He Bought 1,200 Acres With Water Rights — The City Had Been Using His Spring
Chapter 5
They did not have to wait long.
The first threat came that afternoon.
A black SUV arrived at Luke’s property.
Richard Hale stepped out.
He was in his late sixties, silver-haired, impeccably dressed, and carried himself like a man accustomed to entering rooms without being questioned.
He smiled.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Luke stayed on the porch.
“Mayor Hale.”
“Former mayor.”
“Right.”
Hale laughed.
“I heard you’ve been exploring the property.”
“It belongs to me.”
“Of course.”
His smile remained.
“But some of what lies beneath it is important to the entire community.”
“Then the community should have bought it.”
The smile disappeared.
“Your father understood compromise.”
“My father kept secrets.”
Hale’s eyes sharpened.
“Your father understood that some problems are bigger than one man.”
Luke stepped closer.
“What did you do to him?”
Hale stared at him for several seconds.
“Nothing.”
“Then why did he leave a letter telling me not to trust people who promised me money?”
Hale sighed.
“You’re emotional.”
“My father was investigating your water system.”
Hale did not blink.
“An old report proves very little.”
“It proves you had access to his work.”
“I had access to many things.”
“Did you bury the original water certificate?”
Hale’s expression finally changed.
Only for a moment.
But Luke saw it.
Then Hale said quietly, “You don’t understand what happens when a town loses a major water source.”
“I understand exactly what happens.”
Luke’s voice became colder.
“People panic.”
Hale nodded.
“Businesses leave.”
“Prices rise.”
“Jobs disappear.”
“So you stole water?”
Hale’s face hardened.
“I kept this town alive.”
Ava stepped out onto the porch.
Hale looked at her.
“You’re still fighting this?”
Ava answered, “You never stopped.”
Hale’s jaw tightened.
Then he looked back at Luke.
“I’ll make you an offer.”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Twenty million dollars.”
Luke’s expression didn’t change.
Hale continued.
“Sell the property. We buy the water rights. You walk away.”
Luke almost laughed.
“Twenty million?”
Hale nodded.
“You’ll never see an offer like that again.”
Luke looked toward the dry valley.
Then back at the man standing before him.
“My father spent eleven years trying to stop you.”
“He spent eleven years trying to protect you.”
Luke went still.
“What does that mean?”
Hale’s smile returned.
“Ask yourself why he never told you the truth.”
Then he got back into the SUV.
Luke watched the vehicle disappear.
Ava walked beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Good.”
He frowned.
“Good?”
“If you’re angry, you’ll be careful.”
Luke gave a bitter laugh.
“That sounds like something my father would say.”
Ava smiled faintly.
“Then maybe he wasn’t as far away as you think.”
For the first time, Luke looked at her differently.
Not as the city’s hydrologist.
Not as the woman with documents.
As someone who had carried part of his father’s story while he had been gone.
He said softly, “Why are you still helping me?”
Ava hesitated.
“Because your father once helped me.”
“How?”
“Years ago, when I was still a student, he reviewed my first research paper.”
She smiled.
“He told me numbers only matter when someone is brave enough to use them.”
Luke looked down.
His father had never mentioned her.
And that hurt more than he expected.
Ava touched his hand.
“Luke.”
He looked at her.
“Your father didn’t keep secrets because he didn’t trust you.”
“Then why?”
“Because he did.”
She squeezed his hand.
“He believed one day you’d be strong enough to uncover them.”
Neither of them noticed the vehicle parked on the distant ridge.
Inside, someone was watching.
