The Price of Choosing Her
Chapter 10 - The Price of Choosing Her
The board of Mercer Consolidated Rail did not care about Daniel's mother.
They cared about numbers.
When Daniel telephoned Chicago and suspended all Bellweather acquisitions, three directors demanded his resignation.
By afternoon, newspapers in Kansas City were calling the project "Mercer's Folly."
Victor worked the town from the opposite direction.
He told merchants that Daniel had promised jobs and then changed his mind because of "a private family dispute."
Fear spread quickly.
People who had hated the rail project suddenly hated the idea of losing it.
At the General Store, a farmer confronted Clara.
"My boy needs work."
"I know."
"You got that rich man to stop everything."
"I asked him for nothing."
"That's not what people are saying."
Clara waited until he left before allowing herself to cry.
Daniel arrived minutes later.
She wiped her face.
"Restart the project."
"No."
"People need those jobs."
"Not at the cost of stealing their land."
"Then find another route."
"The board won't approve it."
"Then make them."
He almost smiled.
"You always ordered me around like that?"
"When you were six, you tried to build a boat in the kitchen."
"Did it float?"
"You flooded the floor."
For a second, they were mother and son.
Then Victor entered.
He placed a newspaper on the counter.
The headline read:
RAIL BARON'S "MOTHER" SEEKS FORTUNE AFTER 17 YEARS.
Clara stared at it.
The article accused her of inventing the kidnapping story to gain Daniel's money.
It mentioned the forged surrender paper as though it were real.
It called Luke and Jamie "dependents."
Luke read the word twice.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel snatched up the paper.
"It means someone is afraid."
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"Careful."
Daniel looked at him.
"You gave this story to the press."
"Can you prove that?"
"No."
Victor smiled.
"Then perhaps you should focus on what you can prove."
He walked toward the door.
Clara watched him go.
Then she noticed something on the newspaper.
A photograph of the old Hale Bank building.
In an upstairs window was a curtain she remembered.
Behind that curtain had once been Harold Hale's private office.
And Thomas had gone there the night Daniel disappeared.
May you like
Clara suddenly knew what the brass key had not opened.
A hidden compartment inside the office desk.
