"I didn't."
She waited.
Silas continued.
"My partner found records proving the sheriff was protecting Rourke. Two days later, my partner was dead."
Mara's eyes narrowed.
"Rourke?"
"I never proved it."
"But you believe it."
"Yes."
"What was your partner's name?"
Silas looked at her.
"Jonah Price."
Mara waited.
"Family?"
"A wife."
The word came harder than expected.
Mara understood.
"Your wife?"
Silas shook his head.
"His sister."
He swallowed.
"Clara."
Mara watched him.
"She died too."
Silas nodded.
"Rourke's men burned their house after I started asking questions."
The silence grew heavy.
"I arrived too late."
Mara looked away.
"I'm sorry."
"I've heard that."
"Doesn't make it less true."
Silas picked up a stone.
"What happened to your father after the kidnapping?"
"I heard Rourke say they were taking him to Copper Bell."
Silas looked up.
"The abandoned mining station?"
"You know it?"
"Everybody knows it. Place went dead ten years ago."
Mara stood.
"Then that's where we're going."
Silas laughed once.
"No."
Her expression changed.
"No?"
"You were tied to a tree less than four hours ago."
"My father is a prisoner."
"And Rourke has at least three men left."
"Then you can stay."
She walked toward her horse.
Silas watched her.
"Mara."
She kept walking.
"There's a difference between courage and getting yourself killed."
She turned.
"And there's a difference between protecting someone and deciding for them."
That stopped him.
Mara mounted.
"My father taught me that."
Silas thought about the rope marks.
Then about the woman who had shot an armed man while still tied to a tree.
He sighed.
"Wait."
Mara looked down.
Silas pulled himself onto the buckskin.
"If we're going to do something foolish, we should at least do it before Rourke gets there."
For the first time, Mara smiled openly.
"Now you're learning."
Chapter Three — Copper Bell
They reached the abandoned mining station after midnight.
Copper Bell consisted of three collapsing buildings, a ruined stamping mill, and a mine entrance black enough to swallow the lantern light.
Silas and Mara approached from the western ridge.
A small fire burned near the foreman's house.
Two horses stood tethered behind the building.
Mara pointed.
"My father's mare."
Silas studied the area.
"Two horses doesn't mean two men."
"I know."
"Back entrance?"
"There used to be a drainage tunnel."
"Used to?"
"The mine collapsed before I was born."
"Comforting."
Mara ignored him.
They circled behind the ore bins.
A faint sound came from inside the building.
Metal.
Chain against wood.
Mara froze.
Then a man's voice whispered.
"Mara?"
Her face changed completely.
"Father."
Silas caught her arm before she rushed forward.
"Wait."
A second voice came from inside.
Calm.
Educated.
Older.
"I wondered how long it would take."
Silas drew his revolver.
The door opened.
A lantern appeared.
Judge Nathaniel Halbrook stepped outside.
He wore a dark frock coat despite the heat. Silver hair framed a narrow face. A gold watch chain crossed his vest.
He looked more suited to a courthouse than an abandoned mine.
That was probably intentional.
Behind him stood Clay Rourke.
His right hand was wrapped in bandages.
A revolver rested in his left.
Two additional gunmen emerged from the shadows.
Silas understood immediately.
"They wanted us here."
Mara whispered, "Father warned me about Copper Bell."
"And you came anyway."
"So did you."
"Fair."
Halbrook smiled.
"Mr. Mercer."
Silas raised his revolver.
"Judge."
"I've followed your career."
"Then you've been bored."
"On the contrary. Men who refuse to disappear when they're supposed to are fascinating."
Mara stepped forward.
"Where is my father?"
Halbrook looked at her.
"Alive."
"Show me."
"Eventually."
Rourke grinned.
Silas looked at him.
"Still using your left hand?"
Rourke's smile vanished.
Halbrook lifted one finger.
"Enough."
The men behind them moved.
Silas heard the rifle cock before he saw it.
Another gunman had climbed the ridge.
They were surrounded.
Halbrook gestured toward Silas's revolver.
"Place it on the ground."
Silas didn't move.
Rourke aimed at Mara.
Silas slowly lowered the Colt.
"Kick it away."
He did.
Mara still held the revolver taken from the canyon.
Halbrook looked at her.
"Miss Greyhawk."
Her jaw tightened.
The revolver dropped.
Rourke smiled.
"Much better."
They were marched inside.
Elias Greyhawk sat tied to a support post near the back wall.
He was in his late fifties, lean, gray-haired, and exhausted.
But alive.
"Mara."
She crossed the room before anyone stopped her.
Rourke grabbed her shoulder.
Elias surged against the rope.
"Don't touch her!"
Mara turned on Rourke.
"Take your hand off me."
He laughed.
Then Silas spoke.
"Do it."
Rourke looked at him.
Something in Silas's face made him remove the hand.
Halbrook watched the exchange with interest.
"Emotion makes men so predictable."
Mara knelt beside Elias.
"Are you hurt?"
"Nothing permanent."
His eyes moved toward Silas.
"Who is he?"
"Someone who helped me."
Elias studied him.
"That usually costs something."
Silas said, "Your daughter said the same thing."
"She's usually right."
Halbrook walked toward a table.
A folded map rested beneath a lantern.
"Enough family conversation."
He opened it.
Silas saw two routes marked through Blackstone Ridge.
Halbrook tapped them.
"Your father has given me a puzzle."
Elias said nothing.
"Two trails. One reaches the water chamber. One reaches what he calls the Devil's Shelf."
Silas looked at Elias.
"What's the Devil's Shelf?"
"A canyon with no exit."
Halbrook smiled.
"And unstable stone."
Mara understood.
"One route kills anyone who follows it."
"Precisely."
Halbrook looked at Elias.
"And your father refuses to identify which."
Elias met the judge's gaze.
"Perhaps both."
Halbrook's smile faded.
He motioned toward Rourke.
Rourke crossed the room and opened a trapdoor.
A man was dragged from below.
Silas went still.
The prisoner was thin, bruised, and dirty.
But alive.
Silas knew the face.
"Jonah?"
The man looked up.
Silas stopped breathing.
Jonah Price.
The partner Silas had believed dead for five years.
Jonah stared at him.
"Hello, Silas."
Everything inside Silas shifted.
Rourke laughed.
"Surprise."
Silas took one step forward.
Halbrook raised his pistol.
"Careful."
Silas looked at Jonah.
"I saw your grave."