A man named I had to dig for this Warren Lyall. Lyall ran a small construction company. Hardrove's people had been trying to find something irregular in his finances. Couldn't find it through legitimate channels, so he came to us. Cooper brought him to us.
Club got the records through a contact who worked at a bank. Harrove used them to imply Lyall had been misappropriating funds. Lyall couldn't disprove a negative fast enough. He lost the race. Ghost paused and from there Harrove's career went upward.
Ry was quiet. He thought about what Dot had told him about Earl Fletcher in 2018. The same pattern, 20 years apart, but the same shape. He's been doing this his whole career, Ry said. Finding leverage using it.
Yes, Ghost said, and he's been careful. Always one step removed. Cooper was the buffer for the 1999 thing. Different buffers for different jobs. Nothing in his name, but a photograph, Ray said.
Ghost looked at him. You have it. I have it. Does he know? He knows I was at that gathering.
He doesn't know if I have the photograph. He doesn't know what I remember. That's why he's watching you. Ghost said he's not sure what you can prove, but he can't afford to find out. They sat with that for a moment.
The radio in the bay played on. Conway Twitty something slow and certain about it. Dot Fitch. Ray said her husband was putting something together before he died. Ghost looked at him 9 years ago.
Gerald Fitch, you know about him? I know he was asking questions. I heard it at the time through Cooper. Actually, Cooper told me Gerald Fitch was becoming a problem. I didn't know what that meant until you just said it.
Ghost set down his coffee cup. Ray, if Hargrove had something to do with what happened to Gerald Fitch, we don't know that, Ry said. Not yet. No. Ghost said, "Not yet. " They both understood what yet meant.
Now Ghost said the other thing Ray looked at him. Ghost looked back. Just two men facing something Portland Ghost said. Portland Ray said 22 years ago. Situation that had required a decision that needed to be made fast and had consequences that lasted longer than either of them had anticipated.
Ry had made the call. It had been the right call for the people Ry had decided to prioritize. It had been a costly call for Ghost. Ghost's daughter had been involved tangentially in a way that the decision had made worse before it made better. The worst part had lasted 3 years.