With everybody leaving the fairgrounds almost at the same time—most would return to their homes, while others went to the hotel and surrounding guest houses—the streets were a little chaotic, which was very much to Luke and Caleb’s advantage. Getting on their horses, they didn’t need to hide asthey followed the three trappers, although they did maintain a fair distance.
By the time they left the town and chaos behind, night had fallen, and the sky was covered in clouds, so there wasn’t any moonlight to make them stand out, but the snow reflected enough light so Luke and Caleb were able to follow them unnoticed as they kept closer to the darkness of the tree line.
The three men didn’t seem to have the slightest worry as they talked and laughed loudly along the way, which was great for Luke and Caleb, because it was almost easier to follow their noise than their tracks.
It became apparent very quickly that these men were headed toward the abandoned house deep in the woods Luke and Caleb had found days earlier, which allowed both of them to fall back even further so they wouldn’t be noticed.
It was a couple of hours later when Luke and Caleb left their horses a distance away from where they could clearly see light shining through the trees from the direction of that abandoned house. They sneaked the rest of the way on foot to get closer.
“What are the chances that these men are linked to the gang we’ve been chasing for so long?” Caleb whispered.
Luke scoffed quietly. “Very high! They really are brazen, coming to our town to sell stolen horses! I can’t believe they actually came back here after they ransacked the other ranch just a few days ago,” Luke spat angrily.
Caleb nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they don’t seem to have the slightest worry.”
“This is just a game to them. Maybe they want to see how far they can push things,” Luke scoffed dismissively. “They made a mistake coming here. Whoever they are, and whatever else they are involved with, their days are numbered.”
As they crept closer, they were careful to stay hidden behind bushes and trees. As they got nearer to the lit area, the noises inside and outside of the house increased exponentially. A whole horde of men seemed to have gathered there. Luke lost count watching men walk in and out through the front door while others wandered around the outside and near a firepit close to where they kept their horses.
The place was bustling, but there was a limit to how close Luke and Caleb could get. It wasn’t easy to distinguish isolated conversations among these men, even though they were obnoxiously loud—cheering, yelling, and hooting at each other.
However, there was one man who stood out in particular as he barked orders at the others, louder than anyone else. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the tall man from the saloon. This manwasn’t very tall at all, and when he—in an apparent fit of rage—ripped his fur hat off, Luke noticed his thinning black hair.
Luke thought that he looked familiar, somehow. He must have seen him in town before.
“What do you mean, you haven’t found her yet?” the furious man screamed at one of the others, who was at least a foot taller than him. Despite the dim light of the fire, Luke could clearly see how his face turned a vicious red. “You’ve spent all day gallivanting around, and you haven’t seen her anywhere? Are you blind?”
Luke couldn’t make out the reaction of the man he’d yelled at, but he saw his shoulders sink a little.
“And you!” The yeller pointed his finger at the tall man from the saloon. “Weren’t you supposed to find out more information? How useless are you all, dammit?”
Luke found it oddly satisfying to watch the smug, tall man shrink back a little.
“The sheriff was there!” came his meek reply. “I told you this, Phineas!”
Luke’s ears pricked when he heard that name. Wasn’t Madelaine’s cousin’s name Phineas? The one who tried to force her into marriage? Luke held his breath.
“What were we supposed to do?” the tall man argued, albeit less confident. “I didn’t want to raise any more suspicion!”
“So you are that much of an idiot that you ended up telling the sheriff that I’m looking for Madelaine and the kids anyway? How dumb are you? Get out of my sight, before I forget myself and shoot you in that useless head of yours!”
Luke was in shock. There was no doubt now. At the mention of his wife and the children, he recognized that he was actually dealing with Phineas Greed, Madelaine’s cousin. Rage shot through him like lightning, and he was so furious his body shook as if he was fighting an earthquake.
Caleb must have picked up on the name connection, too, because he seemed just as agitated as Luke was. He almost jumped up from their hiding spot, evidently barely holding in his own outrage.
Luke and Caleb both watched as Phineas picked one victim after another, threatening every one of them in the worst possible way. Meanwhile, all these tall, strong men shrank to scared little puppies around this small, meager-looking guy.
It left Luke with the only possible conclusion—Phineas had to be the leader of this gang.
But did that also mean that Phineas was the leader of the horse-stealing gang Luke had chased after for five years to solve his wife’s and children’s murders? Had Madelaine’s own cousin been the man who had killed them all?
What were the chances of that happening? Luke’s head was spinning.
Then another realization hit him with full force. If any of this happened to be true, and Phineas was indeed the leader who had so brutally murdered his family, it could only mean that Madelaine and the children were in grave danger, too. If Phineas were to find out where they were, he’d come after them all.
Something inside of Luke snapped. He felt something he hadn’t felt in many years—deep-seated fear. He feared for Madelaine, for Belle and Simon, and also for Evelyn and Caleb.
It was then that his gut feeling told him that something very bad might happen to them.
