Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron

Author:Ellen Byron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter 14

Maggie burst out of the manor house’s back door, followed by the rest of her family. They hurried through the woods to the schoolhouse. Maggie rapped on the door. After a minute, Doug opened it. “I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

“We know.” Maggie pushed past him, as did the others.

“Hey,” Doug protested. “What the—”

Maggie planted herself between Doug and Noah Bauman. “Are you trying to sell Susannah’s land to Harbor Chemical?”

“It’s not hers anymore, it’s mine. And what I am or am not doing is none of your business.”

“Oh, it is.” Maggie, furious, crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Remember, part of this place is ours.”

“If I could say something here—” Bauman began.

“You can’t,” Tug shot at him.

“Got it,” Bauman said, intimidated.

“This land …” Doug made an expansive gesture. “It’s full of memories of my time here with Susannah.”

“That’s a bit hard to imagine, considering you’ve barely been here three weeks,” Gran said.

“Well, it is. Which is why I realized I can’t bear staying on it anymore.”

“Then go back to Toronto,” Maggie said.

“The thing is, I’ve come to love the area,” Doug said. “Us Canadians are snowbirds. We fly south for the winter. Florida is a snore, but here … you got warmth, history, atmosphere. And you can’t beat the food.”

“But—but—” Maggie sputtered. “Dang, I can’t argue with any of that.”

“I could use the proceeds of a sale to buy a place in Pelican for the winter months—”

“And have plenty left over,” Noah chimed in, ignoring Tug’s glower.

“Who knows?” Doug continued. “Maybe down the road me and the kids’ll become citizens.” He launched into “The Star-Spangled Banner.” “O say can you see … and whatever comes next.”

Ninette’s hands shook from nerves, and she clasped them together. “Doug, we can’t have a chemical plant in our backyard. It will ruin our home, as well as our business. No one would ever stay here again. Plus, the cancer rate for people living near these plants is out of control. We’d be risking our lives.”

“Not if you sell, too,” Bauman said.

Tug stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sure I could work out a deal for buying both parcels, yours and Mr. MacDowell’s. We might even be able to keep the big house for corporate functions, like the gas company up the road did with Bienvenu Plantation.”

“It’s surrounded by storage tanks,” Maggie, outraged, said.

“But it’s still there. I can’t promise that for your place. But if you’re interested in selling the land, let me know. I’ll run some numbers and make an offer.” Bauman addressed Doug. “Sleep on the figure I gave you. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

Doug opened the door for the Harbor Chemical executive. Bauman left, and Susannah’s widower motioned for the Crozats to leave as well. “Your turn.”

“Doug, please don’t do this,” Maggie pleaded. She flashed on an angle. “You’re interested in living here part-time and maybe forever. Everyone in Pelican will hate you if you destroy this land. They’re sick of industrial plants. You won’t have a friend in town.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.