She Was a Doctor Who Became a Mail-Order Bride — The Cowboy Who Had No Idea What He Was Getting
Chapter 6
Clara couldn’t sleep.
She knew Daniel Cross.
He had been the hospital administrator who accused her of negligence.
At the time, she thought he had simply protected the hospital.
Now she knew better.
He had been part of the conspiracy.
Ethan found her in the kitchen.
“Come to bed.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
She showed him the photograph.
“He knows why I was chosen.”
Ethan stared.
“Chosen for what?”
“I don’t know.”
They searched old hospital records.
A strange pattern emerged.
Every doctor involved in rural medicine who worked with Walker Ranch eventually disappeared.
Some resigned.
Some moved away.
Some died.
Clara’s name was different.
She had not been eliminated.
She had been discredited.
Why?
Because someone wanted her away from the ranch.
Clara finally understood.
Her marriage to Ethan might not have been an accident.
Someone had known about the advertisement.
Someone had pushed her toward the ranch.
Maybe even Ethan’s family.
She confronted him.
“Did you put the advertisement online?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
A private marriage service.
“Who paid for it?”
He frowned.
“I did.”
“Who helped you?”
“My lawyer.”
“Name?”
“Samuel Reed.”
Clara’s heart stopped.
Samuel Reed was Daniel Cross’s partner.
She suddenly wondered if Ethan had unknowingly been manipulated.
She went to confront Samuel.
His office was empty.
But she found a file.
Project Walker.
Inside:
Ethan’s financial records.
Margaret’s medical history.
Clara’s hospital file.
And one page that made her blood freeze.
Objective: Introduce Dr. Clara Bennett to Ethan Walker.
Clara stared.
She had not answered the advertisement by chance.
Someone had wanted her there.
But why?
The answer was inside the next document.
She is the only doctor who discovered the original compound.
Clara remembered.
Three years earlier, she had treated a mysterious patient at the Boston hospital.
The patient had symptoms that didn’t match the diagnosis.
She had collected a blood sample.
Then the hospital ordered it destroyed.
She had secretly kept notes.
The medication in Margaret’s case contained the same compound.
Someone had been poisoning people using a drug that appeared safe.
And Clara was the only doctor who had documented it.
She sat down.
“They knew.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
She explained.
The conspiracy had targeted her because she could recognize the poison.
They needed her either controlled or discredited.
Ethan stared at the file.
“Then why bring you here?”
“Because your ranch is where the money is.”
“What money?”
“The company has been using the ranch as collateral.”
Ethan’s face changed.
His father had taken loans from Victor’s company.
If the ranch defaulted, Victor would acquire the water rights.
Everything fit.
Then they heard a gunshot.
Ethan grabbed Clara.
“Stay inside.”
He ran out.
Clara followed.
Near the barn, Ethan found one of the ranch hands on the ground.
Alive.
Barely.
Clara knelt.
“Call an ambulance.”
Ethan did.
The ranch hand grabbed Clara’s arm.
“Doctor…”
“Yes?”
“He came back.”
“Who?”
“The man with the gold watch.”
Clara looked toward the trees.
Someone was watching.
She stood.
Ethan raised his weapon.
A figure ran.
They chased him.
He disappeared behind the barn.
On the ground was a gold watch.
Clara picked it up.
Inside the back was engraved:
R.W.
Richard Walker.
But beneath it was another engraving.
For my brother Joseph.
Ethan stared.
“My father gave this to Richard.”
Clara looked at him.
“So Richard didn’t betray your father.”
“No.”
“He was investigating Victor.”
“Yes.”
Then Ethan whispered:
“Which means someone has been pretending to be Richard.”
