Piper (Queen's Birds of Prey #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,30

like that anymore. I wonder what got up his ass.” Tag told her he’d heard the police were cracking down on stuff like that more and more. “Yeah, I suppose so. You know why, don’t you? They want to make it so no one can make any money but themselves. I’d bet anything that there are cops all over the place that are stealing kids away to sell.”

She didn’t have any idea if that was going on or not. Retha enjoyed saying things like that. It made her feel like she was a good deal smarter than she really was. The thing was, Retha couldn’t spell much of anything. Nor could she read. Signing her name was the best she could do, but only if she had time to think about each letter. While she knew her name, it was hard for her to remember in what order the letters went.

They were just talking about how to get another cone when a woman sat down with them. She didn’t even ask if she could but plopped her ass down like she owned the place. When she told her she did indeed own the place, Retha told her to go away.

“I think I need to stick around and tell you two some things you’re not aware of.” Tag asked her like what. “Well, for one thing, you’re not going to get Abe. He’s not going to go anywhere near you. Also, and you might find this hard to believe since we’ve only just met, but I don’t like you.”

“Well, is that so? You just wait a minute, and I’ll think on how much I don’t care what you like or don’t. How do you know we’re here for the kid?” She told him his name. “I know what it is, you cunt. Where is he?”

“Home with his sister and parents. Don’t call me a cunt again. Also, if I were you, I’d care a great deal about what makes me like or dislike you. It could be the only thing in the world that saves you. Not that I think you’ll just go away. But Abe, he told us he wanted you both dead.” That did surprise her. She hadn’t remembered his name until just then. “He’s happy. Going to college and having a wonderful life. Until he realized, I guess, that you two are going to try and mess things up for him.”

“He messed up a lot of shit for me too. You tell him that.” She realized that the woman knew where he was. “I want to talk to him. Now. I want him to tell me why he wants me dead.”

“I can tell you that. You sold him off, for starters. You and this man have been abusing him since he was born. Why didn’t you just leave him with Benson? He would have been a lot better off if you had. Of course, my sister and her husband wouldn’t have been able to adopt him if that had happened.” An ice cream cone appeared in the woman’s hand, and it took Retha a few seconds to take her eyes off the treat. “I’d give you this, but I haven’t had time to put any poison in it yet. Next time. I promise.”

“You said he was in college. That ain’t right. He’s not even five yet. You’re a liar.” The woman, she’d never said her name yet, just looked at Tag. “If you think we’re going to believe a thing that comes out of your mouth, you’re stupider than that kid is.”

“Abe is about to turn ten. Good job there in keeping up with the times. By the way, you should know two more things. I’m not human. I’m a bird of prey. Mercy is my name, but I’ve come to realize I don’t have a great deal of that when dealing with morons like the two of you. The second thing is that I’m going to kill you. Not easily, either.” Retha scrambled back from Mercy when her hair and arms started to sprout feathers. Big fucking ones too. “I had it in my head that I was going to snap the two of you in half then eat you down, but I think the two of you are poisonous enough to perhaps make me sick for a while. So that is out. Also, I thought about taking you out to sea. Just leaving you there. I know that neither of you can swim. We’re out there