Shadow in Serenity (16 page)

C
arny was almost surprised to see Logan when he pulled up at the hangar the next morning. Even though he had helped her find Jason, and despite that quiet, vulnerable moment last night, she half expected that he had disappeared in the dead of night.

Yet here he was, with Jack at his heels, ready for his lesson as if it were any other day in Serenity.

“How’s Jason this morning?” Logan asked as he entered the office.

She smiled. “Fine. I was going to keep him home from school, since he didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, but he wanted to go.”

“Good,” he said. “I’m glad he’s okay.”

It was only then that she noticed he was holding something behind his back. “What’s that? What are you hiding?”

With an awkward grin, he brought the wrapped box around and handed it to her. “It’s for you. I hope I got the right size.”

“For me?” She looked almost distressed as she took it. “Logan, you shouldn’t have gotten me —”

“No, it’s really from Jason,” he said. “Sort of. Open it and I’ll explain.”

She opened the box and pulled out the red dress that
had been on the mannequin in the window of Miss Mabel’s Boutique for the past two weeks. She had noticed it, but she would never have bought it for herself. It was too expensive, for one thing, and it would definitely draw attention — something that made her uncomfortable. Still, she tried to smile. “It’s … beautiful. But … how could it be from Jason?”

Logan leaned against her desk, smiling. “Yesterday when Jason gave me the money, he told me what he would do with his earnings. He said the first thing he’d buy was that dress in Miss Mabel’s window, so that you could wear it and find a husband.”

Carny almost choked. “
What?
”

Logan chuckled. “Yep. That’s what he said. He wanted you to look nice so you could find a husband.”

Flabbergasted, she dropped the dress back into the box. “I hope you told him that I’m not in the market for a husband.”

“I told him I had that feeling. He said it didn’t matter, that the dress would make husband candidates find you.”

She moaned and dropped into her chair. “That child.”

“It was sweet,” Logan said. “And this morning I thought it was kind of sad that Jason wasn’t going to earn that money now. I hated to think of you going through the rest of your life without finding a husband, so I thought I’d go ahead and get it as soon as they opened. Time’s a-wasting.”

Twisting her lips to keep from laughing, Carny threw the dress at him and hit him in the face.

“Hey, now!” Laughing, Logan caught it and shook it out. “It really is gorgeous, Carny. I think you should wear it.”

“It’s not me,” she said. “But thanks, anyway. You can take it back now.”

“Oh, no,” he said. “I insist that you keep it. Your son has excellent taste, even if his motives are a little questionable.”

She took the dress back and sighed. “Where on earth would I wear this?”

His smile grew more serious. “Guess someone will just have to take you out someplace fancy.”

“I’m not the fancy type.”

“Oh, but I think you are,” he said. “There’s a beautiful French restaurant in Houston, and it would do that dress justice.”

“Well, Houston’s a long way from here.”

“Not by plane.”

She laughed. “Right. We’re supposed to hop in the plane and jaunt down to Houston for one dinner? I don’t think so.”

“A woman who drives a Harley can’t be spontaneous enough to do that?”

She regarded him soberly. “I like adventure, but I have Jason to think of and a business to run.”

“What if it coincided with business?” he asked.

She smiled at his persistence. “How could it?”

“Easy. I hire you to fly me to Houston, and then Dallas, and later to Austin, where I have to meet with some of the bankers who want to talk to me about investing in the park. While we’re there, I take you to dinner … in that red dress.”

His mention of his investors took the amusement out of the moment. She folded the dress and laid it back in the box. “Come on, Logan. We both know there aren’t any investors. And I’m not interested in flying your getaway plane.”

“Getaway plane?” he asked, throwing his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt. Carny, you’ll know my every move. We’ll get hotel rooms next door to each other, so you can hear me if I skip out. And I’ll have to leave Jack with somebody while I’m meeting with my team. He can stay with you, sort of as collateral.”

She hesitated, wanting to believe him. “Logan, are you forgetting that I saw the packed suitcases last night?”

“You never gave me the chance to explain.”

“Explain what? You were on your way out of town.”

“Yes, but why? It was for this trip, but I was planning to go by car. Your reaction made me realize what people might think if I just disappeared like that. So I’ll keep my room here, leave all my stuff, and one of Serenity’s most upstanding citizens will fly me wherever I need to go and keep an eye on me while I’m there.”

For a moment, she only stared at him, wondering if he could, indeed, be trusted.

“Come on, Carny. I have to meet with these people. It’s very important. I’m offering you the chance to make sure I don’t run out with the money.”

“All right,” she said, finally. “I’ll do it. But it’s going to cost you.”

“I never doubted that.”

“When do we leave?”

“I was thinking about Monday. That should give us time to get all our ducks in a row. And we won’t have to miss the church picnic Saturday.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Okay,” she said, finally. “I’ll make sure that time is free.”

“And don’t forget the dress,” he said.

