Chapter 17 - Eight A.M.
At 7:12 the next morning, Evelyn and I entered the trust company with Detective Ortiz and two state investigators.
Leonard Greaves was not at his desk.
His assistant said he had called in sick.
Evelyn handed the bank’s general counsel a court order freezing Mesa Ridge.
The man read it twice.
Then his face hardened.
“Nothing moves.”
At 7:43, someone tried anyway.
A remote approval request hit the system using Greaves’s credentials.
The transfer failed because of the court freeze.
At 7:51, another request came through.
Then another.
Ortiz traced the authorization device to a hotel near Charlotte Douglas Airport.
Police arrived at 8:09.
Greaves was gone.
In the room they found two laptops, forged trust seals, and a shredder still warm.
Victor Saye had checked into the room under another name.
Security footage showed him leaving at 7:36 with Greaves.
Daniel studied the highway feeds.
“They’re heading west.”
“Airport?” I asked.
“No.”
He zoomed in on a traffic camera.
Victor’s SUV was towing a small utility trailer.
Evelyn looked at me.
“Mesa Ridge.”
Why would they go to the land after the electronic transfer failed?
Then I understood.
The original certificate.
Physical survey markers.
Mineral lease papers.
They were going to stage possession and create a record before law enforcement caught up.
Ortiz ordered units toward the property.
I stayed in Charlotte.
Again, I waited.
At 9:26, Daniel called.
“They found the SUV.”
“And Victor?”
“No.”
“What about Greaves?”
“No.”
“Then what did they find?”
Daniel hesitated.
“A fire.”
My grandfather’s old storage barn on Mesa Ridge was burning.
May you like
Inside that barn were the original mineral surveys my mother had protected for decades.
And according to a responding officer, someone was still trapped inside.
