Charles stared at her.
“What?”
“He gave me a letter.”
Charles’s eyes narrowed.
“You liar.”
“No.”
Emily’s voice became strangely calm.
“He told me that men would eventually come searching for the stolen bonds.”
Daniel struggled upright.
Emily continued.
“He told me the truth before he died. He had helped steal them. But before the robbery was completed, he betrayed the others.”
Charles’s face tightened.
“Where are they?”
“There were never sixty thousand dollars in bonds.”
Charles stared at her.
Emily took a breath.
“My father discovered the robbery was being organized by someone inside the United States Treasury.”
Charles’s expression changed.
Daniel saw it.
And suddenly understood.
Emily continued.
“He copied names. Dates. Bank transfers. Everything.”
Charles whispered, “No.”
“The paper in your hand isn’t a map.”
His eyes dropped toward it.
“It’s a list of every man involved.”
Daniel saw real fear enter Charles Vane’s face for the first time.
Emily stood.
“And your name is first.”
Charles pointed the gun at her.
Daniel moved.
But another voice came from the doorway.
“I’d lower that pistol.”
Everyone froze.
A man stood outside.
Older.
Gray beard.
Long coat.
A silver star pinned to his chest.
Behind him were at least a dozen armed riders.
Charles went pale.
The newcomer stepped inside.
“Federal Marshal Isaac Cole.”
Charles looked toward the window.
More riders surrounded the cabin.
No escape.
Marshal Cole held out his hand.
“The paper.”
Charles stared at Emily.
Something almost like admiration crossed his face.
“You planned this.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Charles looked confused.
Marshal Cole smiled grimly.
“She didn’t.”
He looked at Daniel.
“He did.”
Emily turned.
Daniel stared at the marshal.
“What?”
Cole’s expression softened.
“You really don’t know.”
Daniel’s heart began pounding for an entirely new reason.
“Know what?”
Marshal Cole removed his hat.
“Your father was one of my deputies.”
Daniel forgot the pain in his side.
“My father was a rancher.”
“He became a rancher.”
Daniel stared at him.
Cole continued.
“Before he came to Wyoming, Thomas Mercer served five years undercover investigating Samuel Harrow’s network.”
Emily slowly turned toward Daniel.
“Thomas Mercer…”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Cole reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old photograph.
Three men stood beside a wagon.
One was Marshal Cole, younger by twenty years.
One was Samuel Harrow.
And the third was unmistakably Daniel’s father.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
His knees nearly failed him.
Cole continued.
“Samuel Harrow wasn’t the criminal history remembers him as.”
Emily whispered, “What?”
“He worked with us.”
Charles closed his eyes.
Cole looked at Emily.
“Your father infiltrated the group stealing federal bonds. Charles Vane’s organization.”
Emily’s mouth fell open.
“My father…”
“Was an informant.”
Tears gathered instantly in her eyes.
“He died protecting you.”
Charles suddenly raised his pistol.
Daniel lunged.
The marshal fired.
Charles collapsed.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Charles Vane lay still.
Dead.
The nightmare Emily had carried for six years ended on the floor of the cabin where she had expected to begin a new life.
But Marshal Cole had not finished.
He walked to Charles and retrieved the paper.
Then he looked at Daniel.
“Your father knew Harrow’s daughter would eventually come west.”
Daniel frowned.
“How?”
“Harrow trusted Thomas Mercer more than anyone.”
Cole looked around the cabin.
“He told him where Emily might run if things went wrong.”
