Lost and Found (20 page)

He didn’t say a word
;
he just walked out the door.

Maggie searched out Sam who stood behind Marcie but
was
watching the door. “Sam
,
he’s not telling the truth. That line is something Dan would say. What am I going to do?”

“Maggie, I’ll go talk with him. There may be something else going on, and he may not want you to know. Sometimes a man’s pride and natural instinct to protect his family clouds his good
judgment
.”

Maggie stood
,
prepared to follow.

Diane grabbed her wrist. “Maggie
,
listen to Sam
.
He’s
right. Let him talk to Richard alone. Besides there are some things we need to talk about. One of them is your friend Angie
,
and your interest in helping her.”

Diane had a way of
disappearing
into the background. The silent observer who read people
and
situations
.
At
times
,
Maggie found this quite unsettling.
A
silent communication passed between her and Sam
,
one
of comrades who understood the other
’
s role.
They’d
been the perfect partners
at one time
. But that was when Sam was with the DEA, and they’d investigated Lance Silver.

Sam was now what you’d call an independent investigator working with the Sequim Detachment and
the
Feds in a new role of watchdog. He brought together all departments
and
local jurisdictions
,
tying together investigations
that
crossed boundaries
,
including white collar land fraud, criminal misdeeds of children, the special needs community,
all of
which could include drug trafficking.
He handled
those unusual cases falling in the
gray
area of
unclear
jurisdiction.

Sam didn’t linger
,
he went after Richard. Diane patted Maggie’s shoulder.

“This friend of yours, Angie
,
who
lives in Dan’s house. You were out at her house today.”
Marcie lifted her chin as she spoke.

The blood tingled
on its way
down from her head. How did Marcie know?

Marcie’s
smile was vibrant. “I already know
,
Maggie. I didn’t then, but he was sleeping with her when he was doing me. She’s another of his innocent victims
,
and he really took advantage of her. I don’t envy her position, but for the record
,
she has some real balls to stand up to him. He’s a fool to take her on.”

“How did you find out? Are you having me followed?”

“Nobody is having you followed
,
so
stop being paranoid. Richard phoned Diane, and Diane told me. Besides
,
Angie notified state and local authorities on his bylaw infringements on that property. Every time a charge is levied against a property owner for whatever infraction, Sam’s notified, because of his new position. So because of Angie, Dan’s under investigation for too many houses on his Gardiner property. Which also brings in the State
who
regulates the wells
;
you’re not allowed to have that many houses on one well. And because of the illegal dwellings with no permits. And no permits for a septic
system
installed for two houses
.
He
has pending environmental charges against him. Basically minor fines.”

Diane busied her hands and stacked the dirty plates on the table and scooped the crumbs with her hand onto a plate
and
then wiped her hands.

“I like her. She has a special needs kid. It’s not okay what he’s done to her, and now that she’s stood up to him
,
he’s throwing her out. How can he get away with that?”
Maggie asked.

Diane rested her hand on Maggie’s wrist. “You can’t help her. Your friend should not have called you. It’ll be a battle for Angie, but if she stays honest and presents her case
,
Dan will have to pay her for all the work she did. She’s seen a lawyer and filed a claim against Dan
with
the rental board. She has photos
.
He
can’t lie his way out of this one. As far as the eviction she’s trying to fight
,
she
won’t win anyway. Landowners have always had the law on their side
,
even when they’ve lied. And the best thing for Angie is to get as far away as possible
from Dan.
She
may not see
it
now
,
but he did her a
favor
evicting her.”

When Maggie looked up
,
she saw
a
hint of pain shadow Marcie’s baby blue eyes. “Are you okay knowing all this?”

She released a heavy sigh and gazed down at her baby girl. “Well of course. But I’m still human
,
Maggie. I’d be lying to everyone if I said it didn’t hurt to find out
about
yet another betrayal by Dan when we
were
together. Don’t misunderstand
.
I love Sam and what we have. But you can’t erase your past. And when someone hurts you as badly as Dan did me…well
,
in some ways I feel responsible for what Angie has suffered and wonder how many other innocent women he’s fleeced. Did I do enough to stop him from hurting others?” Marcie frowned. “You know me
,
worrying about what I else I could have done to jam Dan up sucks me back in to him. Which is what he wants. He wants me to obsess over him, and I can’t do that. I won’t give him that. Sam’s watching the investigation
,
and he started his own a while ago. I’ve asked for help from other sources.” She raised her hand above her head.

Maggie watched the confidence spill forth from Marcie. Her belief in a higher source was
at times
inspirational. But logically Maggie had trouble understanding what could be gained from such faith.

