Chapter 6 - The Escrow That Paid Nobody
The escrow records arrived in pieces. The closing company had received funds for what it understood was the full twenty-two-acre purchase. A substantial amount was then sent to a newly created account labeled Bellamy Family Land Reserve, supposedly under June's control. June had never opened that account and could not recall signing any document authorizing it.
Paige's financial specialist traced the entity to a corporate filing associated with Bennett Cross. The filing named a registered agent, not an actual owner, so the investigation still required bank records and testimony. The discrepancy was strong reason to ask questions, not yet a complete map of where the money went.
Ridgegate's lawyer arranged a meeting attended by counsel for both sides. Mason arrived looking exhausted, his tie crooked for the first time Skye had seen. He said Bennett had assured him the Bellamy ownership issues were resolved before the closing and that the sale proceeds were being held in escrow for June's benefit pending a tax review.
"Were you shown the original 2024 deed?" Paige asked.
"Yes. Bennett said the family gift had been reversed. He gave me the affidavit."
"Did you meet June?"
"Once. She talked about the orchard and the lower pasture. I thought we had an understanding about the entire parcel."
June leaned forward. "I told you I wanted to keep the orchard. You said the houses would be down below."
Mason's expression changed. "I remember that. I understood it as a request to preserve trees during development."
"It wasn't a request for you to own my house," June said.
The room fell quiet. Skye understood that two people could hear the same conversation differently. What mattered was the documentary transaction that followed, and whether either party had actually signed it with the claimed authority.
Mason agreed to provide the internal transaction file under a protective arrangement while disputed confidential information was reviewed. He did not confess to fraud. His company continued to assert rights it believed it had acquired, though the temporary restrictions remained in place.
Outside the meeting Skye wanted June to say she hadn't trusted him. Instead June said, "He seemed like a man who wanted the property badly enough not to hear the word no."
"That's different from being fooled by his employee."
"Sometimes people arrange to be fooled when the answer they want is already waiting."
Skye thought about the fence video. She, too, had treated other people's boundaries as optional when she wanted something badly enough.
At the workshop a customer canceled an antique porch restoration because news reports made Skye sound as though she was constantly in court. Another customer referred a friend because she'd heard Skye refused to leave unsafe work unchallenged. Public reputation turned out to be as untidy as the property records.
Tori asked whether Skye had considered a temporary manager to handle the daily shop schedule. It would cost money, but losing clients because she was absent could cost more. Skye agreed to a six-week trial, with clear duties and a chance for Tori to decline the extra responsibility if it became too much.
One night while Skye was updating estimates, June arrived carrying the original apple orchard ledger. She opened it to an entry from twenty-seven years earlier.
"Your grandpa wrote down why he planted the last row," she said.
The note described a neighbor whose orchard had been cleared for a road without adequate notice. He'd planted extra trees along the boundary, not to stop every change, but to ensure future owners could see what they were deciding to lose.
Skye touched the faded ink. "He wasn't against building. He wanted people to look first."
June nodded. "Maybe that's what we should ask from whoever comes after us."
May you like
The following afternoon Paige received an archived scan from the closing company. It showed the notarized deed two days before its claimed signing date, already bearing a signature that looked like June's.
The version later recorded had the same signature down to the smallest uneven stroke.
