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I frowned, then looked over at Renzo.

Renzo opened his laptop. “Five-and-a-half months ago, we started getting hit with what looked like routine bureaucratic friction. Petty stuff, that turned out to be complaints filed through an LLC called the East Tennessee Heritage Preservation Coalition. Sounded legitimate. Legitimate enough that the county planning office had to take them seriously.

“What kind of complaints?” I asked.

“Environmental impact concerns, drainage issues, historical designation questions about the land, which was a creative touch since there’s nothing on that property older than a fence post. After a while, we figured out the goal wasn’t to win, it was to create delays.”

Walker’s pencil was moving, then he looked up. “The planning office only has two people. They were overwhelmed. As soon as one got dismissed another one popped up. Each one delayed the project, and time cost money on a construction job, especially when you’ve got a construction loan tied to that timeline.”

It seemed that Walker was more involved than just the millwork side, and he was good at it. Harvey was smart, using him that way.

“Walk, tell him what the town did.”

Walker gave a full smile for the first time since sitting down. “The town did what Jasper Creek does. Word got around, I still don’t know how.”

“Little Grandma,” Renzo guessed.

“Florence,” Ford said with authority.

“Anyway, within two weeks we had twelve written public statements supporting the project, all filed with the county. It basically spiked their guns.”

“Is that all that’s happened?” I asked.

“I wish,” Renzo sighed. “They pivoted to the money. We couldn’t prove anything, but suddenly there were unusual delays on our construction loan draws. Covenant reviews were triggered for no apparent reason. A credit flag that appeared from nowhere and took weeks to trace and dispute.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Actually, it was bullshit,” Ford said.

Harvey nodded. I could see he was still pissed.

“It must have cost you,” I said to Harvey.

“Not as much as you might think. Thanks to Renzo.”

I turned to Renzo who gave me a smile that was all teeth. “After all the bullshit with the permitting, and now the financials, it seemed like a pattern. I reached out to my cousin who works part time for a security firm here in Jasper Creek.”

“What did he do?”

“Code was a cyber security specialist for the Army before he retired.”

Holy hell.

“I love that you have a hacker in the family.” Ford grinned.

“It does come in handy, however don’t ever let him hear you call him a hacker, he gets a bit testy about that term.”

“What do you have to tell us, Renzo?” Harvey asked.

“Code dug deep and got a lot of information. The shell LLC that’s been causing all the problems traces back to a California based real estate company, Pacific Rim Development Group. They’re a nasty piece of work.”

Renzo turned his laptop so we could see the screen.

“They’re not small. They’ve done this before. According to Code, at least three times.”

“Done what?” Walker asked.

“They basically screw over an existing project, then sweep in and buy it at a distressed price. Their MO is starting with the bureaucratic red tape, then the financing, then they move on to out-and-out sabotage if the first two avenues of attack haven’t worked.”