Shadow in Serenity

  Carny didn’t like the uncomfortably sympathetic feeling grabbing hold of her. “That is sad.”

  “He only found out she was dead when he saw it in his file. Did you know he grew up in foster homes?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I heard something about that.”

  “Mom? I think Logan’s lonely, don’t you? Oh, he makes friends real easy, but I think deep down he’s real lonely.”

  “That’s why he took Jack.”

  “It is?”

  “It surprised me. He travels a lot, you know, and a dog will make it harder. But he felt some kind of bond with Jack.” She smiled softly and patted her son’s hand. “It doesn’t matter. You’re sweet to worry about Logan.”

  “I still don’t think he’s a bad man,” Jason said.

  Carny sighed. “Maybe you’re right, Jason. Maybe he’s good, after all.”

  twenty-eight

  That night, Carny got a phone call from her parents.

  “Honey, wait till we tell you. You won’t believe it!”

  “What?”

  “We made a huge score last week. Your father’s a genius. Course we had to leave Arizona real fast.”

  She groaned. “Where are you now? Prison?”

  “Durango,” Lila said. “Anyway, it looks like your father and I might be able to retire by the end of the year. And guess where we want to settle down!”

  Her heart plummeted. “Where?”

  “Serenity! Won’t that be a hoot? All of us together again? Cooking up who knows what! And I’ll get to see that little grandbaby of ours whenever I want! And once that amusement park is open, we can set up some of our flat stores in it.”

  Don’t panic, she told herself. They’d never really come here to set up their rigged booths. It was just a whim.

  Her father took the phone. “Honey, what’s the progress on the park? I think we need to be in on the planning stages, if we’re going to get involved.”

  “Mama, Pop, it could be years before the park is built, if ever. Besides, you’d hate it in Serenity. It’s boring and dull and nothing ever happens. All we do is work and go to church. I’m telling you, you wouldn’t last a month.”

  “Well, if it’s so boring, why do you live there? Our Carny wouldn’t settle for a life of humdrum. No, siree. If it can satisfy you, it can satisfy us.”

  She was getting a headache. “Besides, I don’t think they’re planning the kind of rides and booths you have. They’re shooting for all new, original ideas. And there won’t be any games or freak shows. And they’re doing complete background checks before they’ll hire anyone.” She was making it up as she went along, but she was desperate. “Mama, if you and Pop apply, they’ll find out your history. Besides, they all know my background, so they’d know yours the minute you introduced yourselves.”

  “Details,” her mother said. “Your father will work all that out.”

  She rubbed her temple. “Mama, I hear Jason coughing. I need to check on him. Can I talk to Ruth real quick first?”

  “Sure, honey. The days are going fast. Before you know it, we’ll be right there in Serenity! ‘Bye.”

  Carny let out a heavy sigh as Ruth came to the line. “Carny?”

  “You’ve got to talk them out of this, Ruth. They can’t come here.”

  “I know.”

  “Really. They’d never fit in. I mean, the people here are innocent and trusting. Mama and Pop would take advantage of them. I couldn’t take it!”

  Ruth hesitated for a moment. “Well, frankly, Carny, I was thinking about coming too. At least for a while.”

  Carny sighed again. “Don’t get me wrong, Ruth. I love you, and I’d love to have you here. I love Mama and Pop too. If only they weren’t always looking for an easy mark.” She wanted to cry. “Do you think they could ever change?”

  “It would be about as easy as me dropping three hundred pounds.”

  “Do I need to worry? I mean, do you think they might actually come?”

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “Well, I’ll just have to talk them out of it. Man, they should put a badge on me here. I feel like I’m single-handedly keeping Serenity clean. I never expected it to be this hard!”

  That night, as she tried to sleep, Carny kept dreaming about Logan picking pockets at a huge amusement park with rides that looked like crude children’s drawings, her parents selling Chemo Tonic, guaranteed to fend off all types of cancer, as well as gout, gallstones, and toothaches, and Ruth sitting in all her glory while people paid to stare and laugh at her.

