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“Uh, hi there, buddy,” I said to the little guy.
“David,” he said. “I’m David.”
“Hello, David,” I said to the little beastie, then closed the door with my foot.
Wouldn’t do to let him escape.
She might very well kill me then.
“When God closes a door, he opens a window,” the bird said.
I felt my eyelid twitch.
If there was one thing in this life that I didn’t need right now, it was a preaching fucking parrot.
I got enough of that from my sister and my grandmother. I didn’t need it from a goddamn bird.
“Where’s your mother’s room?” I asked it.
“Hate the sin, love the sinner,” the bird said, then walked out of the room.
I started to follow him, then realized the only thing in the darkened area was a couch in the middle of the room facing the front window.
“Loser,” I grumbled darkly, then turned on my heel.
It wasn’t as if she was heavy or anything, but she was a lot of dead weight in my arms, and believe it or not, I had been drinking all night and that didn’t necessarily amount to me being at my peak performance.
I turned around and came to a halt when another bird came walking out.
This one was much more colorful in nature. A rich green with colorful underwings.
“And another one,” I said.
“I like corn,” it said completely out of the blue.
I blinked. “Okay.”
“It’s a big hunk of knobs.”
I blew out a breath.
“I am not my brother’s keeper,” the bird behind me said.
Apparently not.
I moved around the birds and heard them clicking and clacking behind me, letting me know that they were following.
I checked the first three rooms I came to and saw nothing but emptiness.
The very last room at the end had a bed in it, even though it was made, letting me know that at least if I put her there, I could make it through the night knowing I’d done the right thing.
“Oh, no. I hope I don’t fall,” a bird said behind me.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I said to no one in particular as I dropped her slightly higher than I intended to onto the bed.
It was hard as a brick.
But I left her there anyway, because what the fuck was the bed doing there if she hadn’t purchased it?
Pulling the covers down, I yanked them up over her, shoes and all, then set her phone on the bed next to her, along with her purse and house keys.
I looked back to see both birds standing in the doorway, assessing me with judging eyes.
After turning her onto her side in case she threw up, I left her there with the lights on just so she wouldn’t be disoriented when she woke up.
The birds parted, and I walked past them and straight out the front door.
Silvy was leaning against his SUV watching TikTok videos.
The song I heard as I came out was “Corn. I really like corn.”
I frowned, looked back behind me at the door, and wondered if that was where the bird’s words had come from.
“Hey,” I said to Silvy.
He glanced up, and his chin jerked. “Ready?”
“Thanks for the ride, but I’m gonna walk home,” I said. “I don’t have far.”
Silvy jerked his chin up in the air, then said, “Ten-four.”
Then he was gone, walking back toward his cruiser.
I walked back to the house, then texted Folsom.
She hadn’t originally been a big part of the Gator Bait MC, but over the last two years since her friend had made her way into our lives, she’d come slowly into it, too. She wasn’t necessarily a part of the MC, but she was involved at least peripherally.
I’d also consulted with her on a few cases over the last six months, giving me a feeling of camaraderie.
“Hey,” she said when she answered. “Something wrong?”
She sounded completely sober like me, even though she drank at least twice as much as the other women.
Girl could put away her alcohol, that was for sure.
“What are you doing?” I asked her, hearing the clicking in the background.
“Breaking through someone’s firewall,” she answered. “Why, what’s up?”
I looked at Silvy’s disappearing car, then at the house that I was still standing in front of. “Would you mind setting Greer’s alarm?”
There was a moment of silence, and then, “Greer doesn’t have an alarm.”
I groaned. “She had a panel there, lit up like she had one.”
She clicked away for a few seconds, then said, “That was deactivated a few months ago. The system was canceled, and she doesn’t have it hooked up to anything.”
“Great,” I said, feeling like I should stay, but knowing that I needed to go check on Carrie.
It being the new nurse’s first night, I wanted to make sure everything was going well.
I couldn’t do that if I didn’t leave.
I also fucking hated that I cared that she wasn’t protected by a damn alarm when I knew I shouldn’t.
