Chapter 31

The little hairs on my arms lifted. Breathe. Of course. It would have to be Sam. Mae had practically shown his motive in her drawing by placing the expression of schadenfreude on one side. Taking pleasure from someone else’s suffering.

I worked up enough spit in my mouth to speak. “You don’t want there to be any more killing, do you, Sam?”

“Shut up, Darby. What’s done is done.”

“You took a huge chance flying out here on the chopper. The pilot will remember you—”

“So what?”

Bram was lying on his side between Sam and me. My hands, out of sight, continued to work on the knots.

Sam must have noticed. “Put your hands where I can see them.”

Before I raised them, I gave the knot one final tug. I could feel the rope loosen. “Those emeralds—”

His head jerked backward and gun shifted slightly.

“Yes. I know about the emeralds. The mine. And so will others soon enough. You can’t keep killing people who might stumble on the location.”

Sam pulled back his lips, exposing his teeth more like a snarl than a smile. “You’re crazy, Darby. Cleanup. That’s all I do. Cleanup, but you don’t have to worry about it. It doesn’t matter anyway. The mine tapped out shortly after the accident that killed the miners.”

With an ear-shattering whoosh, the roof of the staff quarters collapsed.

Sam moved closer to us. I could feel Bram working on his bindings, but his face was a mask of pain.

Bram won’t be able to help. It’s up to me.

“Don’t concern your pretty little head about it. What we did find there were world-class stones. We found an investor who took the whole lot.”

An investor? Someone who loved cut stones. Like a husband and wife named Stacy and Peter? Who left with Wyatt to get help.

Had all the riders failed?

A sour taste filled my mouth. I lowered my hands.

“We just had to keep the source of the stones hidden for a bit. And, of course, take care of the loose ends.”

“Loose ends? Like when you killed Mae, then covered up with the note?”

“No one killed Mae. She moved to Pocatello.”

I stared at him a moment. “I found her body. At the cabin.”

His gun wavered slightly before he retrained it on me. “You’re a liar.”

“No. You went to the cabin and tried to kill me.”

“Darby, you’re a liar and crazy. I never tried to kill you. I was off on my timing, but that was an accident. I meant I bought Mule Shoe.” He raised his pistol.

I was going to die.