“And Crow introduced the lender.”
His eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
“I asked.”
Garrick sighed.
“Yes.”
Nola laughed without humor.
“You are astonishing.”
“What?”
“You told me about Crow wanting the ranch.”
“You did not mention he helped arrange the debt that can take it.”
“I didn’t think—”
“That sentence has caused enough damage.”
He looked irritated.
Then ashamed.
“I needed money.”
Nola’s anger disappeared.
“For Mae.”
“Doctor bills.”
“Feed.”
“Workers.”
“The drought.”
He stared toward the pasture.
“I kept thinking I could catch up.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Her voice softened.
“Desperate people do not take bad loans because they are stupid.”
“They take them because tomorrow looks more dangerous than the interest.”
Garrick looked toward her.
“How do you know?”
Nola’s face closed.
“My father.”
That was all she offered.
He did not push.
Another point in his favor.
Crow returned the next morning with sale papers.
Deputy Pike accompanied him.
That confirmed more than Nola liked.
Official witness.
Convenient.
Dr. Wren arrived twenty minutes later.
Too convenient.
Garrick looked toward Nola.
She saw the rage.
“Remember the plan.”
He whispered:
“I remember.”
Inside, they arranged the kitchen like a stage.
Weston upstairs.
Pretending weakness despite feeling well enough to demand bacon.
Clara beside him.
Eli instructed to stay out of everything.
Which meant he was certainly involved somehow.
Crow sat at the table.
Pike beside him.
Wren stood near the stove.
Nola served coffee.
Crow placed a bank draft down.
Seven thousand five hundred dollars.
Enough money to ruin a desperate man honestly.
Enough to make a dishonest scheme look like mercy.
Crow slid the sale contract toward Garrick.
“Sign.”
Garrick took the pen.
His hand hovered.
Then stopped.
Crow frowned.
“What?”
Garrick looked toward the ceiling.
“My boy.”
“What about him?”
“If Weston dies tonight, he gets buried on Hale land.”
Crow stared.
Garrick continued:
“If I sign now, he dies on yours.”
Even Nola nearly believed him.
Crow leaned back.
Pike shifted.
Wren’s eyes flicked upstairs.
Crow said:
“You’re being sentimental.”
“Yes.”
“Bad business.”
“I've had a difficult week.”
Crow tapped the table.
“Morning.”
“Then you sign.”
Garrick nodded.
“Morning.”
Crow looked irritated.
Then agreed.
They stood.
As Wren passed Nola, he stopped.
“How is the boy?”
“Worse.”
“What symptoms?”
“Trembling.”
“Vomiting.”
“Metal taste.”
The last one did it.
His eyes sharpened.
Nola saw.
“So you continued the tonic?”
“Yes.”
“Every dose?”
“Every drop.”
Wren smiled.
“Good.”
He walked out.
Nola felt sick.
Not because she doubted anymore.
Because he had just sounded satisfied.
Garrick heard it too.
His face had gone white.
Crow and Pike followed.