Chapter 11 - Eda Rode Back to Town
Joelle found Margaret.
Alive.
Older.
Thin.
But alive.
Harland had kept several women at an isolated property awaiting transfer.
Joelle's arrival exposed the location.
Eda led the rescue.
Silas and Amos created a distraction at the front gate while Ruth and Pearl entered through the rear.
They freed nine women.
Margaret recognized Joelle instantly.
The sisters held each other and cried without speaking.
That reunion changed the case.
Margaret had seen Harland personally.
She knew names.
Dates.
Locations.
She knew where the original ledger was kept.
Clem's office.
Eda rode back to town before sunrise.
Silas caught her near the bridge.
“You're going alone.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You can't keep saying no.”
“And you keep proving why I need to.”
Despite everything, she laughed.
Silas did too.
It was the first time Eda had heard him laugh.
Then his expression softened.
“Come back.”
She looked at him.
Not be careful.
Not obey.
Not do what I say.
Come back.
“I will.”
Eda entered Clem's office through a rear window.
She found the ledger.
And something else.
A stack of letters revealing dozens of buyers.
Then footsteps entered the building.
Harland.
Eda hid beneath the staircase.
The judge spoke to another man.
“We hang Boon tomorrow.”
Eda stopped breathing.
“Without trial?”
“Call it escape resistance.”
“And the women?”
“Move them before the marshal arrives.”
Eda gripped the ledger.
Now she had proof.
But Harland was standing between her and the only exit.
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And dawn was less than an hour away.
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