  One thing was certain. If all this came to pass, Serenity would never again live up to its own name.

  twenty-nine

  Like the town dance, the church picnic was another excuse for the people of Serenity to get together. The music of High Five was nearly obscured by laughter and talking. The air was rich with the scents of apple pie, grilled hamburgers, fried catfish, and a pig roasting in a barrel grill. Across the lawn, a group prepared for the three-legged race, while pony rides went on at the south side. On the east side of the church stood a crane with the name “Bouncin’ Bungees” on it. A short bungee cord hung from it, waiting for its first victim.

  As Logan got out of his SUV and started across the church lawn with Jack beside him, he experienced that odd feeling of familiarity and belonging again. These were people who made him smile, people he enjoyed, people who welcomed him.

  “Hey, Logan!”

  He saw Jason running toward him. “Will you run the three-legged race with me, please? Mom was going to, but they talked her into bungee jumping. They’re about to start! Hurry!”

  “Well …” Before he could protest, Jason grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the race, yelling for them to wait for him. And as they tied Jason’s little leg against his, he looked toward the crane, wishing he were there instead. He might have known Carny would be among the first to jump. You could take the woman out of the wild, but you could never take the wild out of the woman. Something about that pleased him.

  The whistle blew, and before he was ready, Jason took off, pulling Logan with him.

  “Whoa, hold on!” Logan shouted. “We have to do this together.”

  “Hurry, Logan! Nathan and his dad are getting ahead of us.”

  Logan eyed David and Nathan just ahead of them. “Okay. Left, right, left, right … good. Come on, we can do it.” When they had their legs moving together, he shouted to David, “What’s the matter, old man? Can’t you go any faster than that?”

  “Come on, Nathan!” David shouted. “Let’s make ‘em eat our dust!”

  Soon the two teams had left all the others behind. Neck and neck with Logan and Jason, the Trents battled to get ahead. Logan and Jason put everything they had into the final stretch of the race and made it over the finish line a nose ahead of the Trents. Whooping like a kid, Logan hopped around with Jason. But they had stopped too soon, just beyond the finish line, and suddenly the rest of the racers stampeded them.

  Logan tried to run left, and Jason went right, and within seconds they were on the ground, laughing and trying to break free as the others fell on top of them.

  Everyone seemed to be drowning in laughter as Logan untied them and got to his feet.

  “Way to go, Logan!” someone shouted.

  “That was great, Jason! You’ve found your calling!”

  Logan ruffled Jason’s hair, glad he’d had a part in putting that pride on the boy’s face.

  Carny hadn’t jumped yet when Logan made his way over to the crane and pushed through the crowd forming at the bottom. It was a long way up to the platform where they hooked her to the cord, and his stomach flipped at the thought of her falling that far.

  “That girl is Grade-A crazy,” Lahoma muttered.

  “I hope they hook her up right.”

  “Can’t we stop this before someone gets killed?”

  “She’ll be all right,” Logan said. “Carny’s tough.”

  The crowd grew deathly quiet,
except for the music and laughter on the other side of the church, as Carny stepped to the edge of the platform. “Are you guys ready?” she shouted down, without a hint of fear in her voice.

  A chorus of discouragement was the crowd’s reply, but Carny only laughed. Then, counting to three in a loud voice, she hurled herself head first off the side of the platform and fell seventy-five feet, bounced back fifty, and yo-yoed back and forth, hanging from her feet for what seemed forever.

  When she finally stopped bouncing and hung upside down, Logan ran to stand under her as the crane lowered her to the ground. “How was it?” he called up.

  “Fantastic!” she said, breathless. The crane slowly brought her down. “Now get me down so I can do it again.”

  He hesitated. “I don’t know, Carny. Actually, being tied up by your feet and hung upside down becomes you. It makes you seem more … vulnerable. Puts color in your face too. I think I like it.”

