Chapter 9 - A Dead Man's Witness
Dr. Horace Bell had told Emmett that Emiline died of fever.
Now his photograph sat inside a hidden criminal storehouse beneath Odessa’s barn.
Emmett rode to town.
Bell’s clinic was empty.
He had left that morning.
Odessa found records in the cellar.
Payments.
One dated six months earlier.
The week Emiline died.
Emmett nearly tore the page apart.
Odessa stopped him.
“We don’t know what it means.”
“I know enough.”
“No. You know enough to be angry.”
He looked at her.
“And I need you alive more than I need you angry.”
Those words stopped him.
Judge Avery traced Bell to a railway station.
Deputies arrested him.
Under questioning, Bell admitted working for Vain.
But not what Emmett feared.
Emiline had truly died from fever.
Bell had falsified cattle health certificates and treated injured Ironwood men secretly.
Emmett felt both relief and shame.
He had almost turned grief into accusation.
Bell knew something else.
Rafe had been injured the night Elias died.
A deep cut across his palm.
“From what?” Avery asked.
Bell hesitated.
“The running iron.”
Elias had fought back.
Rafe’s blood had stained the handle.
That explained the stain.
And Bell had kept treatment notes.
Evidence.
Meanwhile Thomas Vale arrived under guard and gave a sworn statement.
The case tightened.
Vain had fewer places to run.
Then Bell revealed the final piece.
Vain had arranged for Emmett to be hired at Bar Seven years earlier.
“Why me?”
“Because you were useful.”
Emmett frowned.
Bell explained that Vain’s operation needed an outsider to blame eventually.
A respected cowboy with no powerful family.
When Emiline died, Emmett became vulnerable.
Rafe chose his moment.
Emmett sat silently.
His entire downfall had been planned.
Odessa found him outside afterward.
“You still have your name.”
“Feels like somebody else owned it.”
She touched his chest.
“No one owns this.”
He looked at her hand.
Then covered it with his.
They returned to Kesler Ridge.
The mortgage suspension became official.
Neighbors began rebuilding the barn.
People who once avoided Odessa now brought lumber.
Some apologized.
Others simply worked.
Odessa accepted both.
Then a boy arrived carrying a telegram.
It was addressed to Emmett.
From Rafe.
COME ALONE TO BLACKSTONE RAVINE IF YOU WANT VAIN.
Odessa read it.
“No.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
“I’m bringing you.”
She smiled grimly.
“That’s better.”
They notified Avery.
A posse prepared.
But before they could leave, Thomas Vale disappeared.
His guard lay unconscious.
On the table was another note.
BRING THE LEDGER OR VALE FALLS WHERE ELIAS FELL.
Odessa’s face hardened.
Blackstone Ravine.
They rode.
At the edge of the ravine stood Rafe.
Thomas knelt beside him.
Hands tied.
But Vain was nowhere visible.
“You wanted the ledger,” Emmett called.
Rafe smiled.
“I wanted you.”
A rifle cocked behind Odessa.
May you like
Colonel Vain stepped from the trees.
And the barrel was pressed directly against the back of her head.
