The boy stiffened.
I rested a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to speak to him.”
Mercer’s gaze lingered on my hand. “You’re making a mistake, Dalton. An emotional one.”
“Maybe.”
He slid his sunglasses on. “I’ll give you one chance to stay out of this. Hand over whatever she gave you, and I’ll pretend you were never involved.”
The envelope burned against my chest.
“My wife’s name is in that ledger,” I said.
He froze.
Just for a breath.
Then he chuckled. “Clerical error.”
“Funny kind.”
“D3ad names linger in databases. Happens all the time.”
“She’s been d3ad three years.”
“And county systems are sloppy. You know that.” He glanced toward the road. “Give it to me.”
I shook my head.
His patience thinned. “You know why I’ve tolerated your resistance about selling your farm?”
I didn’t answer.
“Because men like you confuse memory with ownership,” he said. “You think land is sacred because it holds grief. But land is leverage. Water is leverage. Roads are leverage. And eventually, every sentimental farmer learns.”
“Not every one.”
His smile vanished. “Ask your wife.”
I moved before thinking.
My fist caught his cheekbone. His sunglasses flew into the gravel.
Rosie screamed.
Ben yanked her behind me.
Mercer touched his lip, saw blood, then laughed, low and ugly.
“That was stupid,” he said.
He stepped forward just as a deputy cruiser slid into the lot, lights flashing once.
The deputy approached. “What’s going on?”
Mercer straightened. “Domestic dispute. My wife is having an episode.”
“He’s lying,” Ben whispered.
“He threatened her,” I said. “Ask the staff.”
The deputy, young and broad shouldered, took in the vehicles, the kids, the blood.
“Everyone stay put,” he said. “Sir, by your truck.”
Mercer bristled. “Do you know who I am?”
“Right now?” the deputy replied. “A man being told where to stand.”
Mercer obeyed.
The deputy lowered his voice to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s this about?”
“They’re afraid of him. And he wants documents she has.”
Before he answered, the doors opened.
Claire emerged, eyes red but steady.
The nurse said, “Your mother is septic. We’re transferring her immediately. Another few hours and she wouldn’t have survived.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Mercer stepped forward. “Claire, stop this. Let’s go home.”
She didn’t look at him.
The deputy asked gently, “Do you feel unsafe with this man?”
“Yes.”
“He struck Ben last week,” Claire added.
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