Page 52 of Lord Have Mercy Part Four: Big Son

Walsh glanced at each of them, and then back, eyes still bright, and focused, and giving nothing away. “Okay.”

“They’re just empty shells, not even drywall up. And when I asked at City Hall I found out the developer can’t afford to finish. They’re underwater, and with the market the way it is, they haven’t been able to sell any of the lots so far, and–” Walsh held up a hand, and Aidan realized he was breathing hard, that his face felt warm. He subsided, and took a deep breath.

Walsh considered him a moment, gaze sliding from the plat, to Aidan’s face, and back again. Finally, he said, “You want us to buy this land.” He tapped the subdivision, marked off in dashed lines on the white paper. It wasn’t a question.

“It’s one-hundred-and-fifteen acres.”

“How many houses up already?”

“Only five. But the plumbing’s roughed in, and they’re hooked to city water, so there’s water on the property.”

“It’s all cleared?”

“Logged, scraped, and smoothed,” Aidan confirmed. “There’s a pond, too.”

For the first time, Walsh’s face twitched, a sideways tuck of his mouth that Aidan knew to be considering. He tapped the plat with a ringed finger and said, “You didn’t bring this to me privately first.”

Every eye at the table was fixed on them, and Aidan felt their weight acutely. “No. It’s club business. I want us to decide as a club – not be handed it and told to vote on what’s already been decided.”

That earned a fast quirk of Walsh’s eyebrows. A landed barb. How often had Ghost and Walsh hammered something out in the office and then presented it with all but a PowerPoint and laser pointer, all ready save their seal of approval.

“And this land,” Walsh said, slowly, tracing its paper contours again with a fingertip. “You want us to…?”

“Convert it back to farmland. And let the Parkers manage it, if they’re willing, and so long as you can oversee the operation and make sure there’s not a lot of wasteful spending going on.” He waited for a protest from the table, but none came. He heard more than a few lighters click, the quick breaths of first drags on cigs. “Aren’t you always saying – or, shit, isn’t someone on TV always saying, the radio maybe – that the best way to build wealth is to invest in property?”

The faintest edge of a grin curved Walsh’s mouth, for a fleeting second. “Someone on the radio?”

“I’ve heard that before,” Aidan said, then, frowning, trying to lever authority into his voice: “Look, if it’s a shit idea, just–”

Walsh silenced him with a look. “It’s not a shit idea. But let me guess: you already promised this Lewis that he could prospect.”

“Yeah.”

A chair creaked, and Aidan glanced over to see that Roman had sat forward at the table. “Look, I know my opinion probably doesn’t count for shit, but I was real skeptical at first. But after I sat down and listened to what Aidan had to say about it, well.” He shrugged. “As far as plans go, it doesn’t suck.”

“Thanks for the ringing endorsement,” Tango said under his breath and sent Aidan an eyeroll behind his hand. Then he spoke up for himself: “I think it’s agoodplan.”

“Of courseyou’dsay that,” Dublin said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re a kiss-ass,” RJ said, arms folded, leaning back in his chair like he was spoiling for a fight. “If our new VP says ‘jump’ you say, ‘what, on your–’” Whatever else he was going to say – and Aidan knew exactly what it was – turned into a yelp as something small and bright pinged off the side of his head. “Ow! What the hell?”

It was one of Walsh’s rings, he saw, when Michael got up to retrieve it and hand it back. A flaming skull the size of a bird egg on the back.

“You were told,” Walsh said levelly, “to shut your mouth. That meant to keep it shut.”

RJ rubbed at the side of his head and made a face, but held his tongue.

Aidan wanted badly to get up, walk around the table, and hit RJ with worse than a ring. But in the interest of his presentation, and his new title, he took a deep breath, returned his attention to Walsh, and said, “This accomplishes two things: it expands our reach in the city, helps us diversify, and also brings more citizens into the fold.”

“After you got their land dug up,” Roman reminded.

“They’re gonna have to sell their land anyway,” Aidan said. “It’s either take our deal, or give up farming completely.”

“And the feds?” Briscoe asked.

“Yeah, well…” Aidan resisted the urge to rub the back of his neck, where a self-conscious blush flared to life. “It’s a gamble, but I’ve got a theory about how that’ll go.”

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