Chapter 20 - The Ghost from the Past
Mason, Peter, and Daniel gathered in the office of Mayor Helen Whitaker the following morning to examine the sudden legal challenge.
"Who is behind this holding company?" Daniel demanded, slamming his fist on the conference table. "Vance Sterling is in federal prison. Thornton is awaiting trial. Who else is trying to rob this town?"
Mayor Whitaker adjusted her glasses with a troubled sigh. "The company is registered as Apex Heritage Holdings. And the sole majority shareholder is someone we thought had left the country twenty years ago: Arthur Callahan."
Peter Callahan went utterly pale. He sank into his leather chair, trembling with disbelief. "Arthur? My father?"
"Your father passed away ten years ago, Peter," Daniel said, confused.
"No," Peter whispered, his voice cracking with old, buried pain. "Arthur didn't die. He faked his death in a boating accident in Canada after running up millions in gambling debts and embezzlement when I was a teenager. He abandoned my mother, Martin, and me, leaving us with all his creditors. Laura and I spent twenty years paying off his debts to keep Riverside Coffee from being seized."
Mason listened in stunned silence as the dark history of the Callahan family unfolded.
"And now," Mayor Whitaker said grimly, "Arthur Callahan has returned to Oakridge with a team of corporate lawyers, claiming that because his estate was never formally probated, all land deeds bearing the Callahan family name—including Station Four's grounds, Riverside Coffee, and the community center parcel—legally belong to him."
Before anyone could speak, the conference room door opened.
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A tall, silver-haired man in an expensive wool overcoat walked in, leaning on a polished mahogany cane. Behind him stood Martin Callahan, smirking with arrogant vindication.
"Hello, Peter," Arthur Callahan said with a cold, aristocratic sneer. "It seems my prodigal son has built quite a lucrative little kingdom on my land. And now, I've come to collect what is mine."
