"Lemme guess," Cessily said, "we can't start taking students until we pass the fire inspection, right?"
"Exactly," Violet said.
I passed Cy his dog, and headed over to the table. Taking the spot beside Faith, I sat down and gestured for the others to do the same.
"Think Simmons is involved in this?" I asked.
"Who else could it be?" Violet asked.
"Maybe the fire guy really had a problem?" Faith offered.
Luke grunted at that. "I doubt it, cupcake. But, if we put up the fire detectors, then the problem is solved and we should pass, right?"
"One would think," Violet said. "I also happen to know that using city bylaws and fire codes is a normal way to keep businesses from starting up. Since Paul Simmons is only trying to change the zoning on this land, I can only guess that he's gone to stage two: this."
The door to the guest suite opened, letting Darnell out first. Billy was right on his heels. Evidently, the guys had heard all of our voices and were curious about what the problem was this time. Billy's face looked calm, but Darnell's didn't.
"You have got to be shitting me," Darnell said. "Weren't our contractors told that this was all going to be inspected? Did you pay extra to make sure that everything would pass?"
Violet just sat there and nodded her head slowly. "That's why I think it's gotta be a setup."
"Fine," Billy said, making everyone else pause. "Crimson, get drinks. Emerald, decide real fast if you want your daughter to be involved in this. Everyone else take a seat, because it's time for us to make a plan of action."
He claimed the chair at the foot of the table. Violet closed her eyes, sighed, then took the one at the head of the table. That left the rest of us to sit down somewhere in the middle. Luke took the spot beside me, which left Cy, Darnell, and Cessily across from us. Amusingly, all of the girls sat at one end, clustered together.
"So, what's the real problem?" Billy asked. "What exactly are we trying to solve with this, or do you just want to get revenge on the neighbor that's been annoying you?"
"Well, the death threat is a pretty big deal," Darnell pointed out.
But Violet shook her head. "Southwind." She dropped the name out there and then looked at all of us. "Do any of you really think that the death threat isn't tied to us trying to reopen this place?"
Slowly, everyone turned to look at Luke. He was the local here. He was the guy that had grown up in this town and would know how these people thought. If there was anyone who could say whether or not this sort of stuff was normal, it would be him.
"I think they're tied together," he admitted. "Around here, people don't like anything different. Vi, when you showed up I thought this town would chew you up and spit you out. You were a whole lot of new, and that's real scary. I mean, the one time we had a Mexican family here, they didn't even last a year. The people in this town got together and ran them off. Now we've got men who are dating each other and women who are in charge, but it's all tied right back to Southwind. Cats Peak's problems are all right here, and shutting down Southwind makes it go away."
Billy pointed at him like he'd just made a very good point. "That," he said. "People are scared of things they don't understand. If all the things they don't understand are located in the same place, the people are going to actually be scared of that place. If they think they can stop that place from moving in and settling down, then that's what they'll do. What we need is a plan for how to change that. I want ideas."
"We need to change the minds of the town," I said. "We've already talked about that. Gran and Bea used to mingle with people in this town. We need to make jobs, improve the property, and convince people that they can turn to us instead of Simmons for all of their problems. We need to make Southwind the central hub of this town."
"Good," Billy said. "How do we do that?"
"And that's the hard part," Cy said. "Everyone knows that Ash and I are together. Hell, the last time Ash went down to the local hotspot - Bev's Grill - he got his ass kicked. Luke did too, and both of them got arrested for it, even though they were the ones who were attacked."
Billy murmured at that and pulled out his phone. "Cessily said that Cobalt's working on the cops. Now, this is Southwind. Who has a tie to the church?"
"We all do," I admitted. "Luke has the five of us going to church on a semi-regular basis."
"I go every weekend," Faith pointed out. "You're the one that skips church, Ash."
Darnell gestured between him and Cessily. "We don't go at all."
"Which means it's time to stop that," Billy said.
"I disagree," Darnell said. "Man, I am going to make bigger issues by going than by staying here. Besides, if we hate it, then how does that help, hm?"
"Fine," Billy relented, turning to look at me. "Then it's up to you four. Starting this Sunday, each of you will meet a new person when you go. Every single weekend you'll meet another. Make friends. Be nice. Most of all, do favors." He glanced at the screen and started typing, but also kept talking. "What other options do we have to make friends?"
"What are you looking for?" I asked. "Blaze, you clearly have an agenda. We can't help unless you catch us up."
