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I nodded.
“Go into partnership with Anemone Patterson,” he said. “It’s going to take a bomb of money to rehab that place, but it could be a huge moneymaker, not to mention help revitalize Burney. You’re already working with her. Easy fix.”
Vince squeezed my hand, and I realized if Peri had been there, she would have said, “Liz is freaking out.” Because I was. But Anemonehadtalked about the factory before.
“Okay,” I said finally. “If Anemone wants to.”
“Anemone tried to get Cash to sell half of it to her,” Ken said again. “I’m pretty sure she’ll want to. She’s taking over Burney.”
So is Senator Amy Wilcox,I thought, and wondered if there was a smackdown coming up.
God, I hoped not. Amy Wilcox was not Honey O’Toole, all hair and bluster. Anemone and Amy were two women who could put blood on the walls.
I smiled although I don’t think I convinced anybody. “Well then, problem solved.”
“Thatproblem,” Vince said and Ken met his eyes and nodded.
“What other problem?” If they were going to do the men-know-best bit, I was going to get cranky.
Vince explained. “Cash had a meeting this morning with Senator Wilcox and Mayor O’Toole at the country club. I think they were finalizing their plans for Burney. Cash losing the factory is going to put a big crimp in things. To put it bluntly, the shit has hit the fan for him.” Then he turned to me. “Cash has always wanted you back and now you have the factory that he thought was his. He’s going to come for you.”
“I havetoldhim,” I began.
“No,” Ken said. “He doesn’t believe you. You always came back to him in high school, he thinks of you as his, always has. You’re his lucky charm, when you’re with him, everything works out.” He shook his head. “There’s something wrong with him, Liz. He was always a narcissist, just like our dad, but now . . . I think he’s way beyond that. He’s obsessed with you and money and Burney and being the big guy in town and then beyond. He’s my brother and I don’t like him, which is bad enough, but this is more than that. After he met Amy Wilcox, something in him changed. He’s not the same guy you knew in high school. On the surface maybe, but some need deep inside him is coming out and it’s not good. I’m afraid of what he’ll do.”
Vince tugged on my hand so I’d look at him. “No more nights alone, Magnolia. You’re with me, I’m with you, or if that can’t be, you’ll go up and stay with Anemone in the Pink House. George is living there now. You’ll be safe.”
I frowned, confused. “What do you think he’s going to do, kidnap me?”
“I don’t know, but I’m with Ken. Something’s wrong with him. You’re sticking close to me. You don’t go into the factory alone, you don’t stay in buildings alone, and you run any time you see Cash Porter.”
“No.” That was ridiculous, I was not going to rearrange my life around Cash Porter. “I’m good being with you every night, but I need to be in that factory to make plans, and I have a house I’m fixing up, and I am not going to run from Cash Porter. I can handle this.”
Ken shook his head.
I looked from one to the other. “Do you guys think I’m weak?”
“Of course not.” Vince looked at Ken. “Anemone will send in Jason Leotta and his crew, right?”
Ken nodded.
“You can go to the factory as long as Jason is with you,” Vince told me. “He’ll squash Cash like a bug.”
“Are you telling me where I can go?”
“No,” Vince said. “Just making a strong suggestion. Cash is a real threat. You still think he’s the guy you knew in high school. Ken just told you he isn’t. He’s not even the guy you knew three months ago. Hell, you saw him switch mode, from furious to flirting. In a second.” I hesitated, not wanting to say it in front of Ken, but we were past tact. “He’s got a coke problem, Liz. He’s buzzed most of the time now. You saw how he was with you. He’s detaching from reality. His world is unraveling so he’s making up a better one. And now you have something he wants very badly, that he thinks belongs to him, like he thinks you belong to him. Stalker thinking. I saw it in New York. It’s not rational, but neither is he.”
“Coke,” Ken said. “Oh, hell.”
Vince met his eyes. “I think he hired Mickey to torch the garage so he’d get it at a better price.”
Ken nodded. “Yeah, I wondered about that, too.”
Vince stood up and held out his hand to me. “Come on, you need food, let’s hit the Red Box.” He nodded at Ken. “You’re invited and so is Elena.”
Ken shook his head. “I have phone calls to make,” he said, and I knew one of those would be to his brother Will and sister Patsy at the garage, warning them that Cash was angry and liable to do something stupid. Again.
“Should I say something to Kitty?” I said to him, and he looked sad.
