Beside him was a man I recognized from local newspapers.
Charles Varden.
Founder of Cedar Ridge Development.
The man who had originally tried buying access from us.
My father had died six years earlier.
Cancer.
Charles Varden had died two years after him.
Heart attack.
In the photograph, the two men were shaking hands.
On the back, someone had written four words.
ASK WHAT YOUR FATHER SOLD.
I stared at it for a long time.
“My father didn’t sell anything.”
Ben didn’t answer.
Rachel examined the picture later that afternoon.
“Photographs don’t transfer land.”
“I know.”
“But someone wants you thinking your father made a deal.”
“He didn’t.”
“You’re sure?”
“My father hated Cedar Ridge.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
I looked at her.
Rachel spoke carefully.
“Jack, good men make business decisions their children don’t know about.”
“He would’ve told me.”
