CHAPTER TWO
“Good morning,” smiled Sadie kissing her husband on the cheek.
“Hi, babe. You got the desk today?” he asked.
“Yep, me and Margo. Your first appointment is here. They’re interesting,” she said.
“How so?” asked Patrick.
“They came all the way from Newport, Nebraska. It’s a tiny little town with nothing but farms, some livestock, salt of the earth people.”
“Okay. Good wholesome people. What do they want?” asked Gator.
“I think you need to speak to them,” she said smiling as she turned to get them from the waiting room. She turned back, biting her lip.
“Now you’re shy?” grinned Ham.
“Not shy, honey. Hopeful that you’ll help these people. They need you. They need us.” Sadie left and walked back down the hallway toward the front of the building. Their two guests had been picked up in New Orleans and brought to their offices, just like all the others.
“Hiro? Who brought this case in?” asked Gator.
“Marcel and Dan. They said they were sitting in the bed of an old run-down pick-up truck, dirty and tired. Super polite, great handshake, and both said they didn’t believe either man had ever told a lie in their life. They said they just had a gut feeling that they were truthful, good men.”
The men stared at one another wondering what this was all about just as Sadie entered with two large, sturdy men. They both wore blue jeans, plaid shirts that had seen better days but were tucked in, secured with belts. Their boots were scuffed and covered in something they couldn’t name.
“Good morning,” said Ham and the others standing. “Welcome to Legacy.”
“Morning,” said Ernie. “My name is Ernie Paulsen. This is my neighbor and friend, Pat Stotz.”
“Nice to meet you both. Take a seat. We’ve got hot coffee and some breakfast for you,” said Gator.
“Much obliged,” said Ernie. “We drove all night to get here and need to get back soon.”
“Drove all night? You drove here from Nebraska?” asked Patrick.
“Yes, sir. Didn’t have much choice. Flights are expensive and not in our budgets. In fact, before we get too far into this, you need to know that you’re not in our budget either. We’re hoping we can make a deal.”
“A deal?” asked Gator.
“Yes, sir. We’ll provide crops, meat, whatever we can to you and your families for a designated period of time.” Gator stared at the man, then at the others in the room.
“Ernie, can I call you Ernie?” the other man nodded. “Ernie, what is it that you need help with?”
“Well, sir, Pat and I went to high school together and joined the Army right after school. Mostly it was to experience a little of the outside world and get agricultural degrees. We weren’t anything special. Not like y’all.”
“And how do you know we were special?” asked Ham.
“Folks talk. Especially those in the military. We honestly weren’t sure you were even real. But we prayed. See, we both run large farms. Farms that our families have been on for over a hundred years.”
“That’s impressive,” said Gator. “Thank you for what you do.”
“Just that statement alone tells me you’re the right folks for the job,” said Pat.
“See, there’s been this developer snooping around for the last year.
He started out just looking, asking questions about folks who might want to sell.
Of the eight major farms in our area, only one sold.
They were near bankruptcy anyway. Got pennies on the dollar for their land. ”
“I hate to hear that,” frowned Gator.
“You have no idea. This man, Theo Grant and a woman, June Morgan, are harassing everyone about their land. We think he might be working with the Mayor as well. They want all the farms. All seven that are left. More than ten thousand acres of land.”
“Are they offering a fair price?” asked Gator.
“The prices are fair but the land isn’t for sale. The longer we say no, the lower the prices go and the more things start to happen on the property or to one of us,” said Pat.
“What things?” asked Ham folding his arms across his chest.
“One of our neighbors has lost eleven cows in the last week. Eleven. One might be explained. Not eleven. No one wants to do any tests to see if it was poison or something else.
“Another neighbor’s entire corn crop was suddenly flattened, dead, everything gone. No one seems to be able to explain it. He’s devastated. Wife left him, took the kids, all of it. Farming is a tough life and when someone intentionally makes it tougher, it feels overwhelming to you.”
“Damn,” frowned Patrick.
“We can’t leave our land, sir. It’s all we have.
It’s all that matters to us. My great-grandfather bought this land when no one else wanted it.
He worked himself to death just to plant a few acres of crops.
My grandfather followed, then my father.
Each one making it bigger, better, and more profitable.
“The last few years have been rough. Strange weather anomalies. Heat. Early freezes. Tornadoes. Hail, you name it. We’re all operating on a shoestring and praying that this year will happen without major incident,” said Ernie.
“I’m not sure you’ve answered our question yet. What is it that you need us to do?” asked Gator.
“We need you to find out if this developer is causing the damage to the crops and animals. If so, we have legal recourse. It would be us against the big guys but we would be willing to fight if we knew that they were causing all this grief.”
“And if they aren’t?”
“Well, sir. If they aren’t, then we can’t blame this on him, we’re all done for.”