Chapter 9 - The Truth Beneath the Floorboards
Margaret slapped Elizabeth.
Nobody stopped her.
“You told me Cyrus killed him.”
“He did.”
“You said you held the gun.”
“I did.”
“Then explain.”
Elizabeth sat at the kitchen table.
Eighteen years of guilt came out slowly.
Thomas Bell had confronted Cyrus in an abandoned mine. Elizabeth followed.
Whitcomb was there.
Daniel had already disappeared.
Thomas threatened to expose them.
Cyrus attacked him.
Elizabeth found a dropped pistol.
She fired.
The bullet struck Thomas.
“But he didn't die,” Elizabeth whispered.
Margaret stared.
“What?”
“He told me to run.”
“Then who killed him?”
“Cyrus.”
Elizabeth had hidden nearby.
She heard the second shot.
She lived for years believing her first bullet had weakened Thomas enough for Cyrus to kill him.
Margaret turned away.
Hannah knelt beside her mother.
“Why hide this?”
“Because truth doesn't always make you innocent.”
“No.”
Hannah took her hand.
“But lies let guilty men choose the story.”
At dawn they went to the mine.
Jacob, Nathan, Daniel and Hannah.
Cyrus waited inside.
He had Whitcomb with him.
That surprised everyone.
Whitcomb's hands were bound.
“Your judge became inconvenient,” Cyrus said.
Whitcomb shouted, “He's insane!”
Cyrus laughed.
“Only now?”
Hannah held the ledger.
“Where is Thomas?”
“Closer than you think.”
He pointed toward a collapsed tunnel.
Nathan searched.
Behind loose boards they found bones.
Margaret's husband had finally been found.
Cyrus demanded the ledger.
Hannah threw it toward him.
He bent.
Jacob moved.
Gunfire exploded.
Nathan tackled Whitcomb.
Daniel struck Cyrus.
Hannah crawled behind a timber.
Cyrus fired wildly.
The shot struck a support beam.
The tunnel groaned.
“Out!” Jacob shouted.
Everyone ran.
Cyrus grabbed Hannah.
A knife pressed against her throat.
Jacob stopped.
“Let her go.”
“Give me the deed.”
Hannah saw fear in Cyrus's eyes.
For the first time, she understood him.
He wasn't powerful.
He was terrified of becoming powerless.
She stomped on his foot.
Jacob lunged.
Hannah broke free.
The ceiling collapsed between them.
Cyrus vanished behind dust and timber.
They escaped.
Whitcomb survived.
So did everyone else.
Cyrus did not emerge.
But no body was found.
Back at the ranch, Hannah helped bury Thomas Bell beside Mary Mercer.
Margaret finally had a grave.
The children laid flowers.
That evening Hannah sat beside Jacob.
“Do you think Cyrus is dead?”
“No.”
“Neither do I.”
Jacob looked at her.
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Good?”
“Fear keeps people from doing stupid things.”
“You ran into a burning barn.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“Ruth was inside.”
Hannah smiled.
Then became serious.
“When this ends, what happens to me?”
“Whatever you choose.”
“And if I leave?”
“I'll help you pack.”
“If I stay?”
His eyes met hers.
“I'll build another room if you want one.”
She laughed softly.
“And if I want your room?”
Jacob stopped breathing.
Hannah immediately looked away.
“I shouldn't have—”
He touched her hand.
Only her hand.
“Hannah.”
She looked back.
“I want you.”
Her heartbeat thundered.
“But I will never collect you like something I paid for.”
She leaned closer.
“Then don't collect me.”
“What do I do?”
“Ask.”
His voice lowered.
“May I kiss you?”
“Yes.”
Their kiss was slow.
Careful.
Nothing like possession.
When they separated, Hannah rested her forehead against his.
Then a scream came from the house.
They ran inside.
The kitchen had been destroyed.
Floorboards were ripped upward.
Elizabeth stood staring into a hole beneath them.
Someone had broken in while everyone was outside.
Nathan climbed down.
He returned holding a metal strongbox.
“Whoever came wasn't looking for this.”
Inside were dozens of contracts.
More victims.
More land.
More names.
Then Hannah found one paper bearing Jacob's signature.
She stared at it.
Jacob took it.
His face changed.
“What is it?” she asked.
He didn't answer.
“Jacob.”
He handed it to her.
It was dated two months before Cyrus sold her.
AGREEMENT OF TRANSFER.
Jacob Mercer had agreed to pay Cyrus Reed fifty dollars and one Durham bull for custody of Hannah Reed.
Hannah's hands went cold.
Two months.
“You arranged this before that night.”
Jacob looked stricken.
“Hannah—”
“You told me he offered me.”
“He did.”
“You already knew the price.”
“Yes.”
Her heart broke in a way she hadn't expected.
“Why?”
Jacob stepped toward her.
She backed away.
“Don't.”
Then Elizabeth noticed another page beneath the contract.
“Wait.”
She pulled it free.
It was written in Mary's handwriting.
Hannah recognized it.
At the bottom was Jacob's signature.
And above it was one sentence that changed everything.
IF CYRUS OFFERS HANNAH FOR SALE, PAY ANY PRICE HE NAMES—BUT NEVER TELL HER WHY UNTIL SHE IS FREE TO WALK AWAY.
Hannah looked up.
Before Jacob could explain, a voice came from the open doorway.
“Well.”
Cyrus Reed stood there covered in blood and mine dust.
May you like
A pistol rested against Samuel's head.
And Cyrus smiled...
