Jed turned his head slightly so his mouth couldn’t be seen. “I have my own gun, and if I think he’s about to hurt you, I won’t hesitate to kill him.”

I nodded.

Jed lifted his hands as if in surrender. “I’m stepping away.”

“About damn time,” Neil muttered as Jed continued to walk backward. He stopped in the middle of the parking lot and dropped his hands to his sides.

“He’s far enough,” I said. “Put away the gun.”

He stuffed it into the waistband of his jeans. I had the fleeting hope that he’d accidently shoot his foot or an appendage even closer to the gun tip and undoubtedly more cherished, and I didn’t even feel bad about it.

“What do you want?’

“I want to know why you’re so damned special to Skeeter.”

“You had to send Jed away for that?” I snorted. “I’m special because Skeeter says I am. His reasons are none of your damned business.”

“You just popped out of nowhere at that auction. He wasn’t supposed to win it, you know.” He moved closer and wobbled. He let out a huff, and I was engulfed in a cloud of alcohol.

He was drunk. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.

“So I hear. A group of amateurs robbed a bunch of places and gathered the money to outbid Skeeter. Only they didn’t.”

“They got interrupted.” He stood in front of me. “What do you know about that?”

“I know the sheriff showed up. As for the rest? I only know what Skeeter told me.” I looked up into Neil’s cold eyes. “What do you know about Gems? Are you the owner?”

He laughed. “No.”

“Do you know who is?”

His grin turned evil. “No. I wish I did. I’d offer to help him.”

“Why do you hate Skeeter?”

He shook his head. “That’s none of your damn business.”

I felt like I was talking in circles. He was never going to voluntarily give me the answers I wanted. Which meant I needed to have a vision, despite the fact that I was risking my life to do it. He was drunk and had a gun he wouldn’t hesitate to use.

I grabbed Neil’s arm and concentrated on his connection to Mason and Skeeter.

My peripheral vision faded, and a vision hit me hard, making me stagger back into the side of the car. The night faded to someplace sunny, then a stabbing pain filled my head.

Everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Four

When I opened my eyes, I was in the backseat of a moving car. I experienced a moment of confusion before remembering the last few moments before I’d passed out. Jed’s voice was the only thing that pulled me out of a panic.

“We’re almost to the feed store.”

“Jed?” I asked, trying to sit up, but the pounding in my head kept me down.

He glanced back over the seat. “How are you feeling?”

“Like someone smashed a sledge hammer into my skull. What happened?”

“You were talking to Winn, and then you grabbed his hand. You had a vision, didn’t you?”

“I tried. Why do you sound so mad?” I asked, grabbing hold of the seat back in front of me.

“Skeeter told you no more visions tonight. You disobeyed him.”

“Skeeter’s not the boss of me. I saw an opportunity, and I went for it.”

“You insisted I leave you alone with that maniac. Are you crazy?”

“I needed to talk to him, Jed. I had to do it. You could still see me.” What was it with all the bossy men in my life? “Besides, I think he would have shot you if it had gone down differently.”

“You’re lucky he didn’t shoot you.”

“So what happened after I passed out?”

“He pried off your death grip, then took off running. I picked you up off the hood of the car, threw you into the backseat, and called Skeeter.”

“How long was I out?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

That didn’t sound good.

Jed pulled into the parking lot, and I dug out my keys and reached for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jed asked.

“Home.” I jiggled the handle, but the door wouldn’t open. “Let me out, Jed.”

“Not until Skeeter gets here.”

“No, I need to go now.”

“What’s your hurry?”

I let go of the door and slumped back in the seat in exhaustion. What was my hurry? Mason was locked up in a hospital room, and I still had to figure out how to sneak back into Maeve’s house.

“Skeeter is only minutes behind us.”

What did it matter? I leaned my head back on the seat and unpinned my hat, laying it on the seat next to me as I blinked to stop the tears that were blurring my vision. Everything I’d done tonight suddenly became overwhelming. I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed with Mason, Muffy plastered up against me. Only Mason was locked away, and I couldn’t even talk to him.

The car door opened a couple of minutes later, but I didn’t sit up.

“Lady?” Skeeter asked, sounding worried as he slid in next to me and shut the door.

“My name is Rose.” I lifted my head, but it took tremendous effort, like I’d been drugged and every movement was delayed.

“Why did you talk to Winn?”

“Maybe because the gun he pointed at me was pretty convincing.”

Jed must have described that part of the situation to him in some detail, because he didn’t seem surprised. He just said, “What did he tell you?”