She Was a Doctor Who Became a Mail-Order Bride — The Cowboy Who Had No Idea What He Was Getting
Chapter 5
Richard Walker had been dead for twelve years.
At least, that was what the family believed.
He was Ethan’s father’s younger brother.
He had disappeared after a financial dispute.
A funeral had been held.
A grave existed.
But Clara noticed something strange.
There was no death certificate.
Ethan searched family records.
Nothing.
His mother had always refused to discuss Richard.
Now they knew why.
Richard was alive.
And someone on the ranch had recently seen him.
Clara wanted to investigate immediately.
Ethan refused.
Instead, he contacted an old friend in the sheriff’s department.
The sheriff searched the database.
No Richard Walker.
No recent sightings.
No address.
Nothing.
Then one night, Clara heard footsteps outside Margaret’s room.
She opened the door.
A man stood at the end of the hall.
Gold watch.
Gray hair.
He disappeared before she could reach him.
Clara chased him downstairs.
The front door slammed.
She ran outside.
Nobody.
Only a muddy footprint.
She looked at the ground.
The footprint belonged to an expensive cowboy boot.
The same kind Ethan wore.
She returned to the house.
Ethan was standing in the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?”
“I saw someone.”
“Who?”
“Your uncle.”
His face changed.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“Did he see you?”
“Yes.”
“Then stay close to me.”
The next morning, Margaret finally woke fully.
Her memory seemed clearer.
She grabbed Clara’s hand.
“Richard.”
Clara leaned closer.
“What about him?”
“He didn’t want the ranch.”
“Then what?”
“The hospital.”
Clara froze.
“Why?”
Margaret struggled to breathe.
“Your father…”
She looked at Ethan.
“…found out.”
“Found out what?”
“People were being killed.”
Ethan sat beside her.
“Who?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Doctors.”
Clara’s blood ran cold.
She understood.
The medication scheme wasn’t only happening on the ranch.
It had existed inside the hospital.
Some patients had been deliberately poisoned.
Doctors who questioned it disappeared.
Her career had been destroyed because she had noticed one discrepancy.
It hadn’t been an accident.
Clara had been targeted years earlier.
She looked at Ethan.
“They framed me because I was getting close.”
He nodded.
Margaret whispered:
“Your father tried to stop them.”
“And Richard?”
“He helped.”
Ethan looked shocked.
“Richard helped my father?”
Margaret nodded.
“Then why did he disappear?”
“He didn’t.”
She stared at Clara.
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with fear.
“Victor.”
Clara stood.
“Victor Kane?”
Margaret nodded.
“He was working with your father.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“My father worked with Victor?”
“Only at first.”
Margaret tried to speak.
“The land…”
“What about the land?”
“He needed the ranch.”
Victor wanted control of Walker Ranch because beneath the property was a massive underground aquifer.
Water.
Millions of dollars in future development.
The ranch wasn’t valuable because of cattle.
It was valuable because of what lay under it.
Clara understood.
“The medication company wanted the land.”
Margaret nodded.
“They needed water rights.”
“And my father?”
“He refused.”
“So they killed him.”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
Then Rose walked in.
“Daddy?”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
She held a photograph.
“I found this under Grandma’s bed.”
Clara took it.
It showed Joseph Walker.
Richard.
Victor Kane.
And a fourth man.
Clara stared.
She recognized him.
Her former hospital administrator.
The man who had destroyed her career.
Ethan looked at her.
“You know him?”
Clara whispered:
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“Daniel Cross.”
He frowned.
“My father hated him.”
Clara turned the photograph over.
A sentence was written on the back.
He knows why Clara was chosen.
