Shadow in Serenity

thirty-five


The next morning as they flew back to Serenity, Logan’s eyes were bright. Eric Hart’s interest had breathed even more life into his plans for the park, and despite herself, Carny was beginning to catch the vision.

“I need a lawyer,” he said into his mike.

“For what?” she asked.

“Someone to represent the park. We’ll need to start drawing up contracts soon.”

“Well, there are two lawyers in Serenity. Alan Robard is probably your best bet.”

“I know Alan. I’ll call him.”

“Doesn’t King Enterprises have their own attorneys?”

He was silent for a moment.

“Logan?” she prodded.

He didn’t look at her as he answered. “Yeah, about that. Turns out that King has reneged on the idea of building a park anywhere.”

“What?”

“Don’t crash!” he said, grabbing the yoke.

“I wasn’t going to crash.” She tried to refocus her thoughts on flying the plane.

“It’s okay. I gave them my resignation and told them I wanted to go ahead with the plans myself.”

“Logan, doesn’t that change everything?”

“Not really. I was the one raising the money, and I hadn’t turned any of it over to them yet. Once the new investors come to Serenity, I’ll explain it to them. Their relationship is with me, not with King Enterprises.”

She let that information sink in. King Enterprises had never returned her calls. “When did this happen?”

He sighed. “I’ve been getting hints of it for the past few days. Finally had to face the writing on the wall this morning. But it’s okay. We can still do all of it.”

She tried to breathe. Would he have admitted this if it was all a scam?

“So has Eric made a commitment?” she asked.

“He’s that far from it,” he said, holding up his thumb and forefinger. “He’s coming to Serenity next week, but it’s top secret, so don’t tell anybody.”

“And are the bankers top secret too?”

“I’d rather they were, until everything is nailed down.”

Something about the secrecy disturbed her. “You told us that Roland Thunder was almost committed, but he really wasn’t, was he?”

“Well, not totally.”

“So you were lying.”

“Not lying. I never claimed it was a done deal. Think of it as a card game, Carny. You’ve got some cards showing, and some hidden.”

“But your deck is stacked.”

He shot her an annoyed look. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that I think you used Thunder’s name to get others to invest. And then you used those investments to impress the bankers. Then you used the bankers to impress Eric Hart. And eventually, it has a snowball effect, but you aren’t absolutely sure of any of the players, so you have to juggle it all very carefully.”

“So what’s wrong with my having faith in my juggling abilities? Carny, I’ve been juggling for a long time. I know how to make deals. I do it better than anyone I know.”

“What other deals have you put together?”

He hesitated. “Lots of them, okay?”

She kept her eyes on her instruments. “Name some.”

“I put together several big real-estate deals along the east coast. And I helped with the buyout of a major hospital in Kentucky.”

“What was the name of it?”

Aggravated, he glared at her. “What’s your point? Do you think I made up Gastineau and his bank? Do you think Eric Hart was just some actor I planted in that bar to convince you I’m aboveboard?”

“I think that you’re not above using dishonesty to reach a real goal.”

He shifted in his seat and adjusted his microphone. “It’s not easy putting together an endeavor like this, Carny. Not just anyone could do it. It takes a lot of wheeling and dealing, and you can’t go into a bank empty-handed and expect them to invest. You have to have other commitments from other investors. You have to have a plan.”

“It sounds an awful lot like what my parents do.”

“Don’t be such a cynic,” Logan said. “There’s a difference. Your parents take the money and run. If I do my job right, everybody who invests gets rich. I’m the man who has to convince everybody. It’s a good thing they’re not all as hard to convince as you. The bottom line is that nobody’s going to get hurt.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He met her eyes then. “Yeah, Carny, I am. I’m real sure. I need for you to believe me.”

For a moment, she only stared out the window, wishing … hoping that it was true. She wanted to believe, despite the doubts still whispering in her mind.


Over the next few days, Carny transported planeloads of bankers back and forth between Houston and Serenity, with Logan flying most of the time and logging his flight hours. She listened to the conversations over the headsets on the flights, and was amazed at how prepared Logan was to answer all their questions.

And when Eric Hart made his discreet flight into Serenity in his own plane, she realized that this might just turn into reality.

And Logan Brisco might be here to stay.

Carny had been home for a week before Joey reminded her of the picture she was supposed to have gotten in Houston.

