“That's not a scratch.”
“I've had worse.”
Samuel groaned.
Caleb looked at him.
“Stay alive.”
Samuel laughed weakly.
“Why?”
“So you can stand trial.”
Samuel's eyes hardened.
“You think there will be a trial?”
Caleb did not answer.
Because at that moment, the telegraph operator shouted:
“It went through!”
Caleb closed his eyes.
The evidence was out.
Samuel's secret was no longer his.
Then Cole appeared at the door.
“We have another problem.”
Caleb looked at him.
“The bridge?”
Cole nodded.
“Three minutes.”
Caleb climbed down from the train.
The locomotive was already approaching the bridge.
Smoke covered the sky.
People were still aboard.
Anna followed.
“Can we stop it?”
“The engineer is under Samuel's orders.”
“Then make him stop.”
They ran toward the front.
The train entered the bridge.
Caleb jumped onto the locomotive.
He reached the engineer's cab.
The engineer turned.
“Get out!”
Caleb raised his rifle.
“Stop the train.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“Samuel ordered us to cross.”
“Samuel is finished.”
The engineer shook his head.
“I don't believe you.”
Caleb threw the ledger onto the floor.
“Read it.”
The engineer looked down.
His face changed.
“You're lying.”
“Look at the telegraph.”
The operator's message was being transmitted through the small machine in the corner.
The engineer finally understood.
Samuel had lost.
But the train was still moving.
The bridge shook.
A deep metallic groan rose beneath them.
Caleb looked ahead.
The center of the bridge was damaged.
“Brake!”
The engineer pulled the lever.
Nothing happened.
“The brakes are jammed!”
Caleb grabbed it.
Together they pulled.
The train screamed.
Metal shrieked.
The locomotive slowed.
But not enough.
The first explosion sounded.
The bridge buckled.
Anna screamed from behind.
“Caleb!”
He looked back.
She was standing on the last stable section.
The train was still moving.
Caleb grabbed the emergency lever.
He pulled with everything he had.
The train stopped.
The last passenger car hung over the broken bridge.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the bridge collapsed.
The rear carriage fell into the gorge.
Caleb jumped from the locomotive.
He hit the ground hard.
Anna ran toward him.
“Caleb!”
He pushed himself up.
“I’m fine.”
She grabbed him.
“You nearly died.”
“So did you.”
She stared at him.
“You're bleeding.”
“I know.”
“You could have died.”
Caleb looked at the shattered bridge.
“Yes.”
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“Don't do that again.”
Caleb smiled.
“I'll try.”
Behind them, the whistle of approaching horses sounded.
Federal soldiers.
They had received the telegraph.
The conspiracy was exposed.
Samuel Mercer was arrested.
Jonah was arrested.
The railroad contract was suspended.
The valley was saved.
But Caleb noticed something.
Samuel was gone.
He had escaped during the chaos.
Caleb looked toward the mountains.
Anna followed his gaze.
“He's going back to the old mine.”
Caleb nodded.
“Then that's where I'll find him.”
And with that, he mounted Dusty.
The final ride had begun.
The trail into the mountains was almost impossible to follow.
Snow had covered most of the tracks.
The wind erased the rest.
But Caleb knew where Samuel would go.
The old mine.
It was the place where everything had begun.
The place where Elena had hidden her journal.
The place where Anna had been forced to live in secrecy.
The place where Caleb had discovered that his sister was still alive.
And now it would become the place where the final chapter of the Mercer family's nightmare ended.
Caleb rode alone.
Anna wanted to follow.
He refused.
“You've done enough.”
She had looked at him with anger.
“That isn't your decision.”
“Anna.”
“You spent twenty years searching for me.”
“Yes.”
“Then don't start deciding where I belong now.”
Caleb had no answer.
But he still made her stay behind.
He promised he would return.
He did not know whether that promise could be kept.
By sunset, he reached the mine.
Samuel's horse stood outside.
Caleb dismounted.
He drew his revolver.
Then entered.
The tunnel was dark.
Cold air moved through the passage.
Caleb followed the sound of coughing.
At last he reached the chamber.
Samuel sat beside a small fire.
His shoulder was bandaged.
Blood had soaked through the cloth.
He looked up.
“I knew you would come.”
Caleb kept his revolver trained on him.
“You left me no choice.”
Samuel smiled.
“You always were your father's son.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
Caleb stepped closer.
“You murdered him.”
Samuel looked into the fire.
“I ordered his death.”
Caleb's jaw tightened.
“You finally admit it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he found the truth.”
“He was trying to expose you.”
“He was trying to destroy the Seven.”
“And?”
“He succeeded.”
Caleb frowned.
“What?”
Samuel looked at him.
“That's the part you still don't understand.”
He pointed toward the ledger.
“The Seven were already collapsing.”
Caleb said nothing.
Samuel continued.
“Your father had evidence. Raven had evidence. Elena had evidence.”
“Then why kill them?”
“Because I was afraid.”
The word sounded strange coming from him.
Afraid.
Caleb had never imagined Samuel admitting fear.
“You were afraid of my father?”
“I was afraid of becoming poor again.”
Caleb stared.
Samuel laughed bitterly.
“You think greed begins with money?”
He shook his head.
“It begins with fear.”
Caleb lowered the gun slightly.
Samuel continued.
“My father died with nothing. He worked until his hands were ruined. No one cared. No one remembered him.”
“So you decided to become powerful.”
“I decided never to be helpless again.”
“You became a murderer.”
“Yes.”
“A thief.”
“Yes.”
“A traitor.”
Samuel nodded.
“Yes.”
“And for what?”
Samuel looked at the fire.
“Nothing.”
The word hung between them.
Caleb said nothing.
For the first time, Samuel looked old.
Not dangerous.
Not powerful.
Just old.
A tired man sitting beside a dying fire.
“You could have left,” Caleb said.
“So could you.”
“I'm not like you.”
Samuel smiled.
“Not yet.”
Caleb's expression hardened.
“I'll never become you.”
“You already understand me.”
“No.”
“You understand what it means to lose.”
Caleb's hand tightened around the gun.
Samuel looked at him.
“That's why you came.”
“I came because you killed my father.”
“No.”
Samuel shook his head.
“You came because you wanted an answer.”
Caleb stared at him.
“And now?”
“Now I want the truth.”
Samuel reached inside his coat.
Caleb raised his gun.
“Slowly.”
Samuel pulled out a small envelope.
He placed it on the ground.
“Your father wrote this.”
Caleb did not move.
“When?”
“The night before he died.”
Caleb picked it up.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
His father's.
His hands trembled.
He opened it.
Caleb,
If Samuel ever shows you this, it means the truth has finally reached you.
There are things I could not tell you.
Not because I did not trust you.