Читать книгу Expecting His Secret Heir - Dani Wade, Dani Wade - Страница 13

Five

“It’s the truth, I tell ya.”

Sadie couldn’t help but grin at the man before her. Wearing the traditional farmer uniform of overalls, plaid shirt, ball cap and messy white hair, he was a perfect candidate for sitting on a bench in the town square. So were the other two grandfatherly types with him. But he was the talker.

“I think you’re pulling my leg,” Sadie insisted, knowing it would spur him on.

“No, I would never,” he said with a sincere shake of his head. “But I betcha they’re all in on it. The other cotton industries are pressuring the state to shut us down, because they want the business we’ve always had here. That’s why all of this is happening.”

She knew old men were prime candidates to become conspiracy theorists. They had too much time to sit around and think and talk and spin events into the way they wanted to see them. So she asked, “But Blackstone Mills has been here since the town started, hasn’t it?”

“And still putting out quality product,” one of the other men, Earl, said. “That’s why they have to put us out of business.”

Well, as much as she’d like to brush them off, the fact that a bomb had exploded here couldn’t be denied. That was deliberate malice, so someone definitely had it in for Blackstone Mills. And the police weren’t talking yet.

“I still don’t understand why anyone would want to put you out of business,” she said, hoping to get more gossip. “Wouldn’t someone local have to be in on this? Have access to the plant?”

“Oh, they were,” Mr. Farmer breathed.

“The other textile companies found someone local to do their dirty work, we’re pretty sure,” Earl said.

Farmer interrupted, “We heard about all kinds of things. Can’t keep stuff like that secret. Equipment failure and missing shipments. But it was the cotton that was the kicker.”

Now they were getting somewhere. Sadie forgot about the lines of men behind her, getting loaded up by fellow workers with their safety gear after she’d streamlined the process for them. Zach had introduced her to the lead volunteer then disappeared, which she was grateful for now, because she was pretty sure these old-timers wouldn’t be speaking to her with him around.