Free A Fortune to Die For (White Oak - Mafia Series Book 1) by Liza O'Connor Page B

decided he could do more good as a judge.”
    “Which he has,” Helen added.
    “Will that be enough?” Meg asked.
    “When Helen explains her reason for selling the property below market and the fact she sought you out, not the other way around, it will repudiate their claim of manipulation.”
    Helen turned around. “Hold on, you can’t use my letter to Meg. She changed her identity, and all my research was done on her prior name. I don’t want any connection made between who she is and who she was.”
    Jonas snorted and glared at Helen. “Name changes are not confidential government records. Anyone can find out who she was.”
    Meg’s heart tightened in worry. Had she gone through all this effort for nothing? Was the curse going to cling to her for life? “Are you sure? The FBI assured me no one would connect me to my former self.”
    His brow furrowed in a hundred wrinkles. “Your identity change was handled by the FBI?”
    She nodded.
    “Then there should be no trail. I thought you had merely submitted a name change to the clerk’s office of your state.”
    Meg breathed out in relief.
    “If you are under witness protection, then your handler should be notified of this contract before we go any further.”
    “I’m not.”
    His frown remained.
    “Jonas, it’s not our business why Miss William had to change her name.”
    “Then you don’t know either?” he challenged.
    Helen placed a hand on her hip and waved her cooking fork with the other. “In fact, I do, but it doesn’t change my issue. You’re just being nosy.”
    Jonas’s stern eyes focused on Meg. “I beg to differ with Helen. I can’t afford to be blindsided.”
    Meg agreed. “I was getting death threats that the FBI judged to be credible. While they lacked the manpower to protect me or determine who sent them, they did help me change my identity.”
    He still didn’t relax. “And were these death threats due to any crime you may have committed.”
    “No!” Helen yelled before Meg could answer. “I probably know more about Meg than myself. She is honorable, honest, and hardworking. Which is why I sought her out to buy my land. And for your information, she is the one who came up with donating the land to the state to keep it safe forever and hiring Tess to manage it.”
    Jonas held his hands up in surrender. “I withdraw the question.” He smiled at Meg. “And apologize.”
    “You’re just looking after Helen,” Meg said.
    “I try, but she doesn’t make it easy. Donating the land will take time, possibly a year, to execute. Still, if you begin the process immediately, it will convince the judge your motive is not to swindle Helen.”
    “Which he would think if I bought and kept the woods, given she is selling the property to me at below market value.”
    “Precisely.”
    Meg smiled as she thought of another issue. “The stipulations protecting the trees from being cut down should also help since they lower the value of the property significantly. A developer wouldn’t have paid a dime with those restrictions in the contract.”
    Jonas smiled. “Excellent point. And it proves Helen is as smart as she ever was.”
    “Meg wrote the contract,” Helen said as she flipped the fish.
    Meg shook her head. “I asked my lawyer to include the conditions Helen had stated in her letter to me. They take precedent until and unless the land is donated to the state to remain as a forest in perpetuity.”
    “Do you mind if I claim Helen as the originator of that part.”
    “Not at all, because she was.”
    “Any chance you have the letter?” Jonas asked.
    “Yes, but it’s addressed to my prior name.”
    Helen glared at Jonas. “Move on old man.”
    Jonas turned and faced Helen. “Will you, at least, be willing to confide with the judge tomorrow why you prioritize your trees over your children and grandchildren, including this nonsense Jeffrey has gotten into?”
    She huffed. “I don’t see how it’s his damn