She held his gaze for a second longer than she should have. “Thanks, Brisco. For the dress, and for Jason …”

Logan shrugged. Their eyes locked, eloquent with words that shouldn’t be spoken.

“I guess we should go out to the plane now. You wanted me to teach you how to land, didn’t you?”

Logan smiled and followed her out.

C
arny stepped into the sheriff’s office, a slow-moving, quiet place, where a handful of men in uniform sat with their feet up on their desks, reading the paper, talking on the phone, and waiting for a call to come in so they’d have something to do. Joey sat at his desk in the corner, intent on a
Newsweek
article he was reading.

“Hey, Joey,” she said, startling him.

He jumped to his feet. “Carny. I thought you weren’t coming until later.”

“You got me so curious on the phone,” she said, “I had to come find out.”

“Yeah, well, we got the FBI file back on that fellow.” He set the magazine down and reached for the folder at the corner of his desk.

“Montague Shelton,” she said. “Was there any mention of Logan?”

“Not by name.” He sat back down and flipped through the file. “But there was something interesting. Several accounts say that Shelton traveled with a companion. Some said it was a teenage boy, others claimed it was a man in his twenties. The common description was that he was tall — around six-two. But each description has different hair color, different ages, beard, no beard, mustache, no
mustache. Shelton’s sidekick went by Mark Sanders, Larry Jenkins, Skip Parker, and Lawrence Cartland. Who knows if it’s all the same guy? Could be different people.”

Carny leaned forward, reading over his shoulder. “Look at this. One of their victims, a wealthy lady who gave them ten thousand dollars to invest in a real-estate venture, described the younger man as having ‘a charming, friendly grin, rather nice looking, brown hair, blue eyes, and a demeanor that made you trust him instantly.’ “

Joey looked up at her. “Sounds like she still liked him, even after he suckered her. Does that sound like anyone we know?”

Carny studied the report, frowning. “It could describe any number of people.”

Joey looked surprised. “The only one like that around here is Logan. The smile, the eyes, the hair, the fast talking.”

“Yeah, but it could be two different people.” She flipped through the pages in the file, stopping at one full of pictures. Most had been taken by video cameras at banks and automated teller machines, but there was no way to identify either of the men, for they were obviously wearing disguises. “How long ago
was
all this?”

“At least fifteen years,” Joey said. “When Shelton died, they must have closed the file.”

“And they never looked for the other guy?”

“Oh, they convicted a guy named Lawrence Cartland, but it couldn’t have been Logan, because that guy was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years. He would still be serving. Might get out early for good behavior or work off some of his time, but not that much.”

“Besides,” she said, “Logan really did graduate from college during that time, and I talked to people who worked with him at A&R Marketing.”

Joey looked puzzled, and she understood his confusion. She was the one who’d urged him to investigate Logan in the first place, convinced that Logan was a crook. Now she was arguing against it. Why? Because, she admitted to herself, she didn’t want to believe Logan was a two-bit thief. She thought about the things Logan had told her the other night, when she had confronted him about Montague. What if he had been telling the truth, and his con-artist history had died with Montague Shelton? What if he’d been on the level ever since? She, of all people, had to believe that people could change.

“Carny, I’m thinking about sending a picture of Logan to the FBI, so they can check with other scam victims to see if they can identify him.”

“No,” Carny said quickly. “I don’t think that would be right.”

He looked at her as if she were crazy. “Why? You’re defending him, aren’t you? I don’t get it.”

“No, it’s just that … I’m having my doubts now. And I’d hate to start some big FBI investigation on him if he’s changed.”

His jaw dropped. “I thought you didn’t believe the deal was really going to happen. What’s up?”

She sighed. “He gave back Slade’s check. He could have kept it but he handed it over to Slade’s daughter. And last night, it was Logan who brought Jason home. Logan didn’t have to look for him, but he did. The dog confuses me a little too. Why would a con man take on the responsibility of a dog? It doesn’t make sense if he constantly has to skip town and doesn’t want to be identified. And then there’s the trip he’s scheduled for next week. He has meetings, he says, with his big investors in Houston, and he’s hiring me to fly him.”

Joey’s face changed. “You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”

Carny gasped. “No! Of course not! How could you even suggest that?”

“If he’s a swindler, Carny, then he’s a good one. If he can make you believe in him, then he can fool anyone.”

“Maybe he’s not fooling us, Joey. Maybe this is all for real.”

“Do you really think so?”

She paused for a long moment, trying to decide. Who was she kidding? There were still doubts in her mind. “No, not really. Go ahead and send the picture in. I guess it couldn’t hurt too much to find out.”

“All right,” Joey said, pleased. “Now all I have to do is get one. I’ve asked around — nobody seems to have the man’s picture. But it shouldn’t be hard to get one.”

“What about his driver’s license picture? Can’t you pull that up?”

“I tried. Haven’t been able to find one in his name. Do you know what state it would be in?”

“Alabama or Virginia, maybe?”

“Nope. Checked both.”

