As he spoke, Jason arranged his pennies into little stacks of ten, and Carny grabbed his hand. “Jason, I don’t want you talking to him anymore. Do you hear me? And I won’t let you give him one cent!”
“But Mom!”
“End of discussion.” Making her oversized shirt into a catchall, she raked the pennies into it and headed to the kitchen.
“But Mom! That’s not fair! It’s my money!”
She dumped the pennies into a bowl on the counter, then grabbed the phone book. “You’ll keep your money, Jason,” she said, flipping through for a number. “You can keep saving for that four-wheeler you want. I’m not taking it away from you. But neither is he.” She picked up the phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“The school,” she said. “I’m going to tell Mr. Anderson to keep that man away from you kids. He’s a thief, and he shouldn’t be on campus.”
“But Mom! People will hate you if you keep messing him up! Don’t you want us to have a park?”
“There isn’t going to be a park,” she said. “Don’t you hear what I’m saying? It’s a scam! He’s a con artist!”
Sarah Jenkins, the school secretary, answered, and Carny took a deep breath. “Sarah, this is Carny Sullivan. Is Mr. Anderson there?”
“Sure he is, Carny, honey. But before I transfer you, let me tell you that I think your intentions were good Saturday night with that Mr. Brisco fella, but you’re wrong. I can just feel it. I have feelings like that, you know. Just sensations, but they’re usually right. I can sometimes just see things, feel people’s thoughts, that sort of thing. I think during my last abduction those aliens gave me some kind of psychic ability.”
Carny closed her eyes and decided not to touch the subject of Sarah’s infamous alien abductions. “Then why haven’t you won the lottery, Sarah?”
The woman gasped. “Well, I never said I knew everything.”
“And how many con artists have you known in your life?”
“Well, certainly none. But I’m sure I’d know if —”
“I’ve known dozens,” Carny cut in. “I know their lines, I know their techniques, I know how they smile and how they walk. And I know how they make people believe them.”
“Just because your parents are dishonest doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
She grunted. “Sarah, it’s not just my parents. It’s all the carnies who work for them. People I grew up learning from. I moved to Serenity because the people here are honest and good, even if they are a little naive. I won’t let him brainwash you or anyone else — we’ll leave that to your aliens. Now, may I please speak to Mr. Anderson?”
Mumbling something incoherent, Sarah transferred the call.
The moment the principal answered, Carny could tell he was in a bad mood. “Hello?”
“Mr. Anderson, this is Carny Sullivan. I understand that you allowed Logan Brisco to indoctrinate our children today. My son came home ready to give him every cent he has.”
“Now, Carny,” Mr. Anderson said in a condescending tone, “I didn’t let him speak. I had a dentist appointment this morning, and Sarah, who had good intentions, let the man have the stage. I wouldn’t have. But now that he’s shown us that several school projects can come out of his work, I’m thinking maybe it didn’t hurt anything. It might be good for the children to get involved. They’ll see what goes into a business enterprise like this.”
“He’s a liar, Mr. Anderson. I don’t want him within a hundred yards of my son.”
“Come on, Carny. You’re overreacting. He strikes me as someone who knows what he’s doing. He’s not just trying to grab people’s money and leave town. He’s taking his time, giving people a chance to think about it. I’m beginning to think that maybe this could improve our town.”
“I can’t believe you! Serenity has everything. It’s the sweetest, cleanest, most peaceful town I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty. Mr. Anderson, let’s just say he is telling the truth and there is going to be a park — which I’m absolutely positive there isn’t — don’t you realize that it would ruin this town?”
“This town could use a few changes,” he said. “Mr. Brisco is bringing us hope. All he wants is a little cooperation.”
“And a lot of money.”
“He doesn’t have to build the park here, Carny. If we give him too much trouble, he’ll take his plans somewhere else. Hugh Berkstrom had a meeting with him this morning. Hugh has a good head for investments. He wouldn’t even be considering it if it was a scam.”
“Oh, no,” Carny groaned. Surely the richest man in town had more sense than that! “Why won’t any of you listen? You all know where I came from. You know how I was raised.” She took a calming breath and tried again. “Look, Mr. Anderson, what if — just what if — I’m right, and Logan Brisco is a con artist? What if he got everybody in town, including the children, all worked up, and managed to walk out of here with all our money? It could ruin us. We’d never recover. This town has so many blessings from God, but if we do something stupid out of greed, we could destroy those blessings. Don’t you see how high the stakes are in this?”
“And what if he’s honest?” Anderson replied. “What if he gets impatient with us and goes somewhere else, and the next thing we know some other town is getting the park and everybody there is getting rich instead of us?”
“Then we’d find another way to stimulate our economy. But we’d still have this beautiful little town and all the good people in it, and our spirits would be intact, and so would our savings. We could do the right thing to help our people, not something that will completely break them.”
“That’s not good enough for me,” Anderson said. “And it’s not good enough for most of us here. Please. Just stay out of it.”
Frustrated, Carny hung up and threw herself on the couch as her son came back through the room at a clipped pace, lugging his backpack. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“To Nathan’s.”
“What’s in the backpack?”