  “Brisco, let me down!”

  “Not until you agree to let me go with you on the next jump.”

  “You mean, you and me together?” she asked, her face turning even more crimson.

  “Yep. Right now.”

  She flashed him a wicked grin. “Okay, Brisco. You’re on.”

  Grabbing her around the hips with one arm, he unhooked her feet with the other and flipped her down to the ground.

  Like an acrobat at the end of a glorious stunt, Carny raised her arms, inviting applause. “You should all try it. It was such a rush! Come on, Lahoma! Brother Tommy, you can do it!”

  Lahoma backed away, and Brother Tommy only laughed. “I’ll wait until God intends for me to fly.”

  “Oh, you coward,” she teased. “It’s a piece of cake. Like stepping off a curb.”

  Jason ran forward and shouted, “I will, Mom! I’ll go!”

  The crowd laughed.

  “Sorry, Jason. You have to be eighteen. That’s the rule.”

  “Aw, I never get to have any fun.”

  “I know,” she said. “You’re such a deprived child.” Turning to Logan, she smiled her biggest smile. “So are you ready, Brisco?”

  He bowed and swept a hand to the ladder. “After you, m’lady.”

  Flushed with excitement, Carny stepped up the ladder.

  “Have you done this before?” he asked, coming up behind her.

  She looked down at him. “No, but I’ve ridden plenty of roller coasters. I love them. I love the feeling of being completely out of control, staring danger right in the face, unable to do anything but ride it out.”

  “I would have guessed that about you.”

  She laughed. “Doesn’t take a psychoanalyst.”

  “But you live such a quiet, risk-free life. I mean, except for the planes and the motorcycle.”

  “Balance, Brisco. That’s the key. I have balance. Now let’s go look death in the face and spit at it! Whoa!”

  Logan laughed, but as he got to the top of the ladder and peered down, he realized this wasn’t really that funny. “Uh … maybe it would be better if we went separately, instead of together. You can go first.”

  “Not a chance, Brisco!” she said. “A deal’s a deal.”

  “Yeah, but it was supposed to scare you, not me!”

  Carny laughed. “Just forget that it’s a hundred feet to the ground, and that if something goes wrong and the cord snaps or comes unhooked, you’ll die at the moment of impact. Unless, of course, you land in just the right way, and then you might live long enough to have a few minutes of the worst suffering of your life. Forget all that, and just think about how much fun it is!”

  “Gee, Carny, you’re just full of comforting thoughts, aren’t you?”

  “Actually, it’s real safe, Brisco. I checked out everything carefully before I jumped.”

  “Right,” he said, feeling a little sick. “And you’re an expert. You’d know if something was going to snap.”

  “I’d feel it in my gut,” she said. “And I don’t feel it about me. You, on the other hand … Nah, it’s probably safe.”

  He shot her a somber look, and laughing with delight, she said, “I’m kidding! Are you coming or not?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

  They put on a harness that strapped them together, back to back, then the crew hooked them to the bungee cord. As they stood at the edge of the platform, preparing to jump, Logan tried not to look down.

  “How did you talk me into this?”

  “You talked me into it,” she said. “Now, at the count of five —”

  “Five, nothing,” he said, taking her hand. “We’re going now!”

  And before Carny could prepare herself, Logan had jumped, pulling her with him.

  She screamed all the way down, and when they reached the bottom, he began to laugh hysterically as they bounced back up. For several moments they bounced and bobbed, laughing like children.

  A crew member came to let them down, and from the crowd, he heard someone shout, “Hey, Logan!”

  He glanced up and saw Joey aiming a camera. Quickly, he spun, putting his back to the camera.

  “Hey,” Joey said. “You messed up my picture. Turn around.”

  The crew member let Logan down, and he hit the ground running. “Wait. Jason’s calling me. Catch me later.”

  Carny’s laughter died as she watched him disappear. Shooting Joey a look, she said quietly, “I think I heard Jason too. Try him again in a minute.”

