PART 8 — THE FOREMAN’S LAST SECRET

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

Ethan stared at the name.

Then at Samuel.

“Explain.”

Samuel didn’t move.

Clara looked between them.

“Ethan…”

“No.”

His voice was quiet.

“Let him answer.”

Samuel lowered his eyes.

“I knew this day would come.”

“You wrote that?”

“No.”

“Then why is your name on it?”

Samuel took a slow breath.

“Because I was there.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

“The night my father died?”

“Yes.”

“Start talking.”

Samuel sat down.

“Your father discovered the original ledger.”

“The real one.”

“Yes.”

“He knew Mercer would come.”

“Yes.”

“So what happened?”

Samuel looked at Ethan.

“Your father asked me to help him hide it.”

“Where?”

Samuel shook his head.

“I didn’t know.”

Ethan stared.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then what did you know?”

“That Thomas had arranged a meeting.”

“With Mercer?”

“No.”

Samuel hesitated.

“With Nathaniel Whitaker.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“Thomas wanted Whitaker to turn on Mercer.”

Clara whispered:

“Did he?”

Samuel shook his head.

“No.”

“What happened?”

“Whitaker betrayed him.”

Ethan’s hands tightened.

“He told Mercer where Thomas was.”

Samuel nodded.

“They came for him.”

“Who?”

“Mercer.”

“And Whitaker.”

Silence.

“What did you do?”

“I followed them.”

Samuel’s voice became rough.

“When I arrived, Thomas was already on the ground.”

Ethan stopped breathing.

“Was he alive?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

Samuel looked away.

“He told me to take the ledger.”

“Where?”

“He gave me the key.”

Ethan looked at the old key in his hand.

“This one?”

“Yes.”

“And then?”

Samuel’s eyes filled with regret.

“Thomas told me to run.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“You left him.”

“I had no choice.”

“You left my father.”

“I had a choice.”

Samuel’s voice cracked.

“And I made the wrong one.”

Ethan stared at him.

“What happened after?”

“I hid the ledger.”

“Where?”

Samuel didn’t answer.

Ethan’s hand moved toward his revolver.

“Where?”

Samuel looked directly at him.

“Black Mesa.”

Ethan froze.

“What?”

“The original ledger has been inside your ranch for twenty-two years.”

Clara whispered:

“Where?”

Samuel looked at Ethan.

“Under the house.”

Ethan shook his head.

“The room beneath the office.”

“No.”

“Then where?”

Samuel’s answer was almost a whisper.

“Beneath the kitchen.”

Clara’s eyes widened.

“The kitchen?”

Samuel nodded.

“Your father built a second chamber.”

Ethan remembered the old house.

The kitchen floor.

The heavy stone fireplace.

The strange cold spot Clara had once complained about.

He turned toward the door.

“We go back.”

Samuel stood.

“No.”

Ethan stopped.

“Why?”

“Because Mercer is already there.”

The words had barely left his mouth when gunshots echoed in the distance.

One.

Then another.

Clara grabbed Ethan’s arm.

Samuel looked toward the road.

“They found us.”

Ethan drew his revolver.

“How many?”

“Enough.”

The front window shattered.

Samuel pushed Clara to the floor.

A bullet struck the wall.

Ethan fired toward the window.

A horse screamed outside.

“Back door!” Samuel shouted.

They ran.

Three riders appeared beyond the trees.

Ethan fired twice.

One rider fell.

The others disappeared behind the hill.

Samuel grabbed Clara’s arm.

“Move!”

They reached the horses.

Ethan mounted.

Clara climbed behind him.

Samuel rode alongside them.

They didn’t stop until Black Mesa came into view.

Smoke still rose from the ruins.

But something was wrong.

The ranch was too quiet.

Ethan slowed.

“Where is everyone?”

Samuel looked around.

“The men should be here.”

The barn doors stood open.

No horses.

No cattle.

No ranch hands.

Clara whispered:

“They took them.”

Ethan’s face hardened.

They entered the yard.

A note had been nailed to the remains of the porch.

Ethan ripped it free.

COME ALONE.

Beneath it:

OR THE RANCH HANDS DIE.

Clara grabbed the paper.

“No.”

Ethan looked at her.

“I have to go.”

“You’re not going alone.”

“They’ll kill them.”

“They’ll kill you.”

Ethan stared at her.

“Then don’t make me choose.”

Clara’s eyes filled with tears.

“I’ve spent my whole life watching men decide what I am allowed to lose.”

She stepped closer.

“I won’t watch you do it.”

Samuel looked toward the barn.

“There’s another way.”

Ethan turned.

Samuel pointed toward the kitchen ruins.

“The chamber.”

They moved carefully through the burned remains.

Beneath the old fireplace, Samuel found a loose stone.

He removed it.

A narrow iron ring appeared.

Ethan pulled.

The floor opened.

A staircase descended.

Clara looked at him.

“Your father hid everything here.”

Ethan nodded.

They went down.

At the bottom was a small chamber.

And there it was.

A black leather ledger.

Ethan approached slowly.

He touched the cover.

Then stopped.

Something was carved into it.

Not Thomas’s initials.

Not Mercer’s.

A single letter.

C.

Clara stared.

“Why would my initial be on your father’s ledger?”

Ethan opened it.

The first page answered.

A list of names.

Then one sentence.

Clara Vane is the rightful heir to the Mercer land trust.

She stopped breathing.

Ethan turned the page.

More names.

More properties.

And finally—

a signature.

Harlan Mercer.

But the date was only six months old.

Clara whispered:

“He signed this recently.”

Ethan looked at her.

“That means he’s still alive.”

Samuel stepped backward.

“No.”

They turned.

Samuel was staring at the final page.

“What?”

He pointed.

A second signature appeared beneath Mercer’s.

Nathaniel Whitaker.

But Nathaniel was supposed to be in custody.

Ethan’s expression changed.

“Whitaker isn’t working for Mercer.”

Samuel shook his head.

“No.”

“He’s working with him.”

Samuel nodded.

“And if this ledger is genuine…”

Clara finished the sentence.

“They never wanted Black Mesa.”

She looked at Ethan.

“They wanted me.”

A gunshot exploded above them.

The chamber shook.

Someone had found the entrance.

Then a man’s voice came from the darkness.

“Mrs. Blackwood.”

Clara froze.

The voice continued.

“Your husband has something that belongs to your family.”

Ethan raised his revolver.

“Come get it.”

A pause.

Then:

“Oh, I intend to.”

The chamber door began to open.

And Ethan realized they had nowhere left to run.