An old Sportster modified engine, slightly ragged idle that its owner had always refused to fix because he said it gave the bike personality. Coast had not changed the opinion in in 30 years. Some things about a person were immovable. Ray was changing a timing belt when the bike pulled into the lot. He came out of the bay wiping his hands on a shop rag.
Virgil Ghostrand was 63 years old. He was a tall man still, though the years had pulled him downward slightly the way years did. The shoulders not quite as square as they'd been, the movements more considered. His hair was white now, worn long enough to tie back, which he'd done under a half helmet that he hung on the mirror of the Sportster when he climbed off. He had a long, weathered face and pale gray eyes, and a scar along his jawline that Ry had seen so many times over 30 years.
It was simply part of what Ghost's face looked like. They stood 6 ft apart in the parking lot. 37 years of knowing each other. 22 years of not speaking. "You look old," Ghost said.
"You look older," Ray said. Ghost looked at the garage at the sign at the Harley parked to one side. "Nice setup," he said, working on it. A pause kind of pause between men who had things to say and were taking a moment to decide the order. "Come inside," Ray said.
"Coffee's on. " They sat in the small office at the back of the garage. Ray poured two cups from the machine he kept there. Nothing special, just functional. And they sat across from each other at the work desk. Ghost looked at his coffee.
Then at Ry, "You want to do the thing first or after? " Ghost said. Ry knew what he meant. The thing the 22 years of thing after Ry said, "Tell me about Hard Grove first. " Ghost nodded. He pulled out his phone. Old model, the kind people kept because they worked and there was no reason to change.
He turned it to show Ry a photograph on the screen that's from 2018. Ghost said, "A man named Darnell Cooper's funeral. " Ray looked at the photograph. A funeral gathering outside a church. 50 60 people. And in the background, clearly not there in any official capacity.
A man in a dark suit with the posture of someone who had come to make sure Harrove Ray said. Hardrove ghost put the phone down. Cooper died of a heart attack. Legitimate from what I understand. But Harg Grove showed up to that funeral personally.
Now, why does a county councilman from Greystone Falls drive 90 minutes to pay respects at a mid-level fence's funeral? Because Cooper knew something, Ry said. Because Cooper knew something, Ghost confirmed. And Hargrove wanted to see for himself that it was in the ground with him. Ry thought about the photograph in his jacket.
The gathering in 1999. Cooper bringing the man in the blazer. Cooper brokered the 1999 meeting. Ray said he brought Harrove to us. I know.
Ghost drank his coffee. I've been thinking about 1999 for a while now. When I heard Harrove was asking about you, it clicked. What did Hargrove buy from us in 1999? Financial records ghost said his opponent in a county commissioner race that year.