Chapter 1 - The Man in the BlizzardBy the time Sadie Bennett opened her eyes again, the cabin ceiling had stopped spinning.
That seemed like a small miracle.
The fire crackled somewhere to her left. Heat crawled slowly over her frozen skin, painful at first, almost unbearable. Her fingers tingled. Her feet felt like they belonged to someone else.
She tried to move.
A blanket slid from her shoulder.
Immediately, a deep voice came from across the room.
“Don’t.”
Sadie froze.
Gideon Cole sat beside the stone fireplace, sharpening a knife.
He looked exactly as he had in the barn.
Broad shoulders.
Dark beard.
Snow still clinging to the collar of his coat.
Except now, without the blizzard swallowing half his face, Sadie could see his eyes.
They were gray.
Cold gray.
But not cruel.
She glanced at her wrist.
The iron cuff was still there.
“You said you would remove it.”
“I said tonight.”
“It is tonight.”
“It’s two minutes after midnight.”
“That counts.”
One corner of Gideon’s mouth moved.
“Apparently you have rules.”
Sadie sat up too quickly.
Pain shot through her head.
Gideon was beside her before she could fall.
She flinched.
He stopped immediately.
“Easy.”
“I told you not to touch me.”
“I remember.”
He stepped back.
Sadie stared at him.
Most men she had known did not listen when she spoke like that.
Her husband certainly never had.
Judd would laugh.
Then he would do exactly what he wanted.
She looked toward the cabin window.
Snow struck the glass in thick waves.
“How far are we from the barn?”
“Far enough.”
“Judd will come.”
Gideon’s expression changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
“You’re sure?”
“He said he would leave me there for two days.”
“And?”
“Two days have passed.”
Gideon stared into the fire.
“Then he’ll assume you’re dead.”
Sadie swallowed.
“He wanted me dead.”
“Why?”
She said nothing.
Gideon studied her.
“People usually don’t chain their wives to posts without a reason.”
“My husband isn't people.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
Sadie pulled the blanket tighter around herself.
“I don't know what you want me to say.”
“The truth.”
She almost laughed.
The truth.
The truth was the one thing that had nearly killed her.
She looked at the mountains through the window.
“My husband owns Mercer Ridge Ranch.”
“I know.”
Sadie frowned.
“You know Judd?”
“Everybody knows Judd.”
“He has enemies.”
“So do I.”
“He has money.”
“I don’t.”
“He owns half the county.”
“He wishes.”
Sadie looked at him.
For the first time, Gideon smiled.
It lasted less than a second.
Then his face became serious again.
“What happened before the barn?”
Sadie closed her eyes.
She saw it again.
Judd standing in the doorway.
The lantern behind him.
The snow falling through the open barn doors.
His expression almost gentle.
“You should have trusted me, Sadie.”
Then the chain.
Then darkness.
She opened her eyes.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Gideon stopped sharpening the knife.
“What kind?”
“Accounts.”
“From the ranch?”
“No.”
She hesitated.
“From the mine.”
The room went still.
Gideon lowered the knife.
“Which mine?”
“Black Hollow.”
His eyes hardened.
“That mine’s been closed for years.”
“I know.”
“Why would Judd have a ledger from Black Hollow?”
“Because the mine isn’t closed.”
Silence.
The fire popped.
Gideon slowly stood.
“Tell me exactly what you saw.”
Sadie did.
Not everything.
Not yet.
She told him about the locked office behind the ranch storehouse.
About finding hidden shipments.
About names she didn't recognize.
About payments made to men who worked for the county.
About a mine that officially had no employees.
But she left out one thing.
The name written across the final page.
Harlan Cole.
Gideon's brother.
When she finished, Gideon stood so still that he almost looked carved from the mountain.
“Who showed you this?”
“No one.”
“You're lying.”
Sadie stiffened.
“I’m not.”
“You recognized the accounts somehow.”
“I can read.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
He walked to the window.
Outside, a wolf cried somewhere beyond the ridge.
Sadie watched him.
“Who is Harlan Cole?”
Gideon did not turn around.
“My brother.”
She felt the blood leave her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“When did you see his name?”
“The night before Judd chained me.”
Gideon finally turned.
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the ledger.”
“What did it say?”
Sadie remembered the page.
The faded ink.
The names.
The numbers.
Then one line written in darker ink.
Harlan Cole.
Paid in full.
Deceased.
She looked at Gideon.
“It said he was paid.”
Gideon’s jaw tightened.
“He died eight years ago.”
“I know.”
“He died in Black Hollow.”
“I know.”
His eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Sadie realized her mistake.
She had never told him that.
“Because Judd told me.”
The cabin door suddenly shook.
Once.
Then again.
Gideon reached for the rifle.
Sadie’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“What is it?”
He lifted one finger.
Silence.
Another knock.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then a man’s voice came through the storm.
“Mrs. Bennett.”
Sadie stopped breathing.
She knew that voice.
Judd.
Gideon looked at her.
“You know him?”
Sadie nodded.
Gideon moved toward the door.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
He glanced over his shoulder.
Sadie forced herself upright.
“That man spent two days waiting for me to die.”
The voice came again.
“Sadie.”
Judd sounded almost amused.
“I know you're in there.”
Gideon chambered a round.
“Then he made a mistake.”
The cabin door burst inward.
Snow exploded across the floor.
Three armed men rushed through the opening.
Gideon fired.
The first man fell.
The second fired back.
A bullet tore through Gideon's shoulder.
Sadie screamed.
Gideon staggered.
Then he raised his rifle again.
And behind the three men stood Judd Mercer, smiling.
“That's enough,” Judd said.
His eyes landed on Sadie.
“You've always had terrible taste in men.”
Gideon slowly lifted the rifle.
Judd laughed.
“Go ahead.”
Then he held up a small piece of paper.
Sadie saw the handwriting.
Her own handwriting.
Her blood turned cold.
“Before you kill me,” Judd said, “you should ask your wife what she wrote the night your brother died.”
Gideon's eyes moved toward Sadie.
May you like
And Sadie realized, with horror, that Judd hadn't come to kill her.
He had come to make sure Gideon hated her.
Related Stories
