Chapter 7 - Beneath the Ranch
The tunnel was older than Elias expected.
Its walls were reinforced with timber.
The passage led beneath the northern pasture.
Nia moved carefully despite her injured arm.
"You've been here before."
"When I was a child."
"With your father?"
"Yes."
"What did he show you?"
"The first chamber."
They reached an iron door.
Elias found no handle.
Nia touched a symbol carved into the metal.
A circle crossed by three lines.
She pressed it.
The door opened.
Inside was a stone chamber.
There were shelves.
Boxes.
Old military papers.
And a wooden desk.
Elias stepped closer.
On the desk sat a letter.
His father's handwriting.
Mateo and I found this place in 1859. We believed it was abandoned. We were wrong.
Elias read further.
The chamber had once been used to hide federal survey records during territorial disputes.
But the documents revealed something larger.
A network of men had manipulated land claims for decades.
They stole properties from settlers and tribal families alike.
Some records proved illegal transfers.
Others documented payments to officials.
Nia picked up a bundle of papers.
"My father was right."
Elias nodded.
"These could destroy them."
"Not unless someone believes them."
Elias looked at the boxes.
"Who else knows?"
"Vane."
"How?"
"My father told someone."
"Who?"
Nia hesitated.
"His closest friend."
"Name?"
"Caleb Mercer."
Elias recognized it.
"Mercer works at the territorial courthouse."
Nia nodded.
"Then we take the records there."
"No."
Elias looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because Mercer was the man my father feared most."
Before Elias could answer, a sound echoed through the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside.
Elias extinguished the lantern.
They waited in darkness.
A man's voice floated through the passage.
"Search every chamber."
Elias's eyes widened.
Vane had found the entrance.
Nia whispered:
"There's another exit."
"Where?"
She pointed downward.
Elias looked.
A narrow stairway disappeared into darkness.
They descended.
Behind them, the iron door opened.
Vane's voice echoed.
"Find the ledger."
Elias gripped Nia's hand and pulled her deeper.
At the bottom stood a wooden door.
Nia opened it.
They stepped into the open desert.
Elias looked back at the ranch.
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Smoke rose into the sky.
His home was burning.
