Page 80 of Deadly Revenge

“February 1999. Yours?”

“December ’99.” He took out his phone and snapped a photo of the deed. “See how many deeds you can find with TerraQuest as property owners and take a photo of each one.”

“Do you want me to document any other deeds with the state as the purchaser?”

“That’s a good idea.”

She nodded, and both set to work documenting the deeds. They found twelve tracts of land that the corporation had sold to the state for the dam, and seven that belonged to individuals.

“Did you notice the difference in what the state paid TerraQuest compared to the others?” Jenna asked.

“No.” Max hadn’t taken the time to read the details of the deeds, and he scrolled back through his photos, enlarging one to read the print. There was quite a discrepancy. “I wonder how much TerraQuest paid for the land?”

“There’s a reference in the description for previous sale andowner. We’ll have to pull more books, but at least we know which deed book to look in.”

“That’s a silver lining.” He high-fived her.

Max scrolled to the description while Jenna did the same on her phone. They both reached to pull the same book.

“That figures,” she said. “Maybe the TerraQuest deeds are all together.”

They weren’t but neither were they that far apart. Max compared the price the corporation had paid for the land with the price the state paid them and whistled. “TerraQuest made a killing.”

“And they were paid a whole lot more than anyone else, but why?”

Max didn’t like what he was thinking, but crooked appraisers in the past weren’t unheard of. Nowadays an appraiser would have to get really creative to pull what appeared to have happened here. He shared his thought with Jenna.

“I wonder how we could find out who the appraiser was?”

“It would be on the transcripts of the eminent domain trials, and those records will be in the Chancery Court office.”

“I wonder who owns this TerraQuest?” Jenna said.

“Mrs. Croft might know, particularly if the company has purchased land since she’s been registrar.”

Max shelved the heavy books, and they went in search of the registrar. She was busy with a man dressed in khakis and a short-sleeve shirt. When they finished their conversation, the man glanced at them, and his eyes widened.

“Jenna Hart? I haven’t seen you since you moved into your old place.”

She winced. “I’m sorry—I’ve been so busy.” Jenna turned to Max and introduced the two men. “Years ago, Dad gave me the house I’m living in, thinking I’d come back home. I didn’t want to sell it, and Mr. Weaver owns a rental management company—hetook care of renting it out while I was in Chattanooga.” She turned to Weaver. “By the way, thank you for making sure no one damaged anything.”

“You say you manage rentals?” Max said. Something nagged at his mind. If Rick Sebastian was in Pearl Springs, he would need a place to stay. When the older man nodded, Max pulled up the photo of Sebastian the county and city officers had been circulating and held out his phone. “Have you rented anything to this person?”

Weaver peered at the phone, then took out a pair of black-rimmed glasses and looked again. He shook his head. “Haven’t seen anybody who looks like that.”

“Have you been approached by anyone you don’t know?”

“All the time. About half my rentals go to people I never see—they contact me by email and provide references and put up a hefty deposit. I do require a photo ID, though.” He nodded toward Max’s phone. “And none of them look like this guy.”

Max figured there was nothing to stop them from providing a fake ID. “How many houses have you rented lately?”

“Lately? Seven or eight.”

“Are you in charge of the Armstrong place?” Jenna asked. “Bryan Bishop said the new owners were renting it out.”

“I am. Rented it to some people from out of town back in March. They’re never late on the rent, either—deposit drops in my bank account right on the dot.”

Max took out his notepad. “Do you have a name?”

---