Deadly Revenge (Pearl River #3)

Chapter 40

40

“Didn’t you and your dad have a row with the city about building a garage?” Max asked before Junior could walk away. He’d been waiting for an opportunity to ask Junior about Carter’s remarks.

“We didn’t have a squabble with them—it was the other way around. Dad just told ’em he didn’t care what they passed, he was building a garage on the empty lot beside his store. They’re the ones who made a big deal out of it, but the garage got built. And nobody made us tear it down.”

“He’s right,” Todd said. “The mayor and city council are the ones who made a fuss.”

That wasn’t the way Max heard it, and he personally couldn’t understand why the city would have a problem—the garage was bound to bring in tax money, and anytime there was a way to keep a hometown boy at home, it was a good thing. Unless it was a power play, and he could see Carter doing something like that. He stood and extended his hand. “Thanks for talking to us.”

The three men shook hands and Junior and Todd walked back to their table while Max sat down and put away his notepad and pen. He’d thought about using his tablet to make notes, but considering his “big city ways” might irritate Junior, he opted for old school. He turned to Jenna. “I’d say first on our agenda for this afternoon is to find your grandfather’s accident report.”

She opened her phone. “I’ll text Alex. She’ll know where to look.”

After Max blessed their meal, they dug into the food. After a few bites, he said, “I don’t usually like meat loaf, but this is great.”

“Pete claims it’s his mama’s recipe.”

“Well, I’d like to have it.”

She chuckled. “What? To give to your mama?”

He gave her the evil eye. “No. For me.” They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Max said, “We need to find out what company bought up the property before the dam was built.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard—should be listed on Russell County’s Registrar of Deeds website.”

“Yeah, but we’d need the name of the person they bought property from.” Max tapped his finger on the phone.

“How about we stop by the courthouse on the way to the office?”

“That’s probably the quickest way to find out.”

After they finished eating, they walked to the courthouse on the next block and climbed the steps to the main floor. Max searched for the registrar’s office. “Do you see it?”

“No, but it could be on the next floor. Let me step into the Circuit Court’s office.” Jenna disappeared into the nearest office and soon reappeared. “It’s upstairs.”

Halfway up the steps, Max said, “We could’ve taken the elevator.”

“What? And miss all this exercise? Come on, softy.”

The registrar’s office was the last room on the right. Max held the door for Jenna then followed her inside.

“May I help you?” An older woman stood behind the counter that divided the room, her eyebrows raised expectantly. Then she smiled. “Jenna Hart, as I live and breathe! I heard you were back.”

“Seven months now,” Jenna said, eyeing the white-haired clerk. Then her eyes widened. “Mrs. Croft! I didn’t know you were the registrar.” She turned to Max. “This is my fifth-grade teacher.” She turned back to the registrar. “How long—”

“Oh, ten years now.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “I’m so glad you came back to Pearl Springs. Now what can I do for you?”

“We’re looking for the name of a company that bought property in the valley before the dam was built,” Max said.

“Hmmm ... That would have been around the 1990s, and I wasn’t here then. None of the records prior to 2002 are digitalized. Let me think about that a minute.” Then she smiled. “We need to look at the maps. Follow me.”

They pushed through the half swinging door and followed her to a room with all sorts of maps rolled up. She pointed to the wall. “That’s the current map—we’ll compare it to one from the time period you’re looking for.”

She pulled a map, looked at it, rolled it back up, and picked another. “This is it.”

Mrs. Croft unrolled the map and laid it on a table in the middle of the room. “Here’s the Pearl River.”

She traced her finger along the river, occasionally looking up at the current map. Finally she tapped on an area that corresponded to the lake. “This is where the dam and lake are now.”

After writing down the number on it, she walked to bookshelves containing ledgers and ran her fingers over the backs. “Let’s try these first.”

She pulled out two large red leather-bound books and handed one to Jenna and the other to Max. “I believe you’ll find what you’re looking for in these pages. If you don’t find it, look in the books on either side. Feel free to spread out on the other table.”

“Thank you,” Jenna called after her as the older woman left them.

Max took his book to the table and opened it. The first deed was in 1997. “What year should we be looking for?”

“’98 or ’99.”

He flipped over to the middle of the book. The deed was dated March of 1998. This was more like it. Max turned the pages, quickly scanning each for a company name as the landowner on the deed. He hoped Junior was correct and not just assuming a company had bought up the land at a low price and then turned around and sold it to the state.

He was three quarters through the book when he saw a company name. TerraQuest Corporation. Close enough to Todd Donelson’s earth reference.

“I found something!”

“I think I have too,” Max said. “What’s the name on yours?”

“TerraQuest.”

Same as his. “I believe we’ve found the company. What’s the date?”

