Shadow in Serenity Read Free Page B

but standing empowered her.
    She watched as the man who had drawn this crowd walked up to the bingo hall’s podium. That charm-packed grin gave him an ironic look of innocence as he scanned the room. “Well, now. I knew the people of Serenity had above-average intelligence, but there’s more intellect here than I would have guessed.”
    His gaze landed on Carny as the crowd gave a light round of applause, and she knew what he was thinking — that she had been too curious to stay away, that he was winning her over. That she was just like all the other easy marks in the room.
    But soon enough, he would see what she was made of. If he was going to run a scam on this town, he’d have her to contend with first.
    “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said in a soft accent that came from somewhere in the South.
Real or fake?
she wondered. “I thank you all for coming. And I promise you won’t regret it. I’ve grown pretty fond of many of you over the last two weeks. Slade, who gives the best haircuts this side of the Mississippi. Bonnie at the cafe, who makes the best lemon icebox pie I’ve ever put in my mouth. And Agnes and Tommy Slater at the hardware store, and the Sheaffers over at the post office … well, I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that I’ve never met a warmer town. And because you’ve all touched me in such a personal way, I want to give something back now.”
    Here it comes.
Carny’s stomach tightened.
    Logan cleared his throat. “Many of you have wondered why I’ve been so secretive over the last two weeks. Well, I suppose you have a right to be curious. But the truth is that I work for a company called King Enterprises, located in Dallas. The company has alliances with a number of very creative high-tech firms and investors with money to burn.I’ve spent the last several months scouting the rural parts of the state, trying to find the best location for a particular venture we have in mind. Serenity wasn’t at the top of our list of sites, but it was worth checking out. There’s a lot of fallow land on the western side of town, acres and acres of foreclosed property that’s being used for absolutely nothing. That’s what makes it right for our project.”
    He leaned on the podium then, getting personal with the people of Serenity, meeting them one at a time with direct looks.
He’s good
, Carny thought with a sick feeling.
Awfully good.
    “Now I’m a businessman, and I don’t usually let personal feelings get in the way of sound decision-making. But having gotten to know the people of Serenity — well, I have to tell you, I don’t think I have to look any further.”
    Applause erupted over the crowd, and Carny looked around, appalled. He hadn’t even told them what he was doing, and already they’d given him hearty approval.
    “There are a lot of citizens in Serenity who, through no fault of their own, have lost their farms. The banks own them now, and good farmers have had to turn to factory work in Odessa to support their families. Those of you who are more fortunate, the ones lucky enough to have made a lot of money from oil leases on your land, are still getting nervous. Your wells are playing out. The money’s not coming in like it used to. It’s time for all of you, whatever your economic status is currently — farmers, factory workers, business owners, sales clerks, secretaries, and oil boomers — to find something else to put your hopes and dreams into, something else that can make Serenity the prosperous town it once was.”
    Again, thunderous applause filled the bingo hall.
    “Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “My investors aregoing to build a multi-billion-dollar amusement park somewhere in Texas. It’s going to make Astroworld look like a state fair and put Six Flags out of business. In fact, it will be on the same scale as Disney World. King Enterprises is building a team of engineers — some even worked for Disney, so they know their stuff — to create the kind