of Breaking Bad. They think they can be king if they have enough money to buy Crocker’s business. They’re nobodies with no experience. These amateurs don’t know shit. Which your information supports. A loan officer and a grocery store manager.” His face contorted in disgust.
“Seems to me they’re more capable than you give them credit for,” I threw back at him. “Or if they’re as dumb as you insinuate, what does that say about you?”
Bruce Wayne’s eyes bugged out of his head.
Skeeter’s body tensed and his cold eyes landed on me. “Do you know how many people have talked to me that way and gotten away with it?”
The tension in the room was so thick, if someone lit a match, the entire place would have exploded.
I knew I should back down, grovel even, but I was good and ticked off. I’d had enough. This arrangement wasn’t working out in my favor at all. I was the one supplying all the information and getting nothing in return. “I have no idea, but maybe it’s time someone did.”
Skeeter watched me for several long seconds, looking like he was trying to figure out the best way to dispose of my body, then he burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, getting madder.
“You,” he pushed out while catching his breath. “Good God. Where have you been all my life, Rose Gardner, and how did I not know about you before now?” He shook his head while regaining control. “Good thing I’ve claimed you before someone else discovered you. And I feel a hell of a lot better bringin’ you with me to the auction now. Especially after all of this.”
He may have been trying to appease me, but he was just making me madder. “You may have claimed me, Mr. Malcolm, but there’s no way on God’s green earth I’m walking into that auction with you. It’s one thing to be marked, but it’s another for me to be seen actively helping you. I’m living with the assistant DA, for heaven’s sake. Even you can’t be arrogant enough to believe someone won’t use this against me. Not to mention the risk to you if someone decides you’re with an informant.”
“You’re the only person who’s seen these guys. I need you to come with me so you can point them out to Jed and Merv. They’ll have your money on them to bid for Crocker’s business. So if we stop them, you’ll get your money returned today.”
I groaned. “Damn you.” I was good and stuck.
He laughed and glanced over at his goons. “So she does use cuss words.”
“I can’t be seen there, Skeeter. I can’t.”
“It’s worth the risk.”
“To you!” I shouted.
“She can wear a hat,” Bruce Wayne said. “You know, one of those old-fashioned kind with a veil. It’ll cover her face and no one will know it’s her.”
Skeeter held out his hands. “Well, there you go. You can wear a hat.”
“I don’t own a hat like that!” Only I knew someone who did. She had a spare bedroom closet full of them. “I have to make a call.”
Skeeter stood, his eyes turning cold. “I don’t think so.”
“Will you calm down?” I asked, not caring that I sounded snotty. “I need to ask my friend to bring me a hat.”
I spun around and stomped out into the hall, not waiting for permission before I dialed Neely Kate on my phone. “I have a bizarre request.”
“Coming from you, that’s sayin’ something.”