Chapter 2 - The Man Who Came Looking for OliviaNobody moved.
Smoke drifted through the broken window.
Baby Daniel began crying.
Emma followed.
Joseph covered his ears.
James grabbed his brother's hand.
Samuel reached for the rifle leaning beside the fireplace.
His arm nearly gave out.
Olivia saw him stagger.
“Don't.”
Samuel ignored her.
He reached the rifle anyway.
Edward drew his pistol.
“Put it down.”
Samuel pointed the rifle toward the door.
“You first.”
For the first time, Edward looked impressed.
Then another gunshot exploded outside.
Edward ducked.
Samuel fired through the wall.
A horse screamed.
Someone shouted.
Edward's expression darkened.
“We need to leave.”
Olivia shook her head.
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Edward stepped toward her.
“You were never going to escape.”
Samuel raised the rifle.
“She stays.”
Edward's eyes narrowed.
“This does not concern you.”
Samuel almost laughed.
“It concerns me the second you bring a gun to my house.”
Edward took one more step.
Then stopped.
Because Samuel's rifle was steady now.
Despite the venom.
Despite the dizziness.
Despite the fact that his vision was fading.
Edward looked at him for several seconds.
Then smiled.
“You're going to die before sunrise.”
Samuel's jaw tightened.
“Then you'll have to kill me before that.”
Edward walked backward.
“Enjoy your last few hours.”
He turned.
Then paused.
“Olivia.”
She stared at him.
“You should have remembered what happened to your father.”
Olivia's face collapsed.
Edward walked away.
Hoofbeats faded.
Silence returned.
Samuel lowered the rifle.
His knees buckled.
Olivia caught him.
“Sit down.”
“I heard what he said.”
“Forget him.”
“Can't.”
Samuel looked at her.
“Who is your father?”
Olivia did not answer.
“Why is a man claiming you're his wife?”
“Because he wants everyone to believe I belong to him.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
Samuel studied her.
“Then who is he?”
Olivia's voice dropped.
“The man who murdered my father.”
Samuel stared at her.
That changed everything.
She carried Daniel to the table and carefully laid him down.
Then she locked the door.
“Your father was a doctor.”
“He was.”
“What happened?”
Olivia swallowed.
“My father discovered Edward was stealing medicine from his clinic.”
Samuel frowned.
“For what?”
“To sell to mining companies.”
“That isn't worth murder.”
“No.”
Olivia looked toward the window.
“He discovered something worse.”
Samuel waited.
“My father found ledgers.”
“What kind of ledgers?”
“Names. Payments. Land deeds.”
Samuel's expression hardened.
“Whose land deeds?”
“Ranchers.”
That word hung in the cabin.
Olivia continued.
“Edward had been buying land from desperate families. Some were sick. Some were in debt. Some disappeared.”
Samuel remembered three ranchers who had vanished in the previous two years.
“You're saying he killed them?”
“I don't know.”
“But you think he did.”
Olivia nodded.
“My father was going to take the ledgers to the sheriff.”
“What happened?”
“He never got there.”
Samuel's gaze dropped.
“And you?”
“I found his body.”
The children became quiet.
Even the babies seemed to sense the change in the room.
Olivia wiped her eyes.
“I took the ledgers.”
Samuel looked at her.
“Where?”
She didn't answer.
“Olivia.”
“I hid them.”
“Where?”
She looked toward Daniel.
Samuel frowned.
Then realized.
“Not with the baby.”
Olivia's face hardened.
“I needed somewhere Edward would never think to search.”
She opened the baby's blanket.
Sewn into the lining was a tiny leather pouch.
Samuel stared.
“You've been carrying evidence against a murderer while riding into town to teach children?”
“I had nowhere else to go.”
Samuel's head spun.
He grabbed the table.
Olivia rushed toward him.
“You need medicine.”
“How far to the doctor?”
“Fifteen miles.”
Samuel laughed weakly.
“Horse?”
“My mare can make it.”
“You're not leaving.”
“I can ride.”
Samuel shook his head.
“You don't know this country.”
“I grew up around it.”
“You're not riding alone with four children and Edward hunting you.”
Olivia stared at him.
“What do you suggest?”
Samuel looked toward the mountains.
“We wait until dark.”
“For what?”
“My brother-in-law.”
“You have family nearby?”
Samuel hesitated.
“My wife’s brother lives two valleys over.”
“And you trust him?”
Samuel looked uncertain.
“I used to.”
That answer frightened Olivia more than anything else.
Outside, another horse whinnied.
Samuel raised the rifle again.
Olivia lifted Daniel.
The twins crowded behind her.
The cabin door shook.
A man's voice called out.
“Samuel!”
Samuel froze.
He knew that voice.
“Luke?”
A second voice whispered from the woods.
“Samuel, don't open that door.”
Samuel's face drained.
Olivia looked at him.
“Who is Luke?”
Samuel stared at the door.
“My brother-in-law.”
Then Luke shouted from outside:
“Samuel, Edward lied to you!”
A pause.
“He didn't come alone.”
Then the sound of rifles being cocked surrounded the cabin.
Olivia whispered:
“How many?”
Samuel listened.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
He looked at her.
“At least eight.”
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And then Luke said something that turned Samuel's blood to ice.
“Samuel, your wife's death wasn't an accident.”
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