“Yeah, well, just don’t give him any money tonight, okay? No matter what he says, don’t give him any money.”
“If you’re so doggone sure he’s up to no good, why are you here?”
“Somebody sane has to be here. I think I’m the only one in town who’s thinking straight about this guy.”
“You’re not giving us much credit,” Paul said, opening the door for her as they reached the aluminum building. “We’re not stupid. But it doesn’t hurt to listen. Lighten up — you’re too suspicious.”
“There’s a difference between suspicious and savvy,” she said. “I’ve been around, Paul. I know when things aren’t right.”
“Well, maybe tonight he’ll prove to you he’s on the up-and-up.”
Carny caught Logan’s eye as she and Paul entered the packed room, and when he flashed her that devil-may-care smile, she shook her head. “I don’t think he can, Paul.”
She left Paul and wove through the towns people she had come to know well over the past nine years. She couldn’t believe how many of them had turned out for this. This definitely wasn’t the usual Saturday-night bingo crowd; they didn’t get this big a crowd at church on Sunday mornings, or at the Fourth of July picnic, or at the Christmas pageant. And the nervous, excited hum over the room was something she hadn’t experienced since she’d settled here.
But she had experienced it before.
It was the same anticipation that the marks had at the carnival. The same fervor that her father and mother inspired when they were setting up their own little scams. Carny had even been a part of those scams, years ago. Following her parents’ orders, she’d picked her share of pockets, created her share of diversions, acted in her share of schemes. And the more excited the marks became at whatever the grift happened to be, the more her parents believed they deserved what they were getting.
But the people of Serenity didn’t deserve anything of the kind.
A few of the men offered her their seats, but standing empowered her.
She watched as the man who had drawn this crowd walked up to the bingo hall’s podium. That charm-packed grin gave him an ironic look of innocence as he scanned the room. “Well, now. I knew the people of Serenity had above-average intelligence, but there’s more intellect here than I would have guessed.”
His gaze landed on Carny as the crowd gave a light round of applause, and she knew what he was thinking — that she had been too curious to stay away, that he was winning her over. That she was just like all the other easy marks in the room.
But soon enough, he would see what she was made of. If he was going to run a scam on this town, he’d have her to contend with first.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a soft accent that came from somewhere in the South. Real or fake? she wondered. “I thank you all for coming. And I promise you won’t regret it. I’ve grown pretty fond of many of you over the last two weeks. Slade, who gives the best haircuts this side of the Mississippi. Bonnie at the cafe, who makes the best lemon icebox pie I’ve ever put in my mouth. And Agnes and Tommy Slater at the hardware store, and the Sheaffers over at the post office … well, I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that I’ve never met a warmer town. And because you’ve all touched me in such a personal way, I want to give something back now.”
Here it comes. Carny’s stomach tightened.
Logan cleared his throat. “Many of you have wondered why I’ve been so secretive over the last two weeks. Well, I suppose you have a right to be curious. But the truth is that I work for a company called King Enterprises, located in Dallas. The company has alliances with a number of very creative high-tech firms and investors with money to burn. I’ve spent the last several months scouting the rural parts of the state, trying to find the best location for a particular venture we have in mind. Serenity wasn’t at the top of our list of sites, but it was worth checking out. There’s a lot of fallow land on the western side of town, acres and acres of foreclosed property that’s being used for absolutely nothing. That’s what makes it right for our project.”
He leaned on the podium then, getting personal with the people of Serenity,