Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(92)

Monty waved his hand in concession. “I’m not arguing about family ties. The problem lies in the rest of the statement. Val’s land was lost long ago. We hold the deed now.”

Sam’s stomach tied in knots, but this was why she had to put everything out in the open. Walker had professional reasons to keep quiet. She didn’t. “Walker has had men investigating me, and in the process, they have searched the property office. This is public information. You can look for yourself. The farm is owned by a trust. He says the documents he’s located show Val and I are the beneficiaries of that trust.”

Mariah looked stunned. “How is that possible? No one even knew you existed! What if you hadn’t found your way up here? Who would get the land then? Are you sure Walker isn’t perpetrating some scam?”

Monty shook his head. “Sorry, not to demean Walker in any way, but that’s dreaming. The condo company has the deeds or they wouldn’t be spending money to draw up development plans. My father set it all up long ago, but we’ve tried to stay out of it until now. I don’t doubt Walker’s done his job, but there is apparently a missing piece.”

“And that’s me,” Sam said quietly, thinking about what Mariah had just asked about who might get the land if she hadn’t showed up. “As long as I didn’t exist and Val barely clings to reality, there might have been some hope of fighting for ownership.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Monty said. “No respectable company spends money based on wishful thinking!”

Sam shook her head. “Cass knows, she’s just not talking. I think she’s afraid more people will die if she does. She raised my father as her son, and losing him must have hurt very much. I don’t know what it cost her when my mother sent me away as an infant. You and Kurt were just kids and wouldn’t care. I think everyone simply kept quiet after your father’s death and the threat of development faded away.”

Monty glared as if he’d like to snap logs. “I’ll call my lawyer. This is ridiculous. Too many years of planning went into this development to believe this Lucy nonsense.”

“Your lawyer and mine probably ought to look into this together,” she agreed, putting her executor’s business card on the desk. “But if what Walker has uncovered is truth, and he has no reason to lie, then someone worked very hard and sacrificed a lot to keep you from ever developing the farm. It may be time to locate my birth mother.”

Mariah was still looking stunned. “How is any of this possible? How can land sit there for twenty-five years and no one own it? The taxes alone would ensure the county moved in.”

“If the trust works like the one my father inherited, then an executor is handling it. He has no authority to sell while we’re alive, but there was apparently money involved in the settlement suit. I don’t know how much is left, but if someone intended no one to develop that land, the money must be invested to produce enough income to cover taxes.”

“And executor fees,” Monty added. “And this is all highly improbable. I was too young to know the details but Alan assured us that the court favored the bank, the foreclosure was allowed, and his company took over. The Ingerssons died shortly after the suit was settled. I vaguely remember them stubbornly refusing to leave and living in a tent after fire wiped out the farmhouse. But I was only five or six at the time. I don’t remember their deaths. I’m sorry Val feels as if she was cheated out of her home, but the past is past.”

“Could you call your development people and ask to see a copy of the deed?” Sam suggested.

The land meant nothing to her, but the town was important to her friends and the condos were important to her family. She was damned no matter which way she turned.

Monty scowled but picked up his landline and dialed a number he apparently knew by heart. “Is Gump there? Fine, then tell him I need to see a copy of the deed on the old Ingersson property.” He listened for a minute and his scowl deepened. “I want to frame photos of the land as it is now and include deeds as part of the montage. Right. Let me know when they’re available. Thanks.”

He hung up and glared. “There’s no one in the office who can produce them right now. They’ll get back to me.”

Mariah stood up, looking militant. “Hitch up the lawyers, folks, it’s time to visit the courthouse. Someone, somewhere is lying, and my bet is on your development company.”

Monty stood, frowning formidably and looking at his watch. “It’s too late now, but I’ll call my lawyer in the morning. A deed to a trust is meaningless without looking into ownership of the trust.”

He nodded at Sam. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll see if Kurt has done his homework, but we’re not lawyers. We rely on the people we work with to be trustworthy. I have no reason to doubt a company that has spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on planning this development, but it’s good to double check. You need to do the same.”

“I intend to, but I didn’t want to do it behind your back. I’d really like to make Hillvale my home, but I can’t if my families are at war. I’ve lived without a home for six years. I can do it again. But I’d hoped there might be a place for me here,” Sam said wistfully. She stood and wished she had the right to hug her uncle. He looked unhappy. But she didn’t think he’d appreciate the gesture.