Samuel had spent years exposing them.
Then he had disappeared.
He had thought they were gone.
A knock came at the door.
Samuel froze.
“Who?”
No answer.
He reached for the revolver.
The knock came again.
Three times.
Slowly.
Samuel opened the door.
Nobody stood there.
Only a small wooden box rested on the floor.
Samuel picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
His brother Daniel stood beside a young woman.
Samuel recognized her.
Mary Bell.
Daniel's wife.
Dead for eleven years.
Behind them stood five men.
One was Sheriff Caleb Morgan.
One was Judge Elias Vane.
One was banker Thomas Crowe.
And one was a man Samuel knew immediately.
Harlan Reed.
His own father.
Samuel stared at the photograph.
His father had supposedly died twenty years earlier.
A piece of paper lay beneath the photograph.
Samuel unfolded it.
They buried the wrong man.
Then the church bell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Samuel looked toward the window.
Every light in Cold Creek had gone out.
And somewhere outside, a horse screamed.
The Woman in the Church
Samuel left the hotel with his revolver beneath his coat.
The snow had stopped.
Cold Creek looked abandoned.
He followed the sound of the horse.
It came from behind the church.
There he found a black mare tied to a fence.
Its saddle was empty.
Blood covered one stirrup.
Samuel crouched.
Fresh.
He looked toward the church doors.
They were open.
Samuel entered.
Moonlight spilled through the stained glass.
A woman stood at the altar.
She wore a long gray coat.
Her back was toward him.
Samuel raised his gun.
“Don't move.”
The woman slowly turned.
She was perhaps thirty.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
A scar above her eyebrow.
Samuel lowered the gun slightly.
“Who are you?”
“Anna Morgan.”
Samuel froze.
“Sheriff Morgan's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“He said you died.”
Anna smiled bitterly.
“My father says many things.”
Samuel stepped closer.
“You sent the letter?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
Samuel studied her.
“You knew Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He saved my life.”
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
Samuel frowned.
“That was when Mary died.”
Anna nodded.
“Your brother was investigating her death.”
Samuel's jaw tightened.
“Mary died in a robbery.”
“No.”
“She was shot.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Anna looked toward the church windows.
“By the same men who killed your brother.”
Samuel stepped closer.
“Daniel was murdered?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you were next.”
Samuel stared at her.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Anna whispered.
“He found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The names.”
“Names of who?”
“Everyone in the Iron Circle.”
Samuel felt the old anger returning.
He had spent years believing the Iron Circle had collapsed.
Apparently, he had been wrong.
Anna continued.
“Daniel planned to expose them.”
“And?”
“He disappeared.”
“Eight months ago.”
“No.”
Anna looked directly into his eyes.
“He disappeared six years ago.”
Samuel stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Your brother didn't die eight months ago.”
“Then whose body was buried?”
Anna shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Samuel's hand tightened around his gun.
“Where is Daniel?”
Anna hesitated.
“I believe he's alive.”