  “I will,” Joey said, lowering his voice. “Try to hem him in when you eat. I’ll get him then.”

  But Logan kept close watch on Joey and his camera for the rest of the day and managed to avoid him. When it seemed that he couldn’t avoid the camera any longer, he decided to slip away from the picnic.

  He hated leaving early, and as he and Jack went back to the musky-smelling room at the motel, he realized how soul-tired he was of running. But he still had a lot to do before he could stop. He’d already deposited enough money into his account to cover the bad checks he’d written. He’d been on the phone for days making appointments in Houston for next week. If he didn’t have big investors now, he’d certainly have them by the time he came back. That is, if someone like Joey Malone didn’t get the Feds on his trail before he had the chance to try.

  Clyde Keppler’s hot-air balloon floated over their heads as they ate, but instead of looking up, Carny kept scanning the crowd for Logan. Where had he gone? One minute, he’d been standing in a cluster of people, campaigning about the park like a politician who reveled in the chance to get so many constituents together in one place, and the next minute he was gone.

  “Mom, did you see Logan leave?” Jason asked her.

  She looked down at her son and, with her thumb, dabbed the barbecue sauce smeared across his face.

  “No. Did he leave?”

  “I guess so. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

  “Why would he?” she asked, frowning. “He was having a good time.”

  “I think he didn’t want his picture took,” Jason said. “Mr. Joey kinda made him mad.”

  “So he just left?”

  “I guess,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know why. It’s not like he’s ugly. I’d like to have a picture of him.”

  “Then I’ll get you one,” she said with greater resolve than she’d had before. “Next week when I fly him to Houston, I’ll get a picture of him then.”

  “Will you wear the red dress?” Jason asked, lifting his brows.

  “I might,” she said. “If I go someplace nice enough to wear it.”

  “Oh, you will,” Jason said. “Logan’s gonna take you someplace real nice. He said he hoped you had some dancing shoes.”

  Carny tried not to smile. “Yes, well, Logan says lots of things.”

  “He means them all,” Jason said, biting into his roasted pork again. “You’ll see.”

  thirty

  The air was thick with tension as Carny and Logan took off Monday morning for Houston. Lo
gan seemed preoccupied and pensive, and Carny couldn’t help wondering if this trip was proof of his legitimacy or just another con to get him out of town quickly.

  While he’d loaded his bag into the cargo area of the plane, Carny had peeked into the appointment book he’d brought with him and laid on the seat. He did have appointments with bankers penciled in. Either he was really going to talk to them about the park, or he was going to rob several banks. Gloomily, she realized that the former would have surprised her more than the latter.

  “So what’s this trip all about?” she asked him when they’d reached their desired altitude and were cruising south.

  “Just an update meeting for the investors and potential investors,” he said. He pulled a calculator out of his pocket and began recomputing numbers that were listed on a computer printout.

  “Are you going to see Roland Thunder?”

  “Don’t know yet,” he said. “We’ll see.”

  Carny didn’t believe for a minute that Roland Thunder had anything to do with this. It was ludicrous. Yet …

  Logan seemed so serious, so intent on his work, preparing for his meetings. He wouldn’t take this so far if it was nothing but a con, would he? He would have just walked away with the cash he’d collected.

  Trying to break the tension and still get some information out of him, she decided to make her own confession. Adjusting her microphone, she said, “I talked to my folks the other day. They want to retire from the carnival and settle in Serenity.”

  Logan looked up. “Is that good or bad?” he said into his headset.

  She sighed. “I’m ashamed to say it, but I think it’s bad. Don’t get me wrong. I love my parents. I really do. But they don’t belong in Serenity.”

  “Because of their past?”

  “No,” she said, “because of their present. Their lifestyle isn’t exactly compatible with small-town life. Besides, they want a piece of the park. They want to set up some booths and rides and run them.”

  “And you think that would be a bad idea?”