The Metaphysical Detective (A Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery) by Kirsten Weiss Read Free Book Online Page A

about the company.  Riga clicked on the file: APOLLO GROUP IS A POWERFUL, SCHEMING LAND COMPANY:
    “The Apollo Group is a powerful, scheming land company. They are leaving a path of destruction in our state and countless numbers of victims along the way. They are very smart, very cunning. They zeroed in on the new high speed rail corridor because they saw large parcels of land in populated areas.  Under the guise of “green” and “sustainable” development, they are building residential communities along the rail tracks.  But it is a ruse.
    State officials realize that high speed rail is not economically feasible.  There is no high speed rail system in the world which makes a profit, or even breaks even.  They all run on subsidies.  There is no high speed rail system in the world which has been built on budget.  California, a state which is already on the verge of bankruptcy, is being pushed over the edge by a cadre of politicians, greedy businessmen, and land developers like the Apollo Group for a losing project.  Apollo Group wins, citizens and the communities which will be bifurcated and destroyed by high speed rail will lose.  People are losing their property through eminent domain and low income neighborhoods are being hit the hardest.  Ridership figures have been over estimated.  Ticket costs, by the rail authority’s own admission, will be twice the original estimate.  The “green” citizens of California have sold their soul to the Devil.”
    The article had been written by a local community group and Riga shook her head.  You’re never going to get one hundred percent popularity, she thought.
    She called Dora, the chain smoking editor of a local paper on the Peninsula.  Once the greetings were dispensed with, Riga said, “Hey, what do you know about the Apollo Group?”
    “I know the CEO is a smug bastard and they’re minting money,” Dora rasped.  Riga could hear her blissful exhale, and imagined smoke curling from Dora’s nostrils.  “They’re well connected and I haven’t heard anything negative, though of course the folks who are losing their homes and businesses to development through eminent domain aren’t happy.  There are a few angry neighborhood associations in their wake as well. Why?  Is there something else I should know?”
    “I’d like to write an article on the Apollo Group.”
    “For me, I take it?”
    “That’s why I’m calling.”
    There was a moment of silence on the other end, then: “Go for it.”  The line buzzed in Riga’s ear.
    She locked up, thinking of food, and headed out to lunch.  She caught herself on autopilot to the billiard parlor and stopped short on the sidewalk.  A man with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder ran into her, cursed.
    She ignored him.  What if Donovan was there?  What if he wasn’t?  She dropped into an Indian restaurant instead, and filled up on samosas and dal, staring blankly at a pink and orange wall hanging of a two-headed god riding a ram, both his heads engulfed in flames.  Ouch. 
    The waitress interrupted her musings, placing a cup of steaming chai before her.  Riga took a sip and screwed up her face, her own head going up in flames.
    She lingered until it was time to meet Marta.  They had agreed on neutral territory – a chain coffee shop near Marta’s office on Market Street, where she worked for a realtor.  Marta had brought backup with her – Marilyn and Marie – and the four settled at a cramped table, jostling elbows.  
    Marilyn glared suspiciously at Riga.  It wasn’t hard for Riga to take their measure – Marta wanted to talk, Marilyn wanted her to shut up, and Marie was the nervous peacemaker.
    “Thanks for meeting me,” Riga said, smiling.  Just girl talk here, nothing to be afraid of.
    Marta brushed a wisp of cropped black hair behind her ear.  She was slender, with a dark, Mediterranean look to her, and restlessly tapped her cardboard cup on the table. 
    “We couldn’t