Before I could respond, a completely different sound cut through the roar of the fire. It was not gunfire. It was not one of Silus Crow's riders shifting position. A lone horse was racing toward us from behind the property. A moment later, a powerful voice broke through the smoke.
Wade, hold your fire. It's me. My heart struck hard against my ribs. I knew that voice. I had not heard it in 2 years, and I had never imagined hearing it again in the middle of an inferno like this.
Wade, don't shoot. It's me. The words reached me through the smoke before I could make out the rider's face. I lowered the Winchester slightly. A horseman came around the stable at a dead run.
He leaped from the saddle before the animal had fully stopped, then rushed through the damaged rear entrance, avoiding the flames as though he still remembered every inch of the property. When the smoke thinned, I recognized him. Jeb Mercer. He gave me the weary grin of a man who had lived through more battles than any soul should have to remember. I expected to find an old rancher mending fences.
He glanced around the burning cabin. Didn't expect to find him fighting half the territory. We clasped forearms for only a moment. Nothing more was needed. Years earlier, we had shared enough bullets, blood, and bad country to understand one another without wasting words.
Then Jeb noticed Nia. She kept her rifle trained towards the front door. She did not lower it. Jeb did not appear offended. Is she the Apache woman?
I nodded. Her name is Nia. Jeb studied the crude bandages around her wrists, then looked at the smoke pouring down through the roof. Then everything I heard in town was true. What did you hear?
His expression turned grim. That the Red Canyon Railroad hired a professional killer to erase every trace of a witness. Nia slowly turned her head. You mean Silus Crow? Exactly.
The silence lasted only a few seconds. Jeb dropped a canvas pack onto the table and opened the flap. Inside were several boxes of cartridges, lengths of fuse, and four sticks of dynamite wrapped with careful precision. I could not keep myself from smiling. You still solve trouble the same way.
It still works. Nia stared at the explosives. Where did you get those? Mining camp. Jeb closed the pack again.
Let's just say a few men out there still owe me favors. A gunshot struck the cabin's outer wall. All three of us ducked by instinct. Jeb moved toward a narrow opening beside the window. They won't charge together yet.