Shadow in Serenity

by Terri Blackstock

  She hesitated. “Brisco, the only way a park like this could work is if we can preserve the integrity and hometown sweetness of Serenity. As much as I love my parents, I don’t think we can do that if they come here with their entourage of carnies and try to run the show.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll have to be strict about who’s involved in the park. In fact, we should probably have a park commissioner to ride herd on that.”

  “Good idea.”

  He looked at her then, grinning. “Do I detect a hint of faith in you? Are you starting to believe I’m not a liar?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know what I believe.” She glanced over at him. “So what am I supposed to do while you’re meeting with the bankers?”

  “Stay in the cockpit and keep the plane running,” he said with a wry grin.

  She smirked. “I knew this was the getaway plane.”

  He laughed. “That was a joke, Carny. Actually, you can do whatever you want. Stay in your room with Jack, or go shopping, or go sightseeing, or you could even come with me.”

  The last suggestion wasn’t one she’d expected. “Really? Come with you?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Of course, you couldn’t actually come into the meetings with me, since these are mostly old boys, and I’ll have better luck with them if I’m alone. But you could wait in the waiting area, if you want. I did tell you you could keep an eye on me, after all.”

  Carny thought for a moment, then decided to call his bluff. “All right. I’ll do it.”

  “Good.” He went back to studying his notes. “I’ll just leave Jack in the hotel room.”

  The fact that he didn’t object or try to find some way out of it, surprised her again. This was getting too confusing. How was she supposed to figure him out, if he kept acting normal? She’d based her whole perception of him on his being a swindler. If he wasn’t one, then she didn’t quite know how to feel about him.

  She’d get her mind back on track with the camera, she thought. She’d try to take his picture, and he wouldn’t let her. That would remind her that he was a crook. It would reinforce, yet again, what she already knew.

  Somehow, she needed to hang on to that belief, because trusting him meant that she’d eventually have to deal with the feelings she’d been trying to deny — the feelings that had the potential to hurt her even more than his duplicity might have.

  Logan got them adjoining suites at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston, a luxury hotel that made Carny wonder who was paying for it — the big investors from the banks, or the small ones in Serenity. He told her to take an hour or so to relax while he made some phone calls. He would come get her for lunch, and then they would go to his first appointment.

  As she waited, she prayed that she wasn’t being set up for disaster.

  The first call Logan made was to a limousine service, from which he ordered a chauffeured Rolls-Royce to pick up Carny and him at two o’clock to transport them to the first bank. It had worked for him before, when he’d opened accounts with bad checks, taken out loans under the guise of a wealthy New York businessman, and perpetrated more than a few cons of bankers. The first impression was the most important, and when the bankers saw him drive up in a chauffeured limo and walk in dressed like a Wall Street tycoon, they immediately believed he was someone whose business they wanted. The rest was just a matter of persuasion.

  He then called all the bankers he’d made appointments with, confirming that they would see him and reaffirming the fact that he was shopping for investors, but that he was choosy about who he went into partnership with. That, he hoped, would set the tone of urgency and of competition. Nothing made a banker want a client more than the possibility that he may not be able to have him.

  After the phone calls, he sat staring at Jack, who looked a little queasy and tired after the flight. “That was nothing, boy,” he said softly. “The real ride’s about to start.”

  Could he really pull this off? Getting real investors would take all the talent he had as a con artist. That it was for a legitimate venture wouldn’t matter. His powers of persuasion would still be sorely tested. He’d have to pit one bank against another, drop lots of names, and look uncommitted to whatever bank he was visiting at the time. And it would all be done in the name of the town of Serenity.

  He’d done his homework. He knew the age of every banker he had targeted, how long they’d been running that bank, what other banks they’d worked for, where they’d gone to school, whether they were married, their spouses’ names, how many children they had, what big ventures they had funded …

  But he didn’t plan to use that information today. The background was just so that he could read them more accurately, judge them, gauge them. It was only so he could determine what kind of pitch they would respond to.

  He hoped Carny wouldn’t throw a wrench into his plans. Even though she would be waiting in the lobby, one wrong move on her part could blow his cover. One wrong word from either of them, and he wouldn’t be able to make these investors give him the time of day.

  When he stopped by her room, he was pleasantly surprised at the way she had transformed herself. As if she realized the importance of the meetings, she had twisted her hair up and donned a little yellow suit that looked expensive enough to suit the bankers, though he suspected it had come from the sale rack at Miss Mabel’s. Her high heels emphasized her shape and made her look sophisticated. She looked the perfect match for a man who could afford a chauffeured Rolls. He relaxed, reassured. It was all going to work out as fantastically as the scam would have, if he’d gone through with it.

  “You look perfect,” he said, stepping into her room.

  “You don’t look so bad yourself.” She reached into her bag for the camera she’d brought, and waited for him to blanch. “Smile and let me get a picture.”

  Logan grinned his best grin and allowed her to flash three pictures right in a row. “Now, are you finished?” he asked. “We’ve got a lunch reservation.”

  She set the camera down, apparently pleased. “Sure, I’m ready.” She followed him out, locking the door behind her.

