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

nature takes down a tree, I have a friend who flies in here with a helicopter, takes out the trunk once Tess removes the branches, and airlifts it out of the woods to his lumber mill in LaMotte. Then he flies the cut lumber back and drops it where Tess wants.”
    “Costs a fortune,” Tess added.
    Returning to her estimated value of the tree, Meg was about to drop the price significantly due to the difficulty of retrieving the wood but realized if land developers leveled the forest as they went, they would build roads to extract the trees. In fact, the most profitable way would be to raze this land into a level flat bed of dirt and replant grass and trees on planned subdivisions, destroying everything special about this place.
    The cries of a large variety of birds filled the air in the meadow. “What types of animals live here?”
    Tess tilted her head. “We’ve got the usual suspects—raccoon, deer, otters, and mink. Up in the hills, I’ve seen the prints of a mountain lion. It may have been passing through, or it may have decided to make this home. I always look for signs of it when I hike, but mountain lions are extremely cautious of humans and normally keep their distance.
    “How about bears?” Meg asked.
    “According to Wildlife officials, there are no bears in Iowa.”
    “None?” she challenged, remembering Andy telling her about a bear.
    Helen snorted. “We’ve got one giant bear in my woods. Must have come down from Minnesota.”
    Helen picked up a stick and threw it off the path. “Bears and mountain lions aren’t legally recognized in Iowa, so they have no protection from hunters. I’ve plastered these woods with no hunting warnings, but they show up here anyway. Not much I can do to stop them.”
    “If this were a state park, would it have better protection?” Meg asked.
    “Couldn’t have worse,” Helen muttered. “What do you think, Tess?”
    “If it became a popular place to hike, the rangers would have to crack down on hunters. Otherwise, they’d risk the lives of the hikers. Truth is, the state only takes care of the parks where they get heavy foot traffic. Which means this place would have to have better roads into the woods, parking lots, and restroom facilities.”
    Meg was pretty sure the trees cut to make room for the parking lots and picnic areas would pay for the roads and port-o-johns.
    And maybe even the advertising to encourage people to come. Otherwise, this place was ready. These trails were better maintained than any she’d ever walked.
    For their lunch stop, Helen chose a flat-topped hill. On it were two odd-shaped mounds facing the Mississippi River. As Meg studied them closer, she began to see images. “Are these shaped like animals?”
    Helen patted her arm. “Yes, they are.”
    Tess explained. “I believe these were built by the same prehistoric Indians who built the Effigy Mounds in Harpers Ferry around 800 B.C. Their mound building is a regional culture not seen elsewhere. The two main symbols of the mound builders are the bear, which you can see here, and the bird, which appears to be a pelican.
    Once Tess named the bird, Meg could see it clearly. “Have you ever invited archeologists up here?”
    “No, I haven’t,” Helen snapped. “If I did, I’d have the state telling me I can’t walk on my own property. And they’d probably want to confiscate my land for another park.”
    Her response worried Meg. What if Helen hated her plan for these woods?
    ***
    It turned out a good percentage of the acreage was flood lands filled with swamp white oaks, which only grew to about seventy feet and three feet in diameter. Thus, the value of the trees might be just two billion, but still the trees were worth far more than the land.
    When they returned to the cabin later in the evening, Helen cursed as she checked her phone. “Damn it! Jeffrey’s sitting on the front porch.” She eyed Meg. “Probably looking for you.” She shook her head. “Tess, you and Meg go