Chapter 3 - A Ghost Named Thomas Mercer
Elias stared at the photograph until the faces blurred.
Thomas.
His brother.
Alive.
Naya watched him carefully.
“You know.”
Elias nodded.
“My brother.”
She understood the word.
Her expression softened.
“Family.”
“Not anymore.”
Six years earlier, Thomas Mercer had disappeared after a stagecoach robbery outside Santa Fe. Authorities found blood, a burned wagon, and three bodies.
Thomas's wasn't among them.
But everyone assumed he had died somewhere in the desert.
Elias had buried an empty coffin beside their mother.
Now Thomas was standing beside Silas Calder.
Naya pointed at the photograph.
“Thomas help Calder.”
“How do you know his name?”
“My father.”
Elias looked at her.
She struggled to explain.
Her father, Taza, had worked as a scout and translator during territorial negotiations. He discovered that Calder and several officials were forging land transfers, driving families from valuable water sources, then selling those properties to mining companies.
Thomas had been Calder's bookkeeper.
Or partner.
Naya wasn't certain.
“What happened to your father?”
Her eyes lowered.
“Calder.”
That was enough.
Elias folded the photograph.
“We're taking this to Prescott.”
Naya nodded.
They traveled north.
By afternoon, heat shimmered over the desert.
Elias noticed Naya slowing.
“You need water.”
“No.”
“You're limping.”
“No.”
“You've got an interesting relationship with that word.”
She glared at him.
He smiled despite himself.
Then she stumbled.
Elias caught her.
Naya instantly reached for her knife.
“Easy.”
She stopped.
Their faces were inches apart.
Something passed between them.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Recognition.
Both were people who had survived by expecting betrayal.
Elias released her immediately.
“Your choice,” he said.
The words mattered.
Naya nodded.
“Water.”
They rested.
She eventually asked, “Why alone?”
Elias stared toward the horizon.
“Long story.”
“Night long.”
He almost laughed.
So he told her.
Not everything.
He told her about the ranch in New Mexico.
About Thomas leaving home.
About their mother's death.
He didn't tell her about Sarah.
Not yet.
Naya listened.
When he finished, she said, “You think all leave.”
Elias looked at her.
Her English was improving quickly.
“Maybe.”
“So you leave first.”
That landed harder than he expected.
“You always tell strangers what they're doing wrong?”
“You husband. Not stranger.”
Elias shook his head.
“We're coming back to that later.”
Near sunset they found an abandoned mission.
Elias checked the building.
Empty.
They sheltered inside.
Naya discovered an old blanket.
Elias started a small fire.
For the first time since meeting, they almost seemed safe.
Then horses approached.
Elias grabbed his rifle.
A voice called from outside.
“Elias?”
He froze.
Nobody had called his name like that in years.
“Elias Mercer?”
Naya drew her knife.
Elias stepped toward the doorway.
A man appeared outside.
Older than the photograph.
Gray at the temples.
A scar crossed his left cheek.
But there was no mistaking him.
Thomas Mercer.
Alive.
Elias couldn't breathe.
Thomas slowly raised his hands.
“Brother.”
Elias pointed the Winchester directly at him.
“You've got ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't pull this trigger.”
Thomas looked beyond him.
His eyes found Naya.
Relief crossed his face.
“Thank God.”
Naya raised her knife.
Thomas stopped.
“I didn't come for Calder.”
“Photograph says otherwise.”
“I was working against him.”
Elias laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
Thomas reached slowly inside his coat.
Elias cocked the rifle.
“Careful.”
Thomas removed a ledger.
“I've spent six years collecting evidence.”
He placed it on the ground.
“Calder owns judges, sheriffs, businessmen. Taza was helping me.”
Naya stepped forward.
“My father trusted you?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Then why father dead?”
Thomas couldn't answer immediately.
Naya's expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because I made a mistake.”
Silence.
Thomas swallowed.
“And Calder found out.”
Naya lunged.
Elias caught her wrist before the knife reached Thomas.
She fought him.
“Let me!”
“Naya!”
“He killed father!”
“No.”
Thomas's voice broke.
“I got him killed.”
That stopped everyone.
Thomas looked at Elias.
“And if we don't move before sunrise, Calder will kill all three of us too.”
A rifle shot shattered the mission bell above them.
Thomas dropped.
Elias pulled Naya behind the stone wall.
From the darkness outside came Silas Calder's voice.
“Family reunion's over, Mercer!”
Elias looked at his brother.
Six years of questions would have to wait.
Because Calder had found them again.
May you like
And this time, he had brought twenty men.
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