Her jaw tightened.
She placed the briefcase on the railing and opened it.
Stacks of hundred-dollar bills sat inside.
I stared.
"One hundred thousand dollars," she said. "You dismiss your civil claims, withdraw the water-rights demand, stop speaking to media, and sign a mutual nondisclosure agreement. The boundary lawsuit disappears. Everybody moves on."
I heard Sandra moving inside the house but she stayed out of sight.
"Where did the cash come from?"
"That is irrelevant."
"Is this HOA money?"
"No."
"Are you offering me money to stop cooperating with investigations into the lake treatment?"
"I am offering a global settlement of private disputes."
"The environmental investigation isn't mine to stop."
"Your participation influences it."
"That's a dangerous sentence for an attorney."
For the first time, Vivian's expression slipped completely.
"Do you have any idea what this is doing to my family?"
I thought of Big Bertha, bottled water, Sandra washing chemical residue from my boots, and children carrying cases of water into houses they thought were safe.
"Yes," I said. "I do."
"You think you're some kind of hero because you found an old deed?"
"No. I think I'm a man standing on his own porch telling you to leave."
Her voice dropped.
"I have connections in this county. I can make your business impossible. I can keep you in court until you are seventy."
"Then my lawyer will be busy."
"You will regret humiliating me."
"Vivian, you did that yourself."
She snapped the briefcase shut.
"This is your last chance."
"No. This is your last warning to get off my property."
She left.
I saved the recording in three places.
Rebecca sent a copy to the appropriate investigators along with an affidavit establishing how it had been made.
"Don't call it a bribe in public," she warned me. "Let prosecutors characterize it."
"What do I call it?"
"A documented settlement approach accompanied by statements they will find interesting."
"Lawyers are exhausting."
"That's why you pay us."
The HOA crisis reached its breaking point the following week.