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Attached, you will find a sales agreement, a disclosure statement, and a real estate deed, all of which only require your signature.

Also included is a check, made out to you, for $750,000, post-dated for November 10th, which is the deadline by which all of the above documents have to be signed and delivered to the address provided below.

Please note, my client is highly motivated to own the property at 14 Quarry Road, Silence, WA, 99315, and trusts we can expedite this matter and conclude it in an amicable manner.

Respectfully,

Henry J. Bennet, Esq.

PO Box 24761, Seattle, WA, 98246

* * *

Omar’s sharp whistle is piercing.

“No pressure though,” he jokes.

I’m not laughing, and neither is Rick, who softly curses under his breath.

“Is anyone else mentally adding, or else, to that last paragraph, or is it just me?” I inquire.

“I’d say there’s most definitely a silent, or else,” Omar confirms as he removes his gloves and tosses them in the garbage. “If you guys have things under control here, I’ll be heading back to the office.”

“We’re good,” Rick answers. “Thanks for keeping an eye out, and if you wouldn’t mind sending me the footage from the security cameras showing the delivery, I’d appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

As Omar heads to the door, he calls out, “Catch you later.”

I yell, “Bye,” while Rick simply grunts and—apparently no longer concerned about fingerprints or evidence—starts flipping through the pages of the documents attached.

“There it is…” He points an index finger at the name of the purchaser. “Same company that bought the quarry. With this property included, they’d own this entire side of the mountain.”

“To what end?” I’m curious to know.

“That’s the million-dollar question.”

Rick

* * *

“I agree. Someone needs to keep an eye on her.”

Having Mancuso so readily agree with me only deepens my concern.

I’d called him right after Omar left, and he showed up here half an hour later. I told Dana someone was here to pick up the papers and took them outside.

Mancuso just finished reading the cover letter for the second time.

That entire letter is a prime example of strong-arming. Although, legally there is probably nothing necessarily wrong with the content of the letter, which could simply be explained as a lawyer aggressively representing his client. But the implication is there, and it’s in that final, passive-aggressive statement—hoping for an amicable resolution as opposed to the implied alternative—the threat lies.

The fact they would approach a woman, living alone and somewhat isolated from the community, shows the kind of cold callousness that makes me doubt they would stop at threats.

“But we can’t put a full security detail on her,” the agent adds. “The moment these guys get wind of our involvement, not only this investigation, but potentially the two other active ones, will be compromised. We need to keep this low-key.”

I grind my teeth because the easiest way to neutralize any threat to Dana is to let on HDLink and their representatives are under scrutiny. However, all that would do is send anyone even remotely involved in this case scurrying for the shadows. We’d never get the full scope of the local corruption we just started uncovering.

“I have been keeping an eye on her, but I don’t always control where I’m going to be at any given time. That’ll have to be cleared with my bosses.”