Free Long Gone Man by Phyllis Smallman Page A

wanted to go to Vancouver and spend a few days with her, but she put me off. I don’t know what I did.”
    â€œHow old are you?” Singer raised a hand to stop Lauren’s quick comeback. “I know it’s rude, but you did ask me the same question last night.”
    â€œTwenty-eight.”
    â€œBy twenty-eight I’d been on the road about twelve years. How can someone reach your age and still be so naive?” Singer raised both hands this time. “Don’t get upset with me. I’m just pointing out that maybe you didn’t do anything. Maybe it’s just that Johnny and his kid were having problems and you got in the firing line. I’d like to know what they fought about, though. Maybe Janna will tell you now that Johnny’s dead.”
    Lauren stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Singer. “You want me to pry, don’t you?”
    Singer grinned at her. “Maybe you’re more intuitive than I thought.”
    Lauren’s face turned hard. “Forget it. If Janna tells me anything, it isn’t going any further.”
    Singer set down her mug. “Look, you and I have a bit of a situation here, you know? I just want an idea of what went on this summer.”
    Lauren crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter. “Whatever it was, it has nothing to do with you and it didn’t have anything to do with John’s death.”
    â€œNo? Someone had a reason to kill him and there are plenty of candidates.”
    â€œYeah, including you, Singer. What did John do to you that made you track him down and come way out here to the end of the world to find him?”
    â€œIf I’d wanted him dead, do you think I would have waited twenty years to kill him?”
    Lauren pointed her forefinger at Singer. “That’s the only thing that’s keeping you and me together.”
    Singer spread her arms wide. “I told you before. I’m just here looking for a little charity, so how about another muffin?”

Eighteen
    Silence stretched between the two women. Lauren washed the remaining mixing bowls and utensils with angry efficiency and slammed them away on shelves.
    Singer was on her second cigarette when Lauren leaned back against the counter. She gave Singer a small nod and said, “Okay. Last summer, Janna was here and so was Ian, Aaron’s son. That was different, Janna and Ian being here at the same time. They hardly knew each other, but it didn’t take long before they were inseparable. Janna canceled other plans to stay on here. Over the summer Ian started playing lead guitar with John’s band. He played Alan’s parts.” Her face screwed up in concentration, remembering. “John had them all practicing for a while and Ian and John were writing together. John had some new material he was really excited about, but when Janna and Ian got together everything changed. John was furious. He told Janna she couldn’t see Ian anymore.”
    â€œWhy? What did he have against Ian Pye?”
    Lauren shook her head. “I don’t know. John had always thought the world of Ian, but suddenly everything went crazy, especially after that real estate developer came and offered mega millions for this property. There’s a deep, ten-acre lake just below here. It’s the only water on the mountain and John owned it. Development will only work if the builder gets Glenphiddie Lake. The rest of the land can’t be developed without the water. John wouldn’t sell his land so no one else could sell their land either.”
    â€œWho else owns land here?”
    Lauren named them on her fingers. “Steven David, the Utts, and the Pyes.”
    â€œHow did they take Johnny’s refusal to sell?”
    â€œHow do you think? They’d earn millions off the land deal. At the moment they’re barely making it. John was the only one who used his money wisely.”
    â€œThere’s more to that