“Whoa.” She shook her head to clear it. “Do you want a drink? Let’s go sit on the porch...with space between us.” She grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator. Handing him one, she touched her fingertip to the patch of hair visible above the V in his T-shirt before turning away. “Are you even real?”
He followed her to the back porch. “My uncomfortable body parts say yes.”
Even without the heat, they were drawn to one another, talking about nothing in warm tones and sly looks. He told her more about his life. She shared memories of her childhood and the antics of Rain’s crazy residents.
To his inquiry about the town of Rain itself, she said, “We have a small factory, two working farms, a restaurant, our café, one grocery store, one hardware store, and a thrift store which is also an Amazon Locker—old and new all in one place. The laundromat, the Bed & Breakfast,” she counted on her fingers, “one school in two small buildings—K through 6 in one, and 7 through 12 in the other. We have a medic-center—the nearest hospital is in Prince Frederick. So is the nearest shopping center. We do have something that passes for a sheriff’s office. We also have a library, a bowling alley, a water/game park—arcade, rock wall, ice cream, whatever. It’s where everybody who either has kids or isn’t married hangs out. Oh, two churches...well, a church and a chapel, and four bars...because living here requires a lot of drinking.”
“This is like stepping back into a time when things were slow and easy.”
“Slow, yes. But I don’t think it’s ever been easy.”
“Is that why your cemetery is so large?” His tone was light. “I’ve never seen so many bodies in one place.”
“It’s the only one we have, and it’s old. It dates all the way back to the 50’s.”
He didn’t say, but the 1950s wasn’t old for a cemetery to house that many headstones.
“How many residents—living residents—does Rain have?”
“Umm...I’d say somewhere between a hundred fifty and two hundred, give or take.”
He whistled through his teeth. “Definitely fits the description of a small town.”
“Microscopic.”
They started in separate lounge chairs, then moved to the rail, the steps, and finally the porch swing. Not wanting to lose a drop of time, he put his arm around her and they cuddled.
CLOISTERED IN CONFERENCE room C, away from passersby, Jake and Sonny were introduced to agents Malory and Goins.
“Thank you for your time,” Agent Malory began. “We know you must have some questions and we’ll try to be as transparent as we can. But first, let’s bring you up to speed.”
“That sounds like a good place to start,” Jake said.
“This all begins with me,” Sonny wanted them to know.
“Actually,” Detective Goins answered, “this began a long, long time ago. We’ve been following it for a few years.”
“This?” Jake repeated. “What is going on in that place?”
“He’s the one,” JB told the agents.
Detective Malory nodded. “Mr. Spegal, Mr. Hurston. The residents of Rain have been poisoned. The overwhelming evidence suggests the Bishops are responsible.”
“Those assholes.” Sonny punched his hand with his fist.
Jake pointed to the group. “They said that, but why? How can they enforce slavery? This isn’t the 1700s.”
“Get the image of Roots out of your head, Mr. Spegal. The Bishops are an extremely wealthy family. They own the township—the factory, the farms, the business, the homes...everything. The school is their private institution. So is the medical facility.”
“It’s a dynasty,” Detective Goins added. “They run it like a kingdom, but royalty needs subjects.”
“I told you!” Sonny got excited. “I told you, man. They’re black-fucking-supremacists.”
Several people in the room agreed. The agents, however, remained aloof.
“So,” Jake reasoned, “the Bishops are poisoning their neighbors to turn them into slaves. Why aren’t they arrested?”
“We haven’t been able to prove it,” Goins explained.
“You have a whole room full of witnesses right here.”
“They are smarter than that, I’m afraid.” Malory’s words were colored with condescension. “No one knows when or how they were tainted. Most likely, when they were young, before their memories are fully formed.”
Detective Goins continued, “Residents get the antidote in intervals. Half the time, they aren’t aware of what they are consuming.”
“It’s in the food,” Jake guessed.
“Most likely,” Malory said. “But we can’t pin anything on them if we don’t know what it is or when it’s given.”
“How do you know it’s anything?” Sonny asked. “Maybe it’s a silly mind trick to get people in line.”
“People die on their say so, Mr. Hurston. Insiders can’t escape without consequence, and outsiders can’t know.”
“What exactly is it you want us to do, Detective?”
“The crux of their scheme, Mr. Spegal, is secrecy. They want you out of town before they have to help or hurt someone else.”
“If we don’t go, won’t they try to hurt us?”
“Because of your out-of-state residence and employ, you can’t go missing without the Bishops losing their secrecy.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Hell.”
Expecting the call didn’t make it easier to accept.
Nile shifted so he could get to his phone.
He saw it was Jake and declined. “We need to talk.”
“We’ve been talking all morning,” she teased. “I wanted to do other things, but you insisted.”
“You insisted I behave.” He tweaked her nose.
Jake called back.
Dylan got serious. “I know it’s too soon and too much, but here we are.”
“Here we are, being crazy for no apparent reason.”
“You know, I’m not leaving.”
She sat forward. “Dylan.”
“I’m serious. I want to stay for a little while. A few days, that’s all.”
She got off the swing. “You can’t stay. I’m sorry. You can’t.”
Jake called again.
“Answer that. He’s ready. You have to go.” She looked out across the open cornfield to the cemetery. You could see parts of it from almost every corner of Rain. See and remember.
“May I come back in a week or so? Start fresh without the drama.”
She wouldn’t look at him. “Brigadoon.”
He embraced her from behind. “Nile, I’m going to be honest. Under the right circumstances, I don’t have a problem with casual sex. Sometimes, I prefer it. To pursue that route with you would have been easy. But, I didn’t. I want to know what this is. Is that wrong?”
“Dylan.” She turned in his arms, got caught in his eyes and could not look away.
“Your family has already met me. I’m not interested in your secrets. All I want is to see you again. Take you to dinner. Is that wrong?”