"No body."
"There was blood."
"Plenty of mine."
Jonah tried to stand straighter.
"Rourke took me before the house burned."
Silas's eyes moved to Rourke.
"Clara?"
Jonah's expression broke.
Silas knew before he answered.
"She was home."
Silas closed his eyes.
Five years of grief rearranged itself into something colder.
Halbrook watched.
"Mr. Price became useful. He knew lawmen, routes, records."
Jonah looked at Silas.
"I tried to get word out."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because every messenger Halbrook didn't own was watched."
Mara looked at Halbrook.
"You kept him prisoner for five years?"
"Not continuously."
Halbrook smiled.
"Mr. Price has been surprisingly cooperative when properly motivated."
Jonah's jaw tightened.
Silas finally understood.
"You're the one who built Halbrook's records."
Jonah looked down.
"Some."
"Asset seizures?"
"Yes."
"Land deeds?"
"Yes."
Silas stared.
"You worked for him."
"I stayed alive."
Silas's voice hardened.
"Clara didn't."
Jonah looked as though Silas had struck him.
"No."
Halbrook seemed pleased by the division.
"Tragedy is useful. It keeps righteous men focused on the wrong enemy."
Silas looked at him.
"You ordered the fire."
Halbrook smiled.
"Rourke exceeded instructions."
Rourke's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Silas noticed.
Halbrook had just blamed him.
That mattered.
The judge returned to the map.
"Now. Mr. Greyhawk will identify the correct route."
Elias laughed weakly.
"No."
Halbrook looked at Mara.
"Then perhaps his daughter will."
Elias shouted, "She doesn't know!"
Halbrook turned.
"I think she does."
Mara's face gave nothing away.
Halbrook nodded toward Rourke.
Rourke approached her.
Silas moved.
A rifle pressed against his back.
Halbrook spoke calmly.
"Choose carefully, Mr. Mercer."
Mara looked at her father.
Then at the map.
"Fine."
Elias stared at her.
"Mara."
She walked toward the table.
Halbrook's eyes brightened.
"Which trail?"
Mara studied both.
Then pointed to the northern route.
"This one."
Elias closed his eyes.
Halbrook smiled.
"At last."
But Silas saw something else.
Elias's fingers had moved against the rope.
Three taps.
Pause.
Two taps.
Mara's eyes flicked toward him.
Silas understood nothing.
Mara did.
She had lied.
Chapter Four — The Wrong Trail
Halbrook left Copper Bell before dawn.
He took Rourke, three gunmen, Mara, and Elias.
Jonah and Silas remained behind under guard.
Two men watched them.
Silas sat against the wall, wrists tied.
Jonah sat opposite.
Neither spoke for nearly ten minutes.
Then Silas said, "You could've found a way."
Jonah looked at him.
"Maybe."
"Five years."
"I know."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I was supposed to be."
Silas laughed bitterly.
"That's your defense?"
"No."
Jonah leaned against the wall.
"My defense is that the first year I tried to escape four times. The second time, they shot me. The third, they killed the man who helped me. The fourth, Halbrook sent Rourke to Clara's grave and told me he'd dig her up if I ran again."
Silas stared.
Jonah continued.
"So I stopped running."
Silence.
"I collected records instead."
Silas looked at him.
"What?"
"Everything."
Jonah glanced toward the floor.
"Halbrook thinks I became obedient. I became patient."
Silas's anger shifted.
"Where?"
"Mine tunnel."
"Copies?"
"Originals."
Silas leaned forward.
"Ledger?"
Jonah nodded.
"Land theft. Bribes. Murders. Rourke's payments. Halbrook's judges. Deputies. Mining companies."
"Enough to destroy him?"
"Enough to hang half the county."
Silas looked toward the guards.
"Can we reach it?"
Jonah smiled faintly.
"First we need to get out of these ropes."
Silas lifted his hands.
"Any ideas?"
Jonah looked toward the broken stove.
"Clara once told me you were too stubborn to die."
Silas's face tightened.
"Don't."
"She was right."
"Jonah."
"She loved you, you know."
Silas looked away.
"Don't use her to make me forgive you."
"I'm not."
Jonah leaned forward.
"I'm telling you because if we die in this building, I don't want the last thing between us to be Halbrook."
Silas said nothing.
One of the guards walked over.
"Quiet."
Jonah smiled.
"Sorry."
The man kicked him.
Silas moved instinctively.
The second guard laughed.
"Sit down, hero."
Silas watched him.
Then looked at Jonah.
The old partner understood.
Some habits survived five years.
Jonah said loudly, "You know, Silas, this reminds me of Santa Fe."
Silas frowned theatrically.
"Which time?"
"The drunk with the broken chair."
The nearer guard looked irritated.
"Shut up."
Jonah continued.
"The one who thought he could beat both of us."
Silas smiled.
"Ah."
The guard stepped closer.
"Last warning."
Jonah looked at Silas.
"On three?"
The guard said, "What?"
Jonah kicked his knee.
Silas threw his bound arms over the second man's neck.
Chaos followed.
The first guard fell.
Jonah rolled onto him and seized the knife at his belt.
Silas took a punch to the jaw.
The second guard reached for his gun.
Jonah cut his ropes, grabbed the dropped revolver, and aimed.
"Don't."
The guard froze.
Silas wiped blood from his mouth.
"Still slow."
Jonah cut him free.
"Still ugly."
Silas almost smiled.
They recovered weapons.
Jonah led Silas through the mine.
The tunnel descended fifty yards before reaching an abandoned storage chamber.
Behind a loose wallboard sat three oilcloth packages.
Documents.
Ledgers.
Letters.
Silas opened one.
Halbrook's signature appeared repeatedly.
Payments to sheriffs.
Land transfers.
Names beside dates.
Some names had crosses beside them.
Dead men.
Silas looked at Jonah.
"How many people know these exist?"
"Now?"
Jonah checked the revolver.
"Three."
"Mara's father?"
"He's the reason I could hide them."
Silas understood.
"They've been working together."
"For two years."
"Elias let Halbrook think the map was the important evidence."
"Exactly."
Silas laughed quietly.
"The water isn't the secret."
"Not the dangerous one."
Jonah found a small tin box.
Inside was a telegraph key code sheet.
"I have one more surprise."
Silas raised an eyebrow.
"Please tell me it doesn't involve another dead friend."
Jonah almost smiled.
"No."
He removed a folded message.
"I've been sending pieces of the ledger to the territorial marshal's office."
Silas stared.
"For how long?"
"Six months."
"Then why isn't Halbrook arrested?"
"The marshal needed the original ledger and witnesses."
Silas looked at the documents.
"And now?"
"Now he needs us alive."