Chapter 16 - Rourke’s Bargain
Rourke raised one hand.
Not a weapon.
A signal.
Eli aimed anyway.
Tala whispered, “Do not shoot.”
“I’m considering it.”
“Consider slower.”
Below, Rourke helped Nantan onto the horse.
Then mounted another.
They rode toward the ridge.
No alarm sounded from camp.
Too easy.
Eli hated easy.
When Rourke reached them, his silver tooth flashed beneath moonlight.
“You look disappointed.”
“I prefer enemies who behave consistently.”
“So do I.”
Tala moved immediately to her father.
Nantan nearly fell from the saddle.
His face was bruised.
One eye swollen.
But he smiled when he saw his daughters were alive.
“Mira?”
“Safe.”
He touched Tala’s bandage.
Her face crumpled for the first time.
She leaned against him.
Eli looked away.
Rourke said, “Touching.”
Eli pointed the rifle at his chest.
“Start explaining.”
Rourke dismounted.
“Pike decided Voss is becoming unreliable.”
“So?”
“So Pike ordered me to kill Nantan tonight and say he died escaping.”
Tala drew her revolver.
Rourke raised both hands.
“I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of being disposable.”
Eli laughed.
“You discovered morals?”
“No.”
At least the man was honest.
“I discovered Pike plans to blame the entire operation on Voss and everyone who worked for him.”
“Including you.”
“Especially me.”
Daniel asked, “Why help us?”
“Because you have papers that can ruin Pike.”
“And save you?”
“Reduce the hanging risk.”
Nantan spoke softly in Apache.
Tala translated.
“He says Rourke kept him alive before.”
Eli frowned.
Rourke shrugged.
“Dead men answer no questions.”
“Did you kill Sarah?”
Rourke’s expression changed.
“No.”
“Did you follow her?”
“Yes.”
“Did Pike?”
“Yes.”
“What happened at the ravine?”
Rourke looked toward Nantan.
The older man said something.
Tala translated.
“Our father saw part.”
Nantan had reached Copper Wash before Sarah.
He waited near the survey cabin.
Sarah arrived in Daniel’s wagon.
Thomas followed.
They argued.
Then Pike appeared.
Rourke remained at a distance.
Sarah carried the leather register.
Pike demanded it.
Thomas tried to intervene.
Sarah ran toward the wagon.
Rourke had been ordered to stop her.
He fired at the wheel.
Not at Sarah.
The horse panicked.
The wagon overturned near the ravine.
Sarah was thrown.
Badly injured.
Alive.
Eli’s jaw locked.
“Then?”
Rourke’s voice was quieter now.
“Pike took the register.”
“And left her?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas?”
“Stayed.”
“Nantan?”
“Came down after Pike left.”
Eli looked at Nantan.
The older man spoke.
Tala translated slowly.
“Sarah knew she was dying.”
Eli closed his eyes.
No.
He forced himself to listen.
“She gave our father pages she had torn from the register before Pike arrived.”
The half-register.
“She asked Nantan to hide them.”
“What else?”
Nantan looked directly at Eli.
Then spoke in English.
“She said your name.”
Eli’s throat tightened.
“What did she say?”
Nantan struggled for the words.
“Tell Eli… I was afraid his anger would make him easy to use.”
Eli could not speak.
Nantan continued.
“But I was wrong.”
The desert seemed to vanish.
“What was she wrong about?”
Nantan looked toward Tala.
Then back to Eli.
“She said, ‘His anger is not what makes him dangerous.’”
Eli waited.
“‘His mercy is.’”
Rourke shifted uncomfortably.
Eli almost laughed at the absurdity.
Mercy.
Sarah had believed mercy made him dangerous to men like Pike.
Because a man who wanted nothing from frightened people could not easily be bought.
Nantan reached inside his torn shirt.
He removed a narrow strip of paper.
“The rest.”
It was another fragment of the register.
Not enough.
Several pages remained missing.
“Where?”
Nantan pointed toward Eli.
“Sarah.”
Eli frowned.
“She hid them?”
Nantan nodded.
“Your home.”
“The ranch?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Nantan shook his head.
“Only Sarah knew.”
Eli thought of the second marker.
The garden bench.
Rourke said, “Then we move now. Pike’s men are already searching your ranch.”
Tala looked at him.
“You come?”
“Yes.”
“Why should we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Rourke mounted.
“But if Pike gets those pages, everyone here becomes unnecessary.”
A rifle cracked from the camp below.
Rourke’s horse jerked.
Men were shouting.
They had discovered Nantan missing.
Rourke drew his revolver.
“Decision time.”
Eli looked at Tala.
At Nantan.
At Daniel.
Then toward the distant darkness where his ranch stood.
For the first time, enemy and ally meant almost nothing.
There were only people Pike could still use.
And people he intended to erase.
Eli mounted.
“Ride.”
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Behind them, lanterns poured from the camp.
The hunt began again.
