Cole had avoided him for years.
Now three of his daughters were standing in Cole's barn.
That was a problem.
A very large problem.
Anna stepped closer.
“We don't need your protection.”
Cole raised an eyebrow.
“You broke into my barn.”
“We needed shelter.”
“You could have asked.”
“We did.”
“When?”
Anna looked toward the barn doors.
“Three hours ago.”
Cole stared at her.
“You've been here three hours?”
Rose gave him a tired smile.
“You sleep deeply.”
Cole sighed.
“Wonderful.”
Lily suddenly collapsed.
Cole caught her before she hit the floor.
She was lighter than he expected.
Her skin was cold.
“She needs a doctor.”
Anna shook her head.
“No doctor.”
“She's hurt.”
“I know.”
“Then she needs help.”
“If we go into town, we'll be found.”
Cole looked at Lily.
Then at Anna.
Then Rose.
He had spent most of his life avoiding other people's problems.
Yet somehow, three of them had arrived at his door before sunrise.
He holstered the revolver.
“Get her inside.”
Anna stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because you're standing in my barn.”
Rose almost smiled.
“That's your reason?”
“It's the only one you're getting.”
By sunrise, Cole had learned that the three sisters had been running for nearly two days.
Their horses had been changed twice.
They had slept beneath a bridge.
They had hidden in an abandoned church.
They had crossed a river at night.
And they had stolen nothing.
At least, not exactly.
They had taken something from their father.
Something that could destroy him.
Cole placed a cup of coffee in front of Anna.
She stared at it.
“You don't drink coffee?”
“I do.”
“Then drink.”
She did.
Rose sat near the stove, holding a cloth against her forehead.
Lily slept beneath a blanket.
Cole studied the three women.
“You said your father sent killers.”
“He did.”
“Why?”
Anna looked toward the window.
“Because we found his ledger.”
Cole's eyes narrowed.
“What ledger?”
Rose answered.
“A book containing every illegal payment he made for the past fifteen years.”
Cole stopped moving.
“How did you get it?”
Anna reached inside her coat.
For the first time, Cole saw the fear in her face.
She pulled out a small leather notebook.
“This isn't the ledger.”
Cole looked at it.
“Then what is it?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
Anna shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Cole stared at her.
“Then why steal it?”
“Because our father killed the man who was supposed to have it.”
The room became silent.
Cole looked toward the sleeping Lily.
“Who was he?”
“A judge.”
Cole frowned.
“Judge Elias Monroe.”
Cole knew the name.
Everyone did.
Monroe had been one of the few judges in the territory known for refusing bribes.
Three weeks earlier, he had disappeared.
The official story was that he had suffered a heart attack while traveling.
Cole had never believed it.
Neither had anyone else.
Anna leaned closer.
“Judge Monroe was investigating our father.”
“And you found his evidence?”
“No.”
She touched the leather notebook.
“We found the key to his evidence.”
Cole looked at it again.
“What does the key open?”
“We don't know.”
Rose spoke quietly.
“But our father knows.”
Cole frowned.
“Then why haven't you gone to the sheriff?”
Rose laughed.
A cold, humorless sound.