“February 1999. Yours?”

“December ’99.” He took out his phone and snapped a photo of the deed. “See how many deeds you can find with TerraQuest as property owners and take a photo of each one.”

“Do you want me to document any other deeds with the state as the purchaser?”

“That’s a good idea.”

She nodded, and both set to work documenting the deeds. They found twelve tracts of land that the corporation had sold to the state for the dam, and seven that belonged to individuals.

“Did you notice the difference in what the state paid TerraQuest compared to the others?” Jenna asked.

“No.” Max hadn’t taken the time to read the details of the deeds, and he scrolled back through his photos, enlarging one to read the print. There was quite a discrepancy. “I wonder how much TerraQuest paid for the land?”

“There’s a reference in the description for previous sale and owner. We’ll have to pull more books, but at least we know which deed book to look in.”

“That’s a silver lining.” He high-fived her.

Max scrolled to the description while Jenna did the same on her phone. They both reached to pull the same book.

“That figures,” she said. “Maybe the TerraQuest deeds are all together.”

They weren’t but neither were they that far apart. Max compared the price the corporation had paid for the land with the price the state paid them and whistled. “TerraQuest made a killing.”

“And they were paid a whole lot more than anyone else, but why?”

Max didn’t like what he was thinking, but crooked appraisers in the past weren’t unheard of. Nowadays an appraiser would have to get really creative to pull what appeared to have happened here. He shared his thought with Jenna.

“I wonder how we could find out who the appraiser was?”

“It would be on the transcripts of the eminent domain trials, and those records will be in the Chancery Court office.”

“I wonder who owns this TerraQuest?” Jenna said.

“Mrs. Croft might know, particularly if the company has purchased land since she’s been registrar.”

Max shelved the heavy books, and they went in search of the registrar. She was busy with a man dressed in khakis and a short-sleeve shirt. When they finished their conversation, the man glanced at them, and his eyes widened.

“Jenna Hart? I haven’t seen you since you moved into your old place.”

She winced. “I’m sorry—I’ve been so busy.” Jenna turned to Max and introduced the two men. “Years ago, Dad gave me the house I’m living in, thinking I’d come back home. I didn’t want to sell it, and Mr. Weaver owns a rental management company—he took care of renting it out while I was in Chattanooga.” She turned to Weaver. “By the way, thank you for making sure no one damaged anything.”

“You say you manage rentals?” Max said. Something nagged at his mind. If Rick Sebastian was in Pearl Springs, he would need a place to stay. When the older man nodded, Max pulled up the photo of Sebastian the county and city officers had been circulating and held out his phone. “Have you rented anything to this person?”

Weaver peered at the phone, then took out a pair of black-rimmed glasses and looked again. He shook his head. “Haven’t seen anybody who looks like that.”

“Have you been approached by anyone you don’t know?”

“All the time. About half my rentals go to people I never see—they contact me by email and provide references and put up a hefty deposit. I do require a photo ID, though.” He nodded toward Max’s phone. “And none of them look like this guy.”

Max figured there was nothing to stop them from providing a fake ID. “How many houses have you rented lately?”

“Lately? Seven or eight.”

“Are you in charge of the Armstrong place?” Jenna asked. “Bryan Bishop said the new owners were renting it out.”

“I am. Rented it to some people from out of town back in March. They’re never late on the rent, either—deposit drops in my bank account right on the dot.”

Max took out his notepad. “Do you have a name?”

Weaver briefly shifted his eyes toward the ceiling, then he shook his head. “I’ll have to look at my records.”

“Bryan’s grandson said they scared him.”

“That boy is scared of his own shadow,” Weaver said. “But I know these are nice people.”

His tone said they were insulting him by insinuating he’d rent to anyone who wasn’t.

“I’m sure they are,” Max said. “Would you mind giving us a list of the names and addresses of non-local people renting property for the last six months?”

“I suppose I could, but you’ll have to wait until the morning. I have a doctor’s appointment in Chattanooga, and I’m leaving as soon as I get finished here.”

“Nine o’clock?” Jenna asked.

“That’s when I generally get to my office.” He nodded. “See you there tomorrow.”

When the door closed behind him, Mrs. Croft asked, “Did you find the deeds you were looking for?”

“We think so. Have you ever heard of TerraQuest Corporation?”

Mrs. Croft tapped her lips with her index finger. “The name rings a bell, but I’m not sure how.” She turned to her computer. “Let’s see if that name pops up.”

The hourglass appeared. “This thing has been so slow all day.” She shook the mouse, and a message popped up on the screen. No files found.

“That’s strange,” the registrar said. “Why would a corporation come in and buy that land and then disappear?”

Why indeed? Max intended to find out.