The storm arrived just after midnight. By two in the morning, the Mississippi was rising.
Luke stood beneath the covered porch of Evelyn's house, watching lightning illuminate the river in brief flashes.
Thomas stood beside him.
Neither had spoken for several minutes.
Finally, Thomas broke the silence. "She shouldn't have told you."
Luke looked at him. "About the ledger?"
"About everything."
"Why?"
Thomas stared into the darkness. "Because some things are safer when they're forgotten."
Luke almost smiled. "That's what everyone in Belle Rive has been telling me."
"And you never listen."
"No."
Thomas nodded. "Neither did your father."
Luke turned toward him. "You knew him."
Thomas hesitated. "Not the way you think."
"What does that mean?"
"I was a boy when I met him."
"Where?"
"At the river."
Luke waited.
Thomas looked toward the water. "Your father came to see my mother."
"Why?"
"To tell her he had hidden the ledger."
Luke's heart quickened. "Did he tell her where?"
"No."
"Then how do you know it's beneath the river?"
Thomas looked at him. "Because I followed him."
Luke stared. "How old were you?"
"Nine."
"You followed Sam McCall to the Night Landing when you were nine?"
Thomas nodded.
"What did you see?"
Thomas looked away. "I saw him put something inside the old boathouse."
Luke felt a chill. "The ledger?"
"I don't know."
"But you saw him hide something."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"
Thomas's expression hardened. "Because William found me."
Luke went still. "What happened?"
"He grabbed me by the collar and asked what I'd seen."
Luke's jaw tightened. "What did you tell him?"
"Nothing." Thomas smiled bitterly.
"I learned early that silence could keep a person alive."
Luke looked toward Evelyn's window.
"And my father?"
"He found me afterward."
"What did he do?"’
"He took me home."
Luke swallowed. "Did he know who you were?"
Thomas nodded. "He knew."
"Did he know you were Elias Patterson’s brother?"
"Yes."
Luke stared.
."Thunder rolled across the river.
Luke looked toward the dark water. "Then tonight we find the ledger."
Thomas nodded. "Tonight."
The old Night Landing was almost impossible to find. The river had reclaimed it decades ago. What remained was little more than a collection of rotting pilings rising from the water.
Patterson stood at the edge of the bank holding a lantern. "You sure this is the place?"
Thomas nodded. "Exactly where I remember it."
Luke looked at the river.
The storm had pushed the water higher. "You said the boathouse."
Thomas pointed toward the water. "It was there."
"Underneath us?"
"Now." Luke took a breath.
Patterson grabbed his arm. "Don't."
Luke looked at him. "We came all this way."
"Not tonight."
"Why?"
Patterson pointed toward the river.
"The current."
Luke stared.
"Your father knew this river." Patterson nodded. "And he never went into it during a storm."
Thomas looked at the water. "Because he didn't have to."
Luke frowned. "What does that mean?"
Thomas walked toward an old cypress tree. He knelt and brushed away the mud around its roots. A rusted metal ring appeared.
Luke stared. "What is that?
Thomas pulled. Nothing happened. He pulled again.
A section of earth shifted. Then a hidden wooden hatch rose from beneath the mud.
Luke stared. "That's been there all these years?"
Thomas nodded. "It leads to the old boathouse."
Patterson looked at him. "Under the river?"
"Part of it."
Luke stepped closer.
Thomas lifted the hatch. A narrow stairway disappeared into darkness. Cold air rose from below.
Luke looked at Patterson. "You coming?"
The sheriff sighed. "Apparently I'm too old to know better."
They descended. The stairs ended beneath the waterline. The sound of the river surrounded them. Luke could hear the current pressing against the old walls.
Thomas lifted the lantern. A narrow wooden passage stretched ahead.
At the end was a door. Luke approached it. There was a brass lock. He removed the key Evelyn had given him. It fit perfectly. He turned it. Click. The door opened.
Inside was a small chamber. Rotting shelves lined the walls. Old crates lay scattered across the floor.
And in the center stood a wooden table. Luke walked toward it. Something had been carved into the tabletop. A crescent moon.
Beneath it:
S.M.
Luke touched the carving. His father's initials.
Patterson looked around. "He wanted someone to find this."
Luke nodded. "Eventually."
Thomas moved toward the far wall. "There."
Behind several rotten boards was a metal box. Luke pulled it free. His hands shook.
This was it. He knew it. He opened the box. Inside was a bundle wrapped in oilcloth.
Luke carefully lifted it onto the table and unwrapped it.
A leather ledger appeared. Old. Dark. Water-stained, but intact.
Luke stared at the original ledger.
He opened the cover. The first page contained names. Dozens of them. Some had dollar amounts beside them. Some had dates. Others had single words.
PAID.
THREATENED.
MISSING.
DEAD.
Luke turned another page. Then another. His father's handwriting appeared in the margins.
Notes.
Warnings.
Questions.
Then he reached the final section.
The handwriting changed. Luke recognized the difference immediately. "This isn't my father's."
Patterson stepped closer. "Who wrote it?"
Luke turned the page.
At the top was a date.
October 17, 1931.
Beneath it:
Elias McCrory was murdered tonight.
Luke paused before he continued reading.
William was responsible.
Patterson closed his eyes.
But Luke kept reading.
The next sentence made him stop breathing.
Sam saw everything.
Then another.
Evelyn knows.
Another.
The boy is mine.
Luke looked up.
Patterson was staring at him. "Whose handwriting is that?"
Patterson shook his head. "I don't know."
Luke looked down again. At the bottom of the page was a name. Only one.
WILLIAM MERCER.
Luke's heart pounded. William Garrison had written the entry. But that wasn't the worst part.
Because beneath the name was another sentence. Written in a different hand.
One Luke recognized immediately. His father's.
William is lying.
Luke turned the page. There was only one line.
Evelyn knows who killed McCrory.
Then another.
And she knows why William wanted me dead.
Luke's blood went cold. "My father knew."
Patterson stared at the page. "Knew what?"
Luke slowly turned the ledger around.
At the bottom of the page was a name.
Not William.
Not McCrory.
Not Evelyn.
Not Sam.
A name Luke had heard his entire life. A name belonging to someone he had trusted. Someone who was still alive.
Luke whispered: "Clara."
Thomas stepped backward.
Patterson's face went pale. "No."
Luke stared at the name.
Beneath it was a single word.
WITNESS.
Then the lantern went out. Darkness swallowed the room.
Something moved behind them.
A woman's voice whispered from the doorway: "Put the ledger down."
Luke froze.
He knew that voice.
But this time...it wasn't Thomas. And it wasn't Patterson.
It was someone Luke had known since childhood.
Someone who had just been named in his father's final secret. Someone who should never have known they were there.
Miss Clara's voice came from the darkness. "Luke..."
A pause.
Then: "Please don't make me tell you the rest."