PART 2 — THE MEN WHO FOLLOWED HER INTO THE MOUNTAINS

The horses stopped directly outside the cabin.

Lydia couldn’t breathe.

She knew that silence.

It was the silence that came before a fist struck a door, before an angry voice demanded obedience, before a man decided that another human being belonged to him.

Gideon noticed her trembling.

“Lydia, look at me.”

She tried.

“Are those men from St. Louis?”

Her lips parted.

“Yes.”

Gideon’s expression hardened.

“How many?”

“Three. Perhaps four.”

“Do you know their names?”

She nodded.

“Mr. William Graves is with them. He handled my husband’s debts. The other man is called Harlan. He used to work for my husband.”

Gideon glanced toward the window.

“Your husband is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Then what do they want?”

Lydia’s eyes filled.

“They don’t believe he’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.”

Before Gideon could question her further, someone struck the cabin door.

Three deliberate knocks.

Then a man’s voice called out.

“Open up! We’re looking for a woman named Lydia Bowman!”

Gideon picked up his rifle.

Lydia immediately caught his sleeve.

“Please don’t let them take me.”

He looked down at her hand.

Then he covered it gently with his own enormous palm.

“Nobody takes you anywhere without your say.”

He walked to the door.

“State your business.”

A man laughed outside.

“Business between gentlemen. Open the door, mountain man.”

Gideon didn’t move.

“Speak from where you’re standing.”

“We’ve come to collect something that belongs to our employer.”

“She ain’t property.”

There was a brief silence.

Then the man spoke again.

“Careful, friend. You’re interfering in a private matter.”

Gideon looked through the narrow window.

Three riders stood outside.

The one in front wore a black coat and carried a leather document case.

Behind him sat two armed men.

Gideon recognized one of them.

Harlan Pierce.

He had seen the man once before at a trading post near the northern ridge.

Harlan was not someone who traveled into the mountains without a reason.

“Is that Lydia in there?” Harlan called.

Gideon remained silent.

“We have a legal document proving she owes money to the Graves estate.”

“Then take it to the courthouse.”

“The courthouse is a long ride from here.”

“Sounds like your problem.”

The men exchanged glances.

Then Harlan smiled.

“Tell her we’re willing to forgive everything if she comes out quietly.”

Gideon turned toward Lydia.

She was standing near the bed, clutching her shawl.

“Don’t believe them,” she whispered.

Gideon nodded.

“I don’t.”

Then he faced the door again.

“She isn’t leaving.”

Harlan’s smile vanished.

“You don’t understand who you’re dealing with.”

Gideon rested his rifle against his shoulder.

“I understand perfectly.”

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then the man in the black coat reached inside his jacket.

Gideon’s rifle came up.

“Don’t.”

The stranger stopped.

A tense moment pᴀssed.

Finally, he produced a folded paper instead.

“Give this to your wife. It’s a notice of debt collection.”

He pushed it beneath the door.

“We’ll return in three days.”

The horses turned.

Before leaving, Harlan looked toward the window.

“Tell Lydia that her first husband wasn’t the only man who knew how to find her.”

Then the riders disappeared down the frozen trail.

Gideon waited until the hoofbeats faded.

Only then did he lower his rifle.

Lydia remained motionless.

“Who was that man?” he asked.

“Harlan?”

“Yes.”

“He worked for my first husband. He collected debts, frightened tenants, and made sure nobody questioned the business.”

“What business?”

Lydia slowly sat on the edge of the bed.

“My husband, Edward Bowman, owned several warehouses in St. Louis. He lent money to struggling shopkeepers. When they couldn’t pay, he took their homes and businesses.”

Gideon pulled out a chair.

“Did you help him?”

“No!”

Her answer came so quickly that she startled herself.

“I tried to stop him. I begged him to leave those people alone. He would become furious whenever I questioned him.”

She looked at her bruised wrist.

“He told everyone I was clumsy. That I fell down stairs. That I was too emotional to understand business.”

Gideon said nothing.

