"Elias."
He joined her.
A loose stone had been removed from the floor.
Beneath it was a metal box.
Inside were documents.
Dozens of them.
Land deeds.
Bank records.
Payment lists.
And a journal.
Thomas Reed's journal.
Elias opened it.
The first pages described cattle theft.
Then land fraud.
Then murder.
The final entry was written two days before his death.
"Victor Hale has purchased the sheriff, the judge, and the bank. But there is one thing he cannot buy: proof."
Elias turned the page.
The final sentence was underlined.
"The original ledger is hidden beneath Morgan Ranch."
Elias stared at the words.
Anna looked at him.
"Your ranch."
Elias closed the journal.
"I know."
"But why would Reed hide it there?"
"I don't know."
They rode home before dark.
The ranch looked normal.
Too normal.
Elias dismounted.
Then he noticed the barn door.
It was open.
He drew his pistol.
Anna stayed behind him.
Inside the barn, a lantern burned.
Someone was waiting.
Caleb Rusk stepped from the shadows.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be."
Elias raised his gun.
"You should leave."
Rusk smiled.
"Hale wants the journal."
"Tell him no."
"He also wants the woman."
"Tell him no twice."
Rusk's smile vanished.
"Then he'll come himself."
Elias stepped forward.
"I'll be waiting."
Rusk turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
"You really don't know what your father did, do you?"
Elias froze.
"What did you say?"
Rusk smiled.
"Ask your mother."
Then he disappeared into the night.
Elias stood motionless.
His father had been dead for eighteen years.
And there were things about him Elias had never known.
The Secret Beneath the Ranch
Elias spent the night searching the ranch house.
He found nothing.
Finally, Anna spoke.
"Your father may have left something."
"He never mentioned Hale."
"Maybe he couldn't."
Elias remembered an old trunk.
It had belonged to his father.
He had not opened it in years.
The trunk was in the attic.
Inside were old clothes, photographs, letters, and a revolver.
At the bottom was a folded map.
Elias opened it.
It showed Morgan Ranch.
A red mark had been drawn beneath the house.
Anna stared.
"There's a cellar."
"I don't have a cellar."
"Apparently your father did."
Elias searched the floorboards.
One board sounded hollow.
He removed it.
Beneath it was a hidden staircase.
The stairs descended into darkness.
Elias lit a lantern.
The cellar was enormous.
It extended beneath the entire house.
Along the walls were wooden shelves.
And on those shelves were boxes.
Hundreds of them.
Elias opened one.
Land deeds.