Eli turned another page.
A note was highlighted.
Remove agricultural access before final zoning submission.
His stomach tightened.
"Who wrote this?"
Claire didn't answer.
Eli already knew.
Richard Caldwell.
Emma looked at her father.
"What do we do?"
Eli closed the folder.
"We go to the county."
Claire shook her head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because you need more."
She pointed to the documents.
"They'll say they're incomplete."
"What else is there?"
Claire looked toward the road.
"A recorded meeting."
Eli stared at her.
"You recorded them?"
"No."
She lowered her voice.
"Someone else did."
The recording came from an unexpected source.
A former construction manager named Marcus Bell.
He had worked for Caldwell Development for six years.
Marcus met Eli in a diner outside town.
He looked exhausted.
"I don't want money."
Eli sat across from him.
"Then why are you here?"
"Because somebody needs to stop them."
Marcus placed a phone on the table.
He played the recording.
Richard's voice came through clearly.
"We don't need Harland to sell."
Another voice answered.
"What if he refuses?"
"Make the farm difficult."
Silence.
Then:
"Pressure the county."
Another voice.
"And the road?"
Richard laughed.
"Once the HOA controls access, he'll have no choice."
Eli closed his eyes.
Emma clenched her fists.
The recording continued.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
"Burning the barn was supposed to scare him."
The diner seemed to disappear.
Eli stared at the phone.
Marcus stopped the recording.
"I didn't know about the fire until afterward."
"You recorded this when?"
"Two months ago."
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
Marcus looked away.