Kyle nodded. “Guy named Ray Peters would be my guess. Ray’s in his forties, lived here all his life. He’s the kind of guy who’s always got an angle. You don’t want to turn your back on him, but he knows the Superstitions almost as well as my dad.”

“Wouldn’t Smiley have recognized him?”

“Maybe he stayed out of sight. If it’s Ray, he’d have at least one of his cronies with him. Doesn’t go anywhere without backup.”

Gage stared off toward the stark, cactus-covered mountains in the distance. “Smiley needs to call the police.”

Kyle shook his head. “Not his way. My dad, either. Dad wants me to bring you out. I told him there was no way you’d quit when we were so close.”

Gage’s blue eyes zeroed in on Abby. “Walt’s right. Be smarter to head back to the ranch.”

Abby felt the words like a punch in the stomach. “You can’t be serious. You said yourself greed killed Boyd. He got greedy and paid the price.”

“Abby—”

She turned to Kyle. “There’s a hundred percent bonus if you’ll keep going. We should be there by late tomorrow, the next morning at the latest. What do you say?”

Kyle lifted his battered straw hat and resettled it low on his forehead. “You really think you’re gonna find something?”

“My grandfather thought so. So do the men following us. So yes, I think there’s something there, and I think finding it’s worth the risk.”

“All right, I’m in.” Kyle looked at Gage. “What do you say, Gage?”

Abby’s gaze locked on Gage. “You’ve been in worse situations—I know you have. We can’t give up. Not yet.”

Gage started shaking his head. “If I were by myself—”

“Well, you aren’t. You’re with me, and we had a deal. If we go back, I’ll just start over with someone who won’t quit on me when the going gets tough.”

Gage’s jaw hardened. A knot bunched in his cheek. “Damn you, Abby. That’s not the reason, and you know it.”

She lifted her chin. “Kyle’s willing to go. If you want to head back, maybe we’ll just go on without you.”

“Whoa, wait a minute.” Kyle held up a hand. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

Gage’s blue eyes could have burned through steel. A muscle jerked in his cheek. “All right, Abby, you win.” He turned to Kyle. “Looks like the hunt is still on. Soon as the police are finished, we’re on our way.” Gage cast her a last furious glance and stalked off down the trail.

Abby felt a pinch in her heart. She had goaded him unfairly, and she knew it. Gage wasn’t a quitter. He was only trying to protect her. But she hadn’t come this far to fail.