Chapter 4 - The Third Man
Jonathan Vale was sixty-two and dressed too well for the mountains.
He smiled as if he'd arrived for dinner.
Two armed men stood behind him.
"Catherine Miller," he said. "You look like your mother."
Catherine's blood went cold.
"You knew her?"
"I knew your entire family."
Elias subtly moved between them.
Vale noticed.
"Boone. Still rescuing people who haven't asked?"
"She screamed."
Vale smiled.
"Of course she did."
He wanted the survey marker.
Catherine refused.
Vale finally explained.
Her father had discovered the silver with Vale decades earlier.
They had been partners.
But when Vale wanted to bring investors and miners onto the mountain, Thomas Miller refused.
The watershed fed Pine Creek.
Large-scale mining could poison it.
Thomas secretly placed the mineral rights into a conservation trust.
The silver could never legally be mined.
Samuel had discovered only that the silver existed.
Vale had encouraged his anger for years.
"You used my brothers."
"I gave them hope."
"You turned them against me."
Vale's smile disappeared.
"They were already against you."
Elias drew first.
The next seconds exploded.
A lantern shattered.
Catherine dropped behind the survey table.
Elias fired into a roof beam, showering Vale's men with splinters while dragging Catherine through the rear opening.
They ran into the forest.
Vale's men followed.
Elias knew the mountain better.
By nightfall they lost them inside a narrow ravine.
Catherine collapsed against a tree.
Elias crouched beside her.
"You're bleeding."
Her shoulder wound had reopened.
He tore cloth from his undershirt and carefully wrapped it.
"Why do you know Vale?" she asked.
Elias didn't answer.
"Elias."
"He owned the company my father worked for."
Catherine waited.
"There was a collapse," Elias continued. "Vale knew the supports were bad. Twelve men died."
"Your father?"
Elias nodded.
"I've spent fifteen years wishing I could prove it."
Catherine looked toward the survey marker in her hand.
"Maybe now you can."
They returned to the cabin the following afternoon.
Something was wrong.
The front door stood open.
Inside, furniture had been overturned again.
"Samuel?" Catherine called.
A groan came from the pantry.
They found Caleb tied to a chair.
His face was bruised.
Catherine rushed toward him.
"Who did this?"
Caleb looked terrified.
"Vale."
"Where's Samuel?"
Caleb started crying.
Catherine had never seen her brother cry.
"He took him."
"Why?"
Caleb swallowed.
"Because Samuel finally remembered what happened the night Papa died."
Catherine gripped the chair.
"What happened?"
Caleb looked behind her.
The cellar door slowly opened.
A bloody hand appeared around its edge.
May you like
And Samuel whispered:
"Catherine... I know who poisoned him."
