Chapter 13 - The Man Who Returned From the Railroad
They reached Red Creek on the third evening.
The railroad station was nearly deserted.
Locker 47 still existed.
Thomas’s key opened it.
Inside were account books, correspondence and payroll records.
Enough to destroy Vane.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“Mrs. Liang.”
Leanne froze.
A railroad foreman named Walter Briggs stood near the entrance.
Leanne recognized him.
He had been Thomas’s supervisor.
Arthur stepped forward.
Briggs raised empty hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
He revealed the final truth about Thomas.
Thomas had discovered Vane bribing officials to redirect railroad purchases toward land Vane secretly owned.
When Thomas threatened to expose him, Vane arranged his “accident.”
Briggs had witnessed the aftermath.
Fear kept him silent.
Until now.
He agreed to testify.
They had everything.
Then the station window shattered.
A gunshot struck the wall.
Arthur pulled Leanne down.
Vane’s men had found them.
They escaped through the freight room and reached their horses.
During the chase, Arthur could have abandoned the documents to move faster.
He refused.
Leanne could have fled alone.
She refused.
By dawn they reached an abandoned line shack.
Arthur had been grazed by a bullet along the shoulder.
Leanne cleaned the wound.
“You came back for me,” she whispered.
Arthur looked at her.
“There was never a choice.”
That answer changed something between them.
May you like
Something neither was ready to name.
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