Chapter 9 - The Final HeirEdward was brought into the cabin under guard.
He looked beaten.
But he was smiling.
Samuel hated that smile.
“You have ten seconds.”
Edward looked at Olivia.
“Your father lied to you.”
“He's dead.”
“Exactly.”
Edward leaned forward.
“That's why you never found the final ledger.”
Olivia stared.
“What final ledger?”
“The one he gave your mother.”
Olivia went still.
“My mother died when I was a child.”
Edward shook his head.
“No.”
Samuel frowned.
“She abandoned Olivia.”
“She hid her.”
Olivia could barely breathe.
“Where?”
Edward smiled.
“Mexico.”
Olivia staggered backward.
“My mother is alive?”
Edward nodded.
“She has been living under another name.”
“Why?”
“To keep Margaret from finding her.”
Samuel looked at Edward.
“Why tell us?”
“Because Margaret wants Daniel.”
Edward's voice turned bitter.
“And when Margaret has him, she'll kill everyone who knows the truth.”
Samuel crossed his arms.
“You expect us to trust you?”
“No.”
Edward looked at Olivia.
“I expect you to hate me.”
“That part is easy.”
“Good.”
He stood.
“Because hatred will keep you alive.”
Edward pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
A train route.
A location.
A name.
Isabel Bennett.
Olivia touched the paper.
Her hands shook.
“What does she have?”
“The final deed.”
Edward stepped closer.
“And proof that Margaret ordered your father's murder.”
Samuel looked at him.
“And you?”
Edward smiled bitterly.
“I was a coward.”
For the first time, Samuel saw something human in him.
“I helped Margaret.”
“Why?”
“She had my brother.”
“Your brother is dead.”
“He was.”
Edward looked down.
“She killed him anyway.”
The room fell silent.
Edward's voice softened.
“I believed I could control her.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
Edward looked at Daniel.
“Neither can you.”
Samuel stepped between them.
“I don't need to control anything.”
Edward smiled.
“That is what makes you dangerous.”
Outside, a gunshot sounded.
Edward's head snapped toward the window.
Men were approaching.
Margaret had found them.
Edward immediately grabbed a pistol.
Samuel stared.
“You're helping us?”
Edward nodded.
“This is my last chance to make one thing right.”
The gunfight began.
Men stormed the ranch.
Samuel protected the children.
Olivia and Eleanor fired from the windows.
Edward fought beside them.
For several minutes, they held the ranch.
Then Margaret appeared outside.
She stood in the snow.
Calm.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
“Daniel!”
The baby's crying filled the cabin.
Margaret smiled.
“You cannot hide him forever.”
Samuel shouted:
“You'll never touch my son.”
Margaret raised her pistol.
Edward stepped into the doorway.
“Mother.”
Margaret stared at him.
“You.”
Edward lowered his gun.
“I should have killed you years ago.”
Margaret smiled.
“But you didn't.”
She fired.
Edward took the bullet.
He fell.
Margaret turned and fled.
Edward lay bleeding.
Samuel knelt beside him.
“Why?”
Edward coughed.
“Because I finally understood.”
“What?”
He looked at Olivia.
“Your father didn't die for the mine.”
Olivia leaned closer.
“Then what did he die for?”
Edward smiled weakly.
“To make sure you survived.”
Then Edward died.
In his coat, Samuel found one final envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Olivia as a little girl.
Her father.
Her mother.
And another man.
Samuel stared at the fourth face.
He knew him.
The sheriff.
The same sheriff who had been helping them.
The same sheriff who had promised to protect them.
Samuel whispered:
“He's working for Margaret.”
Olivia looked at him.
Then the cabin door opened.
The sheriff stood there.
May you like
Gun drawn.
And behind him stood fifty armed men.
