Deputy Marshal Barrett survived the bullet.
That became the first piece of good news.
The second was that he had anticipated trouble.
Before Cole and Anna arrived, Barrett had copied several pages from Hale’s ledger and mailed them to the territorial attorney.
Destroying the original would no longer erase the evidence.
But evidence was not the same as safety.
Barrett spent the next two days under a doctor’s care while Cole and Anna remained in a secured room above the federal office.
Anna hated being confined.
By the second afternoon she paced from wall to wall.
“You’re going to wear a path through the floor,” Cole said.
“I hate locked rooms.”
“The lock is keeping people out.”
“I know.”
“That makes it different.”
“My body doesn’t know that.”
Cole looked up from cleaning his rifle.
He understood more than he wished he did.
“Want to go downstairs?”
“No.”
“Roof?”
She stopped.
“There’s a roof?”
Ten minutes later they climbed through a maintenance hatch.
Denver spread beneath them.
Smoke curled from chimneys. Carriages moved through muddy streets. Somewhere a church bell rang.
Anna stood near the edge, breathing cold air.
“Better?”
“Yes.”
Cole handed her his coat.
“I’m wearing one.”
“You’re shivering.”
“So are you.”
“I’m ugly when I shiver.”
She looked at him.
“You’re ugly when you don’t.”
Cole stared.
Anna laughed.
He tried not to.
Failed.
For a few seconds there was no Victor Hale.
No Jeb.
No contract.
Only two people on a rooftop.
Then Anna asked, “What happens after?”
“After what?”
“If Barrett arrests them.”
“You choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Your life.”
She looked across the rooftops.
“I don’t know how.”
“Most people don’t.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“You built a cabin.”
“Cabins are easier than lives.”
“What did you want when you were my age?”
“To be left alone.”
“And now?”
Cole looked at her.
The answer frightened him.
“Not sure.”
Anna turned toward the horizon.
“I want a place where nobody can sell me.”
“You already have that.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
She looked back.
“Your cabin?”
“If you want.”
The words hung between them.
Cole immediately added, “Until you find something else.”
Something faded in her expression.
“Of course.”
He did not understand why.
That evening Barrett returned with his arm in a sling.
“We found Hale.”
Cole stood.
“Where?”
“Oakhaven.”
Anna stared.
“He went there?”
Barrett nodded.
“Sheriff Tobias has apparently been protecting him.”
“Jeb too?”
“Most likely.”
Cole’s mouth tightened.
Barrett continued.
“I’ve requested warrants. Federal judge signs tomorrow morning. Then we ride.”
“I’m coming,” Anna said.
“No.”
Anna turned toward Cole.
He raised both hands.
“Wasn’t me.”
Barrett shook his head.
“Miss Reed, Hale tried to have you killed.”
“Which is why I’m coming.”
“You’ve already identified the ledger.”
“And if Tobias claims the books are fake?”
“We have records.”
“Records they’ll say were misunderstood.”
Barrett sighed.
Anna stepped closer.
“You need someone who can identify Hale, his office, Jeb, and Tobias’s involvement.”
Cole said quietly, “She’s right.”
Barrett glared at him.
“You’re not helping.”
“Wasn’t trying to.”
They left two days later.
Six deputy marshals rode with them.
The journey north felt different.
Anna was returning toward the place where she had been sold.
Yet she no longer traveled behind Cole on his horse.
Barrett had arranged a mare for her.
Her name was Daisy.
Anna hated Daisy immediately.
Daisy returned the feeling.
On the second day the mare stopped in the middle of a creek and refused to move.
Anna kicked gently.
Nothing.
Cole rode back.
“You two arguing?”
“She’s unreasonable.”
“She’s a horse.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
Cole reached for Daisy’s bridle.
The mare moved immediately.
Anna glared.
“I hate her.”
Daisy snorted.
“She knows.”
Anna looked toward Cole.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
That night around the fire Barrett asked Cole about the mountains.
“You trap year-round?”
“Mostly.”
“Ever consider guiding?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Guiding involves people.”
Barrett laughed.
Anna watched Cole from across the fire.
He had changed.
Or perhaps she was finally seeing him clearly.
His scar no longer looked frightening.
It was simply part of his face.
His silence no longer felt like rejection.
It felt like space.
He never filled space unnecessarily.
He left room for other people to breathe.
Anna realized that might be the rarest kindness she had ever encountered.
Three days from Oakhaven, they stopped at Martha Bell’s ranch.
Martha nearly dropped a pie when she saw Anna riding with federal marshals.
