Road to Nowhere Read Online Free

him along the Fort Ashe River. It was almost quaint in the moonlight. Just as long as a person didn’t look too close. Quaint and derelict were about three steps apart, and this place had already taken two of them.
    What they needed was a good flood to get rid of a few buildings and clean off the rest.
    At the far end was mighty King Food with its seven, count them, seven aisles of groceries. Cornelia drove all the way to Asheville instead of setting foot in that dump.
    Time to call Raleigh. “I want to talk to Charlie.” Right after the Fort Ashe bridge, the road got in range of a cell tower for a mile.
    He’d covered half of it before he finally heard, “Charlie Ryder.”
    “Hey, boss, it’s Wade. I was at the supervisors’ meeting tonight and something came up.”
    “Zoning again?”
    “No. A road. The road from Gold Valley over the mountain into Wardsville.”
    No answer.
    “Charlie, are you there?” It was dead. This was too hard. No use trying in these hills—he needed to be on the interstate if he was going to have a phone conversation. So he got himself to the interstate, and didn’t waste time doing it.
    But he still had enough time to think. Charlie always had some deal up his sleeve. Usually too many deals. The more Wade thought about Gold River Highway, the more it was starting to look like a setup.
    Right when he hit the ramp, his phone rang.
    “What road did you say?” Charlie said.
    Yeah, and hello to you, too. “Gold River Highway into Wardsville. Brand-new paved highway.”
    “They said that at the meeting?”
    “It’s some special funding from the state,” Wade said. “It’s just a chance, though, not a sure thing.”
    “I want that road.”
    “I know, Charlie.” Like talking to a three-year-old. “That’s why I called. Do you know anything about it?”
    There was static. “I couldn’t hear you,” Charlie was saying.
    “I’m just saying, if you’re going to fix something in Raleigh, you could let me know first.”
    “You just take care of it at your end,” Charlie said. “I could start two hundred houses up there the minute that road is announced.”
    “I know. But we don’t have the money yet. We’re just asking Raleigh for it.”
    “I’ll take care of Raleigh.”
    “It’ll still have to be approved here, too.”
    “Then approve it.”
    “It’s not easy. We have to vote on it. The Board of Supervisors.”
    “Aren’t you a supervisor or something?”
    “One of five.”
    “Then fix it with the others, who are they, anyway?”
    “That’s why it would have been nice to have a little warning. Just a minute.” He set the phone down to pass a truck. And take a deep breath. “Okay, here it goes. I represent Gold Valley. That’s one yes vote. Randy McCoy represents Wardsville. He’ll vote against it because it’ll come right down into his neighborhood.”
    “Does it have to?”
    “That’s what they say.”
    “So forget him for now. Who else?”
    “Joe Esterhouse is a tobacco farmer, and his district is all the farms around Marker. He doesn’t care, he’ll vote for it. Louise Brown will probably vote for it. Her district is southeast—it’s called Coble.”
    “That’s enough votes?”
    “Maybe. When all the people in Mountain View in Wardsville start unloading on her, she could change her mind. She’s pretty touchy-feely.”
    “Who’s the fifth?”
    “Eliza Gulotsky. Nutcase, certified. She just got elected as the at-large member and it was her first meeting. She’ll vote no. Unless maybe it’s a full moon or her tea leaves tell something different.”
    “Then work on the other lady.”
    “And besides, Joe the farmer, he’s eighty. He’ll vote yes if he lives long enough, but the guy could keel over tomorrow. That’s what happened to Mort, the other geezer. He was the guy before Eliza. They found him in his barn, heart attack or stroke or something. Too bad, he would have voted for the road.”
    “Get that lady’s vote,” Charlie said.