Daniel raised the rifle.
Emily whispered, “Do you see something?”
“No.”
They moved toward the barn.
Twenty yards.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Daniel smelled something.
Tobacco.
Not his.
He raised one hand.
Emily stopped.
A shadow moved beside the barn.
Daniel swung the rifle.
“Come out.”
Nothing.
He cocked the hammer.
“I said come out.”
A man stepped slowly from behind the barn.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Gray coat.
Hat low over his face.
His hands were raised.
Emily made a sound Daniel would remember for the rest of his life.
Not a scream.
A gasp so sharp it sounded painful.
The stranger smiled.
“Well.”
His voice was smooth.
Almost pleasant.
“Hello, Emmy.”
Emily stumbled backward.
Daniel moved instantly between them.
The man looked past Daniel.
“You’ve gotten prettier.”
Daniel aimed directly at his chest.
“Take another step and you die.”
The stranger stopped.
His smile widened.
“So you’re Mercer.”
Daniel felt Emily trembling behind him.
“Charles,” she whispered.
The man removed his hat.
He was perhaps forty now, with dark hair streaked silver at the temples and a thin scar running from his right ear to his jaw.
Charles Vane.
Alive.
And standing on Daniel’s land.
“My wife and I,” Charles said mildly, “have unfinished business.”
Daniel’s finger tightened against the trigger.
“She’s not your wife.”
Charles laughed.
“Oh, but legally, she is.”
Behind Daniel, Emily whispered, “I thought you were dead.”
Charles’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
“That disappoint you?”
She said nothing.
Charles looked at Daniel.
“You know what she is?”
Daniel did not answer.
“A liar.”
Charles took another careful step.
Daniel lifted the rifle higher.
“Last warning.”
Charles stopped.
“I came peacefully.”
“You broke into my house.”
“Borrowed access.”
“You threatened my wife.”
Charles’s smile disappeared.
“Your wife.”
He rolled the words across his tongue.
Then he looked at Emily.
“Did you tell him everything?”
Emily stiffened.
Daniel felt it.
Charles saw it too.
His smile returned.
“No,” he murmured. “You didn’t.”
Daniel glanced toward Emily.
Her face had become bloodless.
Charles laughed quietly.
“There it is.”
“Shut up,” Emily said.
Daniel had never heard that tone from her.
“Emily?”
She looked at him.
Terror filled her eyes.
“Daniel, don’t listen to him.”
Charles folded his arms.
“She didn’t tell you why I married her.”
Daniel aimed at him again.
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“I said shut your mouth.”
Charles ignored him.
“Emily wasn’t some helpless orphan I rescued.”
Emily stepped around Daniel.
“Yes, I was.”
“No.”
Charles’s eyes became hard.
“Tell him who your father was.”
Emily froze.
Daniel looked between them.
“Emily?”
She stared at Charles.
“Don’t.”
Charles smiled.
“Samuel Harrow.”
Daniel felt as if someone had struck him.
Samuel Harrow.
This time he knew exactly why the name was familiar.
Everyone in Wyoming ranch country knew it.
Samuel Harrow had been one of the most notorious land speculators in the territories.
He had cheated settlers.
Bought judges.
Hired gunmen.
And supposedly died in Kansas years earlier after disappearing with a fortune in stolen federal bonds.
Daniel slowly looked at Emily.
“You said your parents died of fever.”
“My mother did.”
“And your father?”
Emily could barely speak.
“Daniel…”
Charles answered for her.
“Was a thief.”
Daniel’s mind moved rapidly.
“What does that have to do with you?”
Charles tilted his head.
“Ask her where the bonds are.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Daniel felt the night tilt beneath him.
