Page 53 of The Last Grift
“And I warned you, Casey doesn’t trust many people.”
Gabe decided to let Lundin tell Elton he’d been the one to discover Gordon’s truck. The damage was already done.
“Yeah, well. Let’s take the conversation in another direction, like who really murdered Perkins. One of the many people I am certain he pissed off while he was living? Can you think of a specific person?”
Elton eyed him thoughtfully for a few seconds before responding. “That’s a long list. To be honest, no single person stands out.”
“I don’t know about you, but my big question is, why was Dwayne on Gordon’s property? What was he doing?” Gabriel asked. “Who gains if Gordon MacDonaldisdead or skips town? Does he have a relative who would inherit? Could be that Gordon witnessed Dwayne’s murder, I guess,” he mused, “but that doesn’t explain his truck ending up over a cliff. Seemed to me like Dwayne and Calvin were tight. Would Calvin benefit from his brother’s death? And has anyone seen him since Dwayne’s death?”
These were the types of questions grifters knew how to ask. Who. What. Why. Especially the why. What was in it for them? Why does someone want a thing, and can that wanting be used for one’s own gain? People were weak and reckless when they wanted something. How weak and how reckless depended on how badly they wanted it.
“If it’s someone unknown, we’re out of luck,” Gabriel added.
There were too many questions and not a single answer to any of them.
“I doubt either of the Perkinses are rolling in dough, and Gordon’s mom and stepdad are less than supportive of him,” Elton said. He looked frustrated. “But this is the second time something fishy has happened up on Gordon’s property in less than a year. First, the overblown pot thing, and now, DwaynePerkins. Whatever is going on, Gordon is at the center, and I don’t think it’s someone unknown. Go get yourself cleaned up. And toss a load in the wash afterward. As for Calvin, the deputy didn’t say anything.”
Gabriel wasn’t going to argue with Elton; a shower was what he wanted too, after all.
“Is the store open today?” He hadn’t paid attention earlier. “I need to grab those groceries I promised you and a few other things.” He should have stopped before coming over, but the siren had put it out of his mind.
“Should be,” Elton said, “but they don’t stay open late this time of year, so you better get moving with that shower.”
The Open signin the front window of the Norskland General Store was still lit when he got there, one long extra hot shower and a load of laundry later. Gabe had kind of thought that Lundin would show up, but he hadn’t by the time Gabe left. And Elton’s lawyer contact hadn’t returned his call either.
“Damn lawyers,” Elton had grumbled as Gabriel was heading out the door.
Braking, Gabe veered into the parking lot. There was only one other car, a mud-splattered SUV that Gabriel didn’t think he’d seen around before. However, there were probably a lot of cars and people on the island that he hadn’t come across in the few days he’d been there.
As he walked past the other car, his attention was snagged by the many bumper stickers plastered across the back of it. The owner had a lot of opinions and as far as Gabe could tell, he didn’t agree with any of them. One that stood out, though, was a black-and-white drawing of a single eye inside a pyramid, and underneath were the words,We’re Watching You.
“Well, that’s not creepy at all, is it?” he muttered. “1984, much?”
Something niggled at him. That symbol was familiar, and he’d seen it somewhere recently. But he knew he hadn’t seen that particular car before—he would have remembered the rest of the opinions. Where had he seen that eye? Fuck, it wasn’t going to come to him if he tried to force it.
Whistling aimlessly, he jogged across the lot and up the steps and pulled the door open. His car needed a name, Gabriel decided, something better than calling it the Honda. Dorothy? No. Toto? Seemed appropriate, but he didn’t want to have the songAfricaplaying in his head whenever he got behind the wheel. Maybe the Minnow?
He was blasted by Gillian Welch belting outLook at Miss Ohiowhen he walked inside. A young woman who looked enough like Mercy The Coffee Queen that she had to be related—probably her daughter, Gabe thought—was wiping down the checkout counter. Getting ready for closing time. A guy in his early twenties wearing faded blue jeans and a black long-sleeved t-shirt was restocking the canned food aisle. Gabriel didn’t see another customer who might belong to the car outside.
“Evening,” Gabe called out over the music to the stocker.
“Do you need help finding anything?” The plastic tag pinned to his shirt readAndy.
“No, thanks, just picking up a few things,” Gabe replied.
After circling the produce section and saying no to the mushrooms, Gabe grabbed jarred sauce, bread, and more pasta. Then he stopped in front of the frozen foods.
Decisions, decisions. Did he want to try Who Loves Ya, Baby ice cream, a sesame-coconut-Thai sweet pepper mashup, or Marmalade Dreaming, a mix of vanilla bean and house-mademarmalade? The brand was touted as locally made and internationally famous.
Gabe figured Elton would probably prefer the marmalade. He grabbed the bright orange container and carried everything to the counter.
The still loud music changed from Gillian to Jack White singingThat’s How I’m Feeling.
“Is that it?” the checker asked over Jack White.Brooklynwas written on the badge pinned to her shirt.
“Yep. I’m sure I’ll be back for coffee in the morning. Is there a place I can buy a phone around here? I lost mine.”
She winced. “Oh, that’s terrible. I lost mine last summer and my mom was so mad at me. There’s nowhere on the island, sorry. Westfort has a couple of phone stores, though.”
