Ironwood Trust Reckoning
When her developer brother attempts to force her into taking responsibility for millions in fraudulent timber debt, artisan conservator Nora Vance risks everything to escape with the truth.
Fictional story. Contains depictions of family financial betrayal, physical altercation resulting in minor injury, and law enforcement involvement.Chapter 1: The Broken Threshold
The rain came down in cold, heavy sheets against the windshield of my old Ford truck, hammering the roof like loose gravel. Down the coastal ridge, the dark outline of the Blackwood timber mill stood etched against the stormy Atlantic horizon. I gripped the steering wheel with my left hand, my right arm pinned painfully across my ribs in a makeshift sling crafted from my soaked canvas work jacket. My skin burned where shattered glass had grazed my cheek, and every bump in the unpaved driveway sent a sharp, sickening throb straight up my forearm toward my elbow.
I had spent twelve years working as a master structural conservator, restoring historic timber buildings across the Pacific Northwest and Maine. I had managed heavy rigging, lifted two-ton oak beams, faced gale-force squalls on scow barges, and worked alongside tight-lipped crew chiefs who measured safety in quarter-inches. Yet none of those hazards had prepared me for the sheer terror of pulling into my family’s property while fearing the very people who carried my last name.