He gave her an exaggerated look of innocence, which appeared more than a little guilty. “My homework.”
She got up and took the backpack from him. “This must weigh thirty pounds,” she said, unzipping it. “What a surprise. Money. The same money I just poured into that bowl.” Glancing toward the bowl, she slapped her forehead. “And now the bowl’s empty.”
“Mom! You’re ruining my dreams! I just want to be a part of it!”
“Over my dead body.” She put the backpack on top of the refrigerator. “I have to go somewhere for a few minutes. You stay at Nathan’s until I get back.”
“Mom, are you going to cause trouble for him?”
“You bet I am,” she said, grabbing her keys. “Logan Brisco has met his match.”
five
Carny shut off her Harley outside the motel and ran her fingers through her windblown hair. She hated wearing a helmet and only put the thing on when her son was riding with her. Someone from the sheriff’s department pulled her over at least once a week and slapped her with a warning, but she hadn’t yet gotten a ticket. The truth was, half the deputies had a crush on her and the other half considered her their little sister. None of them was about to get tough with her.
But Carny didn’t take advantage of that often. It was nice to know that so many nice guys lived in Serenity. If Abe Sullivan hadn’t ruined her stomach for relationships, she might even consider some of them dating material.
She walked into the office of “Doc” Carraway — so named not because he was a doctor, but because he’d flunked out of a South American med school. He’d chosen hotel management as an alternative occupation. Leaning on the counter, she said, “Hey, Doc. What room is Logan Brisco in?”
Doc looked up and instantly smoothed down his hair. “Uh … he’s in 210. I ain’t really supposed to tell you, but since folks have been comin’ in and out of there all day, I don’t guess it’s a secret.”
Dread flashed through her. �
�Don’t tell me they’ve been bringing him money.”
“If they’re smart,” Doc said. “Hugh Berkstrom got here at seven-thirty this morning.”
“Did he invest?” she asked. “Tell me he didn’t.”
“I don’t know. But I’ll tell you this much. Hugh didn’t make his fortune with careless investments. If he invests with Logan Brisco, then far as I’m concerned, there’s no better investment. And some of the folks who’ve come by this morning have been trying to make deals with him to put shops and restaurants inside the park.”
“Doc, there isn’t going to be a park.”
He just smiled. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
Exasperated, she headed up the stairwell to room 210 and knocked firmly on the door.
Logan opened the door wearing well-cut slacks and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It was the first time she’d seen him without his jacket.
He grinned as if he’d been expecting her. “Well, well.”
“We have to talk,” she said, pushing into his room. She stopped cold when she saw her in-laws, Bev and J. R. Sullivan, getting up from the table. Her heart sank. “Oh, no. Not you too.”
“Don’t start, Carny,” J.R. said. “We know what we’re doin’.”
“Not if you gave him any money, you don’t.”
Bev shot a nervous glance at Logan. “Carny, please. We’ll talk about it later.”
For the first time in years, Carny felt the ache of tears behind her eyes. But she wouldn’t cry in front of this man. That would give him too much power.
“Look at me, Bev,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “You know me better than anybody else in town does. Have you ever known me to say anything that wasn’t true?”
“No, of course not,” her mother-in-law replied.
J.R. looked up at her with weary eyes. “Honey, your past sometimes colors your thinkin’.”
“It sure does. If I can’t learn from my past, J.R., then I’d be pretty stupid, wouldn’t I?”
Logan leaned against the wall, arms folded, and from the amused look in his eyes, she knew he was enjoying every minute of this.
“You haven’t even prayed about this, J.R.,” she said. “If you had, you wouldn’t be doing it.”
“Honey, we can talk later,” J.R. said, and he and Bev stood to go.
Carny gritted her teeth and stared at Logan as the couple closed the door behind them. “Jail is too good for you. You should be shot.”
He broadened that maddening smile. “Did you come to invest too?”
“No, I did not,” she said through her teeth. “I came to warn you to stay away from my son. Duping the adults of this town is bad enough, but when you start conning little kids —”
“Excuse me,” he said, turning to his table as she spoke and opening a logbook. “You don’t mind if I make a few notations in here, do you? It’s important that I log in every penny I get, so I can register the shares and get the profits paid out accordingly.”
“Give me a break!” She jerked the logbook away from him and caught her breath at the number of investments he’d already logged there. “Nice prop,” she said. “Looks real legitimate.”
He shook his head, still grinning. “You’re determined to make me out to be a liar, aren’t you?”
“No,” she said, leaning over the table. “I’m determined to get you out of town. But first you’re going to give back all the money you’ve already gotten. What was the take today, Brisco? Ten thousand dollars? Twenty?”
Logan got up wearily, and crossing his arms, looked down at her. “What are you so hostile about?”
“You think this is hostility? Oh, no, this isn’t hostility. You haven’t seen hostility yet.”
He dropped onto the couch and patted the spot next to him. “Sit down.”
She gave a short laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“No, really. If we’re going to talk like two adults, then I’d prefer that you sit down.”
“I don’t really care what you prefer,” she said. “I didn’t come here to have a nice, cozy chat with you.”
