Chapter 8 #2
“In order of importance, because I’m Roni’s best friend, there have been instances of harassment prior to today, and we’re happy to have an excellent location for ongoing education and training purposes.
That contract helps the Hargraves and helps our team.
Our regional coordinator set that up. Jess Billings. ”
“I have her information.” With a glance around the table, Holly turned the recorder back on. “I’ll definitely highlight the events you have coming up. If possible, it would be wonderful to have the inside track on any further issues out there.”
“I’ll do my best,” Brayden said.
“Celeste,” Holly turned, smiled. “When the construction is done, do you think the new condos will affect your business?”
“Not at all.” Celeste crossed her legs, the picture of ease. “We offer different hospitality experiences. We all agree there’s plenty of tourism to go around.”
Roni was impressed by her sister’s composure.
“By different, are you referring to the Hideaway’s private beach?”
Nat snorted, Roni elbowed her, and Celeste kept her focus on Holly. “That’s one aspect, of course. We’re confident that when construction is finished, the noise will be inconsequential again, thanks to the protected maritime forest.”
Roni approved of Celeste’s careful choice of words. That forest was federally protected and more than anything else, gave her confidence that Indigo Reef would be forced to back down. Eventually.
Once again, Holly turned off the recorder.
Resuming her seat, she gave a long sigh and lifted a troubled gaze to each of them in turn.
“There’s another reason I’m glad we’re talking today.
” She walked over to her desk and picked up a long document tube leaning against the wall.
She returned to the table and opened it, unrolling the contents. “Have a look.”
Veronica stood up for a better look, scanning the blue and white lines and notations on the document. “Is that a plat map?”
“It’s the official county plat map for the Hideaway and adjacent properties.
” Holly tapped her finger against the boundary line between the Hideaway and the Indigo Reef site.
“I pulled this from the county registry office this morning after the commotion with the warrant.” She glanced up.
“I’m not oblivious to the tactics Indigo Reef has been using to drive off your guests.
” She straightened, grinning. “In fact, the Devaney family has been especially effusive about praising the three of you for being so professional. The Monroes as well.”
Roni appreciated that Holly was being fair in her research of the story, but the map concerned her. “This can’t be right. Celeste, look at this. This puts the entire maritime forest and about half of our private beach and dunes inside Indigo Reef’s property line.”
“No way,” Natalie gasped, pushing out of her chair for a closer look. “That’s bogus! If anything, that forest is an easement. Protected land.”
“Protected land, yes, but inside Indigo Reef’s control.
I asked all the questions I could,” Holly continued.
“This map was filed and recorded with the county land registry three weeks ago. It was pushed through and they’ve filed an application for an easement allowing beach access.
Effectively Indigo Reef has a thirty-foot right-of-way directly to your high-water mark. ”
Veronica felt the blood drain from her face, a cold, sickening dread wrapping around her ribs.
She sank back in the chair. “How is that possible? Our parents bought this property with clear, deeded beach access. It was the sole reason they chose this lot on Brookwell over other options. That’s been falsified. ”
“You may be right,” Holly said. “This plat map and the easement application were signed off and approved by an assistant registrar who moved away last week. At first glance, it smells like corporate bribery, but on paper, this is the active, legal map of record. If challenged, Indigo Reef’s lawyers can use this document to argue that you are trespassing on their deeded beach access. ”
“They forged a paper trail,” Celeste snarled. “There must be a way to prove it.”
Roni looked to Brayden for any kind of support, but he was on his phone, texting furiously.
He leaned over and took a few photos of the map, and sent those as well.
“Getting research to dig into it,” he said.
“They’re a step ahead again. Using a corrupt county official to steal your land before we can prove their fraud. ”
Hearing the banked temper in his voice made her feel better. He wasn’t unmoved. Neither was he defeated.
“How do we counter this?” Celeste’s cool composure finally cracked.
Roni saw tears in her sister’s eyes. “Our copy of the original deed is locked in the family deposit box, but it’s a standard property description.
It doesn’t have the historic ‘in perpetuity’ beach access rules and easements our parents always raved about. ”
Veronica stared at the map, her mind racing. A memory—vague but persistent—flashed in her mind. Her father, sitting at the old roll-top desk in the library at home, carefully rolling up a thick, yellowed piece of parchment bound with a faded red ribbon.
He knows where the original, historic plat map is. The potential conflict was a band squeezing her chest. Talking to their dad would piss off her sisters. But they needed information he surely had.
Of course, that assumed he’d answer her in a timely manner.
The others talked while she debated. She could push.
She would push. He had to remember what the house meant to him and the entire family from those first days.
Grief was a funny thing, but he couldn’t possibly have forgotten those early years where they’d relaxed and played and fished and tried to surf.
Everything about the original house was light and love and hope and joy.
If anyone had the documentation to clear up this fraud, it was their dad. And down deep, despite his persistent evasion, he loved them all. He wouldn’t want them to lose this connection to their mother.
She watched Celeste and Natalie. Their faces were set in hard, stubborn lines as they brainstormed with Holly to find the best way forward.
She couldn’t mention her plan here without triggering another emotional battle.
But she also knew their father was the best, immediate resource to save their home and their business.
Roni stood again. “We have to find the original land grant documents,” she said, keeping her voice even. “The ones from before the county registry was even digitized.”
“If those historical documents exist, they would trump a modern zoning amendment,” Holly agreed, rolling the map back up. “I’ll check the archives here, just in case. Finding them in the county archives could take months.”
After this morning’s stunt, she wasn’t sure they had weeks.
“We’ll find them,” Brayden promised, his hand coming to rest gently at Roni’s lower back, a silent, reassuring anchor of support.
As they filed out of the office into the bright afternoon sun, the salt air held the sting of an impending storm. The dark clouds on the horizon, hemming in the island, were a perfect reflection of the vise tightening around her heart and home.
Once they reached the truck, Roni clutched her phone in her pocket, her pulse thundering in her ears as she debated the best words to cut through her father’s apathy. She needed a response, a solution, and there was no time to waste.