They Left Her Alone in the Mountains — Then She Found a Civil War Secret Hidden Under an Old Hearth
Chapter 12
It was an old pickup truck.
A man stepped out.
He was seventy years old.
He introduced himself as Daniel Mercer.
Emma immediately recognized the surname.
“Are you related to Colonel Mercer?”
“He was my great-grandfather.”
Daniel handed her a photograph.
It showed Mercer standing beside Samuel Carter.
Emma stared.
“My family believed they never met.”
“They did.”
“Why?”
Daniel smiled.
“Because they worked together.”
Emma looked at him.
“I thought Mercer disappeared.”
“He did.”
“But he survived.”
“For thirty years.”
Daniel told her that Mercer had escaped the Covenant and lived under another name.
Before dying, he gave Daniel one final instruction.
Find Emma Carter.
Emma felt a chill.
“What did he want?”
Daniel handed her another envelope.
Inside was a map.
Not of Tennessee.
It showed Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and parts of North Carolina.
Red marks covered dozens of locations.
Emma looked at him.
“What is this?”
Daniel’s expression became serious.
“The Covenant wasn’t limited to these mountains.”
She felt her stomach drop.
“How far did it reach?”
“Farther than anyone knows.”
“And the ledger?”
“Only recorded one branch.”
Emma stared at the map.
The secret beneath her grandfather’s hearth had been bigger than she imagined.
Much bigger.
Daniel looked toward the mountains.
“Your grandfather knew.”
“He knew?”
“He spent his final years trying to find the other ledgers.”
Emma swallowed.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he believed you would eventually discover the truth yourself.”
She looked at the map.
For weeks, she had wanted the mystery to end.
Now she understood.
It hadn’t ended.
It had only opened a door.
Daniel offered her the map.
Emma hesitated.
Then took it.
Noah arrived moments later.
He looked at the map.
“What’s this?”
Emma looked at him.
“Apparently, we didn’t find the secret.”
Noah frowned.
“We found part of it.”
Emma nodded.
And somewhere deep beneath the Appalachian Mountains, another forgotten room remained sealed.
Waiting.
