Sabrina's mouth went dry, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth."They can't just take it."
"No," Diaz said."They can't.Which is why they tried the usual way first.They made you an offer.A good one, by most standards.They expected you to take it because that's what most people do when a number with enough zeros shows up in their mailbox.You said no."She paused."And then your inn burned down.Whoever set that fire made sure the damage was total.Made sure there was nothing left to salvage.You're pushed off the shoreline and onto your back forty, scrambling to figure out what comes next.You start rebuilding your life out there on the land that's left, and suddenly somebody breaks into your tool trailer and cuts your layout lines without actually stealing anything."
"Sending a message," Colby said quietly.
"Yeah," Diaz said."This isn't random.And it's not just about some bored vandal getting their kicks by scaring a woman who lives alone.This is about money.A lot of it.The kind of money that makes people do very calculated, very ugly things."
Words tried to come and refused.Sabrina's throat felt like someone had wrapped a hand around it and squeezed.
She leaned back in her chair and stared at the plans she had forgotten she was still holding.Shell companies.Resort project.Crown jewel.The terms floated in the air between them like smoke from a fire she hadn't seen coming.
"So the night my home burned," she said slowly, testing each word, "it might not have been about me at all.Not personal.It might have been about clearing the shoreline for a development deal."
Diaz's gaze softened, but she didn't look away or try to sugarcoat it."I'm not ready to hang my hat on one theory for the fire.We're still waiting on a couple of lab reports from the state fire marshal.But I can tell you this much.There is a group with deep pockets and a lot of patience that very much wants a clean slate along this stretch of shoreline.And your continued existence as a property owner makes that inconvenient for them."
Sabrina's breath hitched, stuttering into something sharper."Inconvenient."
Diaz lifted a shoulder."If you crunch it the way people like this do, you're an obstacle.A woman who owns valuable land and refuses to sell at any price screws up their carefully planned timeline.You make their spreadsheets messy."
"So they burn my inn," Sabrina said, the pieces clicking into place with a horrible clarity."They come out to my land in the middle of the night and move things around just enough to prove they can.They make me feel like I'm not safe in the one place I have left.They want me rattled enough to cave.To finally say yes."
"Yes," Diaz said."That's one way to read it.The most likely way, based on what I've found."
Heat rose in Sabrina's chest, blooming outward, crowding out the cold fear that had lived there since the night she'd woken to smoke and sirens.
"They picked the wrong person," she said, her voice dropping low.
Colby glanced at her, something fierce and proud moving behind his eyes.
Diaz's mouth curved into something that was almost a smile."I was hoping you'd say that."
Sabrina realized her hands had stopped shaking.She set the rolled plans gently on the table and pressed her palms flat against the wood again, this time to steady the anger instead of the fear.
"Do we know who's actually behind Seaside Development?"she asked."Actual people with names and faces, not just initials on a corporate filing?"
"Not yet," Diaz admitted."They're very good at hiding behind layers.LLCs registered to other LLCs.Mail drops in other states.Registered agents who are just professional signature services.I'm pushing as far as I can from my end without stepping into the attorney general's turf or getting my knuckles rapped by the chief for overreaching.I've also flagged everything I found for the state fire marshal's office, since they're still technically the lead on the Norman House investigation."
Norman House.Sabrina tasted the name in the back of her throat like ash and memory.
"So this isn't some personal vendetta from a pissed-off neighbor," she said."This isn't someone with a grudge or a mental health crisis.This is a coordinated land grab by people who see my home as a line item on a balance sheet."
"Yes," Diaz said."With a side of arson and intimidation, if I'm reading the pattern correctly."
Diaz leaned back in her chair, studying Sabrina's face like she was looking for something specific."How are you doing with all this?And I mean actually, not the answer you think you're supposed to give."
Sabrina considered the question honestly before she answered."I was scared.Standing in that field yesterday, seeing the cut lines and the broken lock, wondering who was watching from the tree line, whether I was crazy to try to start over.Now I'm not less scared, exactly, but it feels different.There's a shape to it, even if I can't see all the edges yet.It's not a ghost in the shadows.It's numbers on a spreadsheet and someone in a boardroom somewhere who thinks they can push me out of my own life because the math works in their favor."
Diaz nodded once, slowly."That shift matters.Fear of the unknown is paralyzing.Fear of something specific is something you can plan around."
"It makes me mad," Sabrina added, and the word felt inadequate for what was building in her chest."It makes me furious."
"Good," Diaz said."Hold onto that.Fear keeps you careful.Anger keeps you from rolling over and showing your belly when someone pushes."
Colby spoke for the first time in several minutes, his voice cutting through the charged air."What can we do in the meantime?Beyond the patrol drive-bys you mentioned yesterday."
"Stay visible," Diaz said."You two keep showing up on that land like you own it, because you do.Let people see you working.Let them see Jason's truck coming and going.Let them see the walls going up.Copper Moon talks.The more it's clear you're not backing down, the harder it will be for whoever's orchestrating this to operate in the shadows.They're counting on you being isolated and scared.Don't give them that."
"And if they try something else?"Colby asked."If they escalate beyond cut string and a broken lock?"
