Mercy stepped in front of him.
“If you kill him, seven boys lose another parent.”
That reached him.
Barely.
Thomas trembled.
Then lowered his fist.
Samuel moved.
Fast.
He grabbed the revolver from the nearest man and seized Mercy around the throat.
Thomas froze.
Samuel pulled Mercy against his chest.
The barrel pressed beneath her jaw.
“Back away.”
Sheriff Pell raised both hands.
“Samuel.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Mercy almost laughed.
“What should we call you?”
Samuel tightened his grip.
She winced.
“The dead man whose name you stole?”
“Be quiet.”
“The banker who murdered Ruth?”
“Mercy.”
“Or the coward who let a woman mourn him because he wanted nicer boots?”
His grip shook.
For a moment Mercy feared she had pushed too far.
Then Ben spoke.
“You made my mama burn?”
Samuel looked toward him.
That one movement was enough.
Caleb kicked the back of Samuel’s knee.
Thomas lunged.
The revolver fired into the ceiling.
Mercy fell.
Samuel crashed to the floor.
Jonah kicked the gun away.
Sheriff Pell drew his weapon.
“Don’t move!”
Samuel struggled.
Six Bell boys descended upon him.
Even Noah kicked his boot.
Only Ben stayed still.
He stood holding the torn remains of Daisy.
Samuel looked up at him.
Something uncertain crossed his face.
Regret, perhaps.
Ben walked forward.
Everyone became silent.
The five-year-old stared down at the man who had killed his mother.
Then Ben hugged Daisy against his chest.
“My mama beat you.”
Samuel frowned.
Ben lifted his chin.
“You wanted her secret.”
He looked at Mercy.
“But she gave it to us.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
Sheriff Pell handcuffed him.
Ruth Bell had been dead for three years.
And she had finally won.
The investigation lasted months.
Samuel Harlan—formerly Silas Rook—had left a trail longer than anyone imagined.
Forged deeds.
Invented debts.
Stolen cattle.
Bribed officials.
Three other ranch families had lost their land.
Two men who had worked for him confessed after Samuel was arrested.
One admitted setting the Bell barn fire.
The other admitted frightening away the two women Thomas had hired after Ruth’s death.
Samuel had wanted Bell Ranch unstable.
A household without a woman deteriorated.
Children distracted a father.
A desperate rancher signed bad papers.
Everything had been deliberate.
Mercy sometimes thought that knowledge should have made her feel foolish.
Instead, it made her furious.
Samuel had taken fifteen years from her.
She refused to give him another day.
The fraudulent mortgage was erased.
The Bell cattle were recovered.
Sheriff Pell resigned after investigators discovered he had ignored evidence in exchange for loans.
By April, snow disappeared from the lower fields.
Green returned slowly.
So did laughter.
One evening Mercy stood on the porch watching Thomas repair the gate.
He walked toward her after finishing.
“You’re still here.”
Mercy narrowed her eyes.
“Careful.”
He smiled.
“I didn’t say you could stay.”
“Good.”
“I was thinking maybe I could ask.”
Her heart shifted.
Thomas removed his hat.
