Silas loaded his revolver.
"Mara first."
Jonah nodded.
"Mara first."
They rode toward Blackstone Ridge.
Chapter Five — The Devil's Shelf
Halbrook's party reached the ridge before noon.
Mara rode between Rourke and one of the gunmen.
Her father rode behind, hands tied to the saddle horn.
Elias looked exhausted.
But his eyes remained alert.
Mara watched the mountains.
The route she had chosen was false.
Not completely false.
That would have been obvious.
It followed a legitimate trail for several miles before entering a canyon where the walls narrowed into unstable shale.
Her father had taught her the warning.
Three taps.
Two taps.
North false.
South true.
He had taught her when she was eleven.
Never trust the map alone.
Trust the person who drew it.
Halbrook stopped near a split in the trail.
The map showed the northern path climbing toward a stone arch.
The southern path disappeared behind a ridge.
He looked at Mara.
"North?"
She nodded.
Rourke stared at her.
Something in his face made her uneasy.
"What?"
He said, "You look too calm."
Halbrook smiled.
"She knows what happens if she lies."
Mara looked at Rourke.
"Maybe I know what happens if I tell the truth."
Rourke's expression darkened.
Halbrook waved them forward.
The canyon narrowed.
Elias looked at Mara.
She gave him the smallest nod.
He understood.
Thirty minutes later, they reached Devil's Shelf.
The trail ended beneath a cliff.
Halbrook stopped.
His face changed.
"No."
Mara said nothing.
He unfolded the map.
The route clearly continued.
But the canyon didn't.
Rourke looked at Mara.
"You lied."
Halbrook walked toward the wall.
"There must be a passage."
Elias laughed.
The sound surprised everyone.
Halbrook turned.
"You find this amusing?"
Elias looked at him.
"I find greed predictable."
Halbrook struck him.
Mara lunged.
Rourke caught her.
"Easy."
She fought him.
He twisted her arm behind her back.
Halbrook stared at Elias.
"Where is the entrance?"
"Not here."
"Then where?"
Elias smiled through blood.
"Somewhere you will never own."
Halbrook drew his pistol.
Mara stopped struggling.
"Don't."
The judge aimed at Elias.
"Tell me."
Mara said, "I know."
Elias looked at her sharply.
Halbrook smiled.
"Of course you do."
"I can take you."
"Mara, no."
She looked at her father.
Trust me.
She hoped he could read it.
Rourke tightened his grip.
Halbrook gestured.
"Release her."
Rourke did.
Mara rubbed her wrist.
"The real trail is south."
Halbrook's face hardened.
"You expect me to trust you again?"
"No."
She looked toward the canyon entrance.
"But you don't have anyone else."
Halbrook considered that.
Then a rifle shot echoed from above.
One gunman dropped.
Rourke dove behind a boulder.
Silas's voice carried from the ridge.
"She's got someone else."
Mara looked up.
Silas stood among the rocks.
Jonah beside him.
Halbrook's face went pale.
"Price."
Jonah smiled.
"Miss me?"
Gunfire erupted.
Mara dropped behind a rock.
Elias kicked his horse hard.
The animal reared.
The rope binding his hands slipped over the saddle horn.
He fell, rolling into cover.
Rourke fired toward Silas.
Jonah returned fire.
A bullet struck near Halbrook's boot.
He ran toward the canyon wall.
Mara crawled toward her father.
"You okay?"
"I've been better."
She cut his hands free with a small blade hidden in her boot.
He stared.
"You had that the whole time?"
"Most of it."
"Why didn't you use it?"
"Waiting."
Elias smiled.
"My daughter."
Rourke appeared behind them.
"Enough."
He aimed at Mara.
Silas fired from the ridge.
Rourke moved.
The bullet struck his hat.
He swore.
Mara and Elias ran.
Jonah came down the slope.
Halbrook shouted, "Rourke! Get the map!"
Rourke looked at him.
Then something changed.
"Get it yourself."
Halbrook froze.
"What?"
Rourke backed toward a horse.
"You blamed me at Copper Bell."
Halbrook's face hardened.
"I employed you."
"You were preparing to bury me."
"Don't be ridiculous."
Rourke laughed.
"You told Mercer I exceeded instructions when Clara Price died."
Jonah went still.
Silas did too.
Rourke looked toward them.
"That wasn't my order."
Silas's revolver rose.
Rourke said quickly, "Halbrook wanted the house burned."
Halbrook shouted, "He's lying!"
Rourke pointed at the judge.
"He ordered everyone inside killed. Said Price knew too much."
Jonah's face broke.
"Clara."
Rourke looked at him.
"I didn't know she was inside until after."
Silas's voice was cold.
"You lit it."
Rourke swallowed.
"Yes."
The answer hung in the canyon.
Halbrook fired.
The bullet struck Rourke in the back.
He collapsed.
For one second, everyone froze.
Then Halbrook ran.
He mounted the nearest horse and fled toward the southern trail.
Mara looked at Silas.
"He's going to the real entrance."
Elias swore.
Silas stared after the judge.
"How does he know?"
Elias looked at Rourke.
"He listened."
Rourke lay bleeding.
His eyes opened.
"Judge doesn't trust anybody."
Silas knelt beside him.
"Where is he going?"
Rourke coughed.
"South ridge."
"We know that."
Rourke laughed weakly.
"Not water."
Mara frowned.
"What?"
"Halbrook never cared about water."
Elias stared.
Rourke looked at him.
"He wants what's inside the old mission vault."
Elias went pale.
Mara turned.
"Father?"
He closed his eyes.
"The water chamber isn't the end of the trail."
Silas felt the story shift again.
"What is?"
Elias looked at them.
"A treaty."
Chapter Six — The Paper That Could Change a Territory
They left Rourke alive.
Jonah wanted to finish him.
Silas didn't.
"Let the marshal decide."
Jonah stared at the man responsible for his sister's death.
"Mercy?"
"No."
Silas looked at Rourke.
"Evidence."
They tied his wound and left him with water.
Then they rode south.
Elias explained on the trail.
Twenty-eight years earlier, before the latest territorial boundaries were drawn, a federal Indian agent and several Apache leaders had negotiated an unofficial land agreement covering Blackstone Valley.
The treaty had never been ratified in Washington.
But the original signatures and survey descriptions existed.
"Why would Halbrook care?" Silas asked.
"Because the document proves the valley was recognized as protected land before his companies began purchasing it."
Jonah understood.
"Every deed he holds could be challenged."