Page 65

CHAPTER 65

REDLEY

My family home sits as a smoking pile of cinders behind me, as does Wolf’s mansion, and the cabin up at the top of the mountain. There’s been so much fire in the past few days that the sky is thick and heavy with it.

The power shut off the day after the cops came, and it took me a little figuring, but I managed to pay the bill with the money Doc was taking with him to skip town. I’ve also properly added my name and address to the bill, now that I know the entirety of Grimm Groves is living on my property for free.

I’m setting up a better power infrastructure and charging rent. Though they only need to pay me once a year and it’s not much, it’s the principle. This is my land, and it’s not like these people have treated me well over the years. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all liars and snakes and should feel lucky I didn’t decide to toss them all off my land and keep their homes, maybe burn them like I did to my own just for entertainment.

I tell myself to calm down. I’m standing in the center of town, outside the school, and a lot of people are around today. Everyone is still real unsure about what will happen now that I’m in on everything that has been going on, and the divide between those in the know and those not is more jarring than ever. I’m not sure if kicking them all off my land wouldn’t be better, but I’m not sure where they would go, and I’m just not as cruel as them.

Instead, Grimm Groves is my land, my home, and as long as people want to live here, that’s great, but they’ll have to get used to the fact I’m the self-appointed mayor. It’s my land. I can call myself whatever I want, and they will pay me for the right. Hell, I’m going to set up a little fund similar to the school tax like they get out in the regular world. I walk into the school with that secret tucked into my pocket and a big smile on my face.

The same school teacher who taught me sits with the children. There are a lot of them this year, and I’m not sure how she’s managing all of the different age ranges without help. This has never been something she did for money, but always enjoyed bettering the lives of the children here. I realize now she wasn’t so benevolent. She was getting paid out by the wolves. I approach just close enough to signal that I need to speak to her alone. She says another word or two to the children before she steps away.

“Redley, what can I do for you?” she asks as she follows me into the hall and shuts the door behind her. She sounds kind and accommodating enough, but afraid. She knows I know everything. She’s been in on this charade for a long time, though not to the extent that some people were. Part of me thinks I could kill her, but another fairer part asks, who would teach the kids then? I clear my throat and shake off the violence.

“If you could do whatever you wanted for the kids here, if money wasn’t an issue, what would you do?”

She opens and closes her mouth, her cheeks turning red. “Can I think about it and get back to you?” she asks. “There are just so many things and I want to—I don’t want. Thank you,” she finally settles on, throwing herself at me for a hug I truly didn’t expect.

I’m surprised at how good it feels, warm and matronly, and I guess I miss having older female affection too. Maybe I can forgive some of them— definitely not all of them, but some.

“I’ll come back for a list tomorrow,” I agree before turning and leaving. Standing outside his El Camino, holding the door open for me, is the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with. Husband is still a hotly debated topic, though. Either way, I’m happy, and I’m finally not so goddamn alone.