Page 121 of Slumming It
"Why?" he asked. "Does it matter?"
It did tome. After all, how real could anything be if he wouldn't answer a simple question? "Is the old reason a big secret or something?"
He paused to take a sip of his wine. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, for one thing because – oh, I dunno – you're keeping it a big secret." I tried to laugh. "Was it because you were planning to buy up the whole town or something?"
He looked a little surprised. "Is that what you think?"
"Well, itdidoccur to me."
This made him chuckle. "Sothat'swhy you wanted to be my consultant."
I glanced away. "Maybe."
"Be honest. You were gonna steer me away, weren't you?"
I said it again. "Maybe."
His eyes filled with amusement. "So, tell me. What was your strategy?"
"Who says I had one?"
"I know you better thanthat. So come on. What were you gonna say?" He paused as if thinking. "The town was built over toxic waste?"
"No," I laughed. "I didn't even think of that one."
"A graveyard then?" He was grinning now. "No, wait. Crazy locals. Am I right?"
"Onlyhalfright," I laughed. "Ididconsider the graveyard thing, but then I realized something."
"Oh, yeah? What's that?"
"It would take more than a bunch of dead bodies to stopyou."
"Gotthatright." He winked. "But usually I just kick out grannies and orphans and call it good."
The wink caught me off-guard, and I tried to recall everything I'd read about him. Although Reese had a reputation for beingabsolutely ruthless, I couldn’t recall a single story of him preying on those who were poor or vulnerable.
The realization made me smile. "Well, for a little while, I thought you wanted to buyourplace."
He looked intrigued. "Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah, pretty silly, right?"
"Eh, I've heard sillier."
NowthisI believed. "Okay, so you havemyconfession. What's yours?"
"You mean, why did I hire you?"
"Yeah, that, too," I said. "But seriously, why did you come here in the first place? I mean, if it wasn't to buy up the whole town, why come here at all?"
He leaned back in his seat and looked at me for a long moment before saying with obvious reluctance, "I spent some time here as a kid."
I was shocked. "Really? When?"
"A long time ago. It's not important."