“After he died, I discovered that several of his clients had been forced to sign documents they couldn’t read. I found their original agreements hidden inside his study.”

“And you took them?”

Lydia nodded.

“I wanted to give them back.”

Gideon leaned forward.

“Where are they now?”

Lydia looked toward her carpetbag.

“In my trunk.”

Gideon stared.

“You brought them here?”

“I couldn’t leave them behind. I knew Graves would search the house.”

He rose immediately.

“Where’s the trunk?”

“In the corner.”

Gideon dragged it toward the table.

Lydia watched as he opened it.

Beneath her dresses and a small bundle of letters lay a leather folder.

Inside were receipts, signed agreements, and a list of names.

Gideon studied the first page.

His expression changed.

“Lydia, do you know what this is?”

“Edward’s business records.”

“No.”

He turned another page.

“These are property transfers. Several are for land in Wyoming.”

Lydia frowned.

“My husband never mentioned Wyoming.”

Gideon looked at her.

“Someone was using his business to acquire property out here.”

He continued reading.

Then he stopped at a name.

William Graves.

The same man who had arrived at the cabin.

Gideon placed the papers on the table.

“Your husband’s debt collector wasn’t simply looking for you.”

Lydia’s stomach тιԍнтened.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s looking for these records.”

The rest of the night pᴀssed without sleep.

Gideon checked the windows and secured the doors.

Lydia sat beside the stove, wrapped in a wool blanket.

She felt ashamed of how frightened she was.

“I’ve ruined your life,” she whispered.

Gideon turned.

“No.”

“They’ll come back.”

“Then they’ll find me ready.”

“You don’t understand. These men are dangerous.”

Gideon looked down at his hands.

“I’ve met dangerous men before.”

His voice grew quieter.

“Years ago, I worked as a guide for a surveying party. We discovered a group of men stealing land from homesteaders. When I refused to help them, they set fire to our camp.”

Lydia stared at him.

“Were you hurt?”

“My younger brother was.”

He paused.

“He never made it out.”

For the first time, Lydia understood why Gideon lived so far from town.

His solitude wasn’t simply a preference.

It was a wound he had never allowed anyone to see.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Gideon nodded.

“Me too.”

He looked toward the bed.

“You should sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

Lydia hesitated.

“Gideon?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for not making me go outside.”

He looked at her for a long moment.

“Lydia, you don’t have to earn your right to be safe.”

Her eyes filled.

She turned away before he could see her cry.

At sunrise, Gideon discovered something disturbing.

The horses had not returned down the mountain trail.

Their tracks ended near the western ridge.

Someone had dismounted and continued toward the cabin on foot.

Gideon followed the prints for nearly half a mile.

Beneath a pine tree, he found a small piece of cloth caught on a branch.

Dark blue.

Expensive.

And familiar.

It belonged to William Graves.

Beside it lay a brᴀss ʙuттon.

Gideon picked it up.

There was a symbol engraved on its surface.

A black eagle holding a silver key.

He had seen that symbol before.

On a document belonging to the men who had destroyed his brother’s life.

Gideon returned to the cabin with the ʙuттon in his pocket.

Lydia was preparing breakfast.

When she saw his expression, she stopped.

“What happened?”

He closed the door.

“The men who followed you are connected to something I’ve been investigating for years.”

Lydia’s face went pale.

“What?”

Gideon placed the brᴀss ʙuттon on the table.

“They belong to the same organization that murdered my brother.”

Lydia stared at it.

Then she reached into her carpetbag and pulled out a folded letter.

“I think you should read this.”

Gideon opened it.

The handwriting belonged to Edward Bowman.

At the bottom was a sentence that made his face go completely still.

The mountain guide knows where the original ledger is buried. Find him before the winter begins.

Gideon slowly raised his eyes.

“Lydia, when did you find this?”

“Three days before I left St. Louis.”

He looked at the letter again.

Then toward the mountains.

Someone had known about him long before Lydia arrived.

And her marriage might never have been a coincidence.

END OF PART 2