Orphaned and Broke, She Took Over a Deserted Ranch for FREE—What She Found in the Well Changed Everything
Chapter 4
The name was not Victor Kane.
It was Thomas Carter.
Hannah’s father’s older brother.
Her uncle.
The same man who had been listed in the family records as the person who arranged the ranch transfer.
Hannah stared at the page.
Thomas had told her the property was a burden.
Thomas had told her she should sell.
Thomas had told her there was nothing worth saving.
Why would her aunt accuse him?
Hannah took photographs of every document.
She didn’t remove the originals.
She returned to the surface before dawn.
Thomas called at 7:00 a.m.
“How’s the ranch?”
Hannah looked at the phone.
“Fine.”
“You settling in?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He sounded relaxed.
Almost too relaxed.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said.
“About what?”
“You shouldn’t spend too much money fixing that place.”
“I don’t have much.”
“Exactly.”
There was a pause.
“If you need help selling it, I can find a buyer.”
Hannah’s stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because I know the market.”
Hannah smiled.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
After they hung up, she called Roy.
“Did you know my uncle was involved with the ranch?”
Roy went silent.
“What did you find?”
“His name.”
“Where?”
“Your aunt’s records.”
Roy sighed.
“I was afraid of that.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“What happened?”
“Thomas was around your aunt all the time.”
“Why?”
“He wanted her to sell.”
“Did she refuse?”
“Every time.”
“Then what?”
Roy looked toward the ranch.
“Things started breaking.”
“What things?”
Pumps.
Fences.
Tractors.
Water lines.
Animals disappeared.
It became too expensive to operate.
Margaret believed someone was sabotaging the ranch.
Roy had suspected Thomas.
But he had no proof.
Hannah asked:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know who to trust.”
Hannah understood.
Neither did she.
She went back underground.
The records showed Thomas had been buying shares in a private water company.
The company’s largest investor was Victor Kane.
Hannah followed the money.
Payments moved from Kane Development.
To the water company.
To Thomas.
The connection was clear.
Her uncle had been working with Kane.
But why?
The next document answered that.
A secret acquisition agreement.
Thomas would receive a percentage of profits if Kane gained control of Red Willow’s water rights.
Hannah felt sick.
They weren’t interested in the ranch.
They wanted the water.
Then she found a letter from Margaret.
It was addressed to Hannah’s father.
Michael,
Thomas knows about the aquifer.
He thinks I will sell if I become desperate enough.
I won’t.
But I am worried about Hannah.
Hannah stopped reading.
Her father’s name.
She had been told he died in an accident.
The letter was dated four months after his supposed death.
Hannah stared.
If Margaret wrote to him after his death date…
then either the date was wrong.
Or her father was alive.
She searched the family records.
Her father’s death certificate said he had died fourteen years earlier.
Margaret’s letter was dated thirteen years earlier.
Hannah’s hands trembled.
She called the state records office.
The death certificate had been amended twice.
The original report was sealed.
She contacted a private investigator.
Within two days, he found something.
A hospital admission under an unknown name.
A man matching her father’s age.
Same scars.
Same blood type.
Admitted after a vehicle accident.
Survived.
Then transferred.
No discharge record.
Hannah could barely breathe.
Her father might still be alive.
But where?
The answer came from the underground records.
A train ticket.
A bank transaction.
A ranch town in another state.
And one name connected to both.
Victor Kane.
The man trying to buy Red Willow might have known Hannah’s father.
And might know exactly what happened to him.