“I got it,” she told him on the phone. “He stood right there like it was no big deal and let me take the picture.”

“Email it to me,” Joey said. “I need to get to work on this right away.”

She hesitated. “Joey, I really think I was wrong about him. He really is working on the park. It just looks too real to be a scam.”

“Hey, are you wimping out on me?”

“No,” she said. “I just … I feel guilty going behind his back trying to dig up dirt … if he does happen to be legitimate.”

“You’re really hung up on him, aren’t you? He’s worked his magic on you too.”

“No,” she said, though she knew her voice wasn’t as adamant as she would have liked. “I’m just getting to know him better.”

“And you trust him now?”

“I’m trusting him more,” she said.

“Well, for that little flicker of doubt you still have in the back of your mind, and for mine, could you just send me that picture?”

“Yeah. I’ll do it as soon as I get home.”

There was a long pause. “You don’t really want to know if he’s a crook anymore, do you?”

“I want you to tell me what you find out,” she said softly. “But I don’t think there’s a person in this town who wants to believe that Logan Brisco’s a crook.”

As soon as Carny got home from work, she shoved her camera’s memory card into her computer to email Joey the picture. But it wasn’t there.

She flicked through the images, but there was nothing of Brisco. How had that happened?

Her mind reeled through the possibilities as she called Joey back. It was just too coincidental. Yet it was a coincidence. It had to be, because the alternative was something she didn’t want to consider.

“Was Logan ever near your camera?” Joey asked her when she reported back to him.

“No, never. I must have just made a mistake. But I’ll try again. Jason’s birthday party is this weekend. I’ll be taking pictures of the kids, and I’m going to see if Logan will come. I’ll get him then.”

That evening, while Jason played at Nathan’s, she went to the Welcome Inn to extend the invitation. She could have called, but she wanted to see him. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, he was getting under her skin.

Logan looked tired when he answered the knock on his door, but his eyes lit up when he saw that it was Carny. “I was just thinking about you,” he said.

The greeting was like melting wax warming through her. “I came by to invite you to Jason’s birthday party. He’ll be eight on Saturday.”

Something changed in Logan’s eyes, and she would have sworn that he was profoundly moved by her invitation.

“Really?” he asked. “You want me there?”

“I wouldn’t invite you if I didn’t,” she said. “And Jason wants you there too. It’s at three o’clock.”

“I’ll be there.”

Another poignant moment passed between them, and a look so eloquent that it almost collapsed her. When he stepped closer to her, she didn’t back away. He came close enough that she could feel his warmth through his clothes, could breathe his breath as it swept across her lips. “I think you should know something, Carny,” he whispered, “only I don’t really know how to say it.”

“What?”

“Since I was little, my emotions have pretty much been on dim. But ever since I came into Serenity and met you, they’ve been as bright as I can stand. Maybe brighter. Sometimes it’s better to stay on dim. But I don’t think this is one of those times.”

Her eyes misted over, and when he leaned down and kissed her, she felt her own emotions bypassing bright and heading for explosive. Her mind was beginning to trust, and her heart was beginning to need, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t repress her feelings any longer.

That scared her to death. She couldn’t be here with him, this exposed, this emotional. Where would it lead?

“I … I have to go,” she whispered. “Jason’s at Nathan’s, and I said I wouldn’t be gone long.”

“You sure? I’ve missed you since we got back from Houston.”

She couldn’t return the admission. Not yet.

“It was nice spending so much time with you,” he said. “I don’t like not seeing you every day.”

“You know where I am,” she said with a smile. She looked around his hotel room, where stacks of papers covered every surface, and the blueprints for the park lay spread out on the floor. “Looks like you’ve been busy.”

“Yeah, I’ve been on the phone all week working with engineers, talking to owners of the land I want for the park, getting numbers together for the investors, working everything out.”

She told herself again that it was all real, that she wasn’t being scammed. “Maybe you need to rent some office space.”

“Yeah, I will when I have a minute to breathe.”

“So … you’ll take a minute to breathe on Saturday?”

He grinned down at her. “That’s more important than anything else I have going on,” he said, stroking her cheek. “I’ll see you Saturday.”

“Yeah.” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. “At three.”

Stepping back and taking her unruly emotions with her, she left his motel, suppressing the urge to run as fast as she could, either back to him, or far, far away.