Briggs had been sheriff when Elias disappeared. He had personally told Luke that his brother had probably fled to Mexico.
Luke had believed him.
Or perhaps he had simply been too desperate to consider that the law itself might be involved.
“Did my father know?”
Nora shook her head.
“I don't know. But my father believed Charles Harper was protecting the company.”
Luke looked away.
Charles had always been a difficult man. He believed a family's reputation mattered more than anything else, and he had raised his sons to obey without question.
But Luke had never imagined his father would sacrifice Elias for money.
Nora reached for the folded paper.
“There is something else.”
She unfolded the letter and pointed to a line near the bottom.
The missing button will identify the messenger.
Luke stared at the words.
“What does that mean?”
Nora hesitated.
“Your father gave my father a small brass button shortly before Elias disappeared.”
Luke felt his heart stumble.
“Where is it?”
Nora reached into the pocket of her coat.
She placed a small brass button on the table.
It was worn at the edges, with a tiny engraved horse on its face.
Luke recognized it immediately.
It had come from Elias's coat.
He had helped his brother sew the button back on after it came loose during a cattle drive.
Luke picked it up carefully.
For three years, he had imagined finding Elias's body. He had imagined burying him beneath the cottonwood tree beside their mother's grave.
He had never imagined holding something that proved his brother had trusted someone enough to leave a message.
“Why did my father give this to yours?”
Nora looked at him.
“Because he was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of your brother's death.”
Luke stared at the button.
Then, very quietly, he said, “We're going to Blackwater Creek.”
Nora nodded.
“But we can't go through the main road. Sheriff Briggs will be waiting.”
Luke folded the letter and slipped it inside his coat.
“I know another way.”
They reached Blackwater Creek two days later.
The town had changed little since Luke last visited it. The same wooden buildings lined the muddy street, the same crooked sign hung above the saloon, and the same church bell stood silent at the edge of the cemetery.
But the people had changed.
When Luke rode into town, conversations stopped.
Men looked away.
A woman hurried her children inside.
The blacksmith closed his shop door.
Luke understood.
Fear had settled over Blackwater Creek like a second winter.
Nora pulled her hat lower over her face.
“Do they know you?”
“Everyone knows me.”
“Are they afraid of you?”
“No.”
He looked toward the sheriff's office.
“They're afraid of what happens to anyone who speaks to me.”
The sheriff's office stood at the center of town, its windows dark.
Luke led the horses toward the abandoned livery behind the church.
An old man emerged from the stable.
He was thin, stooped, and missing two fingers on his left hand.
For a moment, he stared at Luke as though seeing a ghost.
“Luke Harper?”
Luke nodded.
The old man looked at Nora.
“Who's the girl?”
“Someone who knows what happened to Elias.”
The old man's expression changed.
He glanced toward the street.
“Get inside.”
His name was Amos Bell. He had worked as a stable hand for the mining company until the day Elias disappeared.
He had also been the last person to see Elias before the wagon took him away.
Amos locked the stable door and lowered his voice.
“I thought you were dead.”
“Why?”
“Because Briggs told everyone you had gone after your brother and been killed in the mountains.”
Luke's jaw tightened.
“When did he say that?”
“About two years ago.”
Luke exchanged a glance with Nora.
The sheriff had been spreading lies for years.
Amos led them into a small room behind the stable. Beneath a pile of hay, he uncovered a wooden box.
Inside were several old maps, a broken watch, and a leather-bound notebook.
“I kept these because I thought someone might come looking,” he said.
Luke opened the notebook.
The first page contained a list of dates and names.
Elias Harper appeared repeatedly.
So did Sheriff Briggs.
And Charles Harper.
Luke felt as if the floor had dropped beneath him.
His father's signature appeared beside several payments to the Blackwater Mining Company.
“What is this?”
Amos rubbed his face.
“Records of shipments. Gold leaving the mine under false names. Payments to the sheriff. Payments to the county clerk. Payments to your father.”
Luke stared at the page.
“Why would Charles be involved?”
Amos looked at him sadly.
“Because your father owned half the land the company needed. He signed the original agreements. When the mine collapsed, he knew people had died. He helped cover it up.”
Nora's face had gone pale.
“How many people?”
Amos hesitated.
“Seven miners. Maybe more.”
Luke closed the notebook.
He had spent three years believing his brother had been betrayed by strangers.
Now he was beginning to understand that the betrayal had started at home.