Daniel glanced at the leather bag resting beside the chest.
Gold coins glittered inside.
"So that's your plan?"
Voss narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
"Take the money. Take the records. Leave Ashcroft to face the people upstairs."
Voss's expression hardened.
"Edward Ashcroft is finished."
"Maybe."
"He just doesn't know it yet."
Daniel studied him.
"And you think you can walk away?"
Voss raised the revolver slightly.
"I know I can."
Daniel shook his head.
"Not with that ledger."
Voss looked down.
For a moment, genuine surprise crossed his face.
"You know what this is?"
"I know enough."
"Then you understand why I can't leave it behind."
Daniel took a slow step forward.
"That book belongs in a courtroom."
Voss laughed.
"A courtroom?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any idea how many judges are named in here?"
"Probably more than I'd like."
"Half the men who wear robes in this territory have taken money from Ashcroft."
"Then perhaps they should find another profession."
Voss stared at him.
"You really haven't changed."
Daniel said nothing.
"Still think the law can save everyone."
"No."
The answer surprised Voss.
Daniel continued.
"I know the law can be bought. I've seen it happen. I helped men who were buying it, once, because I was too foolish to ask the right questions."
His expression hardened.
"But I also know what happens when decent people stop believing the law can be repaired."
Voss smiled bitterly.
"They become rich?"
"They become men like you."
The smile vanished.
Voss stepped forward.
"You think you're better than me?"
Daniel looked at him.
"I think you had choices."
"So did you."
"Yes."
"And your choices got your wife killed."
Daniel went still.
Voss saw the change and pressed his advantage.
"Eleanor Mercer could have lived a comfortable life. She had a husband, a home, and a future. All she had to do was stop digging into matters that didn't concern her."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Careful."
"But she couldn't help herself, could she?"
Voss smiled cruelly.
"Always asking questions. Always collecting papers. Always convinced she could bring down men who had more power than she could imagine."
Daniel took another step forward.
"Don't talk about her."
Voss raised the revolver.
"Stay where you are."
Daniel stopped.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Daniel asked a question he had carried for five years.
"Did you know she was going to be killed?"
Voss's expression changed.
He looked away.
Daniel repeated the question.
"Did you know?"
Voss swallowed.
"I knew Ashcroft wanted her stopped."
"That wasn't what I asked."
"I didn't give the order."
"But you knew."
Voss stared at the floor.
Finally, he whispered, "Yes."
The word struck Daniel harder than the bullet in his shoulder.
For years, he had imagined the men responsible for Eleanor's death as monsters who felt nothing.
Now he stood before one of them.
A frightened man with expensive clothes, trembling hands, and a bag full of stolen money.
Voss looked up.
"You have to understand. Ashcroft was dangerous. He could destroy anyone."
Daniel stared at him.
"And you helped him."
"I had no choice."
"You had twenty years of choices."
Voss shook his head.
"You don't understand how power works."
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"I understand how cowardice works."
Voss's face twisted.
He cocked the revolver.
"One more word, Mercer."
Daniel did not move.
A faint sound came from the passage behind him.
Footsteps.
Voss noticed.
"Who's there?"
Daniel remained silent.
Voss swung the revolver toward the doorway.
"Come out!"
A voice answered.
"Lower your weapon, Mr. Voss."
Sheriff Nathaniel Crowe stepped into view.
His revolver was drawn.
Behind him stood Rachel Whitmore.
Her eyes were fixed on Voss with a hatred that made him take an involuntary step backward.
"Rachel," Daniel said.
She glanced at his shoulder.
"You're bleeding again."
"Seems to be a habit."
"An irritating one."
Despite everything, Daniel almost smiled.
Crowe stepped forward.
"Caleb Voss, you're under arrest."
Voss stared.
Then he laughed.
"Arrest?"
Crowe nodded.
"For conspiracy, fraud, bribery, kidnapping, and your involvement in the murders of Thomas Whitmore and Samuel Price."
Voss's laughter stopped.
"You can't arrest me."
Crowe's expression hardened.
"I can."
"I own you."
"No."
Voss took a step backward.
"I paid you!"
Crowe nodded.
"You did."
"I kept your daughter alive!"
Crowe's eyes darkened.
"You kept her imprisoned."
Voss swallowed.
"That was Ashcroft."
"And you helped him."
Voss looked from Crowe to Rachel.
Then toward Daniel.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that the men and women he had controlled through fear were no longer afraid enough to obey him.
He tightened his grip on the revolver.
"Nobody comes any closer."
Crowe raised his weapon.
"Caleb."
Voss stepped backward toward the open iron chest.
"Stay away!"
Rachel moved slightly to the left.
Daniel noticed.
So did Voss.
He swung the revolver toward her.
"Don't move!"
Daniel acted before he could think.
He stepped between Rachel and the gun.
The revolver fired.
The shot struck the stone wall.
Fragments scattered across the room.
Daniel lunged forward.
He seized Voss's wrist with his uninjured hand.
Pain exploded through his shoulder as the two men struggled.
Voss was heavier.
Stronger than he looked.
And desperate.
He struck Daniel across the face with the revolver.
Daniel staggered.
Voss raised the weapon again.
Then Rachel stepped forward.
"Enough!"
She struck Voss across the back of the head with the butt of her revolver.
The man collapsed.
The gun clattered across the floor.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Daniel looked at Rachel.
She stood breathing hard.
Her hands trembled.
Voss lay unconscious at her feet.
Daniel slowly straightened.
"Well."
Rachel looked at him.
"Well what?"
He glanced at Voss.
"Remind me never to make you angry."
She stared at him.
Then, unexpectedly, she laughed.
It was not a happy laugh.
It was the release of fear and anger that had been building for weeks.
She lowered herself onto the edge of the chest.
Her laughter dissolved into tears.
Daniel knelt beside her.
"Rachel."
She shook her head.
"I wanted to kill him."
Daniel said nothing.
"When I saw him standing there, talking about Father and Samuel as though they were nothing..."
Her voice broke.
"I wanted him dead."
Daniel nodded.
"I know."
She looked at him.
"Does that make me a terrible person?"
"No."
"Then why do I feel terrible?"
Daniel considered his answer.