“No, you came to show me how tough you are.” He stood back up and leaned against the wall. “So why didn’t your husband come? Why does he let you fight these battles all alone?”
“Brisco, by now I’m pretty sure that you’ve found out everything there is to know about me. I’m your biggest stumbling block in this town. So I’m sure you know that I’m a widow.”
“Well, that explains how vulnerable your son is. He’s hungry for a man’s attention. I noticed that right away.”
“Of course you did. It’s your job to spot people’s weaknesses. And right now you think Jason is my weakness. But it won’t work. If you insist on staying here until you’ve stolen all the town’s money, I’m going to make you sorry you ever took up crime as a profession. I’ve seen more cons than you’ve ever dreamed of. I’ve even been part of some. I’m not wrong.”
“Oh, so that’s it,” he said. “You’re so distrustful because you can’t be trusted. You think I’m like you.”
“You’re nothing like me,” she bit out. “I made something of my life in spite of my background. God washed me clean of all the garbage in my life, and these good people loved on me. I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep you from ruining them!”
His expression was serious as he stared at her, and for a moment she thought she might be getting through to him. Then he took a long breath and said, “You’re really cute when you have that look in your eye. Do you know that?”
She fought the impulse to slug him. “Give it up, Brisco. I can’t be charmed.”
His eyes danced with the challenge. “Want to lay odds on that?”
“I don’t gamble, but if I did I’d take that bet.”
He laughed. “A hundred bucks says you’ll be chasing me before the month is up.” His eyes twinkled. “Winner take all.”
For a moment, she stared at him, incredulous. What arrogance! This might even be fun. Winner take all, indeed. Lock, stock, and ego. “Like I said, I’m not a gambler.” Heading for the door, she looked back over her shoulder. “If you come near my son again, Brisco, I’ll hurt you.”
Then she slammed out of his room.
six
Logan was grinning when she closed the door behind her. Slowly, he ambled to the window and watched her march down the steps to her motorcycle.
Still chuckling, he went back to his logbook and flipped until he came to the pages of notes he’d taken about her — the pages he was glad she hadn’t seen. It was as complete as a dossier, and he was proud of it. He’d learned a lot about her today. Much more than he’d expected to. The citizens of Serenity didn’t even know they were being pumped for information. But Montague had taught him years ago that there was one difference between a successful huckster and a jailbird. And that was research.
That was why he’d wound up in Serenity in the first place. After watching the 20/20 episode, he had researched all of western Texas, soaking up information about the farms that had reverted to the banks, about the oil wells drying up, and about the people, most of whom had lived here all their lives.
He’d sought out a town that was down on its luck, a town that needed a dream or two. But it also had to be a town that still had resources. Preferably green resources — the kind that kept him in the lifestyle to which he was accustomed. He had researched the building of amusement parks so that he’d be able to speak intelligently on the subject and answer any questions from the most astute of the populace without babbling or stumbling.
Then, after he’d come to the town, he researched the people, one at a time, deciding who would be the easiest marks, who had the most money, who were the entrepreneurs of the community, and who had the least to lose.
And today, he had researched Carny Sullivan.
Pulling out the chair at his desk, he sat down and went back over the things he’d learned about her. The facts about her — from birth until today — still surprised him,
and he couldn’t help feeling an affinity for her. Whether she liked it or not, the two of them had a lot in common.
Carny had been a con artist until she was seventeen, pushed that way by both heredity and upbringing. According to Lahoma — whose brain he’d picked during her appointment this morning — Carny had been raised by two small-time frauds in a traveling carnival. Someone else had told him she was born in the back of a Winnebago in a carnival’s convoy, somewhere between Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. She’d been named after her family’s lifestyle and trained to follow in her parents’ footsteps.
The town’s accounts of Carny’s past had been colorful and detailed. She’d dazzled many of them with tales of her childhood over the nine years she’d lived in Serenity. Her in-laws had told Logan about Ruth, the carnival’s fat lady and Carny’s tutor, who had the IQ of a genius and a table full of computers in her own RV, and spent every morning tutoring Carny to such an extent that Carny probably knew more about a broader range of subjects than any college graduate.
From Blue Simpson, he learned how Carny had spent afternoons with her parents — learning card tricks instead of ballet, rigging games instead of playing them, and creating diversions for their cons. And from Eloise Trellis, whose deceased husband had launched Carny’s current career, Logan heard about the little girl walking alone each evening through the carnival while her father picked pockets and her mother guessed ages and weight.
He sat back and tried to imagine the details he hadn’t been told. It wasn’t hard — his own childhood had left him with plenty of images to fill in the blanks of Carny’s life. In his mind, he could see a little towheaded girl with huge, beautiful eyes, dark circles under them from staying up too late and eating too much junk. She probably wandered through the carnival, following happy families with normal children who went to school and sang in choirs and had best friends. Did she imagine staying behind as one of those happy children after the rides were broken down and the booths were loaded back onto their trailers? Leaning his head back on the seat, he rubbed his eyes and wondered if, in her darkest hours, she had dreamed of starting over with normal parents who went to church and had barbecues and coached softball.
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