A signature.
It was supposed to be his.
It was not.
Whoever copied it had seen his handwriting before.
But not often enough.
The M was wrong.
Elias crossed the first stroke downward.
This forged version curled upward.
He read the attached letter.
Mr. Thomas Higgins,
Your sister meets the requested qualities. Mr. Montgomery has authorized immediate travel and guarantees room, board, marriage upon arrival, and lifelong support. Because winter is approaching, she should depart without delay.
Elias stopped.
Thomas Higgins.
Brother.
Then a line beneath.
Arrangement fee received in full.
Elias’s eyes narrowed.
He looked across the street.
Caleb still watched.
Whiskey untouched now.
He was studying Elias’s face.
Elias understood.
Not everything.
Enough.
This woman was not the joke.
She was ammunition.
Caleb expected Elias to reject her publicly.
Maybe insult her.
Maybe force the town to watch a seven-hundred-pound woman learn she had crossed the country because somebody forged a marriage offer.
Caleb knew newspapers loved humiliation.
He also knew Elias’s winter stores had been calculated for ranch hands, not another person.
A woman who appeared to need specialized furniture, transportation, perhaps medical support.
Caleb wanted trouble.
Financial.
Social.
Emotional.
Whatever form it took.
Lara watched Elias finish the page.
Her mouth tightened.
She must have recognized something in his expression.
She looked down.
“I can wait for the next train.”
Elias looked toward the rails.
“There won’t be one tomorrow.”
“I was told there would.”
“Snow coming.”
She glanced toward the western hills.
Purple-gray clouds.
Wind sharpening.
Elias continued:
“Possibly two days.”
“Maybe four.”
Lara nodded slowly.
“Then I’ll find a room.”
The stationmaster was hanging a CLOSED sign.
Elias almost laughed at the timing.
“Deadwood’s full.”
“Cattle auction.”
“Mining delegation.”
“The hotel has been turning people away since Sunday.”
Lara’s hands tightened around her shawl.
“I don’t want to cause trouble.”
Elias looked down at the forged contract.
“This isn’t your trouble.”
She misunderstood.
Her expression went still.
“All right.”
She reached for the paper.
“I’ll handle it.”
Elias did not give it back.
Instead, he tore it in half.
Lara stared.
Then he tore it again.
Across the street, Caleb stopped smiling.
Elias tucked the pieces into his coat.
Lara whispered:
“What are you doing?”
“Keeping evidence.”
Her brow tightened.
“Evidence?”
“I never signed this.”
The color left her face.
For a second, Elias worried she might collapse.
“Never?”
“No.”
She looked at the torn paper inside his coat.
Then toward the station.
Then back.
“My brother said…”
Her voice failed.
Elias waited.
She tried again.
“He said the agency had found a rancher.”
“He said you specifically requested…”
Her gaze fell toward her own body.
Elias understood the unfinished sentence.
He felt something cold inside his chest.
“What exactly did your brother tell you?”
Lara did not answer.
Across the street, Caleb called:
“Everything all right, Montgomery?”
Elias turned.
“Perfect.”
Caleb’s smile returned.
“Glad the happy couple approves.”
Elias looked toward him long enough that Caleb’s amusement weakened.
Then Elias bent, gripped Lara’s wooden trunk beneath the side handle, and tried lifting.
Heavy.
Extremely.
He adjusted.
Lara immediately moved forward.
“You don’t have to—”
“I know.”
“That trunk is—”
“I noticed.”
He set it down again.
One of Caleb’s men laughed.
Elias looked toward a freight hand.
“You.”
The man straightened.
“Me?”
“I’ll give you fifty cents to help me get this onto my wagon.”
The laughter died.
Not because fifty cents was much.