A tunnel.
Hell, I’d expected a lot of things when Goldie started laying out everything she’d found.Corrupt city officials.Bribed inspectors.Fake companies.I hadn’t expected to find out we’d unknowingly bought the front door to whatever the hell The Ledger had been protecting for decades.
Twister rested both forearms on the table and studied the blueprint for another long minute.
Nobody interrupted him.
One thing I’d learned the first week I wore a Saint’s Outlaws cut was that when Twister got quiet, it meant he was thinking.The smartest thing the rest of us could do was shut up until he finished.
Finally, he looked up.“So,” he said calmly, “let’s separate what we know from what we think.”
I leaned back in my chair.Good.That’s exactly where we needed to start.
Twister pointed to the envelope.“We know somebody has been buying up damn near this whole block.”
Goldie nodded.“We know they wanted this building.”
Another nod.
“We know they tried buying The Badger’s Den.”
Tempi folded her arms.“Twice.I wish back then I had known to ask more questions than to just say no.”
Goldie’s head turned.“They offered twice?”
Tempi shrugged.“First offer came about a year before Twister and the guys moved into the clubhouse.I wasn’t interested.”
“And the second?”Goldie asked.
“It was a couple of months before the guys came to town, and almost double what they offered the first time.”
The room got quiet again.
“I still wasn’t interested,” she shrugged.
Twister reached over and laced his fingers with Tempi’s.“They couldn’t buy either building.”
Goldie nodded.“So they switched tactics.”
“Permits happened, then,” I said.
She looked at me.“They buried you in permits.”
“Yes.”
“The inspections.”
“Yes.”
“The fire.”
Her shoulders sagged.
“Yes.”
Swift pushed off the wall by the front door.“The shooting.”
Goldie’s eyes dropped to the table.“Yes.”
