Chapter 14 - Clayton Reynolds Makes an Offer
Thomas’s journal took Alandre most of the night to read.
He had not knowingly stolen anyone’s land.
But he had ignored warning signs.
Questionable signatures.
Families removed too quickly.
Payments routed through strange accounts.
He had wanted steady work.
A respectable position.
Enough money to buy Alandre a home.
And because asking questions might have cost him that future, he had remained quiet longer than he should have.
Then an elderly couple named the Whitakers came to his desk.
Their farm had been transferred to Reynolds Holdings despite thirty years of ownership.
Thomas checked the records.
Found alterations.
Then more.
His journal became increasingly frantic.
I told myself I didn't know. That isn't entirely true. I knew enough to wonder, and I chose comfort over wondering.
Alandre cried when she read that.
Not because she loved Thomas less.
Because she recognized him more.
A good man.
Imperfect.
Frightened.
Trying to repair something before it consumed him.
Near dawn, Jed found her asleep over the journal.
He placed a blanket around her shoulders.
Alandre woke.
“You don’t need to sneak.”
“Wasn’t sneaking.”
“You walk like a bear wearing pillows.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I’m tired.”
He sat.
She handed him the journal.
“Thomas made mistakes.”
Jed read several lines.
“So have I.”
“That seems to be a theme.”
“Human beings are disappointing.”
She smiled weakly.
“Sometimes.”
“And sometimes?”
Alandre looked at him.
“Sometimes they make biscuits.”
Jed nodded solemnly.
“Important contribution.”
She laughed.
This time no guilt followed.
Thomas was not diminished by her laughter.
She was beginning to understand that.
By midmorning, Mercer had assembled a federal prosecutor and two land officials.
The evidence was overwhelming.
Twelve stolen claims.
Bribery.
Fraud.
Robbery.
Witness intimidation.
Clayton faced decades in prison.
Pike faced nearly as much.
Jed’s situation remained uncertain.
The prosecutor, Charles Fenwick, reviewed his confession.
“Mr. Boone admits to two stage robberies and participation in illegal claim removals.”
“Yes,” Mercer said.
“Statute hasn’t expired on everything.”
“I know.”
Fenwick looked at Jed.
“Why come forward?”
Jed glanced toward Alandre.
“Got tired of running.”
“Sentimental.”
“No.”
Jed turned back.
“Practical. Running didn’t change what I did.”
Fenwick studied him.
“Your cooperation could matter.”
“How much?”
“No promises.”
Jed nodded.
Alandre hated the uncertainty.
That afternoon Clayton requested to speak with her.
Alone.
Jed objected.
Mercer objected.
Alandre insisted.
Clayton sat behind iron bars.
Without his fine coat and revolver, he seemed smaller.
Still dangerous.
But smaller.
“You look tired,” he said.
“You look imprisoned.”
His mouth curved.
“There she is.”
“What do you want?”
“To offer you something.”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Jedodiah Boone’s freedom.”
Alandre went still.
Clayton noticed.
“Interested now?”
“You don’t control his case.”
“No. But I know things.”
“What things?”
“The Silver City murders.”
Alandre’s pulse quickened.
“The ones Jed says he didn’t commit.”
“He didn’t.”
She waited.
Clayton smiled.
“I know who did.”
“Tell Mercer.”
“Why?”
“Because innocent men shouldn’t be blamed.”
Clayton actually laughed.
“You’ve mistaken me for someone transformed by prison bars.”
“What do you want?”
“The original ledgers.”
“No.”
“Burn them.”
“No.”
“Then Jed may spend ten years paying for murders he didn’t commit.”
“He can prove—”
“Can he?”
Alandre knew the answer.
Old cases.
Dead witnesses.
Clayton’s testimony could matter enormously.
“You’re asking me to trade justice for Jed.”
“I’m asking you whether you’ve learned anything from Thomas.”
Her expression hardened.
Clayton continued.
“Thomas chose you. Every time. He tried to bargain with me because loving one person mattered more than abstract justice.”
Alandre stepped closer to the bars.
“Thomas also hid evidence where you couldn’t find it.”
“Yes.”
“He risked everything to stop you.”
“Yes.”
“And you still don’t understand why.”
Clayton’s smile faded.
“Explain.”
“Because loving someone doesn’t mean helping them escape consequences.”
Clayton stared.
Alandre continued.
“If Jed goes to prison for crimes he committed, I’ll hate it. I’ll visit him. I’ll wait if he asks me to.”
Her voice caught slightly.
“But I will not turn him into another version of you just to keep him beside me.”
Clayton leaned back.
“You love him.”
Alandre froze.
She had not said it.
Clayton smiled.
“Interesting.”
She turned toward the door.
Clayton called after her.
“The man who killed those two miners was Samuel Pike.”
Alandre stopped.
Clayton’s expression changed.
“Consider that a gift.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because Pike offered federal prosecutors a bargain this morning.”
Her stomach dropped.
“What bargain?”
“To testify against me.”
Clayton smiled.
“I dislike disloyalty.”
Alandre left the cell.
Mercer immediately saw her expression.
“What happened?”
“Pike killed the Silver City men.”
Jed went still.
Mercer stared.
“How do you know?”
“Clayton.”
Fenwick scoffed.
“That’s worthless without corroboration.”
Alandre remembered Thomas’s ledgers.
“Maybe not.”
They searched until sunset.
Then found it.
A payment entered two days after the murders.
S. Pike — cleanup, Silver Road — $600.
Not proof alone.
But enough to investigate.
Mercer reopened the old case.
For the first time, Jed had a chance to clear the worst accusation against him.
That evening, Alandre found him outside the courthouse.
He looked at her.
“What did Clayton want?”
She answered truthfully.
“To make me choose between the evidence and you.”
Jed’s expression tightened.
“What did you say?”
“That I wouldn’t.”
He looked away.
Alandre stepped closer.
“Does that bother you?”
“No.”
“It does.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“But?”
He turned back.
“But some selfish part of me wishes it had been harder.”
Alandre stared.
Then she smiled.
“It was.”
Jed’s eyes changed.
Before either could say more, bells began ringing from the street.
Mercer ran outside.
Firelight glowed beyond the rooftops.
Someone shouted:
“Jail!”
Clayton Reynolds had made an offer.
Alandre refused.
May you like
So somebody else had come to free him.
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