Page 59 of Bourbon Bliss
“Thank you.”
I followed her up to the check-out counter, but paused when a title in the non-fiction section caught my eye.Crime Statistics in America: Newly Expanded and Updated Edition. I grabbed that too and added it to my pile.
Piper scanned my books and I slid them into my tote bag, satisfied with my selections. I went home and stacked the books on my coffee table, then tucked myself into a corner of my couch. I’d planned to dive into the first of Piper’s suggested romance novels, but the crime statistics book was poking at that splinter in my brain. The Callie splinter.
I wasn’t sure why. Callie’s case was solved. There was no longer a mystery to ponder. But something about her story still bothered me. Maybe it was time to turn my brain on the problem and figure out why.
Bringing up footage of one of the news stories on YouTube, I let it play in the background while I thumbed through the book on crime stats. Nothing was connecting. No flash of insight making my brain light up.
And then, there it was. Neurons fired, connections were made. I knew what had been bothering me. I just needed to do a little digging to see if I was right.
George texted, letting me know he was on his way. We had plans with Cassidy and Bowie to go out on a double date. I sent a quick reply, my thoughts buzzing on the problem at hand.
Twelve minutes later, George arrived. He came in and I looked up, feeling dazed, like I’d just woken from a long nap.
“Hey you,” he said. “What has you so focused?”
“I’m sorry.” I brushed my hair back from my face. How had it gotten so tangled? I’d only gone from the couch to the kitchen table. “I figured it out.”
He pulled out the chair across from me and sat. “Figured what out?”
“What was bothering me about Callie Kendall’s story.”
“Oh?”
“Callie said she spent the last twelve years living with a cult outside Hollis Corner,” I said. “But Hollis Corner has an unusually high crime rate for its size.”
“How do you know?”
“I find anything that’s a statistical anomaly to be interesting. Hollis Corner is a statistical anomaly. It’s a rural community with a crime rate not explained by its population density. I first discovered it when I was running risk analysis reports for a client. Today, I saw this book at the library.” I tipped the crime statistics book so he could read the cover. “It reminded me.”
“Okay, I’m with you so far.”
“The higher-than-expected crime statistics extend back at least two decades.”
“In other words, Hollis Corner is a crime-ridden cesspool, and that’s not new.”
“Precisely.” My mind whirred, like a well-oiled machine, gears turning smoothly, moving from one conclusion to the next. “Which means one of two things.”
“One, the cult is not a cult; it’s a criminal organization.”
A little jolt of excitement burst through my veins. He understood. “Yes. Or, the criminal activity stems from another source.”
“Do you know which it is?”
“Yes.” I turned my laptop so he could see. “Hollis Corner is firmly within the territory of the Free Renegades. They’re officially classified by the Department of Justice as an outlaw motorcycle club. That means there’s significant evidence that they are heavily involved in criminal activity.”
“So they’re not a bunch of doctors and lawyers who like to drive Harleys and wear leather.”
Another zing of excitement made my fingers tingle. “Precisely. The crime rate stems from the fact that local law enforcement is largely ineffective in towns such as Hollis Corner. The Free Renegades are well known for maintaining a mafia-like grip on their locales.”
“Okay, I’m still with you. But what does this have to do with Callie’s cult?”
“The Free Renegades wouldn’t allow a cult to exist in their territory,” I said. “They would have run them out of town before they could build their compound. They don’t tolerate any perceived competition, and a cult leader would be considered such.”
“They’d see him as a threat to their authority.”
“Yes.”
