Chapter 7: The Truth Beneath The Ranch
For a long time, I just stared at the words.
They did not make sense.
They could not make sense.
My entire life had been built around one truth.
My mother was gone.
That was what my father told me.
That was what everyone told me.
She had disappeared when I was young, and eventually people stopped asking questions. The world moved forward. The ranch continued. I grew older.
But now, in my father’s own handwriting, I was looking at something impossible.
She did not leave us.
They took her.
I closed the journal.
Then opened it again.
As if the words might change.
They did not.
Aiyana stood quietly beside me.
She did not interrupt.
She understood that some wounds needed silence before they could be touched.
Finally, I looked at her.
“You knew.””
Her expression changed.
“Not everything.””
“But you knew something.””
Aiyana looked toward the mountains.
“My father told me stories about your family.””
“What kind of stories?””
She hesitated.
“Stories about a man who protected something important. A man who lost someone because of it.””
My chest tightened.
“My mother.””
Aiyana nodded.
I stepped away from the table.
For years, I had carried a quiet sadness about my mother.
But sadness was easier than anger.
Sadness accepted the past.
Anger demanded answers.
And suddenly, I had questions that had waited twenty years.
“Why would my father lie to me?””
Aiyana looked at the journal.
“Maybe he was trying to protect you.””
“By letting me believe she abandoned us?””
Her eyes lowered.
I knew she understood.
Before she could answer, Tahoma entered the house.
His face was serious.
“Corvin.””
I turned.
“What?””
He looked toward the eastern ridge.
“The men who were digging have returned.””
My hand moved toward my rifle.
“How many?””
“More than before.””
Aiyana immediately grabbed the journal.
“Then they know.””
I looked at her.
“Know what?””
“That we found this.””
The realization hit me.
The journal was not just information.
It was proof.
And whoever wanted it was willing to surround my home with an army.
I stepped outside.
The scene had changed.
The ranch that had always felt peaceful now looked like a battlefield.
Warriors stood along the fences.
Men with weapons watched from the hills.
And beyond them, near the old dry streambed, several riders waited.
Their leader from earlier was back.
The man with the scar.
He lifted his voice.
“Corvin Torne!””
I walked forward.
Aiyana followed.
The man looked at the journal in her hand.
Even from a distance, he noticed.
His expression changed.
“You found it.””
I said nothing.
He smiled.
“That saves us time.””
“You murdered people for a book?””
“No.””
His answer was calm.
“We fought for what your father hid.””
I looked at the men behind him.
“And my mother?””
The smile faded.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Aiyana noticed too.
“You know.””
The man looked at her.
“You always were too curious.””
My stomach tightened.
“You know what happened to her.””
He did not answer.
That was answer enough.
I stepped forward.
“Tell me.””
The man studied me.
“You are asking questions your father spent his life trying to keep buried.””
“I am asking about my mother.””
His face hardened.
“Your father chose his path.””
“And she paid for it?””
The man looked away.
For the first time, he seemed uncomfortable.
Then he said:
“She was not supposed to be involved.””
The words cut deeper than I expected.
Not supposed to be involved.
Like she was just a piece on someone else’s board.
“What happened to her?””
Before he could answer, a rifle fired.
Not at us.
Into the air.
Everyone turned.
Thomas stood on the ridge.
Alive.
And holding something.
The journal’s missing pages.
My heart dropped.
“Thomas.””
He looked down at me.
His face was different.
Not the neighbor I knew.
Not the man who helped me repair fences.
He looked like someone who had been hiding for years.
“I’m sorry, Corvin.””
I felt anger rise.
“You knew.””
Thomas looked away.
“I knew your father was involved with something dangerous.””
“You knew my mother was taken.””
His silence confirmed it.
I felt like the ground disappeared beneath me.
“You let me believe she left.””
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Your father made me promise.””
“Promise what?””
“To keep you alive.””
The words hit me harder than any weapon.
I laughed bitterly.
“Alive?””
I pointed toward the valley.
“Look around, Thomas.””
He looked down.
“You failed.””
Thomas lowered the pages.
“No.””
His voice shook.
“I succeeded.””
Nobody moved.
I stared at him.
“What?””
He looked at the hills.
“The people who took your mother thought your father would eventually reveal the location.””
Aiyana stepped closer.
“But he never did.””
Thomas shook his head.
“No.””
He looked at me.
“Because he knew one day you would.””
The valley went silent.
Then Thomas said the words that changed everything.
“Your mother was not taken because of what your father had.””
May you like
He looked at the ground beneath my feet.
“She was taken because of what your father discovered.””
