She heard him serving whatever was in the pot. From this morning she'd woken up before him and found it already on which told her he was an early riser or hadn't slept well or both. She still didn't know enough about him to know which. Your friend Orson, she said he went to find this attorney. Whitlock.
She's a DA, not an attorney. Different authority. More authority in some ways. He came to the table with two bowls, set one in front of her without asking if she was hungry, which she appreciated because yes, she was hungry, and also yes, she would have deflected if asked. She has territorial jurisdiction.
She can move on property fraud across county lines. Callaway could only work within his district. Mara looked at the bowl. Beans again, but seasoned differently from yesterday. And there was a piece of cornbread on the side that she was fairly certain he'd made this morning while she was still asleep.
You know a lot about it, she said. I know some. Have you had trouble with Ror yourself? Gideon sat down. He looked at his bowl, then at her.
He made an offer on my land two years ago. I told him no. He picked up his spoon. He made it again 6 months later. I told him no again.
Differently. Differently. How? More clearly. She read what that meant and decided not to probe further.
And he left you alone after that. He left this parcel alone. He bought up the Hartley place to the east of me instead. When Hartley's wife got sick, and they needed money fast. Paid them less than half what it was worth.
Gideon's jaw tightened slightly. Called it a fair market offer. There wasn't anything I could do about it that wouldn't have made things worse for the Heartleys. He looked back at his bowl. That bothered me for a while.