"You've become demanding."
"You killed people for this land."
"I did not kill anyone."
Silas stared.
"You signed the order."
"Paper does not pull triggers."
"But men act because of paper."
Vane's smile disappeared.
"You still think morality matters."
"It does."
"To whom?"
Silas looked toward Nantan.
"To the people who survived you."
Vane's expression hardened.
"You think survival makes them righteous?"
"No."
Silas raised his rifle again.
"It makes them witnesses."
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Vane nodded.
"Kill him."
The canyon exploded.
Nantan fired first.
One of Vane's riders fell from his saddle.
Ayana fired immediately after.
Silas dove behind a boulder.
Bullets tore into the rocks.
The canyon became smoke.
Horses screamed.
Men shouted.
Silas crawled toward the western wall.
Ayana followed.
"Where?"
"Thirty yards."
"Then what?"
"Pray."
"I don't pray."
"Neither do I."
"Good."
They ran.
A bullet struck the ground beside Ayana.
She stumbled.
Silas caught her.
"Are you hit?"
"No."
They reached the wall.
Silas found the opening.
It was barely wide enough.
"Go."
Ayana crawled inside.
Silas followed.
The passage was dark.
Cold.
For several seconds, they could hear only their breathing.
Then Ayana whispered:
"How do you know this?"
"I've ridden past it a hundred times."
"You never told anyone?"
"No."
"Why?"
Silas looked back toward the gunfire.
"Because some places deserve to remain forgotten."
They crawled deeper.
The passage narrowed.
Ayana's hand touched Silas's shoulder.
"Stop."
He froze.
"What?"
She pointed ahead.
A faint light.
Silas moved forward.
The passage opened.
They emerged behind the western ridge.
Below them, Vane's men were exposed.
Nantan was still fighting.
Silas raised his rifle.
He fired.
One gunman fell.
Ayana fired.
Another.
Nantan looked up.
Their eyes met.
He understood.
The battle shifted.
Vane realized too late.
"Fall back!"
His men hesitated.
Silas fired again.
The judge's horse reared.
Vane barely held on.
He looked toward Silas.
The calm mask was gone.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Silas had never seen anything more satisfying.
Then a shot came from behind.
Coyle.
The marshal emerged from the canyon entrance with blood on his sleeve.
He was carrying a rifle.
"Carter!"
Silas stared.
"You made it."
Coyle laughed.
"Barely."
Ayana looked at him.
"How did you get here?"
"Following the men who attacked the cabin."
Coyle crouched.
"Judge Vane's people intercepted me."
"What happened?"
"I convinced them I was dead."
Silas looked at the blood.
"That's real."
"Unfortunately."
Nantan joined them.
"We have him surrounded."
Coyle shook his head.
"No."
Silas frowned.
"What?"
Coyle pointed.
Vane was gone.
Only his horse remained.
Silas scanned the canyon.
"Where?"
Coyle pointed toward the northern wall.
"There."
A shadow moved.
Silas raised his rifle.
Vane was climbing.
He had abandoned his horse.
He was moving toward a narrow crack in the cliff.
Silas recognized it.
"The cave."
Nantan's expression changed.
"No."
They ran.
The entrance was hidden behind a curtain of dry vines.
Vane disappeared inside.
Silas reached it first.
He stopped.
The air coming from the opening was cold.
Very cold.
Coyle came beside him.
"That's it?"
Nantan nodded.
"The place my people hid during the massacre."
Silas stared into the darkness.
"Then he knows."
Coyle frowned.
"Knows what?"
Nantan answered.
"The cave contains the records."
Silas looked at him.
"What records?"
Nantan stepped inside.
"My wife kept them."
Coyle followed.
"What kind?"
"Names."
Silas understood.
"Every man involved."
Nantan nodded.
"Every order."
They entered.
The cave swallowed the daylight.
The walls were smooth.
Water dripped somewhere in the darkness.
Silas lit a match.
The flame revealed ancient markings.
Handprints.
Symbols.
Names.
Ayana touched one.
"My mother."
Silas looked.
The name had been carved into the wall.
Naya.
He felt something break inside him.
Ayana stood beside it.
"She came here before the attack."
Silas nodded.
"To hide the records."
"Yes."
They continued.
The passage descended.
The air became colder.
Soon they reached a chamber.
A wooden box sat against the wall.
It was old.
But intact.
Silas stepped toward it.
Nantan stopped him.
"Wait."
They listened.
Nothing.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"You finally found it."
Vane.
Silas raised his rifle.
"Come out."
The judge laughed.
"I don't think so."
Coyle moved left.
Ayana moved right.
Nantan stood in the center.
Vane spoke again.
"You have no idea what you're holding."
Silas looked at the box.
"Then tell us."
"You think this is about Apache land."
Silas said nothing.
"It's bigger."
Vane's voice echoed through the chamber.
"The government needed water."
"People needed water."
"Cities needed water."
"Ranchers needed water."
"Railroads needed water."
"Empires are built on water."
Silas's jaw tightened.
"So you murdered people."
"I made a decision."
"You made a graveyard."
Vane laughed.
"History is written by the people who control resources."
Nantan's voice echoed.
"Then history will remember you."
Vane's voice became cold.
"No."
A gunshot erupted.
Coyle fell.
"Coyle!"
Silas grabbed him.
Blood spread across his coat.
"I'm all right."
"You've been shot."
"Yes."
"That's generally how bullets work."
Coyle laughed weakly.
Ayana fired into the darkness.
Vane moved.
Silas heard footsteps.
"He's heading deeper."
Nantan nodded.
"There is another chamber."