Footsteps.
Several people.
Ethan closed the ledger.
“They followed us.”
Mara looked around desperately.
“There has to be another exit.”
Ethan found a narrow opening behind the crates.
They squeezed through.
The tunnel climbed upward.
Behind them, voices grew louder.
“Search every chamber!”
“They couldn't have gone far!”
Ethan pulled Mara forward.
The passage ended at a vertical shaft.
Above them was daylight.
A ladder climbed toward the surface.
They began climbing.
Halfway up, gunfire exploded below.
Bullets struck the rock.
Mara slipped.
Ethan caught her wrist.
“Hold on!”
She looked down.
“I can't!”
“Yes, you can.”
He pulled her upward.
Together they reached the surface.
They emerged behind a ridge overlooking the valley.
Below them stood Black Hollow.
Several men entered the mine.
One of them was Sheriff Harlan.
Another was Victor Crane.
Ethan stared at the wealthy rancher.
Victor looked up.
For one brief second, their eyes met.
Victor smiled.
Then he raised a hand.
Two men spread through the trees.
Mara whispered, “We have to go.”
Ethan looked at the ledger.
“No.”
He closed it.
“We have to make them think they still have a chance to find it.”
Mara frowned.
“What are you planning?”
Ethan looked toward Cedar Ridge.
“We're going home.”
The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
They reached Cedar Ridge after midnight.
Ethan did not return to the ranch.
Instead, he took Mara to the old church on the edge of town.
The pastor, Reverend Thomas Avery, had known Samuel Cole for decades.
When Ethan showed him the ledger, the old man removed his glasses.
“I wondered when this day would come.”
Ethan stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew your father was afraid.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he asked me not to.”
Ethan slammed the ledger onto the table.
“My brother disappeared!”
“I know.”
“My father died.”
“I know.”
“And everyone kept silent!”
Thomas lowered his head.
“Your father believed silence would keep you alive.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
The pastor walked to a cabinet.
He removed a sealed envelope.
“Your father left this with me.”
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Ethan,
If you are reading this, then the danger has finally reached you. I wanted to tell you everything, but I could not risk bringing you into it. Daniel was alive when I wrote this. He discovered that Crane was using Black Hollow to hide stolen mineral shipments and launder money through land purchases. Sheriff Harlan protected him.
Ethan's hands trembled.
The letter continued.
Daniel wanted to expose them. I begged him to leave. He refused.
Then came the sentence Ethan feared most.
I helped him disappear.
Ethan stopped.
Mara leaned closer.
“What?”
Ethan continued reading.
Daniel is not dead.
The room seemed to disappear.
Ethan read the sentence again.
And again.
His brother was alive.
Somewhere.
For four years.
The next line contained an address.
An abandoned cattle station forty miles west.
Ethan stood immediately.
Mara grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
“No.”
“You need a plan.”
“I've waited four years.”
He turned toward the door.
“I am not waiting another night.”
They reached the station just before dawn.
The buildings were empty.
A barn stood beside a dried creek.
Ethan searched every room.
Nothing.
Then he heard a cough.
He froze.
It came from the barn.
Ethan slowly opened the door.
A man stood in the shadows.
Thin.
Bearded.
Older.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
“Daniel?”
The man stepped forward.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan could not move.
Then he crossed the barn in three strides.
The brothers embraced.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Ethan finally whispered, “You're alive.”
Daniel nodded.
“I've been alive every day.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
“Because Crane would have killed you.”
Ethan stepped back.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice!”
Daniel's eyes filled with pain.
“I watched from a ridge when they buried an empty coffin for me.”
Ethan stared.
Daniel continued.
“Dad told everyone I was dead because it was the only way to keep Crane from hunting me.”
“What happened to Dad?”
Daniel looked away.