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"Why?" he asked. "Does it matter?"

It did tome. After all, how real could anything be if he wouldn't answer a simple question? "Is the old reason a big secret or something?"

He paused to take a sip of his wine. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one thing because – oh, I dunno – you're keeping it a big secret." I tried to laugh. "Was it because you were planning to buy up the whole town or something?"

He looked a little surprised. "Is that what you think?"

"Well, itdidoccur to me."

This made him chuckle. "Sothat'swhy you wanted to be my consultant."

I glanced away. "Maybe."

"Be honest. You were gonna steer me away, weren't you?"

I said it again. "Maybe."

His eyes filled with amusement. "So, tell me. What was your strategy?"

"Who says I had one?"

"I know you better thanthat. So come on. What were you gonna say?" He paused as if thinking. "The town was built over toxic waste?"

"No," I laughed. "I didn't even think of that one."

"A graveyard then?" He was grinning now. "No, wait. Crazy locals. Am I right?"

"Onlyhalfright," I laughed. "Ididconsider the graveyard thing, but then I realized something."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"It would take more than a bunch of dead bodies to stopyou."

"Gotthatright." He winked. "But usually I just kick out grannies and orphans and call it good."

The wink caught me off-guard, and I tried to recall everything I'd read about him. Although Reese had a reputation for beingabsolutely ruthless, I couldn’t recall a single story of him preying on those who were poor or vulnerable.

The realization made me smile. "Well, for a little while, I thought you wanted to buyourplace."

He looked intrigued. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, pretty silly, right?"

"Eh, I've heard sillier."

NowthisI believed. "Okay, so you havemyconfession. What's yours?"

"You mean, why did I hire you?"

"Yeah, that, too," I said. "But seriously, why did you come here in the first place? I mean, if it wasn't to buy up the whole town, why come here at all?"

He leaned back in his seat and looked at me for a long moment before saying with obvious reluctance, "I spent some time here as a kid."

I was shocked. "Really? When?"

"A long time ago. It's not important."