Silas Vane was nothing like Jonas expected.
He was not large.
He was not rough.
He did not look like a man who hired killers.
When he walked into Reverend Abbott's church the following afternoon, he wore a clean black coat, polished boots, leather gloves, and the calm expression of a businessman entering a meeting.
Rebecca saw him first.
She stopped breathing.
Jonas was beside her immediately.
Silas removed his hat.
"Rebecca."
Jonas stepped between them.
"Mrs. Hargrave."
Silas smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Marshal Mercer emerged from the side room with his revolver drawn.
"Hands where I can see them."
Silas slowly raised both hands.
"I came peacefully."
"You paid one of my deputies."
"An accusation."
"We found the money."
"I employ many people."
Mercer searched him.
No weapon.
That surprised Jonas.
Silas looked toward Rebecca.
"I only want what Charles left behind."
Rebecca's voice was steady.
"Charles left many things behind."
"You know which I mean."
Jonas said, "Conversation's over."
Silas looked at him.
For the first time, his polite expression thinned.
"You must be Mr. Hargrave."
"Jonas."
"I've heard about you."
"Good."
"Former army scout. Trapper. Landowner. Apparently difficult to frighten."
Jonas stepped closer.
"You should've paid more attention to the last part."
Silas smiled.
Then he looked at Rebecca again.
"May we speak privately?"
"No," Jonas and Mercer said simultaneously.
Rebecca almost smiled.
Silas sighed.
"Rebecca, the documents you stole are dangerous."
"To criminals."
"To everyone mentioned."
"That is the point."
His voice hardened slightly.
"You don't understand what Charles built."
"I understood enough."
"Did you?"
He glanced around the church.
"Those companies employ hundreds. Mines stay open because supplies arrive. Towns survive because credit exists. You hand those records to federal investigators and men lose jobs."
Rebecca had heard arguments like this before.
Charles used the same language.
Necessary.
Complicated.
For the greater good.
Words powerful men used when they wanted ordinary people to accept theft.
"You stole wages," Rebecca said.
Silas's expression remained calm.
"Business disputes."
"You took mining claims from injured men."
"Debts were owed."
"You bribed inspectors."
"Everyone pays someone."
"You killed Samuel Carter."
That changed him.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Silas looked at her.
Jonas saw it.
So did Mercer.
Rebecca continued.
"Samuel discovered the false freight records."
Silas said, "Samuel left Missouri."
"No."
"You cannot prove otherwise."
"Perhaps not."
Rebecca stepped around Jonas.
He reached for her arm.
She touched his hand.
It was enough.
Trust me.
Jonas reluctantly let her move forward.
Rebecca stood ten feet from Silas.
"But Charles wrote down everything."
Silas's jaw tightened.
"Where is the ledger?"
Rebecca said nothing.
"You don't need to ruin your new life over your dead husband's mistakes."
"Charles's mistakes?"
"Give me the box."
Jonas watched Silas carefully.
The man knew.
Not merely that Rebecca had papers.
He knew there was a box.
Rebecca understood the same thing.
"How do you know what I'm carrying?"
Silas did not answer.
"Only two people knew about the tin box."
Silas's expression shifted.
Rebecca's face lost color.
"Margaret."
Her former housekeeper.
Silas smiled.
"Margaret was loyal to whoever paid her."
Rebecca stepped backward.
The betrayal struck harder than she expected.
Margaret had helped her escape.
Given her money.
Taken her to the train station.
Had she also told Silas where Rebecca had gone?
Jonas moved beside her.
Silas saw the pain in her face.
"People disappoint us, Rebecca."
Jonas said quietly, "Some people do."
Silas looked at him.
"Careful."
"No."
Jonas took another step.
"You climbed onto my mountain. Shot at my wife. Paid a lawman to betray his badge."
"I didn't shoot anyone."
"You hired someone."
"Can you prove that?"
Jonas smiled without humor.
"Not yet."
Silas turned to Mercer.
"You have no legal reason to hold me."
Mercer looked frustrated.
He was right.
The money found with Caleb suggested corruption, but without Caleb, there was nothing directly connecting Silas to the attack.
The telegram had no signature.
The threatening letter had been delivered by a boy who could not identify its author with certainty.
Mercer said, "You'll stay in town."
