Chapter 22 #2
I found Claire and Scout in the small plot near the treeline, tending the fodder beets that Abner grew for his goats. Claire was on her knees in the dirt, pulling weeds. Scout stood nearby with a hoe, breaking up the soil between rows. Both women looked up as I approached.
"Thomas." Claire's smile faded when she saw my expression. "What's wrong?"
"Got something from the county today." I handed her the notice. "Fifteen days to retrench my electrical lines or they cut me off."
Claire read it, her face hardening. Scout moved closer to look over her shoulder.
"Thirty-three thousand dollars," Claire said quietly. "Thomas, that's robbery."
"My attorney says the technical violation might be real, but the enforcement is being driven by someone with county connections. Three guesses who."
Claire handed the notice back. She didn't look surprised. She looked tired, like someone who'd been expecting a blow and finally received it.
"He came here two weeks ago."
I stared at her. "Harlan?"
"Showed up on a Tuesday afternoon. Very friendly, very reasonable as always.
He said he wanted to talk about the property, see if we could come to an arrangement that worked for everyone.
" Claire's jaw tightened. "He offered to buy the entire farm.
Named a figure that was actually fair, which surprised me.
Said he'd let us stay in the house for a year while we found somewhere else. "
"And if you didn't sell?"
"He didn't threaten, not directly. He just mentioned how hard it must be, running a farm alone.
How the tea market was unpredictable. How county regulations were getting stricter every year.
How a single mother with a young son and an aging mother might find it easier to take the money and start fresh somewhere else. "
"Implied threat."
"Clear as day." Claire stood up, brushing dirt from her knees. "I told him I wasn't selling. Not to him. Not ever. He asked why I was being so stubborn about it. I said I'd hired an attorney."
"What did he say to that?"
"Asked what I needed an attorney for. Said I was wasting money on legal fees when we could settle this like neighbors." Her voice hardened. "That's when I lost my temper."
"What did you do?"
"Told him I knew about the well rights. Knew about the tax abatement fraud. Knew he'd been cheating my father for decades while pretending to be his friend. I told him to get the fuck off my property."
"I wish I could have seen that," I said.
"His face." Claire shook her head. "He wasn't angry, he was offended. Like I'd violated some rule of politeness by calling him what he is. He left without another word. That was two weeks ago. I think that's why he's escalating now."
I took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I didn't want to worry you. You were dealing with your own problems. The septic inspection, your building projects. I thought I could handle Harlan myself."
"Claire. We're in this together now. Whatever he does to one of us affects all of us."
"I know." She looked down. "I know that now."
"Your attorney. What does he say about his visit?"
Silence. Claire's shoulders dropped.
"Claire?"
"I don't have an attorney." The words came out flat and defeated. "Not yet. I tried. Called every property lawyer on the peninsula. None of them would take the case."
"None of them?"
"They all said the same thing in different ways.
Conflict of interest. Too busy. Not their area of expertise.
One was honest enough to tell me the truth.
Nobody around here wants to go up against Harlan Foster.
He's got too many friends, too much influence.
Taking his case means making an enemy for life. "
"What about Seattle? Olympia?"
"I found someone in Bellevue. Young guy, hungry, willing to look at the documents. He said I had a strong case. Multiple instances of fraud, clear paper trail, potential for significant damages." She laughed bitterly. "Then he told me his retainer."
"How much?"
"Ten thousand to start. And he couldn't take it on contingency. Said property disputes like this take years to resolve. He'd need to be paid as we went."
"You don't have that kind of money."
"I barely have money for bills and chicken feed.
This first harvest was good, but all the money went to debt.
The tea harvest might change things next year, but right now?
" She shook her head. "The attorney offered to write a stern letter, something to scare Harlan into settling.
But I know Harlan. He'd see right through it.
He'd know the letter was a bluff, that I couldn't afford to follow through.
It would make things worse, not better."
"So you've got nothing."
"I've got nothing." Claire's voice cracked. "I'm sorry, Thomas. I told you I'd hired a lawyer... and I hadn't. I wanted it to be true. I wanted to have something to fight back with. But I failed. I tried my best and I just can't find anyone to help us."
I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I understand. You did what you could."
"It wasn't enough."
"It's not over yet. I've still got my attorney. Marcus Webb, out of Seattle. He's looking into this. Maybe he can help with the fraud issues, too."
"Can you afford him?"
"For now. And I've got other contacts from my insurance days. People who know how to dig into property records, trace ownership histories, find the bodies buried in the paperwork. Harlan's been operating for decades. That means decades of evidence."
Scout leaned on her hoe. "Harlan's been trying to push us off our land for fifteen years. That's how long my father and I have been living without grid power. He got the county to cite us for the same kind of violation you just received."
"Your father told me the whole thing," I said. "And now Harlan Foster is trying the same thing with me."
"You're new. You're connected to Claire. You bought the land he wanted." Scout's blue eyes were steady. "He is a scoundrel. He's going to keep coming until you either leave or make him stop."
I looked at these two women. Claire, exhausted and worried, carrying the weight of a farm and a family and a fight she couldn't afford. Scout, young and fierce, raised outside a system that had done nothing for her or her father.
"I'm not leaving," I said. "And I'm going to find a way to make him stop."
Scout nodded. "My father and I will help however we can. He knows things about Harlan that might be useful. Old history. Old grudges."
"I'll help too," Claire said. "Whatever you need. Research, paperwork, testimony. I'm so tired of being scared of him."
I looked at them both and felt something shift in my chest. For twenty-two years I'd worked alone, handled problems alone, faced setbacks alone. Even in my marriage I'd been alone in the ways that mattered.
Not anymore.
"We'll figure this out together," I said. "All of us."