Chapter 9 - SIX MILLION DOLLARS WASN’T THE PROJECT
Frank’s records confirmed the draft six-million-dollar arrangement.
But something bothered Natalie.
The economics.
Voss’s public townhome project was valuable.
Not valuable enough to justify the level of effort surrounding 17B.
“Six million for access seems aggressive,” she said.
“Good aggressive or suspicious aggressive?”
“Suspicious.”
The civil engineer agreed.
If Voss merely needed utilities for the townhomes, alternative routes existed.
More expensive.
But not enough to justify years of parcel assembly, shell companies, political consultants, and a multi-million-dollar side arrangement.
Then Ruth asked:
“Have you looked south of the project?”
We had.
Undeveloped acreage.
Hundreds of acres.
Mostly held through layered entities.
Natalie started tracing them.
One connected back to Voss.
Then another.
The public townhome project covered only the northern edge.
Behind it sat a much larger assemblage.
No final development application.
Just land.
Ruth opened one of William's old ledgers.
A map had been folded into the back.
Heavy black line.
Starting near Sycamore Falls.
Running through 17B.
Continuing south.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Original private utility corridor.”
“Original for what?”
“Future development rights.”
The corridor had been negotiated when Sycamore Falls was first built.
Whoever controlled certain access points could affect how infrastructure reached the larger southern tract.
Not ownership of buried treasure.
Not oil.
Not a secret tunnel.
Infrastructure.
Water.
Sewer.
Electric.
Possibly fiber.
The boring systems that make expensive land developable.
Natalie stared at the map.
“This could reduce off-site infrastructure costs substantially.”
“How substantially?”
“Potentially tens of millions depending on scale.”
That was when the six-million-dollar deal changed meaning.
Brenda thought she was selling access to one project.
Voss was assembling something much larger.
The townhomes were not necessarily fake.
They were the visible first phase.
The real value sat farther south.
Then Ruth said:
“Caroline figured this out.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
“She asked better questions than William.”
That sounded like my wife.
The next morning, Aaron Voss withdrew his purchase offer for my house.
Not increased it.
Withdrew it.
Natalie smiled when she saw the notice.
“That means he knows we know something.”
I said:
“Or he's done with me.”
“No.”
She looked almost cheerful.
May you like
“People don't spend years assembling a corridor and suddenly stop caring because one widower becomes annoying.”
That was the first time Natalie said anything remotely fun.
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