Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(65)

Mathias certainly had one of the best poker faces I’d ever encountered. He remained pleasant and nodded. “Onward and upward, then. To the barn.”

The red barn sat near the house and was just as tall. Like the house, it was in need of new paint and wood. A few panels of wood were disintegrating. As we stepped inside, I was actually concerned the roof would collapse on our heads. Even with both doors open the inside reeked of dung, hay, and pure animal essence. Two cows and a goat chewed on their meal of grass and hay in their pens, and the brown-and-white-spotted horse did the same across the row. The chicken coop took up most of the space. There had to be over thirty chickens cackling inside. City-girl me wanted to leave immediately.

“We only use the animals for what they freely give, of course. Milk and eggs mostly,” Mathias explained. “We’re vegetarians. I always felt it was wrong to slaughter helpless animals when there’s no need to. We’ve evolved since our caveman days, when we were nomads and had to hunt to survive. These are the universe’s creatures just as much as we are. Just because we have sentience doesn’t make us better than them.”

“After taking care of Mathilda and Gracie here, I will never be able to look at a hamburger again,” Billy said.

“You did stop eating pork for a year after you saw Babe,” I said.

“I’m just sad we’ll have to sell Moonbeam,” Billy said, staring at the horse.



“The lumber for the new dorm won’t pay for itself,” Mathias said before looking at me. “We found him roaming the property and no one claimed him.”

“Did the other livestock come with the land when you bought it?” I asked.

“Actually, one of our members inherited the place and is kind enough to allow us all to stay here,” Mathias said.

A plausible enough scenario. I’d have to check on that when I got back to town. So neither The Temple nor The Apex was in his name. Or he could have been lying. I had my money on a shell company. So much for skipping a visit to the tax office. “That is very nice of them. And it’s fifty acres, right?”

“Fifty-seven, but sadly we only use about fifteen. Plenty of room for growth, though,” Mathias said.

“And the way we’re growing, we’ll need all of those acres,” Billy said, pressing on Betsy’s stomach. “I mean just look what he’s accomplished in a little over a year.”

“We accomplished,” Mathias said. “I did nothing.”

“You brought together dozens of lost, hopeless, vulnerable people and got them to listen to your every word. That is not nothing,” I said with a smile, but my eyes gave away the real sentiment. They burrowed into Mathias’s.

His narrowed a little. “Speak the truth and people will listen.”

“Really? I’ve always found people listen to what they want to hear, and usually that’s the last thing but the truth.”



“Well, that’s your opinion,” Mathias said.

“Yeah, that’s just your opinion, Iris,” Billy chimed in.

“It was one of the first things I learned when I earned my doctorate in psychology, then again at the FBI Academy, so I and most others do consider myself something of an expert.”

“Perhaps I’m just willing to give people like your brother more credit than you are, Dr. Ballard,” Mathias said pleasantly.

Billy hung his head a little. Fuck. Another point to Mathias. I was getting too far behind in the game. “Maybe you’re right,” I said. “I was born a cynic.”

“No, it’s completely understandable. After what you’ve seen and gone through, all the ugliness is bound to have colored your view of humanity. And you actually sought out to confront that ugliness. Of course you’re going to be harsh, hard, and cold,” he said with that fucking smile still on. The urge to slap it off was almost overwhelming.

If Billy noticed his guru’s dig he didn’t let on. He hadn’t defended me once, but if I so much as squinted at Mathias he jumped right on me. That stung. “Well, it’s gotten me this far in life. It’s helped me save innocent people from psychopaths, charlatans, and all the others who prey on the vulnerable.”

“It can also make you unyielding, selfish, and under the assumption you’re always right. And that, in turn, often alienates those around you. How lonely you must be, Dr. Ballard,” he said sympathetically. “Helen said as much. Guess you didn’t lie about that as you did everything else.”

Billy hung his head lower, as if he were the one who committed the crime. Yeah, I was done with the pantomime. “Thank you so much for the tour,” I said with a sneer, “but I’d like to spend some time with my brother now. Alone.”



“That is, of course, up to Billy,” Mathias said with a chuckle. He touched Billy’s shoulder. “Son?”

I had to suppress a shiver with that last word. Billy glanced at us both. “It-it’s fine. She went to so much trouble…”

“That she did,” Mathias said. “I’ll be up at the house if you need me. Do come say goodbye before you leave, Dr. Ballard.”

“Oh, I will.” Mathias nodded and started toward the open barn door. Betsy didn’t follow him. Wonderful. I smiled at the Manson girl. “Uh, do you mind?” I asked as nicely as I could. “I really do need to speak to my brother alone.”