Chapter 8 - The Agreement Changed
Miles nearly fell from the saddle.
Mara caught him.
Caden took the telegram.
FROM FLORENCE OFFICE
TO M. DANNER
AMOS REEVE DECEASED. DISTRICT ATTORNEY VALE ORDERS DETENTION OF CADEN ROARK IN CONNECTION WITH FEDERAL LAND FRAUD AND REEVE HOMICIDE.
Caden read it twice.
“They already blamed me.”
Miles nodded.
“Before Reeve’s body was cold.”
Silas cursed.
“Vale.”
“Henry Vale,” Miles said. “Territorial district attorney.”
Mara looked toward Caden.
“One of the hired men?”
“Called Vale,” Caden said.
Miles nodded grimly.
“Henry’s younger brother, Peter.”
So the prosecutor preparing to arrest Caden was related to one of the men hunting him.
The trap had been built from both sides.
Caden handed Miles the forged affidavit.
The old bookkeeper read quickly.
“This is what Bell gave you?”
“Yes.”
Miles looked devastated.
“Then Bell never changed.”
“Maybe he changed back.”
Silas laughed bitterly.
“Is there a difference?”
Miles sat against the wall.
“I sent a coded telegram to Samuel Holt.”
“Response?”
“None.”
“Maybe intercepted.”
“Maybe.”
Mara asked, “What did Gault’s riders do after following your false tracks?”
“Found me.”
Caden looked at the bruises.
“Who?”
“Mercer and Pike.”
“You escaped?”
“Eventually.”
“How?”
Miles smiled weakly.
“I told them Caden rode south carrying Elizabeth’s records.”
“That lie worked?”
“They wanted to believe it.”
“Why?”
“Because Gault is frightened.”
Miles looked at the grain sack.
“You found the box.”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Enough.”
Caden handed him Caleb’s affidavit copy.
Miles read.
Tears filled his good eye.
“He finished it.”
“You saw the draft?”
“Yes.”
“Is this accurate?”
“As far as I remember.”
“Then original field notes are at Arroyo Seco.”
“If Gault has not moved them.”
Silas stood.
“We go back.”
Caden stared.
“The four men are between here and there.”
“So?”
“We just escaped them.”
“And now we know what matters.”
Mara shook her head.
“Not yet.”
They looked at her.
“We have copies. Gault has originals. Bell may have built the trap. Reeve is dead. Vale controls prosecution.”
“Yes,” Caden said.
“What is still missing?”
He understood.
“Proof connecting Bell to the current frame.”
“And Gault to Reeve.”
Miles nodded.
“There may be that.”
“Where?”
“Gault’s Maricopa office.”
Silas frowned.
“I know the office.”
Caden looked at him.
“How?”
“I delivered account books.”
“For Gault.”
“Yes.”
Caden’s anger flickered.
Silas accepted it without defense.
“There’s a safe behind the back room.”
“Combination?”
Silas gave a small smile.
“Mother taught me to watch people’s hands.”
Miles laughed despite himself.
Caden looked between them.
“Maricopa Wells is where they want me.”
“Exactly,” Silas said.
Mara understood.
“So they watch roads, not office.”
Miles objected.
“You cannot walk into town.”
“We don’t.”
Silas drew a rough map.
An abandoned irrigation ditch entered behind the freight yard.
At night they could reach Gault’s office without crossing the main street.
Caden still distrusted his brother.
But Silas had saved the box.
He had warned Tommy.
He had ridden away from the burning ranch instead of surrendering Caden.
Choices.
Caleb’s lesson from beyond the grave.
Caden asked, “What happens after we get records?”
Miles said, “We need someone outside Arizona.”
“Washington?”
“Or California.”
“Why California?”
“Federal land investigators in San Francisco handle western claims when territorial offices are compromised.”
Mara looked at the telegram.
“And if every route is watched?”
“Then we create more copies.”
Caden smiled slightly.
For years Gault had survived by making information scarce.
One seal.
One survey.
One witness.
One secret at a time.
Maybe the answer was not hiding evidence better.
Maybe it was spreading it beyond anyone’s ability to erase.
That night they divided Elizabeth’s records.
Miles took copied pages south.
Mara carried Caleb’s affidavit.
Caden kept the forged envelope.
Silas kept his own account case.
“If they catch one of us,” Mara said, “they do not get everything.”
Caden looked at her.
“You think like a thief.”
“No.”
“A survivor?”
“Yes.”
Before dawn, Miles left again.
The remaining three rode east.
Toward Maricopa Wells.
Toward the murder scene created for Caden.
And toward a federal officer who might be a traitor.
As the town appeared in the distance, Caden saw a new poster nailed to a roadside post.
WANTED FOR QUESTIONING:
CADEN ROARK
IN CONNECTION WITH FEDERAL LAND FRAUD AND DEATH OF AMOS REEVE
Beneath was a rough likeness.
Silas examined it.
“Doesn’t look much like you.”
Caden stared at his own wanted poster.
“Should I be offended?”
Mara said, “You look better bleeding.”
Caden turned.
“That was almost humor.”
“No.”
But she was smiling.
Then, far down the road, three mounted deputies appeared.
They saw the riders.
One raised a hand.
“Caden Roark!”
Caden reached for his revolver.
Silas said quietly, “If you shoot federal men now, the poster improves.”
Mara turned the painted mare toward the ditch.
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“Then do not shoot.”
They disappeared below the road as the deputies spurred after them.
