“No.”
“You knew about my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Nathaniel.”
“Yes.”
“You knew we were connected.”
“Yes.”
“And you still proposed.”
“I proposed before I knew.”
“Then you rejected me.”
“Yes.”
“Then you branded me.”
Victor looked at the burn.
“Yes.”
“Then you sold me.”
“I sent you away.”
“Stop calling it that.”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“I thought I could control Circle Bar.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
“Who controls it?”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“I don't know.”
Eli stepped forward.
“Who does?”
Victor looked at him.
“The men who never wear the brand.”
Hannah remembered Samuel's letter.
The true Circle has never used the brand.
Victor continued.
“Circle Bar is only the visible part.”
“Who is behind it?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why come here?”
Victor looked at Hannah.
“They are coming.”
Cole raised his rifle.
“How many?”
Victor shook his head.
“All of them.”
Outside, torches appeared.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Then dozens.
Men surrounded the mission.
Victor looked at the registry.
“Give me the book.”
“No.”
“They'll burn this place.”
“Let them.”
Cole looked at Hannah.
She was no longer the woman who had stood beneath a sack.
She was holding the evidence that could destroy powerful men across several territories.
Victor stared at her.
“You trust him?”
Hannah looked at Cole.
“Yes.”
Victor laughed softly.
“Then you don't know everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ask Cole what happened the night Elizabeth disappeared.”
Hannah turned.
Cole went still.
“What does he mean?”
Cole said nothing.
“Cole?”
“I was twelve.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Eli stepped between them.
“Not now.”
Hannah raised her revolver.
“Move.”
Eli stopped.
Outside, a voice shouted:
“Send out Hannah Whitmore and the registry!”
The chapel doors shook.
Cole looked at Hannah.
“There is something I never told you.”
Her heart hammered.
“What?”
“The night Elizabeth disappeared…”
Another blow struck the door.
“She wasn't alone.”
“Who was with her?”
Cole opened his mouth.
The doors exploded inward.
The Silver Watch
The first man through the doorway wore Samuel Whitmore's silver watch.
Hannah recognized it instantly.
She had buried that watch with her father.
The man reached beneath his coat.
Hannah raised her revolver.
He pulled out a ring.
Samuel's ring.
Then he smiled.
“Hannah.”
Her blood went cold.
“Who are you?”
The man did not answer.
He stepped forward.
“Your father is still alive.”
The world seemed to stop.
Cole's rifle lowered slightly.
Eli stared.
Victor backed away.
Hannah could barely breathe.
“My father is dead.”
“No.”
“I saw his grave.”
“A false grave.”
“I saw the coffin.”
“A different man was buried.”
“Who are you?”
The stranger smiled.
“Someone who knew Samuel before he became the man you remember.”
Hannah's voice trembled.
“Where is he?”
The stranger looked toward the forest.