I open my mouth to say something, but I honestly can’t think of anything to say.Fortunately for me, Ben comes to my rescue.
“His daddy, Dante, had the same deal with Tempest.The old man paid for your aunt’s utilities.Nice family, the Sylvas.”
Whew.That saved me from looking like a freeloader.
Handing me the mug of coffee, he gives Muohta a pat before sitting down.
“What brings you visitin’ today?”
“Please can you tell me a bit more about Landslide?Shadow wasn’t very helpful with that.”
Sipping his drink, Ben thinks hard before speaking.
“Hell, it’s pretty straightforward.My granddaddy’s great grandmother was brought here by one of the Farmer boys after they got to wooing.Later on down the line, one of the Farmer girls got into trouble on the mainland and wanted to come back to the island to drop the child.Gave him the father’s surname of Magoo.The baby grew up to be a healthy boy, so it was my… great great grandfather who was given this parcel of land a while back.”
“Who gave it to him?”
Ben shifts in his seat.“The club, I guess.All them good ol’ boys hanging out round the log cabin by the inn.Only there wasn’t any inn back in those days.”
“But who owned the island originally?”
“Luna, the MC has always been judge, jury, and executioner as far as running the island goes.My grandfather told me the Canadian government tried to claim Landslide as part of its border when he was a youngster—they wanted to cede it to the Northwest Angle Indian Reserve—but the local tribe told the government they did not want it.Canada lost interest in owning the island after that.”
“There’s no crime?”There is so much I want to know.
“No one has dared to say boo to a goose for ages, Miz Luna.Dante came round once to ask me to parcel up some of Magoo land for others to use, but I told him no.What’s the point?All the kids move to the mainland the first chance they get?—”
Ben and I cock our heads to listen at the same time.A truck is laboring down the lane at breakneck speed.
As one person, we go out to the porch after putting our shoes back on.
Jerry Steele stumbles out of his truck.“Ben!Oh, it’s you, Miz Luna.”
The poor man looks frazzled.Jerking his head, Jerry makes it clear that he needs us to get into the truck cab.“Come on.Things are gonna pop off!”
“Why so?”Ben wants to know.
“The news just came in.Poor Miz Linda Farmer just died on the mainland.Her mother, Betty, says her daughter was as sick as a stuck pig when she came back from handing off the keys to you, Luna.Says there was nothing the doctors could do to save Linda.She passed two days ago.”
Oh no.Please don’t let this be connected to Shadow.
It feels like I’m dreaming when Ben goes back inside and then comes out with a shotgun.He gets into the cab next to Jerry.The two men look at me.
“You coming?”
“Where are you going?”
“To the clubhouse.All this damn dying has got to stop.”
ChapterTwenty
Shadow
Ihear the grumblings of malcontent from the depths of my dozing slumber.It is loud enough to rouse me.
Rundas is already awake.
“We got some trouble brewing, brother.”When I run my fingers through my tangled hair, I can smell Luna’s tempting fragrance.The scent of her pillows and linen sheets; the warm musk rising from her compliant pussy.
