Another stood guard beside the tunnel.
Elias counted four men in total.
Crowe was not among them.
That meant the leader had returned to town, or he was waiting somewhere nearby.
Elias crouched behind a rock and studied the entrance.
He needed a weapon.
He found one twenty yards from the shelter: a fallen branch, heavy enough to serve as a club. He picked it up and moved along the cliff, keeping out of sight.
The rain helped.
Water drummed against the rocks, masking the sound of his footsteps.
When he reached the rear of the shelter, the smoking guard had turned toward the mine entrance.
Elias struck him once behind the ear.
The man collapsed.
The second guard heard the movement and turned.
Elias threw the branch.
It struck the man's chest, knocking him backward against the post.
Before he could recover, Elias crossed the distance and drove his shoulder into the man's stomach.
They fell into the mud.
The guard was younger and stronger, but Elias had learned that strength was less useful than determination when a man had no intention of losing.
He struck the guard twice, took his knife, and dragged him behind the shelter.
The other two men emerged from the mine.
Elias ducked behind a stack of broken timbers.
"What's happening?"
"Tom?"
No answer.
One man approached the shelter.
Elias waited until he passed the corner, then seized him from behind and pressed the knife against his throat.
"Drop your gun."
The man froze.
"Now."
The revolver fell into the mud.
Elias took it and shoved the man toward the other guard.
"Tell your friend to put his hands up."
The remaining guard hesitated.
Elias raised the revolver.
"Don't make me ask twice."
The man surrendered.
Elias bound both men with a length of rope and searched them for ammunition. Then he entered the mine.
The air inside was cold and damp.
Water dripped from the ceiling. The old rails were twisted and rusted. A lantern burned on a wooden crate near the entrance, casting long shadows across the tunnel.
Farther inside, he heard voices.
One belonged to Anna.
The other was Whitaker's.
"You're wasting your time," the surveyor was saying. "The original boundary markers are recorded in the territorial archive. You can destroy every map I have, but you cannot erase the land records."
A man laughed.
"Records can be lost."
"Not all of them."
"Then perhaps you should tell us where the original deed is."
"It is in Redstone."
"Where in Redstone?"
"In a bank vault."
The man struck him.
Elias heard the impact.
Anna shouted.
"Leave him alone!"
"Then tell us what we want to know."
"I don't know anything."
Another blow.
Elias tightened his grip on the revolver.
He had been afraid of many things in his life.
He had been afraid of dying, of being alone, of waking up one morning and realizing that the years had passed without leaving anything worth remembering.
But the thing he feared most was becoming the kind of man who could hear another person suffering and decide it was not his problem.
He moved toward the voices.
The tunnel widened into an old mining chamber. A wooden table stood in the center, surrounded by crates and broken equipment. Two lanterns hung from iron hooks.
Whitaker sat tied to a chair, blood running from his mouth.
Anna stood against the wall, her hands bound.
A man with a scar across his forehead held a pistol.
Another stood beside a pile of documents.
Neither had noticed Elias.
He stepped into the light.
"Let them go."
Both men turned.
The scarred man raised his pistol.
Elias fired first.
The shot struck the man's arm, sending the weapon spinning across the floor.
The second man reached for his gun.
Elias crossed the room and struck him with the revolver butt.
The man fell against the table.
Papers scattered.
Anna stared at Elias.
For a moment, she seemed unable to speak.
Then she said, "You came back."
Elias cut the ropes around her wrists.
"Of course."
She looked at him as though the answer had surprised her.
He freed Whitaker next.
The surveyor groaned as he stood.
"My maps?"
"Somewhere in the room."
"My notes?"
Elias pointed toward the scattered papers.
"Start looking."
Anna helped Whitaker gather the documents while Elias searched the fallen men. He found two revolvers, a box of ammunition, and a folded letter inside the scarred man's coat.
The letter bore Silas Crowe's signature.
Elias opened it.
The message was brief.
The deed must be destroyed before the marshal arrives. If Whitaker refuses to cooperate, make an example of him. Ward is to be killed if he appears. The town must understand that resistance has consequences.
Elias read the letter twice.
Then he folded it and put it inside his coat.
Anna approached.
"What does it say?"
"Enough."
"Are we going back to town?"
"Yes."
"And then?"
Elias looked at the entrance.
"Then we make certain Crowe doesn't get another chance."
For the first time, Anna seemed to understand that the quiet stranger who had ridden into Mercy Crossing was not simply a man trying to escape his past.
He was a man who had finally decided to face it.
But before they could leave the mine, a gunshot echoed from outside.