Caleb's voice broke.
"I thought she was dead."
"You didn't investigate?"
"I did."
"For how long?"
"Years."
"Then why stop?"
Caleb had no answer.
Rose looked away.
Victor Hale remained near the horses.
Finally, Rose said:
"My mother told me one thing before she died."
"What?"
"She said if a man named Caleb Morgan ever came looking for me, I should ask him one question."
Caleb waited.
"What question?"
Rose looked directly into his eyes.
"Did you love her?"
Caleb closed his eyes.
"Eleanor was the love of my life."
Rose's expression softened.
For the first time, she looked less like a stranger.
More like family.
Then a gunshot came from the ridge.
Victor shouted.
"DOWN!"
They dropped.
Another bullet struck the porch railing.
Caleb reached for his rifle.
"Get inside!"
Rose ran toward the house.
Caleb fired toward the ridge.
A rider disappeared behind the rocks.
Victor mounted.
"They're here."
Caleb looked at Rose.
"Who?"
Victor answered.
"The people who burned your barn twelve years ago."
THE NAME IN THE LEDGER
That night, Caleb finally told Rose the truth about his family.
His father, Nathan Morgan, had been one of the most powerful ranchers in southern Wyoming.
But he had also been a ruthless businessman.
Nathan had acquired land through debts, intimidation, and questionable contracts.
Caleb had hated that part of his father.
He had left home at nineteen.
When Nathan died, Caleb inherited Morgan Ranch.
He believed he had left the past behind.
But Eleanor had discovered something.
A ledger.
It contained names.
Payments.
Land transfers.
And evidence that Nathan Morgan had secretly controlled a network of men who forced homesteaders from their property.
Eleanor had intended to expose it.
Then she disappeared.
Rose listened carefully.
"Who else knew?"
"Silas."
"Anyone else?"
Caleb shook his head.
"Your mother trusted very few people."
Rose reached into her coat.
"I have something."
She pulled out a folded letter.
Caleb recognized Eleanor's handwriting immediately.
His hands trembled.
He read.
Caleb,
If you are reading this, I failed to return home.
Do not trust the men who say the fire killed me.
Your father left behind something more dangerous than money.
There is a second ledger.
It contains everything.
I hid it where you once told me no one would ever look.
Caleb stared at the final line.
Rose asked:
"Where?"
Caleb whispered:
"The old church."
THE ABANDONED CHURCH
The church stood fifteen miles north of the ranch.
It had been abandoned for nearly twenty years.
Caleb remembered telling Eleanor once that nobody would search there because everyone considered it haunted.
They arrived before sunrise.
The door groaned open.
Dust covered the pews.
Caleb walked toward the altar.
Rose followed.
"Where would she hide it?"
Caleb looked around.
Then he remembered something.
Eleanor had once laughed when he told her about a loose stone beneath the altar.
He knelt.
His fingers found the crack.
He lifted the stone.
A metal box was buried underneath.
Rose stared.
"That's it."
Caleb opened it.
Inside was a ledger wrapped in oilcloth.
There were also letters.
Photographs.
Maps.
And a list of names.
Caleb recognized several.
Judge Harlan.
Sheriff Pike.
Victor Hale.
Silas Boone.
Rose stared at the page.
"Victor?"
Caleb looked at her.
"He's on the list."
They both turned.
Victor was standing in the doorway.
His pistol was drawn.
"I wondered how long it would take."
Rose stepped backward.
"You lied to us."
Victor sighed.
"I protected your mother."
"By working for them?"