  She hadn’t expected to eat a five-course meal in the hotel’s fanciest restaurant, but Logan’s tastes were evidently more opulent than her own. Not certain whether it was his investors or the citizens of Serenity who were financing this trip, Carny ordered only a salad and glass of iced tea.

  “Aren’t you hungrier than that?” he asked as she eyed the steak the waiter had brought him.

  “Not hungry enough to pay what that steak costs.”

  He laughed. “What do you care? I’m paying for it.”

  “With what?” she asked. “My in-laws’ money, or the Trents’, or Brother Tommy’s?”

  He sighed. “You’ll never give up, will you? For your information, I’m using my own money for this.”

  She smiled then. “Oh … well, in that case, what do they have that’s really expensive?”

  When she’d ordered, he slid back his chair. “Well, then, if you’ll excuse me for a minute, I’m going to find the men’s room. Don’t eat my lunch while I’m gone.”

  Smiling, she watched him walk out of the restaurant and wondered if the restroom had windows. Any minute now he was going to escape and leave her holding the bag for lunch.

  No, she was being silly. Logan wasn’t going anywhere, except to the restroom. Maybe it was time she ignored her suspicious instincts and just enjoyed this. After all, he had let her take his picture. He wouldn’t have stood there and let her take it so easily if he’d had anything to hide.

  Sighing, she finished her salad. Things might be on the level, after all.

  Logan bypassed the men’s room and rushed to the elevator, rode up to their floor, and trotted up the hall. When he’d checked in, he had gotten the desk clerk to give him two keycards for each room, just in case he needed to get into hers for something like this. Fishing hers out of his pocket, he opened her door and slipped inside.

  T
he camera was sitting right where she’d left it. Deftly, he clicked through the digital images and deleted the ones of himself. Then he put the camera back exactly where he had found it.

  Chances were that she wouldn’t know she’d lost the pictures until they were back in Serenity. Hopefully, she’d think it was her own error.

  Smiling, he slipped out of her room, hopped the elevator, and cut back across the lobby to the restaurant, where Carny was waiting.

  thirty-one

  They had just finished dessert when the maître d’ approached their table. “Excuse me, Mr. Brisco? Your limousine is here.”

  “Thank you,” Logan said, laying down a couple of bills. “This should cover the check and the tip.” It paid to make an impression. Word got around.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Carny was quiet until the maître d’ disappeared. “Did he say your limousine?”

  “Yes,” Logan said, getting up. “Ever ridden in one?”

  “Well … no, not really.” She followed him across the lobby and out the front door, but the expression on her face told him she was more concerned than impressed.

  A chauffeur waited beside a gold Rolls-Royce, and upon seeing Logan, he opened the back door for them. “Good afternoon, Mr. Brisco.”

  “Hello.” Logan shook the chauffeur’s hand. “We’re going to see Mr. Gastineau at MidSouth Bank on Congress Street.”

  Carny hesitated before getting in. “Logan, are you sure …?”

  “Get in, Carny,” he whispered. “The man’s waiting.”

  Clumsily, she slid onto the seat and made room for Logan. “Who sent this?”

  “The banker I’m working with,” he said. “And please, if you meet him, don’t say anything about the limo. He sees me as a successful executive of King Enterprises. We don’t want him to think we’re not used to this kind of treatment.”

  Why had he lied to her? he wondered, looking out the window as the chauffeur got in. He could just as easily have told her the truth — that he’d hired the limo himself to look important when he drove up at the bank. But he didn’t want her to think he was a phony.

  As the thought came into his mind, he knew that it was absurd. Of course he was a phony. Everything about him was phony.

  It probably hadn’t been smart to bring her along, he thought as the limo pulled away from the hotel. But proving to her that he was legit was almost more important than making himself legit.

  He made himself comfortable and grinned. “So what do you think?”

  She feigned nonchalance. “It’s nice, for a Rolls.”

  He laughed aloud, and the chauffeur glanced into the rearview mirror.

  “So who’s your first victim?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “They’re not victims, they’re investors. I have to convince them that Serenity is the right place for this park.”

  “And why are you so sure it is?”

  “Because the town needs it. And because wherever we build it, I’m going to have to live there. And Serenity is where I want to live. And because I think it’ll make my investors a killing.”

  She looked out the window. “Will you know from this trip whether they’ll approve the Serenity site or not?”

  “Maybe,” he said. “I hope so. If these bankers join us, the rest of the group is sure to see that Serenity is the place.”

  “And what if they don’t?” She brought her gaze back to him. “What if they tell you that isn’t what they had in mind? Will you give back all the money you’ve collected from Serenity?”

  “They won’t say that,” he said. “The amount I’ve already raised speaks volumes about Serenity’s level of commitment to the project. That’s the kind of community they’re looking for.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. If they don’t, will you give the money back?”

  He faced her directly. “All right, Carny. If they decide not to build the park there, yes, I’ll give the money back, just like I’ve told you before. I’ll have to, won’t I?”

  She didn’t answer, but again looked out toward the street.

