Pike walked toward the door.
But he did not notice Deputy Wade Harland standing outside.
Wade had heard everything.
He had served Pike for five years.
He had taken money.
He had looked away.
He had believed there was no way out.
But watching Amos fall finally broke something inside him.
Pike stepped outside.
Wade followed.
"Boss."
Pike turned.
"What?"
"Your horse is ready."
Pike nodded.
Wade watched him ride away.
Then he returned to the office.
Amos was alive.
Barely.
Wade dragged him behind the desk.
"You've got to tell me where they went."
Amos whispered:
"Old Miller cabin."
Wade stared.
"Roark?"
Amos nodded.
"Bring my daughter home."
Wade looked at the blood on the floor.
"And Pike?"
Amos closed his eyes.
"Bring him to justice."
It was the first time in years Amos had used those words.
At the cabin, Caleb and Evelyn waited.
Pike's men surrounded the building.
Caleb counted seven.
Too many.
He whispered:
"When I move, stay low."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"I'm not staying here while you die."
Caleb almost smiled.
"You really are stubborn."
"I learned from my mother."
The gunfire began.
Caleb returned fire through the window.
Evelyn crawled toward the rear wall.
She noticed something.
A loose floorboard.
She pulled it aside.
Beneath it was an old tunnel.
"Caleb."
He turned.
She pointed.
They escaped through the tunnel.
It led to a dry creek bed.
They emerged behind the ridge.
But one of Pike's men saw them.
He shouted.
The chase began.
Caleb and Evelyn rode toward Santa Fe.
Behind them came Pike and his men.
Hours passed.
The landscape changed.
Mountains rose ahead.
The horses weakened.
Then, just before sunset, another group appeared on the road.
A United States marshal and three deputies.
At the front rode Nathaniel Cole.
Evelyn recognized him immediately.
"Marshal!"
Cole stopped.
"Who are you?"
"Evelyn Mercer."
His expression changed.
"Amos Mercer's daughter?"
"Yes."
"Where is your father?"
"Alive. I think."
Cole looked at Caleb.
"And you?"
"Caleb Roark."
Cole's hand moved toward his weapon.
"That name isn't unknown."
Caleb shrugged.
"I've been trying to change that."
Evelyn handed Cole the copies.
"These are the records."
Cole opened them.
His face hardened.
"Silas Pike."
"He controls Las Vegas."
Cole looked toward the horizon.
"Then we ride back."
Caleb frowned.
"Back?"
"We don't run from men like Pike."
Cole folded the papers.
"We expose them."
FIRE OVER LAS VEGAS
The riders returned to Las Vegas the next morning.
But Pike was ready.
He had taken control of the town completely.
His men stood at every intersection.
The courthouse doors were locked.
The jailhouse was occupied by Pike's gunmen.
And smoke rose from the eastern edge of town.
Pike had set fire to the records office.
He was destroying the evidence.
When Caleb saw the flames, his jaw tightened.
"He's burning the past."
Marshal Cole shook his head.
"No."
He looked at the burning building.
"He's afraid of the future."
They entered town at noon.
Pike's men opened fire.
The street erupted.
Horses screamed.
Windows shattered.
People ran for cover.
Caleb fired from horseback.
Cole's deputies returned fire.
Evelyn stayed behind a wagon with a rifle.
She saw Wade Harland standing near the jail.
He raised his weapon.
For one terrible moment, she thought he would shoot them.
Instead, he fired at Pike's men.
Wade had chosen.
The battle spread through the town.
Pike's men fell back toward the courthouse.
Caleb and Cole advanced.
Evelyn ran toward the sheriff's office.
She found her father alive.
Barely.
"Papa."
Amos opened his eyes.
"Evelyn."
She knelt beside him.
"I'm here."
"I'm sorry."
She began to cry.
"I know."
"No."
He struggled to speak.
"You shouldn't forgive me."
Evelyn held his hand.
"I don't."
Amos looked at her.
"But I'm here."
He nodded.
That was enough.
Then Wade entered.
"Pike is heading for the old mine."
Amos looked at him.
"The ledger."
Wade nodded.
"He found the original."
Evelyn stood.
"Where?"
"Under the mine office."
Caleb entered.
"Then we go."
Amos grabbed his sleeve.
"Roark."
Caleb turned.
"If you find him..."
Amos looked toward his daughter.
"Don't become what he is."
Caleb understood.