Understood that Coleman was exactly what he'd thought. A man who wore a badge like a mask and used the law to rob people blind. "Three days," Rhett said. He rode back to Domingo Springs and sold everything he could.
His spare saddle. His good rifle. A pair of silver spurs Caleb had won in a card game. By sunset on the second day, he had $60.
Not enough. He sat in his cabin that night staring at the pile of coins and bills, doing math that didn't work no matter how many times he ran it. He could rob someone. He'd done it before.
But that would take time he didn't have and would probably get him shot or jailed, which wouldn't help Ayah at all. He looked around the cabin at the table he'd built, the shelves, the stove he'd hauled in piece by piece. Two years of his life, everything he owned, and it still wasn't enough. Then his eyes landed on the deed to the property.
One hundred acres, water rights, a cabin worth at least $200 to the right buyer. Probably more. He'd bought it for $300 four years ago, back when he still had money from the robberies, before he tried to disappear. It was the only thing he had left that was worth enough.
The next morning, Rhett rode into town and found a land speculator named Mercer, who'd been trying to buy canyon properties for development. The negotiation took an hour. Mercer drove a hard bargain. Knew Rhett was desperate.
Used it against him. In the end, Rhett walked away with $120 and a bill of sale that gave up every legal claim to the land he'd spent two years trying to fix. He felt numb. Not sad.
Not angry. Just empty. By afternoon, he was back at Fort Karns, dropping the $100 on Coleman's desk. "Well, now," Coleman said, counting it slowly.
"Look at that. All here." "Release her." "Paperwork takes time."
Rhett pulled his revolver and pointed it at Coleman's face. Coleman went very still. "You're making a mistake." "Probably. But I'm done waiting."
For a long moment, neither man moved. Then Coleman carefully reached into his desk and pulled out a key. "She's in the holding building, west side." He tossed the key.
"Take her and go. But Callaway, you just made an enemy. That's going to cost you." "Already has."
Rhett found Ayah in a windowless room with six other women, all Apache, all silent. She looked up when the door opened, and relief flooded her face. "You came?" she said. "Of course I came."
He unlocked her chains and let her out. None of the soldiers stopped them, but Rhett felt eyes on them the whole way. Felt the weight of what he'd just done pressing down like a stone. They rode double on Ash, Ayah's arms around his waist, not speaking until the fort was miles behind them.
"What did you do?" she finally asked. "What I had to." "Rhett, what did you do?" He told her about selling everything.
"About the deed? About the land that's no longer yours?" Ayah's arms tightened around him. "You gave up your home." "It wasn't a home. Just a place I was hiding."