  The limousine turned onto Congress Street, and ahead, Logan saw the MidSouth sign on a black marble-and-glass building. Just as he remembered, the first floor was showcased in glass. Perfect, he thought. The officers of the bank would see him riding up in the limo, and if his hunch was right, he’d be greeted at the door by someone who mattered, and he’d be noticed by everyone who could see the street.

  Montague would be proud.

  Then he’d employ every sales technique Montague had ever taught him, and give the bankers a pitch that would make them salivate. He had done it before.

  He got his briefcase, checked the contents, then snapped it shut as the chauffeur pulled to the curb. Carny reached for her door handle, but Logan stopped her. “Let him,” he said, as the chauffeur got out and came around to open the door.

  As Carny stepped out, Logan was pleased to see that people along the sidewalk were watching them, waiting to see what celebrity or billionaire would be making an appearance today. Through the bank’s glass wall, the secretaries peered curiously out at them as well. Good. Just the effect he’d wanted.

  He asked the driver to wait for them. Setting his hand on the small of Carny’s back, he escorted her in.

  They had scarcely reached the door when a man in a suit opened it for them.

  “Good afternoon, sir,” he said, shaking Logan’s hand. “I’m Andrew Seal.”

  “Good afternoon,” Logan said. “Logan Brisco, and this is Miss Sullivan. I have an appointment to see Mr. Gastineau.”

  “Yes, of course, Mr. Brisco,” the man said. “Miss Sullivan. I’ll take you up myself.”

  All the way up, Mr. Seal talked about the weather in Houston and questioned Logan about the length of his stay.

  They stepped off the elevator into a plush lobby with secretaries working quietly along the perimeter. Mr. Seal escorted them to the bank president’s office and asked them to have a seat while he alerted Mr. Gastineau that they were here.

  They took the elegant sofa against the wall. “What do you think so far?” he asked with a grin.

  Carny smiled. “It’s okay, if you like having your feet kissed. And you do like it, don’t you, Brisco?”

  He chuckled. “Doesn’t everybody?”

  “No, actually,” she said. “It makes me very uncomfortable. Makes me feel like a fraud.”

  “Well, don’t worry. Gastineau isn’t a foot-kisser. When I go in, you just wait here. And be patient. It could be a long meeting. If you decide to leave, you can take the limo. I’ll call the chauffeur when I’m ready to be picked up.”

  She smiled. “I’ll stay here, Brisco.”

  “Still afraid I’ll break and run?”

  She laughed softly. “Well, I don’t think you can easily escape from a twentieth-floor window, so I feel pretty secure here.”

  “As long as you’re in the same building?”

  “Something like that,” she said.

  thirty-two

  A few minutes later, while Carny waited in the anteroom outside, Logan made himself comfortable in the chair across from Gastineau, an overweight, balding man who carried his extra pounds with a polished dignity. As unassuming as he seemed, though, Logan had done enough homework to know that he was as shrewd as they came. His name carried a lot of weight in Texas financial circles, and if Logan could nail him, the other bankers would be more likely to hear him out. “I have two reasons for wanting to meet with you today, Mr. Gastineau,” Logan said. “One is to open an account in your bank. I’d like to start with a half million dollars, and within the month, I’ll deposit a million more.” That, he hoped, was the amount he’d raise in Serenity when the last holdouts came aboard.

  Gastineau cleared his throat and immediately pulled out the necessary paperwork. “Certainly, Mr. Brisco. Will this be a transfer from another bank?”

  “I have a cashier’s check,” Logan said.

  “Wonde
rful,” the man said. He took the check Logan gave him, made the necessary notations, then took off his glasses and sat back. “And do you want this account in your name?”

  “I’ll be the only signatory on the account for now,” Logan said, “but I want the account to be in the name of the town of Serenity, Texas.”

  “You want it in the name of a town?”

  “Yes,” Logan said. “The town of Serenity is in the process of raising money for a huge amusement park we’re planning to build in that area. We’re working on trying to get Roland Thunder involved, and if we do, his name will be connected with it much like Dolly Parton is connected to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. The money I’m depositing is just a portion of the cash the citizens of Serenity are investing. And we’re hoping you will have the foresight to see what a tremendous investment this is.”

  Gastineau listened carefully. “An amusement park. In this economy?”

  “Yes, precisely because of this economy,” Logan said, plowing past the doubt in the man’s voice. Digging into his briefcase, he said, “I’ve brought you my business plan, my projected costs for the venture, projected profits over the next ten years, comparisons with other parks across the United States …” He paused, and chuckled slightly. “Actually, Mr. Gastineau, I should probably go over one thing at a time with you. We’ll start with the projected profits, so you can see what an opportunity this is for you.”

  He handed Gastineau the booklet he’d designed on his computer, then taken to Julia Peabody to print and bind. Sitting back, he opened his own copy.

  “You say other banks in the Houston area have agreed to invest?” Gastineau asked.

  “You’re the first I’ve offered it to,” Logan admitted. “I’m meeting with Alex Green at First Trust Bank this afternoon, and tomorrow with John Van Landingham at South Federal. I also have several bankers in Dallas and Austin I’m meeting with. It’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss, Mr. Gastineau. The profit margin is very high. And as icing on the cake, it’ll create hundreds of jobs in a town that really needs them.”