Masked Prey (Lucas Davenport #30) - John Sandford Page 0,27
taxes. If he doesn’t pay, or make payment arrangements, the county auctions off the farm. The minimum bid is the amount of the taxes plus processing fees. If the winning bid is twenty-five thousand, the county takes its cut, gives the rest of the money to the homeowner, and the deed to the investor.”
“Then they kick out the original owners?”
“That can happen,” Lang said. “When an investor buys your deed, there’s usually a redemption period, in which the original owner can pay off the amount the investor paid for the deed, plus a hefty interest and service charge. Bottom line, your five-thousand-dollar tax bill could cost you eight thousand dollars to pay off, if you can afford to pay it at all.
“Anyway,” Lang continued, “an individual investor in Michigan bought a tax deed in Westmoreland County. The sale was held by the sheriff and he signed the papers in the sheriff’s office at the courthouse, stepped out on the front steps, and was killed with a single rifle shot. They never identified the shooter or even where he shot from. The bullet was recovered, a .30-caliber slug, and because of the weight of the slug, the police believe it was probably fired from a .300 Winchester Magnum, which I am told is a favorite sniper rifle.”
“And people thought the ANM . . .”
“Then, three or four months later, the president of one of the investing companies was shot at his front door after his company won another Michigan auction. Another long-range sniper action, another .30-caliber. They did find the sniper nest the second time—and there was a note that said something like, ‘Buy a tax deed and die!’ That put at least a temporary chill on tax deed sales. There was a rumor that the ANM was involved in both shootings.”
“Huh.”
“Then there was a murder in Ohio,” Lang said. “A man was accused of rape, got three hung juries despite a lot of evidence—DNA evidence—because he’d been a local football star. Girl committed suicide after the last hung jury. A couple of days later, the alleged rapist was killed by a sniper. Once again, a heavy .30-caliber slug. There were more rumors.”
“But no substantial investigation?”
“The police didn’t have much to work with. And I don’t think anyone looked at it too closely, the rape thing. For several reasons, like, not many people really cared about the rapist, plus, there was no evidence about who did it and if you did find some evidence . . . the killer might come for you.”
“Can you put me in touch with the ANM contact man?”
“Actually, it’s a woman. She may or may not be willing to talk with you. Before I agree to reach out on your behalf, there’d be a condition,” Lang said.
“That would be?”
“If she reaches out to you, and you interview her, you consider sharing the substance of the interview with me,” Lang said. “You tell me what you find out about the group.”
“I’d consider it, but I might not be able to do that,” Lucas said. “This is a federal investigation, not scholarly research.”
“I’m not asking for a promise, only a consideration.” Lang’s tongue flicked out, wetting his lower lip. “I’ve been curious about the ANM for a while.”
“Is there any other group? Or contact?” Lucas asked.
“Actually, there is. I can give you that one right now, Richard Greene of the Greene Mountain Boys. Green with an ‘e’ at the end. There are only a few dozen members in the group, they’re alt-right, and I’ve sometimes thought that Richard is more interested in publicity than in actually doing anything. He’s . . . and I’ll apologize for the language, as you did earlier . . . a bullshitter. But. Because of the publicity, he knows a lot of people. Being media-aware, he collects rumors and tracks everything alt-right. He would be the most likely person to have heard something.”
“How would I reach him?” Lucas asked.
“He lives outside Annapolis . . . I have a phone number . . .” Lang reached for an old-style Rolodex.
* * *
—
LUCAS TOOK DOWN a phone number for Greene, but Lang wouldn’t tell him how he planned to reach the ANM contact, other than to say he’d call some people he knew and ask that somebody call him back. The word might or might not get to the right person. If it did, he’d pass along Lucas’s phone number.
“You can’t count on it, but it’s a possibility,” Lang said. “They have responded to occasional