Chapter 9 - The Road Through the Frozen Pass
The first Pinkerton agent recovered quickly.
“Mrs. Marsh.”
“Dela.”
“Dela.”
His tone softened artificially.
“That book doesn’t belong to you.”
“It contains evidence of crimes.”
“That’s an accusation.”
“It contains names, dates, account numbers and payments.”
The second agent shifted in his saddle.
Interesting.
He had not known.
Dela noticed.
So did Rufus.
The first man’s smile tightened.
“We were told it contained private banking information.”
“I’m sure you were.”
“What do you intend to do with it?”
“Give it to an attorney.”
“That would be unfortunate.”
“For Warren.”
“For everyone.”
The threat chilled her.
Rufus spoke.
“You heard her.”
The agent’s gaze moved toward him.
“You have no idea who you’re protecting.”
Rufus shrugged.
“I know her name.”
The simplicity nearly broke Dela’s heart.
The second agent whispered something.
The first cursed.
Finally he raised both hands.
“All right.”
Dela did not lower the ledger.
“We’ll leave.”
“No,” Rufus said.
The agent frowned.
“You ride ahead.”
“What?”
“You came from behind. Could circle back.”
The agent laughed.
“Conn—”
Rufus’s expression stopped him.
“Ride ahead until the trail forks.”
“And then?”
“Take north trail.”
“It adds eight miles.”
“Good.”
The first agent considered resistance.
Then looked at the ledger hanging over the ravine.
He turned his horse.
The second followed.
They disappeared around the bend.
Dela’s hand began shaking violently.
Rufus reached for the ledger.
She recoiled.
He stopped instantly.
“Sorry.”
She breathed.
Then handed it to him voluntarily.
“You nearly dropped this.”
“I know.”
“If you had?”
“Warren would have lost it.”
“So would we.”
“I didn’t think that far.”
“Figured.”
She glared weakly.
Rufus wrapped the ledger and placed it inside his coat.
“Until Granite Falls.”
Dela nodded.
They rode another five miles before stopping.
Only then did she begin trembling in earnest.
Rufus built a small fire beneath an overhang.
Dela sat on a fallen log.
“I thought they would shoot you.”
“So did I.”
Her head snapped up.
“That isn’t comforting.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.”
“Why didn’t you draw your rifle?”
“Two men. Narrow trail. You behind me.”
He poured coffee from a tin flask.
“Gunfight would’ve been foolish.”
“You are capable of avoiding one?”
“Occasionally.”
She accepted the cup.
Their fingers brushed.
Neither moved for half a second.
Then both did.
By evening they reached Granite Falls.
It was larger than Timber Crossing, built around lumber and silver.
Hannah Pierce’s office sat above a pharmacy.
A painted sign read:
HANNAH PIERCE, ATTORNEY AT LAW.
Dela climbed the stairs with Rufus behind her.
Hannah was perhaps thirty-eight.
Red-haired.
Sharp-eyed.
Dressed in dark green.
She listened without interrupting as Dela explained Warren, the injuries, the incompetency petition, the newspaper notice and the ledger.
Then Rufus placed the book on her desk.
Hannah opened it.
Her expression changed by the third page.
“Where did you get this?”
“Warren’s study.”
“You removed it without permission?”
“Yes.”
“That creates complications.”
Dela’s hope sank.
“But,” Hannah continued, “the contents create significantly larger complications for him.”
She turned pages.
“Do you understand what this is?”
“Evidence.”
“It may be evidence of fraud, bribery, forged deeds, illegal foreclosures and conspiracy.”
Rufus leaned against the wall.
“Can it stop the guardianship?”
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
Hannah looked at Dela.
“Your husband will argue you stole confidential business records because you are unstable or malicious.”
“He broke my ribs.”
“That helps your case.”
The words were so absurd Dela almost laughed.
Hannah noticed.
“Forgive the phrasing.”
“It’s all right.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Hannah closed the ledger.
“Dr. Bell’s statement matters. Your public notice matters. Witnesses who observed your husband’s behavior would matter.”
Dela thought.
“Our maid.”
“Name?”
“Mary Pike.”
“Where?”
“Butte.”
“Anyone else?”
Dela remembered neighbors hearing shouting.
A seamstress who had seen bruises.
A hotel clerk from a night Warren abandoned her after an argument.
Maybe there had always been witnesses.
She had simply believed none would speak.
Hannah leaned forward.
“I need you to understand something. Warren’s money gives him power. His connections give him more. But those things are strongest when everyone assumes nobody will challenge him.”
She tapped the ledger.
“You have already challenged him.”
Dela looked at Rufus.
He said nothing.
Still her choice.
“What happens next?”
“We file an affidavit stating you are living voluntarily at Conn’s cabin, deny incompetency, document abuse and request that any guardianship petition be heard before a neutral territorial judge.”
“And the ledger?”
“I make copies.”
“Copies?”
“Several.”
Hannah smiled without humor.
“The best protection against somebody destroying evidence is making destruction useless.”
Rufus nodded approvingly.
For three hours, Dela answered questions.
Dates.
Incidents.
Names.
Each memory hurt.
But each became ink.
By the end, Hannah had transformed years of terror into something Warren feared.
A record.
They stayed at a boardinghouse overnight.
Rufus took one room.
Dela another.
When she entered hers, she discovered a bolt inside the door.
She locked it.
Then unlocked it.
Then locked it again.
Because she could.
No husband demanded entrance.
No footsteps paused outside.
She slept four uninterrupted hours.
More than she had in years.
The next morning Hannah met them at the stationer.
Three copies of key ledger pages had been made.
One remained with Hannah.
One would be mailed to a federal attorney.
One went with Rufus.
The original remained locked in Hannah’s safe.
Dela felt lighter walking outside.
Then she saw a familiar carriage across the street.
Black.
Silver trim.
Her blood turned cold.
The door opened.
A polished boot touched the ground.
Then another.
Warren Marsh stepped onto the snowy street.
He wore a charcoal overcoat.
His blond hair was perfectly combed.
His gloves were black.
He looked exactly as he had on the morning Dela left him.
Clean.
Respectable.
Handsome.
Terrifying.
He saw her.
His expression did not change.
Then he smiled.
“Delilah.”
Dela stopped breathing.
Rufus moved beside her.
Warren’s gaze shifted to him.
The smile vanished.
“So,” Warren said quietly.
“This is the man who stole my wife.”
Dela’s fear rose.
But something else rose with it now.
Her voice.
“No, Warren.”
May you like
She stepped forward.
“I left you all by myself.”