“What is Sam investigating on Dan?”

Diane shared what appeared as a conspiratorial
wink
with Marcie.

“Fraud.”

“What about the marijuana grow
ops
Dan’s doing again
?
He’s
always got one or more going somewhere, usually at one of the houses on his property. Why not go after him for drug charges?” Maggie
got up,
pulled on a thick corded sweater
,
carried the dishes from the table
,
and
then
started loading the dishwasher.

“He’s too cagey Maggie, he moves it. It’s as if he knows trouble
’
s coming, or the cops are going to show, because his grow op suddenly disappears. He’s one slick operator. And besides
,
Sam’s done a lot of research. What Dan’s done on paper is going to bury him. He’s manipulated state funds, bylaws, telling a different story to each state and municipal authority on land use, wells, septic, and all with environmental impacts. Don’t forget undeclared income, tax evasion. Forget the drugs, he’s too cagey, but what he’s done on paper will bury him. Do you understand?”
Marcie spoke with such confidence.

Something light and fluffy tingled inside Maggie’s tummy. She matched the crooked smile that lit up Marcie’s face and the subtle wink offered by Diane. “He just screwed himself
,
didn’t he?”

Diane grinned. “Yep, and we’re going to nail him.”

Richard paced the shop that filled one side of his oversized barn. Instead of animals
,
the barn was littered with all sizes of power tools
and
metal storage chests.
It was every
man’s dream of
a
place to build, create, and come to peace with his lot in life.
He
sanded the cedar chest he’d made for Maggie two years ago. Until now, it
had been
left covered by a sheet in a corner of the shop. Engraved in the lid
were
their children’s names, Lily and Ryley.
It
had become a solace now
to him
to finish
it
.

The shadow that drifted in his light irritated the hell out of him. There were times he needed to be left alone
,
and now was one of them. “Walk away Sam
,
you don’t want to talk to me right now.”

“That’s a nice piece of work. You’re good with your hands. How long did
it
take to make?”

He
tossed the sandpaper on the ground and paced over to his workbench. He didn’t know what he was looking for as he stubbornly rummaged through the steel carpentry tools littering the dusty wood top.

Sam’s boots scraped across the cement.
With each
step
,
his shadow stole a little more of
his
light. He didn’t like being cornered, nor did he want Sam anywhere
near
his business. He threw him a warning glare. But Sam wouldn’t back away
.
Instead
, he perched himself right against the workbench and crossed his arms.

“Richard, right now I have Dan under investigation for land fraud. Possible tax evasion. He has an order against him from the state water board for environmental contamination for
an
improperly installed septic
system
. He’s violated local zoning with his illegally built houses, he sold the two mobile homes on his private land, which is not zoned
for
a mobile home park, but yet he managed to convince some state agency it was a mobile home park
with fraudulent papers
. Then there is the matter of the marijuana grow ops we know pop up at any one of the illegally built houses on his property. Of course
,
he moves them just before we get in there. I’m tying all of it together
,
and I’m going to nail the bastard. So tell me, how much of this are you already aware of?”

“All of it.”

He
k
new darn well
Sam
was condemning him
by
the way he
stared at him
.
“Don’t you dare judge me. You
just
don’t get it.”

“Then help me get it. Tell me
,
what kind of trouble
are
you in?”

“Look
,
Sam. This is how it is. Not one of those small infractions has amounted to jack shit. He’s gotten away with pulling t
his kind of stuff
for years, and there’s more you don’t know. There was actually a group of locals
who
took him on when he subdivided, and they went after him with the argument the original land zoning prevents him from building all those homes. Then they went after him once he put the septic
system
in and dragged in the first of
the
two mobile homes. That would be the environmental part when he didn’t have the paperwork completed and the approvals in place for the installation before he installed. Do you know what happened?
”

Sam crossed his arms and appeared to hold his breath.

“Nothing. No charges, no fines. Nothing. The local authority said it didn’t have the resources to pursue the matter. The state didn’t give a shit
;
they had bigger fish to fry. But this was after he managed to embellish his hard luck story and
spin
quite the tale with one of the broads he was dealing with at the state water board. I think he even met her for drinks. Anyway, long story short Sam, it went away. And that group of locals
was
stuck with a huge legal bill, and one suddenly had their property taxes jacked up…when no one else’s in the area had been.”
He began to pace as he continued
.

“And Harvey, the organizer of the group
,
had two of his cows butchered and left
disemboweled
in his driveway. A message delivered, and he got it loud and clear.”
He
picked up a wood scraper and then dropped it. “I sincerely hope you’re able to make things stick this time. But I’ve no idea what you expect from me.”