Silas put on his hat.
"For now."
Before leaving, he looked at Rebecca.
"You have until tomorrow."
Jonas said, "For what?"
Silas ignored him.
Then walked into the snow.
That evening Jonas wanted Rebecca to remain with the reverend.
Rebecca refused.
"I'm going back to the cabin."
"No."
"The evidence is near our property."
"Exactly."
"If the federal investigator arrives—"
"Mercer can take him."
"Jonas."
"No."
Rebecca folded her arms.
"You cannot keep saying no."
"Watch me."
"This is my evidence."
"This is your life."
"And my decision."
Jonas stared at her.
Rebecca softened.
"I spent years being told where I could go and what I could do. I know you're trying to protect me."
"I am."
"But protection cannot become another prison."
The words struck him.
Jonas looked away.
Rebecca immediately regretted how they sounded.
"You're nothing like Charles."
"Then don't compare me to him."
"I'm not."
She touched his arm.
"That's why I'm asking you to trust me."
Jonas remained silent for a long moment.
Then he sighed.
"Fine."
Rebecca smiled.
"Thank you."
"We leave before dawn."
Her smile disappeared.
"Before dawn?"
"You wanted to go."
"Yes, but I assumed daylight."
"Mountain woman afraid of the dark?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Mountain man interested in sleeping on the church floor another night?"
Jonas almost smiled.
They left at four in the morning.
Mercer insisted on accompanying them halfway.
No one followed.
At least, not visibly.
By midday, Jonas and Rebecca reached the cabin.
Everything appeared normal.
Too normal.
Jonas entered first.
The door had not been forced.
The window remained intact.
Rebecca stepped inside.
Then she stopped.
Her suitcase was open.
Clothing lay across the bed.
Drawers had been emptied.
Shelves searched.
Someone had been there.
Jonas touched the ash in the stove.
"Cold."
Rebecca looked at him.
"They came while we were in town."
"Looking for the box."
"They didn't find it."
Jonas glanced around.
"Then they'll come back."
Rebecca's fear returned.
"We should get the evidence now."
Jonas nodded.
They waited until darkness.
Snow began falling.
They traveled to the old mining cabin on foot.
Jonas checked the surrounding ridge before entering.
Nothing.
Rebecca knelt.
Removed the loose floorboard.
The tin box remained untouched.
She released a breath.
Jonas said, "We move it somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Town."
"The trail—"
"We leave at first light."
Rebecca lifted the box.
A voice behind them said, "No."
Jonas spun.
Silas stood in the doorway.
This time he held a revolver.
Two men stood behind him.
One was Caleb Morris.
Alive.
Marshal Mercer's missing deputy smiled.
"Evening."
Jonas moved slightly in front of Rebecca.
Silas raised the revolver.
"Don't."
Jonas stopped.
Rebecca held the box against her chest.
Silas looked satisfied.
"Thank you for leading us to it."
Jonas understood.
They had been followed.
Caleb said, "Mountain man's good at tracks. Not so good at noticing when someone follows from above."
Jonas's eyes remained on Silas.
"Take the box," Silas said.
Rebecca did not move.
"Rebecca."
"No."
Silas sighed.
"Your stubbornness was always exhausting."
Jonas looked at her.
"Give it to him."
Rebecca stared.
"Jonas—"
"Give it."
She understood his tone.
Trust me.
Slowly, Rebecca handed the box to Caleb.
Silas smiled.
"Smart."
Jonas said, "You got what you wanted. Leave."
Silas looked at Rebecca.
"Unfortunately, she knows what's inside."
Jonas's entire body changed.
Caleb raised his weapon.
Silas continued.
"Charles made the mistake of keeping Rebecca alive."
Rebecca whispered, "You killed Charles."
Silas smiled sadly.
"Charles became unreliable."
"And Samuel?"
"Also unreliable."
Rebecca's eyes filled with horror.
Jonas said, "You confess often with witnesses?"
Silas looked at the three people with him.
"Which witnesses?"
Jonas understood.
Silas intended to kill them both.
Caleb opened the tin box.
He looked inside.
His smile disappeared.
"Empty."
Silas turned.
"What?"
Caleb held up the box.
Inside were folded blank papers.
Rebecca stared at Jonas.
