Thomas moved.
Martha grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
Rourke smiled.
“Good woman.”
Martha looked at him.
“I haven't decided.”
Then Clara stepped forward carrying the deed book.
Rourke’s confidence vanished.
For one fraction of a second.
Enough.
Martha saw.
Everyone saw.
Clara raised it.
“Original county filings.”
A murmur moved through the miners.
Rourke said:
“Stolen government property.”
Clara answered:
“Preserved government property.”
Martha opened the ledger.
She began reading.
Payments.
Names.
Mine transfers.
Sheriff bribes.
Then:
“Thomas Vale.”
The crowd shifted.
Thomas stood still.
Martha continued.
“Payment received.”
Rourke smiled.
“Careful.”
“Your hero has history.”
Martha looked at Thomas.
Then read the next line.
“Payment reversed.”
“Employee abandoned collection work.”
“Subject’s brother negotiated suppression of warrant.”
Thomas looked toward Gideon.
Gideon’s eyes filled.
Martha continued.
“Gideon Vale — retained as leverage.”
The crowd went quiet.
Thomas whispered:
“You did that.”
Gideon struggled to sit upright.
“I had to.”
“You let me hate you.”
“You were alive.”
Thomas’s face broke.
Rourke looked irritated.
“Enough family theater.”
He gestured.
One guard raised his rifle toward Gideon.
Eli screamed.
Thomas reached for his gun.
Martha did something nobody expected.
She threw the ledger into the mud halfway between them.
Rourke shouted:
“No!”
Everyone looked down.
Martha smiled.
“Interesting.”
Rourke realized too late.
She had tested him.
If the ledger were merely irrelevant accusations, he would not care.
Instead he reacted like a man watching his life hit the ground.
Martha spoke loudly enough for everyone.
“He just told forty witnesses exactly how much that book matters.”
Rourke drew his pistol.
Thomas moved first.
A shot cracked.
Not from Thomas.
Mercer.
Wade Mercer stood behind the miners with a borrowed rifle.
He shot the pistol from Rourke’s hand.
Rourke screamed.
Thomas stared.
Mercer shrugged.
“You people ruined a profitable career.”
Chaos erupted.
One guard fired into the air.
Miners rushed forward.
Thomas reached Gideon.
The second guard tried to stop him.
Thomas shoved him hard enough to send him over a supply crate.
Martha kicked Rourke’s fallen pistol away before he could reach it.
Rourke grabbed her apron and tried pulling her off balance.
Martha stared at him.
“You really should stop doing things without considering weight.”
She planted her feet.
Rourke pulled harder.
Martha did not move.
Then she shoved him.
He went backward into the mud.
Eli reached Gideon.