Page 53 of The Tomorrows After You
Hittingmy head against the file cabinet wall, IcursedMelody for eversendingme here. But then my heartclenchedat the prospect of nevergettingto know Riot and that ideaproducedan unexpected wave of melancholy.
I was about to try my phone again when I spotted a paper on the ground. I picked it up and examined it. Sifting through a few more pages of the report, I took a careful photo of each one, my adrenaline starting to pick up.
The far door creaked open, followed by the pattering of what sounded like a couple of pairs of feet coming down the hallway. I folded up a few of the papers and shoved them in my back pocket. I held my breath as the footsteps came closer.
I spun around, preparing myself for anything when around the corner came Geoffrey and Pastor Blackwell. I narrowed my eyes at him; I knew he’d be at the center of this.
Elias stopped in front of the closed door with a surprised look on his face. He regarded me before spinning to Geoffrey and holding his hands out.
“Really, Geoff? You locked her in the records room? Give me that.” He snatched the keys out of Geoffrey’s hand and turned to unlock the door. “Sorry about this, Miss Parker.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Geoff fancies himself a bit of a prankster.” He shot a scornfullook at Geoff who smirked at me with twoguffaws. A silent rage coursed through me. If I hadn’t just hit pay-dirt I would have lit him up but Geoffrey Brown had just locked the wrong girl in a room with information she shouldn’t have.
Pastor Blackwellledme upstairs into an empty office.“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?”
“No thanks, I’ve had my daily dosage of fluoride, thank you.” I was baiting him, but I saw no reason to play games.
Pastor Blackwell stilled, but he just gave me a flat look before holding his hands up like I was a cop. “You got me, Nicolette. I asked some friends at the water authority to put fluoride in the water. I am guilty of caring too much about this town’s enamel.”
He sat down across from me. He was shaking his head as if I were his teenage kid who had just been busted for shoplifting.
“So why was Echo Chemicals dumping it in the dead of night?”
Pastor Blackwell sighed deeply. “There’s no official work order, so the county can’t touch it. Geoff asked some connections there to help us out.” I kept my lips pressed tightly together. He looked tired. “Honestly, Miss Parker, you are trying to make me out to be a bad guy… I’m sorry, but there’s no story here.”
“You don’t think people have a right to know what’s in their water supply?”
“It’s a perfectly safe additive.”
“So why not tell them?”
Pastor Blackwell looked off, appearing defeated. He took a long pause and a brief expression of regret passed over his face.
“I was disappointed when the bill was voted down some years ago. I’ve always done everything I can to try to bring select progression to Godot. But I’m often met with resistance. People don’t like change.” His eyes drifted off as if lost in thought. His mind seemed to land on a sad memory. “The fluoride in the water is harmless. It’s administered by a reputable company and is perfectly safe.” He looked at me like the matter was closed so I reached back and pulled thepapers from my back pocket.
“Were the massive amounts of radon in the Valley perfectly safe when youbuilta whole community on top of it?”
I tossed the paper down that contained the land surveys of the valley right before the houses were built. He looked down at them and then back at me, remaining expressionless.
“I’m sorry you had to find that.” My heart thrummed in my chest.
My phonebuzzedin my pocket, a barrage of messages coming through now that servicereturned.
“I assume since you’re such aworldlyman that you know radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer?”
Hepressedhis lips into a thin line. “The company wecontractedwith to build the homesoverlookedthe mitigation systems.”
“Theyoverlookedone of the most standard practices in home building?” Iasked, the doubt clear in my tone.
He sighed before a thick swallow rolled down his throat. “They were a young, up-and-coming real estate company that sought to revolutionize pre-made manufactured housing. But startups often cut corners and radon hadn’t been much of an issue in Northern California where they originated.” A tick of familiarity tugged at me and I let my brain rewind, taking advantage of the silence. “There is already a massive class action lawsuit pending in hopes to make it right for those that got sick.”
Finally, I tilted my head. “This real estate company wouldn’t happen to have been a company you had investments with, would it?”
Pastor Blackwell remained stoic and blinked at me. Once. Twice. “Housing and healthcare. That’s what you said, right?” I reminded him.
“It’s not a crime to either hire or invest with companies that you believe in.”
His words from our first meeting came swirling back to me and I thought about the influx of cash it must have taken to pay off the financing for a project the size of rebuilding the Valley. A devious warmth spread through me and I tried to conceal my nervousexcitement.
“But itisa crime to short a stock when youhaveinside information. Let’s say that informationisabout a massive impending class action lawsuit forfailingto install radon mitigation systems.”
