Gideon turned.
From the entrance tunnel came a faint scrape.
Then another.
Mary Ann pulled the twins behind her.
Gideon extinguished the lantern.
Darkness swallowed the cavern.
A man’s voice echoed through the passage.
“Mary Ann?”
Her blood froze.
She knew that voice.
Elias Crowe.
“Mrs. Shaw,” he called pleasantly. “You’ve caused half the town considerable worry.”
Gideon whispered, “Back chamber.”
Mary Ann shook her head.
He seized her shoulder.
“Go.”
She gathered the boys and moved through the dark.
Crowe’s voice drew closer.
“I know Gideon’s with you.”
A lantern appeared at the far bend.
Then Crowe stepped into the cavern.
Two armed men followed him.
One was Jeremiah Pike, owner of Bell Creek’s livery stable.
The other was a stranger Mary Ann had seen twice at the mercantile.
Crowe smiled.
“There you are.”
Gideon stood beside the cold fireplace.
“You followed her.”
Crowe laughed softly.
“Of course I followed her. Did you honestly think a widow pulling two children through a storm wouldn’t leave tracks?”
“You knew about the cave.”
“I knew Thomas had something hidden north. Never found it.”
Crowe looked around.
“Until today.”
From the darkness, Mary Ann listened.
Crowe approached the empty apple crate.
“I assume you’ve discovered your little inheritance problem.”
Gideon said nothing.
Crowe lifted a black steel box.
Mary Ann’s stomach twisted.
He had it.
Crowe tapped the lid.
“This?”
“How?”
Crowe smiled.
“I arrived before you.”
Gideon’s face hardened.
“You were already here.”
“Briefly. Then I stepped outside when Mercy began barking. Imagine my surprise when I saw Mrs. Shaw approaching.”
Crowe’s smile widened.
“So I decided to let Thomas’s clever little widow show me how the door worked from outside.”
Mary Ann closed her eyes.
He had been inside the entire time.
Watching.
Crowe continued.
“Thomas was always inconveniently cautious.”
“You killed him.”
Crowe’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Mary Ann opened her eyes.
Gideon stared.
Crowe repeated, “I did not kill Thomas.”
“Vane?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Crowe looked toward the shadows.
“Ask his wife.”
Mary Ann felt as if the entire mountain had shifted beneath her.
Gideon said, “What?”
Crowe chuckled.
“You still don’t understand, do you?”
He set the box down.
“Come out, Mary Ann.”
She stayed where she was.
Crowe raised his voice.
“Come out, or Jeremiah starts firing into the dark.”
Gideon stepped forward.
Pike cocked his rifle.
Mary Ann emerged.
Silas clung to one side of her coat.
Samuel clung to the other.
Crowe studied her.
“There she is.”
“You said I killed Thomas.”
“No. I said Gideon should ask you.”
Mary Ann’s fear became anger.
“I watched my husband die.”
“Yes.”
“You signed his death record.”
“I did.”
“He had a bullet wound.”
Crowe lifted an eyebrow.
“Did he?”
Mary Ann looked at Gideon.
Gideon’s face had gone strangely pale.
Crowe crouched and opened the steel box.
Inside were deeds, certificates, maps, letters—
and a small leather ledger.
Crowe removed it.
“This is what Thomas was really hiding.”
Mary Ann’s eyes narrowed.
Crowe opened the ledger.
“Do you know what your husband did before he married you?”
“He cut timber.”
Crowe laughed.
“No.”
He flipped several pages.
“Thomas Shaw transported people.”
“What people?”
“Widows. Children. Chinese railroad workers. Runaways. Men pursued by Vane’s hired agents. Families whose claims Vane wanted cheaply.”
Gideon said, “Thomas protected them.”
“Yes, he did.”
Crowe’s tone sharpened.
“And he kept records.”
Mary Ann stared at the ledger.
Crowe continued.
“Nathaniel Whitcomb did not simply own land. He had discovered Vane’s entire method. Fraudulent deeds. Dead settlers whose signatures mysteriously appeared on sale documents. Families driven from claims. Judges paid in Denver.”
He held up the book.
“Thomas spent eight years collecting proof.”
“Then why kill him?” Mary Ann asked.
Crowe looked amused.
“Again, I didn’t.”
“Who did?”
He held the ledger toward her.
“Your father.”
Mary Ann could not breathe.
“My father is dead.”
“Is he?”
Her skin went cold.
Crowe began reading names.
