Walter looked at the envelope.
WALTER: "It came yesterday."
The envelope carried the county seal.
Tessa opened it carefully.
Inside was a notice concerning the proposed access route. It stated that the county intended to begin preliminary work on the northern boundary of the property.
The date was only three days away.
Tessa read the notice twice.
TESSA: "They haven't even resolved the dispute."
WALTER: "I know."
She placed the paper on the table.
TESSA: "We need to get an emergency review."
WALTER: "I don't want construction crews fighting with the neighbors."
TESSA: "They won't. We'll use the legal process."
Walter looked at the window.
WALTER: "This land isn't valuable because of the trees."
Tessa waited.
WALTER: "Your grandfather worked on it. Your mother planted the orchard. I repaired the old cabin with my own hands. It's where our family lived."
He paused.
WALTER: "I don't mind sharing a road if there's a fair agreement. But I won't let someone take it because they think I am too old to fight back."
Tessa nodded.
TESSA: "Then we won't let them."
That afternoon, the attorney arrived with a stack of records.
He had obtained copies of the property deed, the earlier survey, and the county's proposed access documents.
He spread them across the kitchen table.
ATTORNEY: "Your father was correct. The proposed order does not appear to establish permanent access rights by itself."
Tessa studied the papers.
TESSA: "What does it establish?"
ATTORNEY: "It appears to be an administrative notice. It references an emergency access provision, but there is no final judicial approval attached."
Walter leaned forward.
WALTER: "So Wayne signed it without the court?"
ATTORNEY: "That is what the available documents suggest. We need the original file to be certain."
Tessa pointed toward a paragraph.
TESSA: "What about the signature?"
The attorney examined it.
ATTORNEY: "The document was signed by Commissioner Wayne Hollister. There is also a reference to an internal review completed by the sheriff's department."
Walter looked up.
WALTER: "Why would the sheriff's department review a property easement?"
The attorney did not answer immediately.
He turned another page.
ATTORNEY: "There is a note indicating that law enforcement would provide assistance if access was disputed."
Tessa frowned.
TESSA: "So the sheriff's office was already involved before the arrest."
ATTORNEY: "It appears so."
Walter sat back.
He remembered Hollister's behavior at the diner.
The sheriff had not simply wanted him to move.
He had arrived carrying documents, positioned himself at Walter's booth, and acted as though the property decision had already been made.
The confrontation had been about more than a breakfast seat.
WALTER: "He wanted me to look like a troublemaker."
ATTORNEY: "That is a possibility. But we need evidence of intent."
Tessa looked at the attorney.
TESSA: "Can we request the department's internal communications?"
ATTORNEY: "Yes. We'll submit a formal preservation request and pursue the records through the appropriate process."
WALTER: "What about the people at the diner?"
ATTORNEY: "Their statements will be important."
Tessa nodded.
TESSA: "Darcy has the footage. Raymond and Michael are willing to speak."
The attorney gathered the documents.
ATTORNEY: "Then we have a starting point."
Outside, a truck passed along the road.
Walter looked toward the window.
It was a timber company vehicle.
He watched it disappear behind the trees.
For years, he had believed that the land dispute was simply a disagreement over access. He had expected negotiations, paperwork, and perhaps a court hearing.
He had not expected to be dragged out of a diner, injured, arrested, and held in a police station.
Now he understood why the sheriff had been so determined to keep him away from the meeting.
The county wanted to move quickly.
And Walter's refusal was the final obstacle.
That evening, Tessa received a call from the attorney.
ATTORNEY: "We have another development."
TESSA: "What happened?"
ATTORNEY: "A county employee contacted me. He says the original access file contains correspondence that was not included in the public packet."
TESSA: "What correspondence?"
ATTORNEY: "Emails between the commissioner's office and the sheriff's department. Some of them predate the diner incident."
Tessa stood.
TESSA: "Can we obtain them?"
ATTORNEY: "The employee is willing to provide information through the appropriate legal channel. He does not want his identity disclosed publicly yet."
TESSA: "What do the emails say?"
The attorney paused.
ATTORNEY: "One message appears to discuss the possibility of removing your father from the property before the county meeting."
Tessa felt her stomach tighten.
TESSA: "Removing him how?"
ATTORNEY: "The wording is ambiguous. It refers to creating a legal obstacle that would prevent him from interfering with the access process."
Tessa looked toward Walter.
He was sitting in the living room, reading a newspaper.
TESSA: "Do not send anything to the sheriff. Preserve the original records and have the attorney review them."
ATTORNEY: "That's the plan."
Tessa ended the call.
She walked into the living room.
Walter looked up.
WALTER: "Something happened?"
Tessa sat opposite him.