Chapter 12: Lien

My lawyer turned her screen toward me and did not say a word.

The record was four pages long.

It listed every year of unpaid taxes on the Dunning parcel.

Next to each year was the date the county had sold the debt as a tax certificate.

I read down the column of dates.

Six years, six certificates.

Under "holder," every line said the same thing.

TEAGUE MESA LLC, BOISE, IDAHO.

Under "managing member" was one name.

Dina Ashdown.

I put my hand flat on the desk.

The room did not tilt, and I didn't faint.

I read the name three times, slowly.

"She came back six weeks ago," I said. "She told us she'd been in Portland for twelve years."

"She told the children she had no money and nowhere else to go."

"The company was formed five years ago," my lawyer said.

"The first certificate was bought four and a half years ago."

"That's before she came back."

"Yes."

"She never left."

"I can't say that. I can say she's been planning this longer than she's been unhappy."

My mouth was dry.

I picked up the tea, which had gone cold, and put it down again.

"How does a woman with no money buy six tax certificates?"

"They're cheap, relatively speaking. Twenty to thirty thousand each at the sale."

"But it's a lot of cash for someone who has been, as you say, in Portland."

She scrolled.

"There's a second document. It's a list of payments the company received. Anyone can request it from the state."

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