“You lived!”
“Yes.”
“Twenty years?”
Thomas wiped blood from his mouth.
“Yes.”
Ethan hit him again.
This time Thomas did not fall.
He accepted it.
“You watched me grow up.”
“Only from far away.”
“You sat in my house!”
“I know.”
“You let me fix your roof!”
Thomas’s face broke.
“I know.”
“Why?”
A rifle cracked in the distance.
Thomas grabbed Ethan’s shoulders.
“Because Silas Rourke promised to kill you if I ever came back.”
Ethan froze.
Thomas spoke quickly.
“I found proof Silas forged patents. He knew I had copies. Daniel and I planned to get the evidence to Denver.”
“The canyon.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Silas had men following me. Daniel saw them.”
Ethan remembered the journal.
If this works, Ethan lives.
Thomas continued.
“We knew they needed to believe I was dead.”
“You asked Daniel to shoot you.”
“In the shoulder.”
“Why?”
“To leave blood.”
Ethan stared.
“Daniel fired. I fell into the canyon river. His men saw it.”
“And then?”
“I disappeared.”
“You abandoned us.”
The words destroyed whatever explanation Thomas had prepared.
“Yes.”
“My mother waited for you.”
“I know.”
“She died thinking you were dead.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“You could have written.”
“Silas watched every mail line.”
“For twenty years?”
“Silas for fourteen. Then Gideon.”
“Why return now?”
Thomas looked toward the canyon entrance.
“Because Gideon is finishing what his father began.”
“The water.”
“Yes.”
“And your affidavit?”
Thomas smiled grimly.
“I wrote exactly what I witnessed.”
Ethan stared.
Thomas continued.
“Daniel Harmon fired at Thomas Callaway and struck him.”
“You were the witness.”
“I witnessed it better than anyone.”
Despite everything, Ethan almost laughed.
“That statement was bait?”
“Yes.”
“For Gideon.”
“He needed something powerful enough to force the water transfer into public legal documents.”
“Why?”
“Because stolen deeds are hard to prosecute when hidden. Easier when a man attempts to enforce them before witnesses.”
Ethan stared at his father.
“You and Daniel planned this?”
“Daniel and I planned parts of it.”
“Does Daniel know you’re Briggs?”
“Yes.”
Ethan nearly hit him again.
Thomas raised a hand.
“He hated lying to you.”
“Not enough.”
“No.”
They heard horses.
Thomas picked up a dropped rifle.
“We can hate each other tomorrow.”
Ethan stared at him.
Thomas gave the smallest smile.
“If we survive tonight.”
They escaped Miller’s Canyon just before dawn.
Gideon recovered the journal pages.
That appeared to be his victory.
He did not know Ethan had made copies.
He also did not know Thomas had kept the original federal patent.
Or that before returning to Milh Haven, Thomas had spent three years tracking the descendants of the Denver clerk Silas Rourke had bribed.
At nine forty-five Sunday morning, Milh Haven’s church was full.
Everyone had heard.
Clara Harmon was marrying Gideon Rourke.
No one understood why.
Some whispered that Daniel’s arrest had forced her.
Others said the Harmons had always wanted Rourke money.
Clara stood in a small room behind the sanctuary wearing Ruth’s wedding dress.
Her mother adjusted the collar with trembling hands.
“You can still leave.”
“And Father hangs.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do.”
Ruth began crying.
Clara held her.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Ruth gripped her face.
“Never apologize for trying to save someone you love.”