Voss's smile disappeared.
“He should have.”
The words changed everything.
Maribel lifted her rifle.
The other riders reached for theirs.
Elias moved between them.
“Don't.”
Maribel stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because if this becomes a gunfight, Mateo gets hurt.”
Voss smiled again.
“Still pretending to be a hero?”
Elias looked at him.
“No.”
He raised his hands.
“I'm done pretending.”
The gunfight began seconds later.
Dust exploded from the ground.
Maribel fired first.
Elias pulled Mateo behind the stone wall.
Bullets struck the roof.
One horse screamed.
Maribel shouted something.
Elias looked up.
She was trapped behind the well.
He ran.
A bullet struck the stone beside his head.
He reached her.
“You all right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Then go.”
She grabbed his arm.
“I'm not leaving you.”
For a moment they stared at each other.
Elias understood.
This was what terrified him.
Someone staying.
Someone choosing him.
He had spent eleven years running because leaving first meant he could never be abandoned.
Maribel had ruined that plan.
She pulled him toward the house.
They reached the door.
Then Elias saw Voss standing across the yard.
The old officer was holding Mateo.
Elias froze.
“Let him go.”
Voss pressed a pistol against the boy's head.
“Bring me the ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“Then we have no reason to keep him alive.”
Mateo looked at Elias.
He wasn't crying.
That broke Elias more than tears would have.
Elias slowly lowered his gun.
Maribel whispered his name.
He shook his head.
“Trust me.”
She didn't want to.
But she did.
Elias stepped forward.
“I know where the ledger is.”
Voss smiled.
“Of course you do.”
Elias pointed toward the desert.
“In Black Hollow.”
Voss frowned.
“You're lying.”
“Maybe.”
Voss raised his pistol.
Then a shot came from behind.
One of Voss's men fell.
Maribel's rifle cracked again.
Elias moved.
He tackled Voss.
Mateo ran.
The fight became chaos.
When it ended, Voss was gone.
But Mateo was safe.
For the moment.
They returned to the house.
Maribel looked at Elias.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“About the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elias looked at Mateo.
“Because I finally had something worth protecting.”
Maribel's eyes filled with tears.
“You could have died.”
“I know.”
“You could have lost everything.”
“I know.”
She stepped closer.
“You're not the man who arrived here.”
Elias looked at her.
“No.”
“What happened?”
He looked toward the desert.
“I stopped running.”
Weeks later, Elias returned to Black Hollow.
Maribel went with him.
So did Mateo.
The old settlement was nearly gone.
Buildings had collapsed.