Chapter 13 - The Last Shadow of Coyle
Anna's stagecoach never arrived.
Elias knew something was wrong before anyone said it.
Jacob waited at the station.
Hours passed.
Then a rider came.
The coach had been found abandoned.
No bodies.
No Anna.
Elias rode immediately.
Martha refused to remain behind.
Rose stayed with Samuel and Ben.
At the coach, they found blood.
Not much.
A torn piece of Anna's coat.
And a C Bar token.
"Coyle," Elias said.
"But he's imprisoned."
"His organization isn't."
Judge Vale investigated.
A former Coyle foreman named Warren Pike had escaped indictment.
He had reason to silence Anna before an upcoming federal hearing.
Anna was the final witness linking several territorial officials to Coyle.
Without her, cases would collapse.
They tracked Pike toward the mountains.
Martha rode beside Elias.
"You don't have to come."
"Stop saying that."
"I thought I'd try once more."
"Didn't work."
"No."
They found Anna at an abandoned mining camp.
Pike held her inside the assay office.
Elias wanted to storm it.
Martha stopped him.
"He's expecting you."
"Then what?"
"He's not expecting me."
She approached alone.
Hands raised.
Pike appeared.
"The widow."
"Apparently I'm famous."
"Too famous."
"I have something you want."
He laughed.
"Everyone says that."
"Coyle's private ledger."
Pike's expression changed.
The real ledger was already federal evidence.
Martha had brought a copy.
"If Anna testifies, you're finished."
"If she doesn't, I'm not."
"Unless the ledger places you at every property seizure."
Pike stared.
Martha held up the book.
"Trade."
Anna shouted from inside.
"Don't!"
Pike stepped out.
Elias moved through the rear.
Martha kept Pike talking.
"You killed Briggs?"
"No."
"Mercer?"
"Idiot."
"Coyle?"
"Greedy."
"You?"
Pike smiled.
"Practical."
Then Anna appeared behind him.
Elias had freed her.
Pike turned.
Martha struck him with the ledger.
Anna kicked his knee.
Elias tackled him.
It ended almost absurdly fast.
Later Anna laughed until she cried.
"I waited six years to be rescued, and when it finally happens, a pregnant widow hits a man with accounting records."
Martha corrected her.
"Formerly pregnant."
"Details."
Anna testified.
The remaining network collapsed.
Officials resigned.
Others were prosecuted.
Coyle's empire disappeared piece by piece.
There would be no resurrection this time.
No hidden lieutenant.
No remaining ledger.
No final gunman waiting in the hills.
The danger that began beneath Martha's wagon was ending.
On the ride home, Anna studied Martha.
"He proposed yet?"
Martha nearly fell off her horse.
"Elias told you?"
"No."
"He hasn't."
"Then he's slower than I remember."
Martha laughed.
Anna became serious.
"You don't need my permission."
"I know."
"But perhaps he does."
That evening Anna found Elias.
Martha didn't hear their conversation.
She only saw them hug afterward.
Not like husband and wife.
Like two people finally releasing a life neither could return to.
Anna left for Denver again under federal escort.
Elias watched until her coach disappeared.
Martha stood beside him.
"You all right?"
"Yes."
"Truth?"
He considered.
"Sad."
"That's allowed."
"And grateful."
"Also allowed."
He looked at her.
"And ready."
"For?"
"You'll see."
Back at the claim, Elias behaved suspiciously for three days.
Jacob knew something.
Ben knew something.
Samuel definitely knew something and was enjoying Martha's irritation.
On Sunday evening, they led her toward the cottonwoods.
A table had been set beneath the trees.
Wildflowers filled jars.
Martha stopped.
"Elias."
He stood beside the river.
Wearing a clean shirt.
That alone frightened her.
Jacob handed him something.
A ring.
Not Anna's.
A new one.
Simple silver.
Elias approached.
Martha started crying before he spoke.
"That's unfair."
"What?"
"You haven't even asked."
"I can wait."
"Don't you dare."
He smiled.
Then knelt.
"Martha Whitcomb, the first time I met you, you were dying beside a broken wagon and arguing with me about being carried."
"I was not dying."
"You were."
"Continue."
"I thought saving you would be one good thing I could do before going back to being alone."
Her tears fell.
"Then you ruined that plan."
"Sorry."
"No, you're not."
"No."
He took her hand.
"You made me want a home again. You made Jacob laugh. You made me believe loving people isn't the same as waiting to lose them."
Martha covered her mouth.
"I don't want to replace Daniel."
"You couldn't."
"I don't want you to forget him."
"I won't."
"I just want to stand beside you for whatever comes next."
He raised the ring.
"Will you marry me?"
Martha looked at Jacob.
At Samuel.
At Ben.
At Rose sleeping in a basket beneath the cottonwoods.
At the house they had built on land Daniel had chosen.
Then at Elias.
"Yes."
Everyone cheered.
Elias stood and kissed her.
For once, nothing interrupted them.
Almost.
A rider appeared on the distant trail.
Judge Vale.
He carried an official envelope.
Elias groaned.
"If that's another criminal organization, I'm moving to Canada."
Vale dismounted.
"No criminals."
He handed the envelope to Martha.
"It's about Daniel."
Her smile disappeared.
"What about him?"
May you like
Vale's expression was unreadable.
"Before you marry Elias, Mrs. Whitcomb, there's something you need to know."