“Well,” she said. “You certainly know how to return dramatically.”
Anna hugged her.
Cole stared.
Anna had not willingly embraced anyone since he met her.
Something warm tightened in his chest.
That evening Martha cornered Cole in the barn.
“You love her?”
Cole nearly dropped a saddle.
“No.”
Martha stared.
“No?”
“No.”
“You always become stupid when lying?”
“I’m not lying.”
“Then you’re stupid naturally.”
Cole sighed.
“She’s been through enough.”
“That answer has nothing to do with my question.”
“She needs choices.”
“Then don’t take them away.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
Cole frowned.
Martha stepped closer.
“You’ve convinced yourself loving that woman would somehow trap her. So instead of telling her the truth and letting her choose, you intend to decide for her.”
Cole went quiet.
Martha nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
“She might not feel the same.”
“That is generally why people ask.”
“I’m going back to the horses.”
“You’re already standing with the horses.”
Cole walked outside.
Martha smiled after him.
The following afternoon Anna found him repairing a fence.
“What did Martha say to you?”
“Nothing.”
“She told me she called you stupid.”
Cole hammered a nail.
“That sounds like Martha.”
“Why?”
“Ask Martha.”
“I did.”
The hammer stopped.
“What did she say?”
“That I should ask you.”
Cole muttered something impolite.
Anna smiled.
Then the smile faded.
“Cole?”
“Yes?”
“When this is over, are you going back alone?”
His chest tightened.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
He looked at her.
Martha’s words returned.
Let her choose.
“I don’t want you to leave.”
Anna stopped breathing.
Cole continued before courage failed.
“I don’t mean you owe me anything. You don’t. And I’m not asking because of the money or the contract or because you need somewhere to stay.”
“Then why?”
“Because the cabin was quieter before you came.”
Anna’s expression fell.
Cole realized how that sounded.
“I’m bad at this.”
“At what?”
“Talking.”
“You’ve mentioned that.”
He took off his hat.
“I liked quiet before.”
Anna waited.
“Now when you aren’t around, it feels empty.”
Her eyes filled.
Cole looked miserable.
“Please don’t cry.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“It wasn’t very nice.”
“It was from you.”
He smiled faintly.
Anna stepped closer.
“You want me to stay?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Cole looked directly into her eyes.
“As long as you want.”
She reached for his hand.
Cole let her.
“For now,” she whispered, “I want a long time.”
He squeezed her fingers.
Neither kissed the other.
Not yet.
Anna needed something deeper than romance.
She needed to know affection did not create debt.
Cole seemed to understand that without being told.
The next morning they rode toward Oakhaven.
Snow began falling before noon.
Near sunset they stopped on a ridge overlooking the town.
Barrett lifted binoculars.
Smoke rose from the chimneys.
The saloon glowed with lamplight.
Anna’s stomach twisted.
Cole rode beside her.
“You can stay here with two deputies.”
“No.”
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
“I’m not proving anything.”
“What are you doing?”
She looked down at Oakhaven.
“Finishing something.”
They entered town after dark.
People emerged from buildings.
Whispers spread.
The mountain man had returned.
So had the woman Jeb sold.
Only now six federal marshals rode with them.
Barrett dismounted before the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Tobias stepped onto the porch.
His face went pale.
“What’s this?”
Barrett produced a paper.
“Federal warrant.”
“For?”
“Conspiracy, bribery, unlawful imprisonment, coercion, and obstruction.”
Tobias’s hand moved toward his revolver.
Six rifles rose.
He stopped.
“Where’s Victor Hale?” Barrett asked.
“No idea.”
A voice came from the saloon.
“Then perhaps I can answer.”
Victor Hale stepped through the swinging doors.
He was elegant.
That surprised Cole.
Gray suit.
Clean boots.
Silver watch chain.
Nothing about him resembled Jeb.
Predators wore many skins.
Hale smiled at Anna.
“My dear.”
Anna froze.
Cole moved beside her.
Hale’s eyes shifted to him.
“So this is the mountain savage.”
Cole said nothing.
Hale smiled.
“You paid twenty dollars for damaged merchandise. I suppose congratulations are appropriate.”
Cole took one step forward.
Anna caught his hand.
Not because she feared what Hale might do.
Because she knew what Cole would.
She stepped ahead of him.
“I’m not merchandise.”
Hale’s smile weakened.
Anna continued.
“And I’m not yours.”
Something moved behind the saloon windows.
Jeb.
Cole saw him first.
A rifle barrel appeared.
“Down!”
The gunshot cracked.
Chaos exploded through Oakhaven.