Chapter 8 - The Missing CattleTwenty-two breeding heifers were worth roughly $70,000.
Maybe more.
Caleb reviewed livestock records.
Sale tickets existed.
Deposits did not.
Luke produced photographs.
Eleanor had instructed him to load cattle for three separate private sales.
He assumed the money went through accounting.
It didn’t.
Rachel traced payments.
Two cashier’s checks went to EHM Holdings.
Eleanor’s personal company.
Another went directly to Prairie Community Bank.
Caleb stared.
“So she was using farm cattle to pay her private land debt?”
“That appears to be the pattern.”
Every answer opened something uglier.
Caleb called Eleanor.
First time since the storm.
She answered immediately.
“You finally remembered I exist.”
“Where did the cattle money go?”
Silence.
“Which cattle?”
“Twenty-two registered heifers.”
“I paid expenses.”
“Through EHM Holdings?”
Another pause.
“You don’t understand the farm’s position.”
“Then explain.”
“I kept this place alive while you disappeared into grief.”
Caleb flinched.
There it was.
The weapon she knew would work.
Nia died.
Caleb stopped sleeping.
Stopped eating properly.
For almost a year, Eleanor handled most finances.
He had thanked her.
Now she turned gratitude into permission.
“You did help.”
Eleanor seemed surprised.
Caleb continued:
“And I let you control too much.”
“You needed me.”
“I did.”
His voice hardened.
“That did not give you the right to take.”
“I took nothing.”
“Then provide the EHM records.”
“You’re listening to Rachel Kim.”
“I’m looking at bank statements.”
Eleanor’s breathing changed.
“Caleb, if you fight this sale, Prairie will take everything.”
“Maybe.”
“Maya’s twenty percent will become twenty percent of nothing.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because you are emotional.”
“No.”
Caleb looked at Maya across Rachel’s kitchen.
“I was avoidant.”
Eleanor stopped.
“Not anymore.”
He ended the call.
Maya asked:
“Was Grandma mad?”
“Yes.”
“Are you scared?”
Caleb thought.
“Yes.”
Maya seemed surprised.
“You’re not supposed to be.”
“Who told you that?”
“You’re Dad.”
He smiled.
“Dads get scared.”
“What do they do?”
“Hopefully the right thing anyway.”
That afternoon Luke called.
“Someone’s in the old machine barn.”
Caleb drove out with Deputy Collins.
They found Grant Garrison’s property survey team measuring the west field.
“Get off the land,” Caleb said.
The surveyor showed paperwork.
“Authorized by Eleanor Hawthorne.”
“She cannot authorize access for a sale I haven’t approved.”
The men packed up.
Grant called within ten minutes.
“You’re making this personal.”
Caleb laughed.
“You met my mother in my house after she threw my daughter into a storm.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“You discussed removing me as trustee.”
“We discussed legal contingencies.”
“You said the girl being gone makes things easier.”
Grant became silent.
Caleb continued.
“Stay off my land.”
“For now.”
“No.”
“Caleb, you’re sitting on an asset worth eight million while carrying nearly a million in disputed debt.”
“My problem.”
“Your employees’ problem. Your daughter’s problem.”
“You don’t get to use Maya.”
Grant’s voice cooled.
“Your mother already did.”
The line disconnected.
Caleb stood in the west field under a gray sky.
For the first time, he understood Grant Garrison clearly.
Not a mastermind.
Not a monster.
An opportunist.
May you like
He had found Eleanor desperate enough to betray her own family.
And he intended to collect.
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