Page 41 of August’s Cowboy Braxton

Her hand closed around mine. “And then you heard me.”

I looked toward the broken window. “You saw the way out.”

“And you listened.”

For fifteen years, I’d believed protecting someone meant moving faster than they could make the wrong choice. Tonight Addison had seen something I hadn’t. And I’d trusted her enough to follow.

“Yeah,” I said. “I did.”

Torin approached as another deputy led Evie toward a patrol vehicle. “The fire marshal’s on the way. Nobody touches anything inside until he clears it.”

“The album’s out here.” I retrieved it from the grass. Dirt streaked the cover, but it was intact.

Addison opened it. A yellowed index card sat underneath the flap.

“Donated by the Whitaker Estate. 1987.” Her finger moved to the next line. “Processed by Lois Hollister.”

Claire’s aunt. The woman who’d spent years digging into the feud.

Before any of us could say more, one of the volunteers called from the trailer. “Deputy? Found something.”

The fire was out, and a firefighter carried the trash can to the doorway. The leather notebook inside was blackened around the edges but hadn’t completely burned.

Torin pulled on gloves and opened it carefully. Several pages crumbled, but others had survived. He stopped at one and angled it toward us.

Cedar Draw stock held for Margaret.

Below it: Eleanor’s girl secured under Whitaker name. H.M.K. agreement honored.

Addison drew in a breath. “Margaret.”

Torin turned another surviving page. Cedar Draw account — Walker to continue until Margaret’s line is established.

“That connects to what Jace found,” Torin said. “At least enough to know his family was involved with a Cedar Draw account.”

Addison stared at the final line. “What does ‘Margaret’s line is established’ mean?”

“We don’t know yet.” That answer would have to be enough. For now.

Addison flipped through the album until she found the photograph of the two men beside the co-branded cattle. “The caption was here.”

Torin angled the flashlight from his phone across the blank space. Faint impressions appeared in the paper.

He shifted the light and read, “H.M. Kincaid. Hollister representative. Cedar Draw herd. 1911.”

Addison’s fingers closed around mine. “So Cedar Draw existed before Margaret.”

“Looks like it,” Torin said. “Whatever it started as, somebody later used it to protect her.”

That was enough to change everything we thought we knew. Henry and Eleanor had been in love. Now we knew Eleanor had a daughter named Margaret. Boone Whitaker had protected her under the Whitaker name. Cedar Draw had somehow become part of that protection. And the Walkers had been told to continue an account until Margaret’s line was established. Everything beyond that was still a question.

Torin closed the notebook as his radio crackled. “I need to deal with the scene.”

Addison glanced toward Evie sitting in the back of the patrol vehicle. “What will happen to her?”

“We have enough to hold her. We’ll sort out everything else after statements and the scene is processed.”

“She said she didn’t want to hurt me.”