Others recognized the woman.
A deputy stepped from the sheriff's office.
“Marshal Voss.”
“Deputy.”
“You weren't expected.”
“I rarely am.”
The deputy looked at Ethan.
“Mr. Cole.”
Ethan nodded.
The deputy's eyes lingered on him.
Then he walked away.
Mara whispered, “He's afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of being seen with us.”
They entered the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Crane sat behind his desk.
He was a broad man with gray hair and a silver star.
“Marshal Voss,” he said.
“Sheriff.”
“You should have sent word.”
“You should have answered my letters.”
Crane's face tightened.
“What letters?”
“Four.”
“I never received them.”
Mara smiled coldly.
“You're a poor liar, Sheriff.”
Crane looked at Ethan.
“Why is he here?”
“He owns the ranch where the murders connect.”
Crane stood.
“You should leave him out of this.”
“Why?”
“Because men get killed around Blackstone.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Men like my father?”
Crane stared at him.
Silence.
Mara saw the answer in his face.
She reached for her revolver.
Crane immediately reached for his.
Ethan moved between them.
“Not here.”
Mara lowered her hand.
Crane sat again.
“Your father was stubborn.”
“So are you.”
Crane sighed.
“He found something.”
“What?”
“A list of landowners Blackstone planned to force out.”
“How?”
“Debt. Forged deeds. Water claims. Violence when necessary.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“Who gave them authority?”
Crane looked toward the window.
“The judge.”
Mara exchanged a glance with Ethan.
“Judge Holloway?”
Crane nodded.
“Blackstone owns the judge.”
“And you?”
The sheriff looked at Mara.
“I have a wife.”
“You have a badge.”
“My wife has two children.”
Ethan said nothing.
Crane lowered his voice.
“Blackstone doesn't threaten people with guns first. They threaten the people you love.”
Mara leaned closer.
“Then help us.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
Crane shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
Mara looked directly at him.
“I understand perfectly.”
They left.
Outside, Ethan said, “He knows more.”
“Yes.”
“You believe him?”
“I believe fear.”
They rode beyond town.
Near the old mill, Mara stopped.
“Someone is following us.”
Ethan looked behind.
Three riders.
Mara drew her rifle.
“Blackstone.”
They spurred their horses into the trees.
Bullets struck the bark around them.
Ethan fired back.
One rider fell.
Another turned.
Mara shot him from the saddle.
The third escaped.
Ethan dismounted.
The dead man carried a Blackstone brand burned into his belt buckle.
Mara searched his coat.
She found a letter.
The paper bore Judge Holloway's seal.
Ethan read it.
Tonight. Cole ranch. Finish it.
He looked at Mara.
“So they know.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Until sunset.”
Ethan mounted.
“We have six hours.”
Mara looked toward the western sky.
“Then we should find the map.”
The Cabin Beyond the Ridge
The map had been hidden in an abandoned mining cabin forty miles north.
Mara remembered the location.
Ethan did not ask how.
They rode until sunset.
The cabin stood beneath a cliff.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Mara moved to the fireplace.
She touched one stone.
Nothing.
Another.
The stone shifted.
Behind it was a metal box.
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a map.
And a stack of documents.
Land deeds.
Water records.
Bank transfers.
Names.
Blackstone.
Judge Holloway.
Sheriff Crane.
Three businessmen.
Two federal officials.
And Samuel Cole.
Ethan stared.