Return to Apple Grove Ch. 01

"Who was going to try that?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound idle, as Teresa took her turn petting the canine Mr. Crowbar.

"Some of the local businesspeople." said Mrs. Owens. "The bank people, Mr. Phillips at Grove and Partners, one of our Town Councilmen." I nodded.

Teresa took a picture of Timmy and Mr. Crowbar, and sent it to Cindy, who texted back that she was happy boy and dog were looking good. Mrs. Owens asked Teresa to text to Cindy Mrs. Owens's gratitude, and that of her husband, to Cindy and her father for all they'd done to help the Owens in their time of desperation. Cindy's reply was to say to thank Mr. Crowbar... the human one, who'd made it all possible.

I petted Mr. Crowbar some more. Dogs make things better. And Mr. Crowbar was a cool and most very worthy namesake.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As the others talked, I excused myself to make a quick phone call. I called Cindy's Police iPhone on my own Police iPhone.

"Hi, Deputy Chief Ross." I said. "Welcome to being Police Commander for a day. I need you to do something for me." I described what I needed Cindy to do for me...

Part 8 - The Plan

"Okay, here's what we've found." said Todd, who was sitting at his grandfather's desk in the library room of my boyhood home. He looked like he belonged there, the handsome young CEO of a growing tech company. "The agreements signed by both parties when BigAgraFoods backed out of the sale covered the costs to the Providence group for the loans they were taking out but would be backing out of, and the costs that had occurred, such as the testing of the soil, legal paperwork preparation, and such. We can't find any documentation that the cost of the option to buy the land was ever actually refunded or the Providence group made whole."

"Ah, so they can exercise those options, and buy the land." I said.

"Well, here's the rub, Uncle Don." said Todd. "The options expire at the end of this month. Which means we have to file the paperwork before the Courthouse closes tomorrow."

"And will you be able to do that?" I asked.

"We're going to do it." said one of Todd's lawyers, who was sitting in the room with us. "We'll file, along with BOW Enterprises's cashier's check to pay for the land at the agreed price. We worked out a contract with the Providence group to buy the options. If the deal doesn't go through, we'll pay them the price they paid for the options plus ten percent more. If the deal does go through, they'll have the choice of paying for the land, which we'll rent, or we'll pay them a fair market value price for the land, which will be determined as if the aquifer does exist and can support an industrial concern on that land."

"What will you be doing there, out of idle curiosity?" I asked.

"I'm going to build a facility to manufacture several routine products." said Todd. "We have some serious interest in more of Tanya's Tanks, and we're coming out with Tanya's Tank II, which will be wheel-based rather than track-based. We're also coming out with something for Fire Departments. After Roy Easley was injured rescuing that boy in that fire, we're coming up with a very portable, one-time-use, self-contained breathing mask. Four minutes or so of air. Easley could've put that on the child and kept his own mask on. We'll be making those here, and selling them to fire departments pretty much at cost."

"Sounds good." I said. "It'll create some jobs around here, too."

"If the aquifer is good." said the lawyer.

"The aquifer is good." I said. "The Big Boy companies are trying to keep it a secret, are spreading deceitful FUD about it, but the aquifer is good enough to provide a hundred or more years of water to this part of the State."

"What is 'FUD'?" asked Teresa.

"Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt." I replied.

"A typical morning with Rudistan at the coffee klatch." Teresa said. I laughed. "Have a seat, Don." she said, seeing me walking around, looking at everything in the room. "Take a load off your back."

"Oh, I'm fine." I said. "Walking around helps my back. By the way, we gotta get out of here before dark. No electricity in the house..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

7:00pm, Thursday, June 28th. We went east to Rome to meet our FBI friends. We went to a country buffet dinner place, which rivaled those of John Colby in our own County for taste and quality of food, and we managed to get a large round table that seated 11 of us, in a back room that didn't have any other patrons.

"So how can you be sure the aquifer is the real deal." Teresa said. She had made a point to sit next to me. Carole was on my other side.

"Well, I did have some conversations with the geologist team from Wildcat School, and Laura contacted the State A&M people." I said. "Their studies are showing the aquifer is bigger than originally thought. Also, I listen to the gossip around here. The old ladies know it to be true, but aren't talking to 'outsiders', and I think they're not sure if it's a good thing or not. And some people, who I suspect are more friendly with the BigAgraFoods types than I am, are pushing the FUD."

"And Mrs. Owens's comments cemented it for me." I continued. "The 'Big Boys' of this town and this county were talking about eminent domain. Why bring that up? Because they want a piece of the action, which means they know the aquifer is real and a BFD."

Teresa nodded. "Sounds so logical when you go through it like that." she said. "So what's next?"

"Bringing that reporter's killers to justice." I said. "That happens tonight. Want a shot at the title?"

"You betcha."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sun was setting when Jack, Julius, Teresa, and I went back to AGPD Headquarters. I'd texted them that I had some information and wanted a meeting. Leanne, Sgt. Stegall, and Chief Hall met us in the conference room.

"That reporter was renting the house where we found his car." said Leanne. "We think he may have hidden some information somewhere in the house. We're going to keep a Police detail there overnight, and begin a search in the morning."

"Sounds good." I said. "We'll leave you to it. Y'all have a good night." Jack and I made our goodbyes and left. We stepped into the evidence room.

"I think they're onto it." said Jack. "We'll help them search in the morning."

"And I'll look around that house that was for sale in the morning, too." I said. "I had word he might've tried to buy the place. There's no electricity to it now, so we'll wait until morning."

Part 9 - The Raid

2:30am, Friday, June 29th. The four black-clad, masked home invaders approached the old Troy home.

"Nothing on infrared." one of them whispered.

"Nothing in the night-vision goggles, either." whispered another. They were all wearing night-vision goggles.

"Yeah, they're all at that house in town." said the third henchman.

"Okay, let's go in, search the place, and get the hell out of here." said the leader. "I've got a bad feeling about this place."

"It's the town." said one of the men. "This God-forsaken place sucks."

"Okay, no more talking." said the leader. They made their way onto the front porch, the boards creaking. The leader punched in the lockbox code and extracted the key. Using it, he unlocked the door, and led his team into the pitch-dark house.

They made their way to the library room. Infrared showed no heat signatures. The leader pulled out one of the desk drawers. Taped under it was a manila envelope, full of papers...

To be continued.

So, dear readers, Detective Carole Troy (and Dad) has given you the cluuuuues you need to solve this puzzle. What is going on? And what will the result be? Solution next chapter...