Chapter 4 - The Sins of the Father
Mateo slowly lowered the heavy barrel of his hunting rifle as his heart pounded violently against his ribs.
He stared in complete disbelief at the young man he had raised and loved entirely as a nephew.
Lucas kept his own revolver raised and aimed perfectly at Mateo's pounding chest.
Elena suddenly rushed out of the guest bedroom, screaming in terror when she saw the two men holding weapons.
She threw herself between them, begging her son to put the dangerous gun down immediately.
Lucas looked at his mother with a deeply painful mixture of profound sorrow and absolute disgust.
He coldly asked his mother if she had known about this dark secret all along.
Elena looked highly confused and frantically asked him what he was talking about.
Lucas reached into his thick leather jacket and violently pulled out the missing leather ledger.
He threw the heavy, ancient book forcefully onto the wooden floor right at their trembling feet.
Mateo realized instantly that it wasn't Sheriff Davies who had dug up the old lockbox.
It had been Lucas all along.
The young man had completely outsmarted the corrupt town officials and his own family.
Lucas shouted angrily that he had read every single blood-stained page in that horrible book.
He revealed that he had found a secret map tucked inside his late father's old hunting gear.
He dug up the box perfectly hoping to find old money, but instead, he found a horrific legacy of murder.
The ledger detailed exactly how the town's wealthy founders had brutally murdered Lucas's supposed father to steal his cattle.
It also detailed how Mateo had agreed to silently bury the evidence simply to keep Elena completely safe from the killers.
Elena fell apart entirely, sobbing uncontrollably as the dark truth was finally dragged into the harsh light.
She confessed that she had loved Mateo secretly before she was ever forced to marry his wealthy brother.
Mateo tried to step forward to comfort her, but Lucas aggressively cocked the hammer of his gun.
Lucas spat bitterly that Mateo had protected the murderers who killed the man who raised him.
Mateo pleaded desperately, explaining that Davies would have slaughtered Elena if he had ever gone to the police.
He swore that every single horrible choice he made was entirely out of pure love for the both of them.
Lucas laughed coldly, producing a sound that sent a freezing chill straight down Mateo's spine.
He stated with a dark grin that they did not have to worry about Sheriff Davies anymore.
He reached into his other pocket and pulled out the missing property deed to the ranch.
He revealed that he had just traded this entire ranch to the Sheriff in exchange for complete immunity.
The blinding, flashing red and blue lights of multiple police cruisers suddenly flooded through the living room windows.
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Heavy, aggressive fists began pounding violently against the front door.
Sheriff Davies shouted loudly from the porch, officially declaring that Mateo was completely surrounded.
