“No.”
“You burned my cabin.”
“I didn't.”
Ethan stared.
“Then who?”
Gideon looked toward the ridge.
“Mercer.”
A second gunshot came from behind Gideon.
Gideon fell.
Ethan watched in disbelief.
Someone else was shooting.
Gideon crawled behind a tree.
“Ethan!”
“What?”
“Find the man who signed the railroad contract.”
Then he disappeared into the forest.
Ethan looked at Clara.
“What is happening?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
For the first time, both of them realized the truth.
Gideon Vale might not be the mastermind.
He might only be another piece of the puzzle.
Nine — The Man Behind the Curtain
Gideon survived.
They found him two hours later inside an abandoned barn.
He was bleeding heavily.
Ethan wanted to leave him.
Clara stopped him.
“If he knows who is behind this, we need him alive.”
Gideon laughed weakly.
“You sound like your father.”
Ethan knelt.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I have lied to you for years.”
“That part I know.”
Gideon looked down.
“Your father discovered the railroad survey.”
“And the mine.”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered the killings?”
Gideon hesitated.
“Thomas Wren.”
Ethan frowned.
“Who is that?”
“The president of the bank in Cedar Ridge.”
Ethan knew the name.
Thomas Wren was one of the richest men in the territory.
He rarely appeared in public.
He had financed cattle operations for decades.
Gideon continued.
“Wren arranged everything. I provided land records. Mercer provided the law. Others provided men.”
“And you?”
“I was supposed to convince your father to sell.”
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
“So they killed him.”
Gideon shook his head.
“Wren didn't want him dead.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Then who did?”
Gideon closed his eyes.
“Mercer.”
Clara stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because Samuel found proof that Mercer had been taking payments.”
“And the heart attack?”
Gideon looked at Ethan.
“Your father was poisoned.”
Silence.
Ethan felt as if the ground had moved beneath him.
For four years he had believed his father died naturally.
All those memories.
His father's final morning.
The cup of coffee.
The handshake.
The words:
Take care of the ranch.
It had been murder.
Ethan stood.
“Where is Wren?”
“In town.”
“Then we're going there.”
Gideon grabbed his sleeve.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“Wren isn't afraid of the law.”
“Why?”
“Because he owns the law.”
Ethan pulled free.
“Not all of it.”
Gideon watched him leave.
“Your father said the same thing.”
Ten — Cedar Ridge
Cedar Ridge was unusually quiet when Ethan rode into town.
People watched from windows.
Men stopped talking when he passed.
The bank stood at the center of town.
Stone walls.
Iron doors.
Wren's name carved above the entrance.
Ethan entered with Clara and Lucas.
Thomas Wren was waiting.
He sat behind a large oak desk.
He was an elderly man with silver hair and a calm expression.
“Ethan Cole.”
“You know me.”
“I knew your father.”
“You knew him well.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know why I'm here.”
Wren folded his hands.
“You have questions.”
“I have answers.”
Wren smiled.
“That is more dangerous.”
Ethan placed the ledger on the desk.
Wren's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Ethan saw it.
“You recognize it.”
Wren leaned back.
“I recognize trouble.”
“This contains records of land purchases.”
“Yes.”
“Bribes.”
“Yes.”
“Murder.”
Wren looked at him.
“You should be careful with accusations.”
“Why?”
“Because accusations require proof.”
Ethan opened the ledger.
“Here is your proof.”
Wren's expression became colder.
“That ledger is incomplete.”
“What?”
“It contains payments made by many people.”
Ethan froze.
“What are you saying?”
“Your father kept records.”
Wren stood.
“He knew about the scheme. But he participated in it.”
Clara stepped forward.
“That's a lie.”
Wren looked at her.
“Is it?”
He opened a drawer.
Inside were several documents.
Contracts bearing Samuel Cole's signature.
Land transfers.
Payment agreements.
Ethan stared.
His father's name appeared again and again.
Wren said quietly:
“Your father was not the innocent man you believe him to have been.”
Ethan picked up one document.
The signature looked genuine.
“What is this?”
“Your father sold land.”
“No.”
“He sold three parcels.”
“Why?”
“To finance the ranch.”
Ethan looked at Clara.
She shook her head.
“Your father discovered the fraud later,” Wren said. “He tried to undo what he had done.”
Ethan felt betrayed.
Not only by Wren.
By the memory of his father.
Wren continued.
“Samuel was not murdered because he opposed the railroad.”
“Then why?”
“Because he changed his mind.”
Ethan looked up.
“He wanted to expose everyone.”
Wren nodded.
“And that included me.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Mercer?”
Wren smiled.
“Mercer acted on his own.”
“Then who poisoned my father?”
Wren said nothing.
Clara suddenly understood.
“Gideon.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
“Gideon had access to your father.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
Wren smiled.
“You finally see it.”
But before Ethan could respond, the bank doors opened.
Sheriff Mercer walked inside.
His revolver was drawn.
“Drop your weapons.”
Ethan looked around.
There were ten armed men outside.
The trap had closed.
Eleven — The Escape
Mercer ordered them into the back room.
Ethan surrendered his gun.
Clara surrendered hers.
Lucas, still weak from his wound, was forced against the wall.
Mercer looked at Ethan.
“You should have stayed at the ranch.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You killed my father.”
Mercer smiled.
“Yes.”
Clara inhaled sharply.
Mercer continued.
“He wouldn't cooperate.”
“You poisoned him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because men like your father believed principles were more important than money.”
Mercer laughed.
“They always learn otherwise.”
Ethan said nothing.
Mercer walked closer.
“You were supposed to inherit the ranch and sell it.”
“I refused.”
“I know.”
“So you came after me.”
“No.”
Mercer glanced toward Wren.
“Someone else did.”
Wren's face hardened.
“You were told to wait.”
Mercer ignored him.
That was when Ethan understood.