Chapter 7 - BLACKWOOD NORTHBlackwood North sat beyond the river on nearly six hundred acres of abandoned grazing land.
Daniel had driven past the property hundreds of times without knowing it once belonged to his family.
The entrance gate still carried the faint outline of the old Mercer emblem beneath newer paint.
Marcus insisted Daniel not enter without law enforcement.
Daniel agreed.
Mostly.
They reached the gate at noon.
No vehicles were visible.
But fresh tire marks cut through the mud.
“She’s here,” Daniel said.
“Or Victor is.”
Marcus called for another deputy.
Daniel looked toward the tree line.
An old barn stood half a mile away.
Rebecca stayed at the main ranch with Ethan.
Daniel hated leaving him again, but bringing him anywhere near Claire was impossible.
They drove toward the barn.
Inside they found no one.
Only old machinery.
Broken fencing.
Dusty barrels.
Then Marcus discovered tire tracks leading behind the building.
They followed them to a concrete structure half hidden beneath vines.
A cellar.
The padlock was new.
Marcus photographed it, then cut it.
Inside was a narrow staircase descending underground.
Daniel switched on his phone flashlight.
“What is this?”
“Looks like a storage bunker.”
The Mercers had built storm shelters during the 1950s.
Daniel remembered his grandfather mentioning them.
At the bottom stood rows of filing boxes.
Hundreds.
Many carried Mercer Foundation labels.
Marcus whistled.
“Someone moved the archive.”
Daniel opened one.
Bank statements.
Property deeds.
Insurance files.
All dated during his father’s final years.
A sound came from deeper inside.
Daniel froze.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“Sheriff’s department!”
Silence.
They moved forward.
A metal door stood partly open.
Behind it they found a small office.
The room had been used recently.
Coffee cup.
Laptop charger.
Portable printer.
A wall covered with photographs.
Daniel stepped closer.
Most were photographs of his family.
Daniel entering work.
Ethan leaving school.
Rebecca at the grocery store.
The ranch.
Claire.
Victor.
Laura.
Some photographs dated back five years.
“This isn’t storage,” Daniel whispered.
“It’s surveillance.”
One picture showed Laura speaking to Sam Holloway, the ranch foreman.
Another showed Laura placing something beneath Atlas’s saddle.
Marcus photographed everything.
Daniel found a map pinned to the wall.
Three locations were circled.
Main ranch.
Blackwood North.
County courthouse.
A fourth mark was beside a road.
The bend where Laura died.
Daniel’s skin prickled.
Then they heard an engine.
Marcus moved toward the stairs.
A vehicle accelerated outside.
By the time they emerged, a gray SUV was disappearing between the trees.
Daniel caught a glimpse of the driver.
Claire.
“She was watching us.”
Marcus radioed the description.
Daniel looked toward the ground.
Something lay near where the SUV had been parked.
A torn photograph.
He picked it up.
The picture showed Thomas Mercer.
But another person had been ripped away from the image.
Only a woman’s hand remained.
A distinctive bracelet around her wrist.
Daniel recognized it.
The silver horse charm bracelet.
Laura’s.
But the photograph was impossible.
Thomas had died two years before Laura began investigating the finances.
Why would they be standing together?
Daniel turned the image over.
A date was printed.
Five years before Thomas died.
Laura had known about the conspiracy far longer than Daniel realized.
Back at Blackwood Ranch, Ethan sat beside Atlas with Rebecca.
“He likes you,” she said.
“Mom said horses know your heart.”
“Your mom said that?”
Ethan nodded.
“Dad told me.”
Ruby suddenly lifted her head.
A vehicle approached.
Rebecca stood.
Daniel wasn’t due back yet.
A blue pickup stopped.
Sam Holloway climbed out.
The ranch foreman looked exhausted.
“Where were you last night?” Rebecca asked.
Sam glanced toward Ethan.
“My phone died.”
“During the biggest storm of the year?”
“Generator failed too.”
Rebecca didn’t believe him.
Sam looked toward Atlas.
Then toward Ethan.
“I heard you found something.”
Ethan stiffened.
Rebecca stepped between them.
“What did you hear?”
“People talk.”
“Who?”
Sam didn’t answer.
Instead he looked toward the old stall wall.
“Was it Laura’s box?”
Rebecca stared.
“How do you know about that?”
Sam closed his eyes.
“Because I helped her hide it.”
Ethan looked up.
Rebecca’s heartbeat quickened.
“You need to tell Daniel.”
“I will.”
“No. You need to tell us now.”
Sam leaned against the rail.
“Laura knew somebody was stealing from the Mercer family. She knew Claire Beaumont was involved.”
“Did she know Daniel would marry Claire?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you tell him?”
“Because Laura made me promise.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“She said Daniel would be in more danger if he knew too soon.”
“Too soon for what?”
Sam looked toward the ranch house.
“For her to finish proving that Thomas Mercer wasn’t the criminal.”
Rebecca frowned.
“Thomas?”
“Everyone investigating the money thought Daniel’s father was behind it.”
“But he wasn’t?”
Sam shook his head.
“Thomas discovered the theft first.”
“Then who was responsible?”
Sam opened his mouth.
A gunshot cracked somewhere beyond the pasture.
Atlas jerked.
Ruby whinnied.
Rebecca grabbed Ethan.
Sam dropped behind the fence.
Another shot struck a wooden post.
“Inside!” Sam shouted.
Rebecca ran with Ethan toward the house.
Sam crawled toward his truck.
A third shot shattered the driver-side window.
Someone was shooting from the ridge.
Not trying to hit Ethan.
Trying to stop Sam from talking.
Rebecca called Daniel.
He answered instantly.
“What happened?”
“Someone’s shooting at the ranch!”
Daniel’s blood turned cold.
“Where’s Ethan?”
“With me. Inside.”
“Lock everything.”
“Daniel, Sam says he helped Laura hide the box.”
Daniel looked toward Marcus.
Rebecca continued.
“He says your father wasn’t responsible.”
“Then who was?”
“I don’t know. Someone started shooting before he could tell me.”
Daniel turned back toward Blackwood North.
Claire’s SUV was gone.
Victor remained missing.
And somewhere between them was a person willing to shoot at his home in daylight.
Daniel had spent years believing Laura’s death was an accident.
Now he began to wonder whether the accident had been only one chapter in a much longer plan.
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And if Laura had discovered the truth years earlier, perhaps the real target had never been her.
Perhaps it had always been Blackwood Ranch.
