Page 66 of South of Nowhere

Tolifson was once again shaking his head subtly, instructing his officer to tread carefully.

She either didn’t see or—Colter suspected—chose to ignore him.

Katz was frowning. “I’m not sure about that.”

“No, no, it’s true. All the resources’re there. And I’m just thinking, since you’ve got to be talking millions…”

“Tens of.”

A finger snap. “There you go, sir. Well, we could use helpnow. We’re still not one hundred percent evacuated. And we’re not sandbagging the top of the levee because it’s not safe.”

The officer did not mention why.

“But if we had the manpower, I mean fifty, sixty people, we could clear out all of the population and triple sandbag in front of the town. And get a half dozen bulldozers in here to trench. Won’t stop all of the flood, if the whole shebang comes down, but it’ll go a long way.”

He grimaced. “Well, we looked at the estimated volume and the topography. That would savesomeof the town, but not the south side. And of course, the farmland and the mine would still get flooded.”

Tolifson stirred. “I’m sure—”

But Starr ignored him. “Just looking the whole thing up and down, I’d say savingsomehouses is better than saving none. And it’d also saveyoua big wad of that aid money.”

Katz looked into the village. “Anybody sandbagging would be in harm’s way.”

Olsen said, “We’re taking precautions to prevent or slow the collapse.”

Again, not mentioning that it was tactical bomb curtains that would buy them protection and time.

Katz was nodding. “Of course. It’s a great idea. A super one. Ilike it. Of course, that’s not a call formeto make but I’ll raise it. I’ll raise it soon as I’m back in the office.”

Dorion said, “I hope your personal home’s okay, Mr. Katz. And the company headquarters.”

“Both safe, thanks for asking.”

Colter had known his sister long enough to spot the stiletto blade of irony.

Which the executive missed entirely.

He retrieved his hundred-dollar umbrella and climbed back up to the Mercedes. There, Colter saw him sit in the backseat, leaving the door open. The driver, a large man with pale skin, walked around the car to him. Katz took off his shoes and handed them to the man, who put them in the trunk, along with the umbrella. He returned with a shoebox. Katz opened it and pulled on brown lace-ups. There was tissue paper involved. The shoes were new.

Debi Starr happened to be looking too. “Hm, I’m going to check and see if we’ve got money to hire a shoe-replacer man, Mayor.”

“You don’t think he’s going to up and throw the dirty ones out, do you?” Tolifson asked.

Starr said to Dorion: “I guess vultures come in all shapes and sizes.”

“Amen,” whispered Tamara Olsen. “You think we’ll see any of that money and manpower up front?”

“Not a penny,” Starr muttered, though with some good humor.

TC McGuire said, “So. What now? No suspects. It’s a dead end.”

Starr looked from the limo to those around the table. “Thought occurred.”

Colter asked, “Inspired by a podcast?”

“Matter of fact, yes. Idolove them. Jimmy, he likesDancing with the Stars. Mr. Two Left Feet. AndAmerican Idol. And the twins are sports, sports, superheroes and sports. But I like my pods. Anyway there’s a history one I was listening to last year. You ever hear about the Hatfields and McCoys?”

28.

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