Emily had manipulated Daniel because she was barren and desperate for children.
Then:
Daniel wanted control of the children's property.
That one angered him most.
“We don't want their land.”
Emily said.
“That doesn't matter.”
“It does to me.”
“I know.”
He paced their kitchen.
“But Cyrus knows how to make everything look like greed.”
Emily opened the ranch ledger.
“We need facts.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Meaning?”
“Your debts.”
He grimaced.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Emily.”
“If court is going to examine this household, I need to know what it is examining.”
He stared.
“You married me three weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't entitle you to—”
He stopped.
Emily waited.
Daniel sighed.
“That sounded terrible.”
“It did.”
“I meant—”
“You are embarrassed.”
“Yes.”
Emily softened.
“Daniel.”
He looked away.
“How much?”
he asked.
“What?”
“Do you know about accounting?”
“I ran a school budget on six dollars and a prayer.”
“That is not ranch accounting.”
“It may be harder.”
He laughed reluctantly.
Then brought out the books.
Emily spent two evenings studying them.
Daniel owed the territorial bank $2,300.
Large.
Not fatal.
The ranch produced enough cattle to survive if winter losses remained manageable.
But something in supply costs bothered her.
She compared invoices.
Feed.
Salt.
Fence wire.
Kerosene.
Transportation.
“Daniel.”
He looked up from sharpening a knife.
“Why did freight charges increase by thirty percent in July?”
“What?”
She showed him.
He frowned.
“They said rail transfer fees.”
“Who?”
“Bell Freight.”
Emily looked at him.
“Bell.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Cyrus owns shares.”
“Of course he does.”
They found more.
Three deliveries charged twice.
A missing cattle payment.
A bank notice sent to an address Daniel had not used for years.
Someone had made the ranch look less solvent than it was.
Not enough to prove deliberate fraud.
Enough to investigate.
Daniel rode to town the next morning.
He returned after dark.
Furious.
“The bank received two late notices I never saw.”
“From whom?”
“Bell Freight.”
“Anything else?”
“The cattle buyer says my August payment was sent to a clearing office Cyrus controls.”
Emily stared.
“Can he do that?”