Page 54 of Stronger Than Blood
Rory’s eyes immediately heated, and he drew me into his arms, kissing me hard before pulling back and smiling. “Oh, I’mwilling… really willing,” he said and was leaning back down for another kiss when his phone rang.
“Ignore it,” I whimpered, but he just chuckled since he already had the phone out.
“It’s Kalinda. Sorry, but let’s do a rain check on this for a minute.”
I sighed but nodded. He was right, a lot was going on, and we needed to keep our heads on straight, pun entirely intended.
“Hey,” he answered, and I watched as his smile grew until he was staring at me in shock. “Um, yeah, we’ll be right there.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned.
“Oh, Mick, it’s too good to be true, maybe. Kalinda showed Bev your uncle’s stock of antique liquor.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, let’s go back, and I’ll let her tell you herself.”
I was confused, but I followed Rory across the town square to Uncle Eddie’s place. Kalinda and Bev were sitting at one of the tables we’d yet to return to the church. When we walked in, Bev looked at me and smiled.
“So, what’s this about?” I asked, and both women beamed, before Kalinda asked Bev to give me the news.
“Well, I worked for a man in St. Louis who collected whiskey. I was with him when he purchased aged shine from a man who had some of Popcorn Sutton’s last shine. When Kalinda showed me your stash, I immediately noticed a jug with Popcorn’s name on it. If it’s his, well, I can tell you my boss paid a lot of money for the one he purchased.”
“How much money?” I asked.
She hesitated, and when she told me, my head swam. “For one jug?”
“No, it was more than you have, but if we can find any information about your great-uncle being involved with shine, so there’s a provenance, even word of mouth, anything writtenwould be better, like was he arrested or anything? That could make this worth a million, maybe more.”
My mouth fell open, and now I understood why Rory looked so shocked. “Um, well, I doubt my great-uncle was ever arrested, but plenty of folks around here would be able to tell you about his stash. We’ll have to ask, and I’m guessing Elias is where we should start,” I said, looking at Rory.
For the rest of the day, we went from person to person, letting them tell us stories of Uncle Eddie’s shenanigans. Bev recorded everything because she said if her former boss wanted to buy this or knew someone who did, we’d need all the anecdotal evidence.
When I said it seemed like a long shot that anecdotal evidence was enough for it to sell for that much, she just laughed. “Mick, sorry, but the industry was hidden because of the law until less than a decade ago. Most everything is anecdotal, and your great-uncle has more than enough history to draw the interest of buyers for your stash. In fact, when my mentor gets here tomorrow, you should ask him to set up an auction for what you have. But before you do, you own it, correct? There are no other owners?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t own anything. My great-grandmother does, but I can ask her tonight what she thinks.”
“Perfect. If Kalinda and Rory continue collecting stories with me, I’d like you to get permission to write them. If my history proves to be true, once it’s found out that you have the stash, things will move fast. You’ll want them to as well because I happen to know others who’ve had theirs stolen. The entire industry still teeters on the edge of the law. Even if everything is legal nowadays, for many decades, it wasn’t.”
“I understand,” I confirmed and asked Kalinda to join me outside before I left.
“Do you think we can trust her? I mean, the whole theft thing kinda scares me.”
Kalinda nodded, then reached over, putting her hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, I think Bev is trustworthy, but I also think she’s excited knowing that with this sale, we have the money to make this happen. Provided your granny and you want to go down that route.”
I chuckled. “My granny won’t want the stuff. She’ll prefer it to be sold, and if it leads to something good, like a store reopening in her beloved town, I’m gonna guess she’ll be all for that as well, but I’ll ask, and I’ll get her to sign off on a sale if she does.”
Kalinda nodded, and I was about to walk away when I was overcome with happiness. Before I could stop myself, I hugged the woman.
Kalinda just laughed. “Oh, sorry, I… well, I don’t know what came over me.”
“I do. It’s happiness, and never apologize for sharing that with me, but I do agree with Bev. I think this will happen quickly, so please ensure it’s all signed off. The spirits are telling me this could happen before we all move back to your home.”
That was the news that sent my happy soaring heart back into my stomach. Of course, Kalinda noticed and shook her head. “Remember, don’t give it power. Even now, when you let it drag you down off your emotional high, it helps the entity instead of defeating it. Stay happy. You taking your home back is a powerful tool.”
I nodded and forced myself to smile. She was right, of course. I’d spent too many years dreading that hateful ghost. Oh well, I had plenty of other happy things to focus on. Currently, that included possibly securing the funds to start a legal moonshine business here in downtown Piston Creek.
Remembering I still needed to talk to Jonah about the shine, I stopped on my way out of town. He quickly had me sign some paperwork and took a retainer for his services, stating that he needed it to establish me as his client.
