Silas looked toward the riders.
“Everything.”
A voice called from the darkness.
“Silas Boone!”
Silas stepped onto the porch.
Harlan Crowe rode into the moonlight.
He was dressed like a gentleman.
Clean coat.
Silver watch.
Expensive boots.
He smiled.
“I was hoping we'd meet.”
Silas raised his rifle.
“You killed my brother.”
Crowe's smile faded.
“Careful.”
“You killed him.”
“You should be asking yourself why he was stupid enough to get involved.”
Silas's finger tightened around the trigger.
Mara touched his arm.
“Not yet.”
Crowe laughed.
“So she told you.”
Silas stared at him.
“What?”
“The truth.”
Crowe dismounted.
“You have no idea what you're holding.”
Silas lifted the papers.
“I know enough.”
Crowe's eyes narrowed.
“You think those papers will save you?”
“No.”
Silas looked at the men behind him.
“They might.”
Crowe laughed.
“You're one man.”
Silas shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the ridge.
“You're looking at one man.”
Crowe followed his gaze.
Torches appeared along the ridge.
One.
Then five.
Then twenty.
Crowe's men became uneasy.
A group of riders emerged from the darkness.
At their front was Sheriff Amos Reed.
Behind him were ranchers, miners, farmers, and townspeople.
Silas recognized nearly all of them.
Mara stared.
“Who are they?”
“People who are tired.”
Crowe's face changed.
Sheriff Reed rode forward.
“Harlan Crowe.”
Crowe smiled weakly.
“Sheriff.”
“Step away from your men.”
Crowe laughed.
“You've been paid.”
The sheriff's expression hardened.
“Not anymore.”
Silas looked at him.
Reed continued.
“I've seen the documents.”
“You don't know what you're doing.”
“I know exactly what I'm doing.”
The sheriff turned toward the people behind him.
“These men were cheated.”
He pointed toward the papers.
“Those names prove it.”
Crowe looked around.
“You think a piece of paper changes anything?”
Mara stepped forward.
“No.”
Crowe stared at her.
“You.”
Mara's voice remained calm.
“A piece of paper doesn't change anything.”
She lifted her chin.
“But the truth does.”
Crowe drew his pistol.
Everything happened at once.
His men reached for their weapons.
The townspeople raised rifles.
Silas shouted,
“Don't!”
The sheriff fired first.
Not at Crowe.
At the ground.
The shot stopped everyone.
“Put them down!”
One by one, Crowe's men lowered their weapons.
Crowe stared at the sheriff.
“You're finished.”
“No,” Reed replied.
“You are.”
Crowe looked toward Silas.
“You think this ends here?”
Silas walked toward him.
“No.”
Crowe smiled.
“Then what?”
Silas stopped several feet away.
“You answer for my brother.”
Crowe's smile disappeared.