Scout sat in the chair by the window, one boot hooked over the other, quiet as always—but his eyes tracked everything.
Burke exhaled slowly and dropped another file onto the pile.
“Son of a?—”
He stopped himself.
Grant pushed off the wall. “How many?”
Burke didn’t look up.
“Directly in his name? Twelve.”
He flipped another page.
“Through holding companies? Thirty-two so far.”
Grant let out a low whistle. “That’s what you’ve found.”
Burke nodded once.
“There’s more.”
Scout spoke from the window, calm and certain.
“There’s always more.”
Burke dragged a hand down his face, then pointed at the map spread across the desk.
Pins marked parcels across the county—some close, some miles out, some bordering forest land.
“He’s got land near the ridge… near the river… two tracts off 107…”
A beat.
“And three backed up to federal forest.”
Grant’s jaw set. “Perfect cover.”
“No oversight,” Scout added.
Burke straightened, staring at the map like he could force it to give him something.
“We start checking them,” Grant said. “One at a time.”
Burke let out a short breath.
“That could take weeks.”
No one argued that.
Scout shifted slightly in the chair.
“Not if we get lucky.”
Burke shook his head.
“I don’t believe in luck.”