She had not known.
Silas pointed his revolver directly at Jonas.
"Where are the records?"
Jonas smiled.
"Safe."
"You moved them."
"Yesterday."
It was a lie.
But Silas did not know that.
Rebecca suddenly understood the truth.
Jonas must have replaced the real papers when they first hid the box.
He had known someone might force Rebecca to surrender it.
Silas's calm finally broke.
"Where?"
Jonas said nothing.
Silas cocked the revolver.
Rebecca stepped forward.
"Wait."
Jonas snapped, "Rebecca."
"I know where they are."
Silas looked at her.
Jonas did too.
Rebecca continued.
"I'll show you."
"No," Jonas said.
Silas aimed at him.
"You will stay."
Rebecca's mind raced.
She needed time.
Anything.
"The records are in a hollow beneath the frozen creek."
Silas narrowed his eyes.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"It's where Jonas hides valuables."
Jonas stared at her.
Rebecca silently begged him to understand.
She had noticed something outside the cabin earlier.
A rope.
A trap line.
And tracks.
Jonas's trap line crossed the creek.
If she could get them outside...
Silas ordered Caleb to take Jonas's gun.
Then they marched through the snow.
Rebecca led.
Jonas walked behind her.
Caleb kept a rifle against his back.
They reached the creek.
Rebecca pointed toward a fallen tree.
"There."
Silas gestured.
"Dig."
Caleb stepped forward.
Jonas saw Rebecca glance toward a small branch protruding from the snow.
His trap marker.
He understood.
"Careful," Jonas said.
Caleb laughed.
"Concerned about me?"
"No."
Caleb stepped again.
His boot caught a concealed cord.
A weighted branch snapped upward.
It struck his rifle.
The gun discharged into the air.
Jonas moved instantly.
He drove an elbow into Caleb.
Rebecca threw herself behind the fallen tree.
Silas fired.
The bullet struck snow beside Jonas.
Jonas tackled Caleb.
The second man rushed him.
Rebecca saw Silas aiming again.
"Jonas!"
She grabbed a fistful of snow and threw it into Silas's face.
He cursed.
The shot went wide.
Jonas knocked Caleb unconscious.
The second attacker fled into the woods.
Silas grabbed Rebecca.
He pressed the revolver against her side.
"Stop!"
Jonas froze.
Silas backed toward the horses with Rebecca.
"I should've killed you in Missouri."
Rebecca's eyes met Jonas's.
He saw fear.
But also something else.
Calculation.
Rebecca stomped hard on Silas's foot.
He flinched.
She slammed her head backward.
Silas lost his grip.
Jonas charged.
The gun fired.
Rebecca screamed.
Jonas struck Silas hard enough to send the revolver into the snow.
They fought.
Silas was smaller but desperate.
Jonas finally drove him against a tree.
A voice shouted.
"Enough!"
Marshal Mercer emerged through the snow with two men.
Behind him was a stranger wearing a federal badge.
The investigator had finally arrived.
Silas stopped fighting.
Rebecca ran to Jonas.
"You're hurt."
He looked down.
Blood spread across his side.
The bullet had grazed him.
Again.
Rebecca almost laughed from relief.
"You have an extraordinary ability to be shot badly."
Jonas put his arms around her.
"And you have an extraordinary ability to cause trouble."
She buried her face against him.
Mercer arrested Silas.
Caleb was taken into custody.
The federal investigator recovered the empty tin box.
Then he asked the obvious question.
"Where are the actual documents?"
Rebecca looked at Jonas.
"So would I."
Jonas smiled faintly.
"At home."
"Where?"
He looked at Rebecca.
"Inside your curtains."
She stared.
"My curtains?"
"You stitched two layers together."
"You hid federal evidence in my curtains?"
"No one respects curtains."
Rebecca slapped his chest.
Jonas winced.
"Bullet wound."
"Oh!"
He laughed.
She began laughing too.
For the first time, the danger was truly ending.
Not completely.
There would be testimony.
Trials.
Questions.
But Silas Vane was no longer hunting her.
He was in chains.
And as Rebecca stood beneath falling snow with Jonas's arms around her, she realized something she had not permitted herself to believe since arriving in Colorado.
She was no longer running.
She had arrived.
---