Chapter 6 - Midnight at the Chapel
"You're not going alone," Martha said.
Elias loaded his revolver.
"You're not going at all."
"That seal was hidden in my baby's cradle."
"Exactly."
"So it's my decision too."
"No."
Martha stepped in front of him.
"You don't get to become every man who decided I couldn't handle the truth."
That stopped him.
Elias looked at her.
Then nodded once.
"Fine."
They made a plan.
Samuel and Clara would watch from outside.
Crane would remain with Ben.
Martha would carry a false seal.
The real one stayed hidden.
At midnight, Elias and Martha entered the abandoned chapel.
Moonlight spilled through broken windows.
A man stood near the altar.
Mercer.
Beside him was a teenage boy.
Dark hair.
Thin face.
Hands tied.
Elias stopped.
"Jacob."
The boy stared.
He had been six when Elias last saw him.
Now he was nearly a man.
"Pa?"
One word nearly destroyed Elias.
Mercer smiled.
"Touching."
"Let him go."
"Seal first."
Martha held up the pouch.
Mercer's eyes shifted toward her.
"The famous widow."
"Disappointed I'm alive?"
"Mr. Coyle is."
"Then he should have fixed my axle properly."
Mercer's smile vanished.
Elias almost admired her.
"Give me the seal," Mercer said.
"Give us Jacob."
"No."
Martha shrugged.
"Then we leave."
Mercer laughed.
"You think you have leverage?"
"Yes."
She held the pouch above a candle flame.
Mercer moved.
"Wait."
"Jacob first."
Mercer shoved the boy forward.
Jacob ran.
Elias caught him.
For one second the mountain man forgot the room.
He held his son.
Jacob clung to him.
Then Mercer drew.
Martha dropped.
Elias fired.
The shot struck Mercer's shoulder.
Mercer fled through a side door.
Samuel chased him but returned minutes later.
"Lost him."
Elias barely cared.
He was still holding Jacob.
"Where's your mother?"
Jacob's face changed.
"Alive."
Elias closed his eyes.
"Where?"
"Coyle has her."
"At his ranch?"
Jacob nodded.
"She sent me away two weeks ago. Mercer caught me."
Elias looked toward Martha.
Anna lived.
The impossible had become real.
Jacob explained that Anna had spent years gathering evidence from inside Coyle's operation.
She had stayed because Coyle threatened Jacob.
Recently she learned Coyle planned to flee the territory.
She sent Jacob to find Elias.
"She always said you'd come," Jacob whispered.
Elias looked broken.
"I didn't know."
"I know."
Father and son held each other again.
Martha turned away to give them privacy.
Her hand rested over her belly.
She was happy for Elias.
Truly.
Yet somewhere beneath that happiness lived a quiet sadness.
At dawn, they met Judge Harrison Vale.
The judge examined the ledger.
Crane gave testimony.
Clara provided forged deeds.
Jacob described his captivity.
Vale's expression darkened.
"This is enough for warrants."
Martha exhaled.
"Then arrest Coyle."
"Not so quickly."
Her hope faltered.
"Coyle has armed men."
"So do you."
"Law requires more than courage."
Elias scoffed.
Vale ignored him.
"I can deputize men. But if Coyle destroys his original records before we reach the ranch, his attorneys will claim this ledger is fabricated."
Clara spoke.
"Anna has the originals."
Elias turned.
"How do you know?"
"She told Jacob."
The boy nodded.
"Ma hid them."
"Where?"
Jacob looked at his father.
"She wouldn't tell me."
Judge Vale made his decision.
They would ride at first light with twelve federal deputies.
Martha insisted on going.
Everyone objected.
She won.
"Why?" Elias asked privately.
"Because Coyle killed Daniel."
"We don't know that yet."
"I need to hear Crane say it in front of him."
"And if something happens?"
Martha touched her belly.
"Something has been happening since Missouri."
Elias stepped closer.
"You don't have to prove you're brave."
"I'm not."
"What?"
"I'm terrified."
That confession surprised him.
Martha continued.
"Bravery isn't feeling nothing, Elias. It's being scared and going anyway."
He looked at her for a long time.
"Daniel was right about you."
"So was Anna about you."
Neither asked what she meant.
They rode the next morning.
Jacob remained at the fort with Ben.
By afternoon, Coyle's ranch appeared.
Massive.
Fortified.
Too quiet.
Vale raised a hand.
The deputies spread out.
Elias saw no guards.
"Something's wrong."
They entered.
The main house door stood open.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
Blood marked the floor.
"Anna!" Elias shouted.
No answer.
Martha entered behind him.
On the table sat a photograph.
Elias, younger.
Anna.
Little Jacob.
Martha picked it up.
Beneath it was a note.
Elias read it.
IF YOU FOUND JACOB, THEN I FINALLY DID ONE THING RIGHT.
He swallowed.
Below that:
THE RECORDS ARE WHERE COYLE CAN NEVER BURN THEM.
Martha noticed the last line.
LOOK BENEATH WHAT HE WORSHIPS MOST.
"What does Coyle worship?" she asked.
Clara answered.
"Money."
They searched the study.
A massive iron safe stood behind a painting.
Elias forced Coyle's desk drawer.
Inside was a key.
The safe opened.
Money.
Gold.
Stacks of currency.
Martha looked beneath them.
Nothing.
Then she saw scratches on the safe floor.
"Move the gold."
They did.
A false panel appeared.
Elias lifted it.
Records.
Hundreds.
Original deeds.
Payment ledgers.
Letters.
Enough to destroy Coyle.
Judge Vale smiled grimly.
"We have him."
Then a voice came from the doorway.
"No."
Everyone turned.
Everett Coyle stood there with a pistol pressed against Anna Cole's head.
Elias froze.
Anna stared at him across six stolen years.
May you like
And Coyle smiled.
"Now," he said, "we negotiate."
