He Burned 40 Years of Brush Behind the Barn — Then Stone Steps Appeared in the Ash
Chapter 8
Edward entered the chamber with four armed men.
He looked at the documents.
Then at Thomas.
“You found it.”
Thomas stood between Edward and the iron chest.
“You murdered people for this.”
Edward shook his head.
“No. Men like your grandfather died because they refused to understand how the world works.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“You stole their homes.”
“I purchased them.”
“With forged debts.”
Edward smiled.
“Law is whatever survives the courtroom.”
Thomas raised the ledger.
“And this?”
Edward’s expression hardened.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand what you’re holding.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Edward stepped closer.
“Your father understood.”
Thomas clenched his jaw.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because he did.”
Edward looked toward the ceiling.
“Elias came to me after your grandfather died.”
Thomas froze.
“He begged me to leave you alone.”
“What?”
“He offered the remaining farm in exchange for your life.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Thomas felt something inside him break.
“My father gave you the land?”
“No.”
Edward smiled.
“He tried.”
“But you refused.”
“I accepted his silence.”
Thomas remembered his father’s coldness.
His refusal to discuss the past.
The years of fear.
The secret patch of ground.
Edward had controlled him.
But then Thomas noticed something.
The ledger was not complete.
A page had been torn out.
“What happened to the missing page?”
Edward’s eyes shifted.
Thomas saw it.
Fear.
“You don’t have it.”
Edward said nothing.
Margaret whispered:
“What was on that page?”
Edward turned toward her.
“You should leave.”
“No.”
Margaret stood beside Thomas.
Edward sighed.
“You really don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“The Reed family isn’t the only family involved.”
Thomas stared.
“Who else?”
Edward laughed.
“Look at the last name in the ledger.”
Thomas opened it.
The final surviving entry belonged to someone he knew.
Someone who had visited his farm every Sunday.
Someone he trusted.
The county judge.
