He checked the handle.Pulled on it.Checked it again.Satisfied, he nodded once and walked toward the back hallway.
“Hell of a time to suddenly become security conscious,” Hodge muttered from the pool table.
Plug looked over his shoulder.“I’d rather Twister tell me I checked it too many times than not enough.”
“Fair.”
Twister looked up from the stack of papers in front of him.“Plug.”
“Yeah, Prez?”
“Front windows every fifteen.”
“You got it.”Plug disappeared.
Method sat on the couch with a legal pad balanced on one knee, writing addresses from the documents Goldie had brought us.
Podge stood at the copier he had set up behind the bar, making duplicates of everything.
Rev leaned against the bar quietly, reading one of Marv’s handwritten notebooks.
Gramps occupied his usual recliner, wide awake for once.Mostly because Tempi had threatened to dump coffee on him if he started snoring before noon.
Cord was outside with Chewy, making another lap around the building.
I took another drink of coffee.
The front of the clubhouse looked normal.The inside looked like detectives had taken over.
Maps.Blueprints.Property records.Inspection reports.Survey plats.Utility maps.Deeds.Permits.Receipts.
Every flat surface in the room held paper.
The Ledger wanted something, and we were going to figure out what.
The stairs creaked, and every head in the room looked up.
Goldie came downstairs carrying another armful of folders.
She’d changed into jeans and a faded green T-shirt that hugged her curves just enough to remind me I wasn’t dead.Her blonde hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, and reading glasses rested on top of her head.
She looked comfortable.She smiled when she reached the bottom.“I found something in my bag.”
Twister motioned toward the table.“Bring it.”
She set a folder on the table.“I forgot I’d shoved these into my backpack before everything happened.”
“Anything good?”Method asked.
“I honestly don’t remember.”
She opened the folder, and there were more inspection reports, building permits, and survey notes.Nothing exciting, at least not to anyone else.
Goldie started sorting without anybody asking.
Twister watched for a minute.Then pushed back from the table.“We’re done guessing.”
The room quieted.
