Comeback (Gun Pedersen Book 1) by L. L. Enger Read Free Book Online Page B

way of sounding me out.”
    “Cut the crap.”
    The dog growled again, low muscular thunder rising up from its massive chest.
    “You don’t have to believe me.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “Fine. But Geoff hasn’t been home since yesterday. Haven’t seen or heard a thing. My bet is that your daughter and my son have run off together.” With his toe Hedman nudged the turtle, which had managed to right itself.
    “If my daughter ran off with your kid,” Gun said, “it’s not because she wanted to. And if this thing has something to do with your development scam, you better believe I’m going to find out.”
    “I’ll believe whatever I please,” said Lyle, a little smile on his lips. “In fact, my inclination right now is to believe that you and I are relatives.” He reached down and flipped the turtle upside down again. It tried to turn itself over with its head and legs, but Hedman took a toad stabber from his fishing box and sliced the turtle’s craning neck from shell to mouth. Then he tossed the turtle into the water and it sank in a red cloud of its own blood. Reuben the dog whined, and bumped his nose nervously against the gunwale of the boat.
    “Always hated turtles,” Hedman said. “One bit me once, right here.” He held up his right thumb for Gun to see a tiny white scar.
    Gun said, “How about cats, you hate them too?”
    Hedman looked at him quickly. “Depends on whose cat it is.” Behind the automatic smile, Lyle’s face glistened with an emotion that looked for all the world like fear.

8
    “All I can say is this, Gun. I’ve known your girl for a long time and I think I can read her pretty good. No way was she giving the nod to Geoff the other night. I don’t care what the old man told you.”
    Gun nodded. After leaving Hedman’s he’d driven straight over to Jack’s and ordered lunch. It was eleven-fifteen.
    “Lyle’s full of shit, always has been,” said Jack.
    Gun finished his glass of buttermilk. Jack didn’t know of the land transfer, and Gun wasn’t about to say anything. Nothing he could say was going to make any difference now. If Mazy had married Geoff, then Lyle had the best land he could ever hope to ruin.
    “You better tell me all the scuttlebutt you know about this Loon Country deal, Jack. Doesn’t look like I can stay out of it any longer.” He swallowed a bite of his burger.
    Jack reached for the yellow carton sitting on the
    shelf behind him. “What’s Mazy told you? She’d know more than I would.”
    “Not much, as usual.”
    “Yeah.” Jack refilled Gun’s glass. “Well, it’s hard to say right now. The referendum could go either way, is my guess. A lot of people support Larson, he’s been a good commissioner for twenty years. On the other hand, you’ve got almost a majority of folks in this county getting their paychecks from Hedman, not to say they love the guy. His wife probably can’t even do that. No, if you’d asked me two weeks ago, I’d have said Lyle’s proposal wouldn’t go through.”
    “But...” said Gun.
    “But in the last dozen or so days Reverend Barr has really jumped on the bandwagon. He can make Hedman look like a prophet of God. And then there’s that mock-up of Loon Country Attractions Hedman set up in the bank. Seen it?”
    “No.”
    “It’s impressive. The sort of thing that puts a picture in somebody’s head. You don’t forget it like you do a pretty speech. I’ll tell you, though, looking at it, I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell you’re going to fit a condo, a world-class hotel, a shopping mall, a damn circus midway, and God knows what else—all of it on that scrap of swampland Hedman bought from Devitz. It doesn’t add up.”
    “That’s right, it doesn’t.”
    “And don’t forget the talking loon forty feet high. ‘Greetings, friend. Welcome to Stony Lake, your entrance to the great northern wilderness.’ Or some such shit. You feed it a quarter, it talks.”
    Gun stood up and reached