“Yeah, it does,” he said with a sneer. “You’re always sticking your nose where you’re not wanted.”
“Well, that depends,” she said. “If you’re on the side of the family who never had a chance to find out what happened to your loved ones,” she said, “you’d see it differently. But if you’re the crook or somebody who got away with murder all these years, then, yeah, you’re probably not too happy to see me.” She glared at him, crossed her arms over her chest, and tapped her foot, as she studied him. He was stocky and reminded her of the gardening brothers who had been involved in the deaths of their parents and sisters. “Is that what you’re up to?” she asked. “Are you one of those guys who does the dirty work and waits for somebody else to pay the price for your crimes?”
He stared at her. “Shut up,” he said. “You don’t know nothing.”
“And again we’re back to that,” she said. “I’m just here to make sure that little boy is okay.”
“We told you that he’s fine.”
“Yeah? So where is his mother?” she asked.
Immediately one of the guys stiffened. “You think his mother will make a difference?”
“Maybe,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but you can bet I’ll find out.”
“You get out of here and stay away,” he said in a low tone.
“Yeah, and what will you do about it?”
“Well, maybe you’ll get a visitor in the night,” he said in a dark tone of voice.
Immediately she felt the presence of fear slide down her back, but she stuck her neck out even farther. “Oh, so maybe I do have a reason to call the cops on you then.”
“You got no reason to call the cops on us at all,” he said. “You’re the one who’s trespassing.”
“Nope,” she said, “this is all public land, so I’m not trespassing at all. But, if you’ve been coming into my yard and causing all kinds of chaos at my place, you can bet that will be a different story for you.” She said, “Now that I know it’s you, I’ll call the cops right now.” She pulled out her phone.
Immediately he tried to grab it from her hand.
She backed up, and Mugs barked like crazy to keep him back. She glared, “If you’re the one breaking and entering and trespassing on my property, you’re darn right I’m calling the cops. I’ve been looking for you, and so have they.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “You’re a crazy person.”
“We already went through the fact that I’m not crazy,” she growled, “so stop saying that.” She crossed her arms over her chest again and said, “Either you’re the one who’s causing all the chaos at my house or you’re not.”
“I’m not,” he said, glaring.
“You just threatened to visit me in the night,” she said, “and I’ve already had somebody do just that.”
“Yeah, I wonder why,” he said. “It’s because you keep sticking your nose in other people’s business.”
“You better look after that little boy,” she said, “because mistreatment of a child is everybody’s business.”
He stopped, stared at her, and said, “Do you really think he’s being abused?”
“I don’t know what the deal is, but something’s going on here, and he doesn’t look like he’s very well cared for.”
“Well, he’s a hell of a lot better off now than he was before,” he snapped.
“Prove it then,” she said, staring at him.
He shook his head, nudged one of the other guys, and said, “Let’s go.”
“Yeah, sure. Run away,” she said. “Remember. You treat him well … or else.”
He stopped, looked at her, and said, “Lady, did you just threaten me?”
She smiled. “I don’t have to. The law is enough to take you down, if you’re abusing that child.”
“I’m not abusing the child,” he roared.
She patted her arm and said, “Well, you haven’t convinced me of that. Every time I come around to make sure he’s okay, one of you guys are standing in the path, making life difficult for me.”
He stared at her. “Who else was here?”
She shrugged. “That huge guy with the scar.”
Some of the color left his face. “Randy?”
“I think that’s who it is. Yeah,” she said, remembering the name that Mack had used. “What about Randy?” They looked at each other, and she saw that something had shifted. Something about the name Randy had set them off. “Is he a friend of yours?” she asked.
Immediately he shook his head. “No, he’s nobody’s friend.”
“Oh, I met a few of those guys too,” she said, nodding her head wisely.
He looked at her and said, “Don’t be such a wiseass,” he said. “If Randy told you to get the hell away from here, you should have listened.”
“He did tell me that,” she said, “which is why the three of you aren’t doing much to scare me.”
“Well, you should have respected Randy because that’s one scary dude.”
“Yeah, I got that part,” she said, “but you’re still not making things any better for yourselves though.”
He shook his head. “You’re playing with fire here. You don’t know what the hell’s going on, so just go home before you get hurt.”
“Oh, so now you’re concerned about my well-being?” she said, with a snort.
Frustrated, the first man turned and looked at her and said, “Lady, just leave before Randy finds out you came back.”
In that, she recognized some truth. “You’re scared of him,” she said.
Immediately he shook his head. “Hell, no,” he muttered. “I’m not scared of him.”
She nodded. “You are. It’s obvious.”
“No, I’m not,” he yelled.
She looked at him, then over at the others and said, “I don’t believe him.”
“Would you just get lost?” One of the men hissed the words and raised his hands.
“Sure,” she said, “but I don’t know why I should have to.”
“Because,” he said. “Just because.”
As she went to walk forward, one of the men noticed Thaddeus.
“What the hell is that on your shoulder?”
She looked at him in surprise. “Why, it’s Thaddeus.” Immediately the bird sat up.
“Thaddeus is here. Thaddeus is here.”
The man looked at him in surprise. “I remember him,” he said. “He came through here a few days ago.”
“It’s one of the reasons I’m back in this quarter,” she admitted. “I think he connected with Isaac.”
He looked at her and frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you know where Thaddeus was then?” she asked eagerly. “We’re trying to figure out what happened. He disappeared and then all of a sudden reappeared.”