Chapter 10 - Red Lawson’s Bargain
Gideon reached the door first.
Snow blew inside.
Tracks led toward the forest.
“He cut the rope,” Hattie said.
Gideon looked at the broken strands.
“With what?”
Hattie searched the floor.
Red’s knife remained across the room.
Then she saw blood on one chair leg.
“He worked the rope against the broken table.”
Gideon cursed.
Hattie grabbed her coat.
“No.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“You’re injured.”
“And Red has the evidence against my uncle.”
“Hattie.”
“You chose me because I could survive.”
Gideon stared.
She raised one eyebrow.
“That argument is going to haunt you for the rest of our marriage.”
Despite the danger, his mouth twitched.
“Stay behind me.”
“Absolutely not.”
They followed the tracks.
The storm had weakened, but snow remained deep.
Red was hurt and exhausted.
He could not move quickly.
They found him near the lower ridge.
He stood beside a horse.
Not his.
Gideon’s.
Red held the Winchester.
The letters were stuffed inside his coat.
“Stop there!”
They stopped.
Gideon moved slightly in front of Hattie.
She immediately stepped beside him.
Red laughed.
“You two really are perfect.”
“Give us the letters,” Hattie said.
“No.”
“They won’t save you.”
“They’re worth more destroyed than saved.”
Gideon’s eyes narrowed.
“You burn them and your investors still come looking.”
“Not if I give them gold.”
“You don’t know where the seam is.”
Red smiled.
“I know you do.”
Gideon said nothing.
Red lifted the rifle.
“Here’s the bargain.”
“No,” Hattie said.
He frowned.
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Hattie crossed her arms despite the pain in one.
“You broke into my home, shot me, destroyed my table, insulted my husband, stole evidence belonging to a dead woman, and now you think we negotiate?”
Red blinked.
Gideon looked toward Hattie with something dangerously close to admiration.
She continued.
“You are going to hand over the letters.”
“Or?”
Hattie smiled.
“I haven’t decided.”
Red laughed.
Then another voice came from the trees.
“Maybe I have.”
Three men appeared.
All armed.
Red relaxed.
Gideon did not.
Hattie counted.
Four against two.
Red grinned.
“These are my partners.”
The oldest man stepped forward.
“Hayes.”
Gideon recognized him.
“Mercer.”
Hattie whispered, “Who?”
“Mining broker.”
Mercer looked at her.
“You must be the new wife.”
“Hattie.”
He nodded politely.
“My apologies for Lawson’s manners.”
Red glared.
Mercer continued.
“We don’t want bloodshed.”
Hattie glanced at the weapons.
“You have an unusual way of demonstrating that.”
The man smiled.
“I want the mine.”
“It isn’t yours.”
“Neither is it legally Gideon’s. No claim was filed.”
Hattie knew enough business to understand the problem.
“Then nobody owns it.”
“Precisely.”
Mercer looked toward Gideon.
“Show us the seam. We file jointly. You receive twenty percent.”
“No.”
“Thirty.”
“No.”
“Fifty.”
“No.”
Red exploded.
“You fool!”
Gideon’s gaze remained on Mercer.
“Leave the mountain.”
Mercer sighed.
“You cannot stop progress.”
“No. But I can stop you.”
The tension sharpened.
Hattie noticed something.
The men with Mercer were cold.
Hungry.
Uncomfortable.
And not nearly as loyal as Red assumed.
She looked at Mercer.
“Has Red shown you the letters?”
His expression changed slightly.
Red snapped, “Quiet.”
Hattie smiled.
“So he hasn’t.”
Mercer looked toward Red.
“What letters?”
“Nothing.”
“Letters proving he sold shares in a mine he didn’t own,” Hattie said. “Including to my uncle.”
The two armed men exchanged glances.
Mercer’s face hardened.
“Lawson?”
Red lifted the rifle.
“She’s lying.”
Hattie pointed toward his coat.
“Then why are they inside your jacket?”
Mercer took one step.
“Red.”
“Stay back.”
Now the rifle aimed at Mercer.
The alliance shattered instantly.
Hattie almost laughed.
Greed was remarkably efficient.
One of the men lowered his weapon.
“I didn’t sign on for this.”
Red looked around.
“You cowards.”
Mercer held out his hand.
“The letters.”
“No.”
“Give them to me.”
Red backed toward the horse.
Then everything happened quickly.
The horse startled.
Red grabbed the saddle.
The rifle discharged harmlessly into the snow.
Gideon lunged.
Mercer shouted.
The horse reared.
Red fell.
The letters scattered.
Pages blew across the ridge.
Hattie ran.
Pain tore through her arm.
She ignored it.
She caught one sheet.
Then another.
Gideon wrestled the rifle away from Red.
Mercer’s men gathered pages.
Within minutes, Red lay face down with Gideon’s knee across his back.
Mercer held three letters.
His face was pale.
“These signatures.”
Hattie approached.
“Real?”
“Yes.”
Mercer looked at Red.
“You sold the same shares twice.”
Red cursed.
Mercer laughed bitterly.
“You cheated everyone.”
Hattie took the letters from him.
“Then perhaps you should come to town and explain.”
Mercer looked at Gideon.
Then Red.
Finally he nodded.
“I will.”
They returned to the cabin together.
The balance of power had changed.
Red was tied again.
This time with chains.
Mercer and his men accepted coffee.
Hattie made stew.
Nobody mentioned the absurdity of eating dinner together after nearly shooting one another.
Eventually Mercer looked around.
“Hayes.”
Gideon grunted.
“Your wife runs this place better than you ever did.”
Hattie said, “Finally, a reliable witness.”
Gideon gave her a look.
Mercer smiled.
Then he became serious.
“Town marshal needs to see those documents.”
“At first light,” Gideon said.
Hattie looked outside.
The storm had stopped.
Stars appeared.
Tomorrow they would leave the mountain.
For the first time since her wedding, Hattie would return to the town where strangers had laughed when Gideon chose her.
She would arrive not as the unwanted bride.
Not as the woman everyone pitied.
She would arrive carrying evidence of fraud involving some of the richest men in Colorado.
And one of the names in those letters belonged to the uncle who had destroyed her old life.
Hattie touched Mary’s journal inside her coat.
The dead woman had given her more than evidence.
She had given Hattie a weapon no gun could match.
Truth.
May you like
And tomorrow, Hattie intended to use it.
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