Chapter 6 - What Trent Wanted
Trent learned about Mercer Basin Holdings from his father.
Malcolm Huxley had spent his final years trying to locate Rebecca.
He knew she controlled the company.
What he didn't know was her new identity.
Then Trent married Cassidy.
Was that coincidence?
Cassidy met Trent at a rodeo fundraiser eight years earlier.
He was charming.
Patient.
Funny.
For the first three years, she described him as wonderful.
I had never liked him.
But dislike isn't evidence.
Then Malcolm saw a family photograph.
Elaine.
He recognized Rebecca.
Suddenly Trent's marriage connected him directly to the woman Malcolm had searched for.
Did Trent marry Cassidy because of Elaine?
The timeline said no.
He met Cassidy before Malcolm recognized her mother.
That mattered.
But once Malcolm knew, Trent's behavior changed.
Cassidy remembered arguments between father and son.
Malcolm began visiting frequently.
He asked Elaine strange questions.
After Malcolm died, Trent inherited boxes of records.
Three years ago, he discovered Mercer Basin Holdings.
That matched Daniel's timeline.
Trent began moving money through shell companies, hoping to establish financial claims around the dormant mineral rights.
But he couldn't transfer ownership.
Cassidy was Elaine's heir.
He needed her signature.
Cassidy said Trent had repeatedly brought documents for her to sign.
Refinancing.
Insurance.
Tax forms.
She signed some without reading closely.
A forensic attorney would determine what they were.
Then she remembered the night of the attack.
Trent came home holding a folder.
He demanded she sign a document transferring “family mineral interests.”
Cassidy refused.
She didn't understand what he meant.
Trent became furious.
Then Caleb arrived.
That surprised Trent too.
Caleb told him:
“Leave Rebecca's daughter alone.”
So Caleb had come to protect Cassidy.
Why did Lydia describe both men arguing with Cassidy?
Because children interpret tone, not allegiance.
Caleb was shouting at Trent.
Cassidy was shouting at both.
Then Trent lost control.
The exact physical sequence would be investigated based on Cassidy's testimony and medical evidence.
We didn't need embellishment.
Cassidy had been injured.
Her baby had nearly died.
Trent was responsible for his actions.
Caleb left because Trent threatened to call Brock.
Why fear Brock if Caleb's own brother knew he survived?
Because Brock didn't know Caleb was in Montana.
Caleb believed his brother had become part of the old cover-up.
Then why return in Brock's SUV?
Caleb stole it intentionally.
He wanted Brock forced into the investigation.
That was reckless and manipulative.
But clever.
Daniel entered the picture because Trent called him after Caleb left.
Trent believed Daniel still wanted Rebecca's records.
He offered a deal.
Help recover the key from Cassidy, and Trent would give him the North Range ledgers.
Daniel pretended to agree.
He intended to get the records and turn them over to investigators.
But instead of contacting police beforehand, he climbed into the SUV with Trent.
Another man convinced secrecy was justified because his intentions were good.
I was getting tired of those men.
Then Cassidy asked:
“Where is Trent?”
In custody pending investigation and charging decisions.
“Where's Caleb?”
Missing again.
Daniel had one possible location.
An abandoned North Range field office near Red Lodge.
State investigators went.
Nobody.
But they found fresh footprints.
Food.
Medication.
And a wall covered in photographs.
Elaine.
Daniel.
Brock.
Malcolm.
Trent.
Cassidy.
Lydia.
Me.
Then one photograph stopped me.
Elaine standing beside Caleb.
Dated 2014.
One year before she died.
They had remained in contact.
On the back Elaine had written:
If anything happens to me, Caleb knows where the original child is.
I read it twice.
Cassidy whispered:
“What child?”
Nobody knew.
Then Daniel said:
“I think I do.”
He looked at Lydia's stuffed elephant.
“Rebecca wasn't pregnant when she disappeared.”
I frowned.
“So?”
May you like
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“But she had a daughter before Cassidy.”
