Eli woke to the sound of hammering.
Someone was nailing a notice to the post outside his rented room—a crude drawing of a coffin with his name scrawled beneath it.
*Not subtle.*
He tore it down before the town fully woke, but the message was clear: Cade Varro wasn't done with him.
---
### **A Meeting with the Devil**
Judge Holloway wasn't in his office. Instead, Eli found a note on the desk:
*"Gone to Benton for supplies. Don't start a war before I get back."*
Eli almost laughed. *Too late for that.*
He needed to know more about Roderick Bell—the man Lena Reyes had called the real power behind Silver Star. The town's dusty archives yielded little: Bell was a shadowy figure, rarely seen in Silver Ridge, but his name appeared on nearly every deed, every mining claim, every legal document that mattered.
Lena's newspaper office was his next stop. The press was idle, the tiny room cluttered with ink-stained papers. She looked up as he entered, unsurprised.
"You're still alive," she remarked.
"Disappointed?"
"Curious." She folded her arms. "Varro's got a long memory and a short temper. You robbed his silver. He won't forget that."
Eli leaned against her desk. "Tell me about Bell."
Lena's expression darkened. She pulled a drawer open and slid a photograph across the desk—a tall, gaunt man in a tailored suit standing beside a mine entrance. His face was sharp, his smile thin as a razor cut.
"He owns the mines, the saloons, half the land in this county," she said. "And the sheriff."
Eli picked up the photo. "Why haven't you printed any of this?"
Her laugh was bitter. "Last time I tried, my press 'accidentally' caught fire." She met his eyes. "Bell doesn't like attention. He prefers to pull strings from the shadows."
---
### **A Warning in the Dark**
That night, Eli stepped out of The Silver Flask and into an ambush.
Three men blocked the alley—miners, by their dirt-stained clothes and hard eyes. The leader, a thick-necked brute with a broken nose, cracked his knuckles.
"Varro sends his regards."
Eli's hand went to his pistol, but he was outnumbered. The first punch sent him reeling into the wall. The second split his lip. He tasted blood, heard laughter.
Then a shotgun blast shattered the night.
The miners froze.
Lena stood at the mouth of the alley, the barrel of her Winchester leveled at them. "Next one goes through your skulls."
They fled.
Eli wiped his mouth, wincing. "You always this dramatic?"
She didn't lower the gun. "You're lucky I was passing by."
He doubted that was an accident.
---
### **A Dangerous Offer**
Back in her office, Lena poured whiskey over a rag and pressed it to Eli's split lip. He hissed.
"You're making enemies faster than friends," she said.
"You offering to be one of the friends?"
She studied him. "Maybe. But I want something in return."
"What?"
"Help me expose Bell."
Eli laughed, then regretted it as pain shot through his face. "You're insane. We don't even have proof of half the things he's done."
"Then we get it." Her voice was steel. "You're a lawyer. You know how to follow paper trails. I know where the bodies are buried—literally."
Eli exhaled. "Why risk it?"
For the first time, Lena's mask slipped. "Because my brother worked in Bell's mine. He asked too many questions about 'accidents.' Now he's dead."
Silence hung between them.
Eli made his decision.
"Where do we start?"
---
### **A Shadow Moves**
Two days later, Holloway returned—and brought trouble with him.
A rider had arrived ahead of him, bearing a message for Eli:
*"Mr. Bell requests your presence at the Silver Star office. Tonight. Come alone."*
Holloway read it over Eli's shoulder and grimaced. "That's not a request. It's a trap."
Eli folded the paper. "Or a chance."
Lena's words echoed in his mind. *Bell doesn't like attention.*
Maybe it was time to meet the devil face-to-face.
---