“Well, you could pull him over for a traffic violation. He’d have to show you his license then.”

“I’ve followed him already, but the man never speeds.”

“You don’t have to wait till he does.”

“Yeah, I do. The mayor invested, and he asked the sheriff not to harass him. He was afraid he’d choose another town.”

“Then take a picture of him on your phone.”

“Yeah, I’ll try that.”

As Carny left the station, a sense of dread washed over her. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t want to know who Logan Brisco really was. She liked the illusion he had painted in her mind. The one where he was just a nice guy
with a big idea and a talent for persuasion. The guy who would take her out to dinner someplace worthy of a red dress.

Jason seemed pensive that night at supper. Worried that he was still angry at her, Carny took his hand and made him look at her. “What’s wrong, Jase? Let’s talk.”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I was just thinking about Logan. It’s sad about his mom.”

“What about her?”

“Well, he told me he loved her and she died when he was five. Mom, no one told him, and for all those years, he just waited and waited for her to come get him. He didn’t know what happened to her.”

Carny didn’t like the uncomfortably sympathetic feeling grabbing hold of her. “That is sad.”

“He only found out she was dead when he saw it in his file. Did you know he grew up in foster homes?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I heard something about that.”

“Mom? I think Logan’s lonely, don’t you? Oh, he makes friends real easy, but I think deep down he’s real lonely.”

“That’s why he took Jack.”

“It is?”

“It surprised me. He travels a lot, you know, and a dog will make it harder. But he felt some kind of bond with Jack.” She smiled softly and patted her son’s hand. “It doesn’t matter. You’re sweet to worry about Logan.”

“I still don’t think he’s a bad man,” Jason said.

Carny sighed. “Maybe you’re right, Jason. Maybe he’s good, after all.”

T
hat night, Carny got a phone call from her parents.

“Honey, wait till we tell you. You won’t believe it!”

“What?”

“We made a huge score last week. Your father’s a genius. Course we had to leave Arizona real fast.”

She groaned. “Where are you now? Prison?”

“Durango,” Lila said. “Anyway, it looks like your father and I might be able to retire by the end of the year. And guess where we want to settle down!”

Her heart plummeted. “Where?”

“Serenity! Won’t that be a hoot? All of us together again? Cooking up who knows what! And I’ll get to see that little grandbaby of ours whenever I want! And once that amusement park is open, we can set up some of our flat stores in it.”

Don’t panic,
she told herself. They’d never really come here to set up their rigged booths. It was just a whim.

Her father took the phone. “Honey, what’s the progress on the park? I think we need to be in on the planning stages, if we’re going to get involved.”

“Mama, Pop, it could be years before the park is built, if ever. Besides, you’d hate it in Serenity. It’s boring and dull and nothing ever happens. All we do is work and go to church. I’m telling you, you wouldn’t last a month.”

“Well, if it’s so boring, why do you live there? Our Carny wouldn’t settle for a life of humdrum. No, siree. If it can satisfy you, it can satisfy us.”

She was getting a headache. “Besides, I don’t think they’re planning the kind of rides and booths you have. They’re shooting for all new, original ideas. And there won’t be any games or freak shows. And they’re doing complete background checks before they’ll hire anyone.” She was making it up as she went along, but she was desperate. “Mama, if you and Pop apply, they’ll find out your history. Besides, they all know my background, so they’d know yours the minute you introduced yourselves.”

“Details,” her mother said. “Your father will work all that out.”

She rubbed her temple. “Mama, I hear Jason coughing. I need to check on him. Can I talk to Ruth real quick first?”

“Sure, honey. The days are going fast. Before you know it, we’ll be right there in Serenity! ‘Bye.”

Carny let out a heavy sigh as Ruth came to the line. “Carny?”

“You’ve got to talk them out of this, Ruth. They can’t come here.”

“I know.”

“Really. They’d never fit in. I mean, the people here are innocent and trusting. Mama and Pop would take advantage of them. I couldn’t take it!”

Ruth hesitated for a moment. “Well, frankly, Carny, I was thinking about coming too. At least for a while.”

Carny sighed again. “Don’t get me wrong, Ruth. I love you, and I’d love to have you here. I love Mama and Pop too. If only they weren’t always looking for an easy mark.” She wanted to cry. “Do you think they could ever change?”

“It would be about as easy as me dropping three hundred pounds.”

“Do I need to worry? I mean, do you think they might actually come?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“Well, I’ll just have to talk them out of it. Man, they should put a badge on me here. I feel like I’m single-handedly keeping Serenity clean. I never expected it to be this hard!”

That night, as she tried to sleep, Carny kept dreaming about Logan picking pockets at a huge amusement park with rides that looked like crude children’s drawings, her parents selling Chemo Tonic, guaranteed to fend off all types of cancer, as well as gout, gallstones, and toothaches, and Ruth sitting in all her glory while people paid to stare and laugh at her.

One thing was certain. If all this came to pass, Serenity would never again live up to its own name.