People whose wives and children sit in those pews. Clara’s breath caught. You want to warn them.
I want to show them the truth. In a way they can’t ignore. Eli turned to Colton.
Can you get us into town without being seen? There’s a back road through Miller’s property. Comes out behind the general store. Agnes Miller.
Clara’s voice was thoughtful. She might help. If she understood what was at stake.
More than her family’s debt. Colton shook his head. I don’t know.
Her children go to that church. Clara interrupted. Her grandchildren will go to that church.
If Burnett’s building collapses during a Sunday service. She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t have to.
I’ll talk to Agnes. Eli said. Colton, you keep the posse busy.
Delay them. Tell them you need to scout ahead. Verify the situation.
Whatever it takes. And if they don’t listen. Then we’re no worse off than we are now.
Colton hesitated. This is insane. You’re talking about walking into a town that wants you dead and convincing them their most respected citizen is a murderer and a fraud.
I’m talking about telling the truth. Eli met his eyes. The truth that you’ve been collecting for two years.
The truth that Thomas died for. The truth that everyone in that town already suspects but is too afraid to face. And if they don’t believe you.
Then I’ll die trying. Eli’s voice was quiet but certain. But at least I’ll die fighting.
At least I’ll die for something that matters. Colton stared at him for a long moment. Then he nodded.
Ruth always said I needed to find my backbone. He mounted his horse. I guess today’s the day.
He rode off toward town and Eli turned to Clara. I need you to stay here with the girls. No.
Clara. I said no. Her jaw was set.
Thomas tried to protect me by keeping me ignorant. You’re not making the same mistake. If we’re exposing Burnett’s crimes, I’m going to be there.
I’m going to look him in the eye and make him see the widow he tried to destroy. The girls. We’ll stay with Agnes if she agrees to help.
Clara took his hand. We’re in this together Eli. From the moment you walked through that door we’ve been in this together.
Don’t shut me out now. Eli looked at her. This woman who’d lost everything and refused to break.
Who’d stood at a window firing at armed men while her home burned. Who’d kissed him in the snow surrounded by the bodies of their enemies. He’d known her for three days.
It felt like a lifetime. Together. He agreed.
Clara squeezed his hand. Now let’s go tell a town the truth about the monster they’ve been worshipping. The back road to town was treacherous with fresh snow, but Miller’s property provided cover all the way to the rear of the general store.
Eli left Hope tied in a copse of trees and approached the back door with Clara at his side. Agnes Miller answered on the third knock. Her face went white when she saw them.
Are you insane? Burnett’s got half the town looking for you. We know. Eli held up Thomas’s journal.
We also know what he’s done, what he’s planning, and what will happen to this town if nobody stops him. Agnes’s eyes darted to the journal, then to Clara’s face. Clara, honey, I’m sorry about what happened to Thomas.
I truly am, but I can’t get involved. My husband… Your husband goes to church every Sunday. Clara interrupted.
So do your children. So do your grandchildren. Agnes’s expression flickered.
What does that have to do with anything? Thomas was building that church when he died. He discovered that Burnett was using rotten materials, cutting corners, pocketing the difference. Clara’s voice was steady.
The building is going to collapse, Agnes. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow.
But eventually. And when it does, everyone inside will die. The color drained from Agnes’s face.
That’s… That’s not possible. The church looks fine. Solid.
It looks solid because that’s what Burnett paid for. The appearance of quality. Eli opened the journal to the relevant pages.
Thomas documented everything. Measurements, material specifications, structural weaknesses. This building is a death trap waiting to happen.
Agnes’s hands trembled as she took the journal. My granddaughter was baptized in that church last spring, she whispered. And she’ll be buried by it if we don’t stop Burnett.
Agnes read the pages in silence, her face growing paler with each line. This is real, she said finally. This is all real.
Thomas died to protect this information. Burnett killed him to hide it. Clara touched Agnes’s arm.
We’re not asking you to fight. We’re asking you to help us spread the truth. Tell the people who trust you what’s really going on.
Give them a chance to make an informed choice. Burnett will destroy me. My family.
Burnett is going to destroy everyone eventually. The only question is whether we stop him now or let him do it piece by piece. Eli’s voice was gentle but firm.
You said you were tired of pretending you didn’t see what was in front of your face. This is your chance to stop pretending. Agnes closed the journal.
For a long moment she stood motionless, her internal struggle visible in every line of her face. Then she straightened her spine. The women’s auxiliary meets at the church at 10 o’clock every Sunday morning.
30 women who trust me. 30 women with husbands and children and grandchildren who sit in those pews every week. Can you convince them? I can show them the truth.
Agnes’s voice hardened. What they do with it is up to them. But they deserve to know.
They all deserve to know. Clara pulled her into a fierce embrace. Thank you, Agnes.
Thank you. Don’t thank me yet. We haven’t won anything.
Agnes pulled back her eyes wet but determined. Now get out of here before someone sees you. I’ve got work to do.
They slipped back through the snow toward the trees where Hope waited. Clara was breathing hard, her face flushed with exertion and emotion. Do you think it’ll work? I think we gave the truth a fighting chance.
Eli helped her onto Hope’s back and swung up behind her. That’s all we can do. And if it’s not enough? Eli wrapped his arms around her, holding the reins with one hand.
Then we face whatever comes next, together. Clara leaned back against his chest. Together, she repeated.
They rode toward the church where the battle for truth was about to begin. The building rose against the gray sky like a monument to ambition and deception. Its white steeple reached toward heaven but its foundations were built on lies and murder and the broken dreams of everyone Silas Burnett had destroyed to build his empire.
Today those foundations would crack. Today the truth would finally be told. And whatever happened next, Eli Mercer was done running.
He’d found something worth standing for. Something worth fighting for. Something worth dying for.
And he wasn’t going to let it go without a fight. The church doors stood open. Eli could hear voices inside rising and falling with the cadence of argument.
Agnes had done her work. The women’s auxiliary had become a tribunal and the evidence spread across the altar was damning beyond any reasonable doubt. He dismounted and helped Clara down his hand lingering on hers for a moment longer than necessary.
Ready? No. Clara’s voice was steady despite the fear in her eyes. But that’s never stopped me before.
They walked through the doors together. The scene inside stopped them both cold. Thirty women packed the pews, their faces ranging from shock to fury to tearful understanding.
Agnes stood at the front Thomas’s journal open in her hands, reading passages aloud in a voice that trembled but never broke. And scattered throughout the crowd were men, husbands, who’d come looking for their wives and stayed when they heard what was being revealed. But it was the figure at the back of the church that drew Eli’s attention.
Silas Burnett. The man stood alone, his expensive coat rumpled his face, twisted with a rage that bordered on madness. He’d come to stop the meeting Eli realized, to silence the truth before it could spread.
He’d arrived too late. Lies. Burnett’s voice cut through the murmur of the crowd.
Every word of it. That journal is a forgery created by a bitter widow and her criminal accomplice to destroy an honest businessman. Clara stepped forward…
