A property transfer.
Railway company.
Fifty thousand dollars.
“Emily signs first.”
Emily stared at the document.
“And then?”
Clara’s expression held no warmth.
“Then Daniel suffers an unfortunate accident while attempting to escape custody for Luke Sayer’s murder.”
Daniel said nothing.
“And me?”
Emily asked.
Clara looked at her.
“You’ve always been the complication.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“You tried to shoot me today.”
“Yes.”
“And the poison?”
Clara laughed softly.
“Oh, darling.
Did you truly think the poison was intended for Daniel?”
Everyone went still.
Clara reached into her coat.
She removed the blue bottle.
“The bottle in your trunk was harmless colored water.”
Daniel frowned.
Doctor Bennett had identified aconite.
Clara smiled wider.
“The doctor smelled the stopper.
The aconite was painted around the neck.”
Emily understood.
Twenty drops would not have killed Daniel.
The letter was meant to frighten Emily into confessing.
To destroy Daniel’s trust in her.
To separate them.
Clara had never expected Daniel to drink the poison.
She had expected him to throw Emily out.
Alone, disgraced, and terrified, Emily would have been easy to control.
“But you ruined that,” Clara said bitterly to Daniel.
“You believed her.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
For the first time that night, she smiled.
Clara’s face twisted.
“Sign.”
Emily walked toward the table.
Daniel watched her pick up the pen.
Then she looked directly at him.
“Do you trust me?”
Clara laughed.
Daniel did not hesitate.
“Yes.”
Emily dropped the pen.
And kicked the lantern off the table.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Daniel moved instantly.
He drove his shoulder into Sheriff Bell.
A gun fired.
Emily screamed.
Glass shattered.
Daniel struck Bell again.
The sheriff collapsed.
Flames from the broken lantern raced across the rug.
Clara fled through the back door.
Emily grabbed Daniel’s hand.
“Go!”
They ran after her.
Clara sprinted toward the stable.
Firelight illuminated the yard behind them.
She reached a horse.
Daniel caught her before she mounted.
Clara swung the pistol.
Emily shouted.
The gun fired.
Daniel stumbled backward.
“Daniel!”
Emily ran toward him.
Clara raised the weapon again.
Then another shot exploded.
Clara’s pistol flew from her hand.
Doctor Miriam Bennett stood near the cottonwoods holding a rifle.
Beside her were three armed ranchers.
Miriam lowered the barrel.
“I delivered Daniel Mercer, Clara.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I was not about to let you kill him.”
Clara slowly raised her hands.
Sheriff Bell survived.
So did Daniel.
Clara’s bullet had grazed his shoulder.
By morning, both Clara and Bell were locked inside the county jail.
The railway company denied knowing anything about murder but admitted Clara had promised to obtain the land.
For the first time in nearly twenty years, the story of Samuel Mercer and Thomas Hale began to emerge.
