“But he let her die.”
Silence.
Ruth continued.
“Eleanor discovered what he was doing.
She confronted him during her labor.
There was bleeding.
Too much.
Vale had medicine that might have slowed it.
He stood beside the bed and demanded she tell him where she’d hidden evidence.”
Ruth began sobbing.
“She wouldn’t.”
Nolan went perfectly still.
“While my wife bled to death?”
“Yes.”
Ruth whispered, “I tried to help.”
“Not enough.”
“No.”
Nolan turned away before anger made him do something unforgivable.
Then he stopped.
“Why was Grace in the ledger?”
Ruth’s face changed.
Fear.
Maribel saw it.
“What aren’t you telling us?”
Ruth shook her head rapidly.
“Not now.”
Nolan stepped toward her.
“Tell me.”
“You must find Matthew first.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale will move every child before sundown.”
That was enough.
They reached Blackwater Creek as the sky darkened.
The farmhouse stood alone beyond the frozen river.
No smoke rose from the chimney.
Nolan dismounted first.
Maribel followed before he could stop her.
“You stay behind me.”
“He is my son.”
“And Grace is back at Raven Hollow.”
“With Mrs.
Bell and three ranch hands.”
“If Vale is here—”
“I am coming.”
Nolan knew arguing was useless.
They entered.
The front room was empty.
Then Maribel heard it.
A baby crying.
From below.
She ran toward the cellar door.
Locked.
Nolan kicked it once.
Wood splintered.
The cellar smelled of coal, milk and damp blankets.
Three cradles stood beneath lantern light.
Two were empty.
One wasn’t.
Maribel stopped breathing.
A baby boy lay wrapped in gray wool.
Wide awake.
Dark hair.
Round cheeks.
A tiny crescent-shaped birthmark beneath his right ear.
Maribel made a strangled sound.
“Matthew.”
The baby turned toward her voice.
She crossed the room.
Her hands shook so violently she could barely lift him.
Then Matthew looked up.
Alive.
Her son was alive.
Maribel pressed him against her chest and sobbed.
Not delicately.
Not quietly.
She sobbed like a woman whose grave had opened and returned what she had buried.
“
My baby.
My baby.
My baby.
”
Nolan stood beside her with tears in his eyes.
Matthew began crying.
Maribel laughed through her tears.
“That’s right.
Cry.
You cry as loudly as you want.”
Then Nolan noticed something on the wall.
A map.
Red lines connecting Widow Creek to Denver, Cheyenne and St.
Louis.
More names.
More children.
Vale’s operation was bigger than anyone imagined.
Nolan ripped the map down.
Behind it was a telegraph notice.
TRANSFER TONIGHT.
TWO REMAINING.
“Two?”
Maribel looked around.
Only Matthew remained.
Nolan’s face drained of color.
A horse galloped outside.
He ran upstairs.
A rider disappeared between the trees.
Nolan recognized the coat.
Vale.
Then another horse approached from the south.
One of Nolan’s ranch hands.
