Chapter 14 - Fire Comes Back to the Ranch
They returned to find the ranch house occupied.
Silas Vane sat at Arthur’s table.
Sheriff Dunn stood beside him.
Jedidiah was tied to a chair.
Silas smiled.
“Welcome home.”
Arthur’s hand moved toward his coat.
Dunn drew first.
“Don’t.”
Leanne remained still.
Silas demanded the records.
Arthur refused.
Silas looked at Leanne.
“That would be unfortunate.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
Silas noticed.
“So that’s it.”
Arthur hated himself for revealing it.
Vane smiled.
“The crazy rancher found something worth losing.”
Arthur handed over the satchel.
Silas opened it.
Empty.
Leanne had hidden the documents before they reached the ranch.
Vane’s smile vanished.
Dunn searched them.
Nothing.
Silas ordered the house burned.
Arthur’s blood turned cold.
Not again.
But this time the fire did not control him.
He attacked Dunn when the sheriff turned.
Jedidiah knocked over his chair.
Leanne grabbed the kettle and threw water into the stove, sending steam and ash across the room.
Chaos erupted.
Arthur freed Jedidiah.
They escaped through the kitchen.
Vane’s men fled when riders appeared on the road.
Walter Briggs had brought a territorial deputy marshal.
The ranch house survived.
Silas Vane did not escape.
But Dunn did.
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And he knew exactly where Leanne had hidden the records.
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