Page 44 of The Tomorrows After You
Jeremy shrugged. “She’s already got a paralegal degree. Seminary school was to ensure she could take over when my dad retires.”
My face twisted. “She’s got a paralegal degree?” I was getting sidetracked but suddenly Katie felt more formidable.
Jeremy snorted. “When she took over... um,Grace’s role, she said the church was paying way too much in legal fees to alter the non-profit’s bylaws. Said it’d be cheaper if she just got the paralegal degree so that she could prepare all the paperwork herself.” A reverent smile touched Jeremy’s lips. He gazed down into his mug, lost in thought. “It was pretty impressive, actually.” His face twisted as if he was just realizing it. “Riot’s lucky to have her. Hope he knows it.”
My insides burned. I wasn’t accustomed to feeling insecure and I sure as hell had never experienced jealousy over a man. At least not in the last ten years. The image of them sitting down at the dinner table together tightened the knot in my stomach. It reminded me howtemporaryI was.
You’re not here for Riot tolikeyou, anyway.I was here for a story. I gazed down and realized I was twisting the fork in my hands, rubbing my skin raw.
“So, if Katie’s a dropout then who’s going to be in charge?” I asked, compartmentalizing Katie for another day.
He shook his head helplessly. “A lot of people love the church, but there’s not a lot of leadership left in Godot.” He frowned.
“Yeah, what do you think happened? I mean, thirty years ago, the church built those brand new houses in the Valley, and people were offered jobs. It seems like Godot should have flourished. But that’s not how it went.” I tilted my head, the familiar investigative inflection resounding in my throat, settling back into exactly where I was comfortable.
“Unfortunately, there was a big strain of bad luck. The illness rate skyrocketed after they all went to work in the mines. Once the illnesses hit, then came the drugs, and it was a vortex from there.”
“You know, a doctor friend of minesaidthat it’s probably unlikely the coal minehassomething to do with the high lung cancer rates.”
Jeremy looked up at me, a doubtful expression crossed his face. I let my face soften, tilting my head and pushing my shoulders back. His eyes darted below my chin, and he loosened up.
“Well, that’s just one guy’s opinion.”
I frowned as if having the thought for the first time. “Right, but I mean, he’s still a doctor.”
Jeremy shrugged, and I was irritated with his lack of response, so I kicked it up a notch. “I mean, it just seems a little preemptive tofireeveryone andoutsourcetheir jobs without some kind of medical study. There were probably a lot of people that were put out.”
Jeremy regarded me for a moment, something twitched in his jaw. He looked around and that little jolt of energy coursed through me. I’d hit something.
“Look, this is all off-the-record okay?”
I nodded with wide eyes.Of course, itwas.
“I’mnot sure of the specifics but the minehadbeengettingless profitable every year. Back then, as Dad tells it, the minewasthe town’s largest employer and biggest economic resource. The taxes from the mines literallypavedthe roads here back then. If peopleknewthat the biggest source of incomewasstartingto dry up, they wouldhavefreaked. So… maybe Dadexaggeratedthe health reasons abitso that people wouldn’t lose confidence in Godot.”
“It’s empty then? There’s no company managing it?”
“Oh, thereis.”Heshookmore hot sauce on his eggs.“They move in for six months outta the year and they keep largely to themselves. They give us a percentage of the profits, but they handle all the operations.”
Ichewedon the end of the plastic straw. I remember Brennanbabblingabout a dronehe’dusedto find metal scraps for Riot once. Maybe he couldletme borrow it to do a quick survey of the mine area.
“What company is it?” I asked.
“Hm… Something Industries? Titan? Triton, maybe? I dunno, I honestly try to stay out of it. My concerniscleaningup the streets so pretty things like you feel comfortable walking home at night withoutgettingassaultedby meth heads.”Hegrinnedat me, and Iforceda smile.
“I heard that it isn’t just meth,” I said. His fork froze mid-air. I examined him with a critical stare, and something passed across his face.
“We try not to publicize that.”His wordswerelow andhelda hint of warning to them. Iarchedan eyebrow.“Look, the town alreadyhasenough bad press with the illness rate. The last thing Godot needsisto getpeggedas the town crazy enough to splice meth with morphine, okay?”
“So, you’ve heard of Chimera?”
“Of course, Nicolette,I’mthe Deputy Chief of Police. Andbeingthe deputy chief, it’s my job to try to keep the peace. Therearea lot of good people here. The last thing we needismass hysteria tospreadabout some drug thatwillprobably be old news soon.”
“Isthe DEA aware of it?”
He shrugged. “They came around asking about it a few years back when it first showed up, but no one was able to pinpoint a pattern. Last I heard the feds dropped it.”
His radiobuzzed. Iwavedto our waitress for the bill.
