Chapter 7 - The Brother Who Never DiedHarlan Cole walked into the chamber with a gun in one hand and a scar running from his temple to his jaw.
Sadie recognized him from the photograph.
He looked older.
Harder.
Alive.
Gideon stared at his brother.
Neither man moved.
Then Harlan smiled.
“Hello, Gideon.”
Gideon's rifle rose.
“Harlan.”
“That's my name.”
“You're dead.”
“I've been told.”
Sadie stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Gideon didn't lower the rifle.
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I needed you angry.”
“Why?”
“Because grief makes people stupid.”
Gideon's face changed.
“You bastard.”
Harlan sighed.
“I didn't choose this.”
“You chose to disappear.”
“I chose to survive.”
Sadie stared.
“Did you know my father?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know you were alive?”
“Yes.”
“Why did he hide you?”
“Because Judd had people everywhere.”
Gideon lowered the rifle slightly.
“Who killed our brother?”
Harlan looked at him.
“You already know.”
Gideon frowned.
“There was another one?”
Harlan nodded.
“The name in the photograph.”
“The woman.”
Sadie stepped closer.
“Who was she?”
Harlan stared at the ledger.
“Your mother.”
Sadie stopped breathing.
“My mother died when I was ten.”
“No.”
“She died.”
“She disappeared.”
Sadie shook her head.
“My father said—”
“Your father lied to protect you.”
“From what?”
Harlan looked at Gideon.
“From a woman named Evelyn Voss.”
Clara.
Sadie remembered the woman in the tunnel.
Her stomach turned.
“Voss?”
Harlan nodded.
“Clara's sister.”
“So Clara knew.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
“Your mother was investigating Black Hollow.”
“Why?”
“Because the Bennett family had the original land claim.”
Sadie looked down at the ledger.
Harlan continued.
“She discovered the gold theft.”
“Then Judd killed her.”
“No.”
“Who?”
“Her own brother.”
Sadie stared.
“Colonel Nathaniel Mercer?”
Harlan nodded.
“He ordered her disappearance.”
Sadie's hands trembled.
“Why?”
“Because she found the military records.”
Gideon looked at Harlan.
“Then why didn't you bring them to the authorities?”
Harlan laughed.
“Which authorities?”
He pointed at the ledger.
“The sheriff was paid.”
“The judge was paid.”
“The bank was paid.”
“Half the county was paid.”
Gideon lowered his rifle.
“So what do we do?”
Harlan looked at Sadie.
“We expose them.”
Sadie almost laughed.
“With what?”
He pointed to the ledger.
“With this.”
“Enough?”
“No.”
Harlan took another book from his coat.
“With this.”
He opened it.
Military signatures.
Transfer orders.
Names.
Dates.
Then one signature.
Sadie recognized it.
Judd.
But below Judd's name was another.
Elias Bennett.
Her father's name.
Next to it:
AUTHORIZED TRANSFER.
Sadie stared.
“My father signed for the gold.”
Harlan nodded.
“He did.”
“Then he's guilty.”
“He was.”
“Then why was he helping me?”
“Because he realized what he'd done.”
Sadie's eyes burned.
“How many people died because of him?”
Harlan didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
A gunshot rang out.
Harlan spun.
Blood appeared on his shirt.
“Get down!”
Gideon tackled Sadie.
More shots.
The chamber erupted.
Harlan fired toward the tunnel.
Sadie crouched behind a crate.
“Who is shooting?”
Harlan shouted:
“Judd!”
Gideon looked at his brother.
“You said Judd wasn't here.”
“I was wrong.”
Harlan fired again.
A man screamed.
Then silence.
Gideon rose.
“Stay here.”
Sadie grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You wanted the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Then stay alive long enough to hear it.”
He disappeared into the tunnel.
Sadie looked toward Harlan.
He was bleeding badly.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not compared to my brother's temper.”
She almost smiled.
Then Harlan's face became serious.
“Sadie.”
“Yes?”
“You need to know something.”
“What?”
“Judd didn't come here for the ledger.”
“Then why?”
Harlan swallowed.
“He came for you.”
Sadie froze.
“Why?”
Harlan pointed toward her wrist.
The brand.
“The mark.”
Sadie stared.
“What does it mean?”
Harlan whispered:
“It identifies the last surviving heir to the original Black Hollow claim.”
Her mouth went dry.
“But I'm not the only Bennett.”
“You are.”
“What about my father?”
“He signed away his rights.”
Sadie stared.
“And that's why Judd never killed me.”
Harlan nodded.
“He couldn't.”
A single gunshot echoed from the tunnel.
Then another.
Harlan's face changed.
“Gideon.”
Sadie ran toward the sound.
“Harlan!”
“Don't!”
But she was already gone.
And deeper in the mine, she heard Judd's voice.
May you like
“You should have listened to your husband.”
Then Gideon screamed.
