Chapter 11 - The Dead Witness

The man beneath the courthouse was not Caleb Mercer.

He was Amos Pike.

The surveyor Helena mentioned in her ledger.

Corvin recognized the name instantly.

Pike had vanished twenty years earlier.

Most people assumed he left the territory.

Rourke had kept him alive in a hidden storage room beneath the courthouse for eleven months.

"Why?" Corvin whispered through the floor.

Pike coughed.

"Because I came back."

"From where?"

"California."

"Why return?"

"To sell Vane something."

Corvin almost laughed at the stupidity.

"What?"

"The original geological survey of Black Ridge."

Pike had hidden it after discovering Gideon planned to use his work to force Apache families from Dry Creek.

Years later, broke and ill, Pike decided to sell the survey back.

He contacted Vane.

Instead, Rourke arrested him on a false charge.

"Why keep you alive?"

"Vane doesn't know where I hid the original."

Corvin looked at the darkness.

"Do you?"

Pike laughed weakly.

"Wouldn't be much leverage if I didn't."

Footsteps sounded.

Corvin replaced the floorboard and sat down.

Rourke entered.

"Someone talking?"

"Rats."

Rourke unlocked the cell.

Two deputies stood behind him.

"Judge Bell wants to see you."

They escorted Corvin upstairs.

Bell sat in chambers.

Silas Vane stood near the window.

Gideon sat in another chair.

The entire machine was assembled.

Bell folded his hands.

"Mr. Torne, we're prepared to release you."

Corvin looked at Gideon.

His uncle would not meet his eyes.

"What's the price?"

Bell slid papers across the desk.

"Transfer temporary management of Torne Ranch to Red Mesa Holdings pending resolution of your criminal case."

Corvin laughed.

"No."

Bell sighed.

"Then you'll remain confined."

"For a murder you know I didn't commit."

"Evidence suggests otherwise."

"My rifle was stolen."

"Can you prove that?"

"Mara's people saw deputies search my house."

Bell's expression tightened at her name.

"Armed Indians are not ideal witnesses in this jurisdiction."

Corvin's hands tightened.

Vane spoke quickly.

"Sign, Corvin."

"Why? Company collapsing?"

Vane's eyes flashed.

Gideon finally looked up.

Corvin saw warning in his face.

Something was happening behind the obvious negotiation.

Corvin picked up the pen.

Vane relaxed.

Corvin dipped it into ink.

Then wrote across the signature line:

ASK AMOS PIKE.

Bell went white.

Rourke's hand moved toward his gun.

Vane looked genuinely confused.

Interesting.

Bell knew.

Vane did not.

Corvin leaned back.

"Who is Amos Pike?" Vane asked.

Nobody answered.

Now Corvin understood another layer.

Rourke and Bell were not merely Vane's servants.

They had their own leverage.

Bell stood.

"Return him to his cell."

Corvin smiled.

"Careful, Judge. Secrets beneath old buildings have a way of rising."

Rourke struck him.

Corvin hit the floor.

Gideon surged up.

"Enough!"

For the first time, Corvin saw his uncle openly oppose Rourke.

The sheriff stared at him.

"Sit down."

Gideon did not.

Vane stepped between them.

"What in God's name is happening?"

Bell shouted, "Remove the prisoner!"

Corvin was dragged downstairs.

But he had learned what he needed.

The conspiracy was splitting.

Back in the cell, he whispered through the boards.

"Pike."

The cough answered.

"We're getting you out."

"How?"

Corvin smiled despite the blood on his lip.

"My mother taught my brother to read legal records."

He looked toward the small barred window.

"And the woman I gave water to arrived with three hundred friends."

Outside, a church bell began ringing.

Not for service.

An alarm.

Shouts filled the street.

Then Jonah appeared outside Corvin's window.

"Move away from the bars!"

Corvin obeyed.

A rope looped around the window frame.

Outside, several horses pulled.

Wood exploded.

The entire window tore free.

Mara appeared through the dust.

Corvin stared.

"Subtle."

"You wanted legal procedure?"

She tossed him a hammer.

"Jonah tried."

Corvin smashed the remaining bars.

Before climbing out, he tore up the floorboard.

Pike lay below.

Barely alive.

Corvin pointed.

"There's another man."

Mara's expression sharpened.

Within minutes they had both outside.

Jonah waited with horses.

"Bell issued another warrant."

"For what?"

"Escaping."

Corvin mounted.

"What about the murder?"

Jonah shook his head.

"Worse."

"What could be worse?"

Jonah handed him a newspaper proof sheet.

The headline read:

ARMED APACHE FORCE OCCUPIES TORNE RANCH — SETTLERS WARNED OF POSSIBLE ATTACK

Corvin looked toward the distant ridges.

Vane no longer needed a court order.

May you like

92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Fathe...

91 A Cruel Hotel Manager Fired a Receptionist for Defending a Poor Old G...

90 On Christmas Eve, My Daughter-in-Law Stole $12,000 From My Card—Then...

If Carrick believed an attack was coming, frightened settlers might form a militia.

And once shooting started, nobody would care who owned a covenant.