Chapter 5 - The Offer on the Table
Mark took Beatrice to his truck and drove her to the diner two streets from the hospital.
She carried a battered handbag and looked as frightened as Lily had in the well.
"Start at the beginning," he said.
"Your father didn't own those springs the way your mother says he did."
Henry Whitcomb had inherited the estate, but the original family charter preserved the spring and adjoining meadow for the town's use.
For decades, residents drew water there during droughts.
Then Henry died, Margarethe locked the gates, and a developer began buying nearby farms.
"I thought that was ordinary business," Mark said.
"So did most people. Until your Claire found the tax papers."
Beatrice slid a newspaper across the table.
A photo showed Margarethe beside Victor Sloane, chief executive of Blue Ridge Water Group.
The headline announced a proposed thirty-two-million-dollar purchase of the Whitcomb spring lands.
Closing was scheduled for Friday.
Four days away.
"Mom told me she was considering offers," Mark said. "She never mentioned a date."
"Because your signature is required."
"I haven't signed anything."
Beatrice looked down.
"That's what Claire said too."
Mark's phone vibrated.
An email from Pike contained a scanned consent agreement bearing MARK H. WHITCOMB above a neat signature.
A signature Mark hadn't written.
He enlarged the image.
The date was the day Claire entered the hospital for her last treatment.
"This is forged."
A man in a dark coat stood up from the far booth, leaving a nearly full cup of coffee.
As he passed Mark, he leaned close enough to whisper, "Friday comes whether you cooperate or not."
May you like
Mark turned.
He recognized the voice from his mother's phone.
