"Then we'll have to think of something else, something that will appease them."

"Your return to Fort Union will satisfy them." Her chin came up and her knuckles whitened on the cloth she was holding.

"No," she said firmly.

"It's not going to happen. Not now. Not without Ryder." Her eyes widened and her features became still as another thought occurred to her.

"You don't intend to try to take him back, do you? You didn't help make him well just to see him hang?" jarret paused a beat too long in responding and had to duck the damp washcloth that was fired at his face like a snowball. He held up his hands, partly in surrender, partly to ward off another missile.

"Answer me, damn you." Mary snapped, coming to her feet.

"Is that why you've been so helpful, because you've planned all along to force Ryder to go back to Fort Union?" Jarret stood as well. His voice was deep and steady, reflecting a shade more control than Mary's.

"Listen to me," he said flatly.

"There are enough men already looking for Ryder. I don't have to concern myself with his capture. Do you understand what I'm saying?

It's inevitable. Your father's offered a reward for him, separate from the one for your safe return. That means he's worth the same amount dead or alive." He saw Mary's complexion pale. Her green eyes were impossibly large in her face.

"The one with the best chance to collect the reward is the Tonto scout who bears Ryder no special affection. I've already shared that with Ryder which is more than I had to do or probably should have done.

Ryder's accident out there enabled me to pick up his trail. it's only a matter of time before Rosario is able to do the same." Mary took no pains to hide the small measure of relief she felt. When Jarret looked at her as if she'd lost her mind she explained.

"You don't understand," she said.

"While the Tonto and the Chiricahua have no liking for one another, they're still Apache, and this is sacred ground to the Apache. That scout won't come in here, not if he doesn't want to be visited by the dead ancestors of all the tribes." Jarret let out a long breath. This information put another twist on their circumstances.

"Burial grounds?" he asked. She nodded.

"Ryder and I are safe in here.

If I erase his blood signs on the route to this interior chamber, even you wouldn't be able to find your way in here again." There was more truth to that than Jarret wanted to admit. He sat down on the curved arm of the wing chair, stretching one leg out to the side, and considered what he had learned.

"I doubt Ryder has plans to stay in here forever," he said finally.

"Rosario will be waiting for him outside the cavern. If not Rosario, someone like him."

"Then you'll have to make certain the trail to the cavern is covered.

Better yet, that it proves misleading." Her expression was earnest now.

"You can do that."

"Why would I want to?" Mary nearly stamped her foot in frustration.

"For me," she said.

"Because I'm asking you to. If my safety means something to you, then don't let the scouts or the Army find me too easily."

"I thought we were talking about Ryder being found."

"It's all the same. If he's found, then I will be, too. I'm not going with you, Jarret. I mean it. I'm staying with him."

"God, Mary... What you're asking..."

"He's innocent," she said. There was a naked plea in her voice now.

She was willing him to be convinced of her own conviction.

"He had nothing to do with the Colter Canyon raid. If he served some purpose it was as a target for the blame." Jarret's eyes darted to Ryder's still and sleeping form huddled beneath a mound of blankets.

His tone was frankly scoffing.

"He says he was set up?"

"No," she said, exasperated.

"I say he was set up."

"Mary, he oversaw every detail of the transport. Except for the newest recruits, he handpicked most of the men for the journey. The route was known only to a few officers, and Ryder himself was responsible for dividing the troop.

As if all that wasn't enough, he has a known history with the Chiricahua. His adopted Apache father is Naiche, blood brother to Geronimo." Mary was taken aback by all the information Jarret had on Ryder, most of which she did not know herself. Still, it did not sway her from her argument.

"Who better to frame?" she asked in reply.

"With so much stacked against Ryder just because of who he is, it hardly provided any challenge for the criminals."

"And the real criminals would be?..." His voice trailed off expectantly and one of his dark brows kicked up.

"I don't know," Mary admitted reluctantly.

"That's what I plan to find out. That's why I'm not going back with you." His look was patently suspicious now.

"And that's the only reason?"

"It's the only reason I'm giving you," she said tartly.

"I'll return to Fort Union with Ryder when his name is cleared. Not before then--not alive anyway." Jarret rolled his eyes.

"A bit too much drama at the end for my tastes." Mary's expression turned sheepish.

"I.

couldn't help myself." He sighed.

"All right, so you're not going back with me. That doesn't help me deal with your family.

I owe them some explanation. God knows, they're preparing for the worst."

"That I'm dead?"

"That you're involved." Mary's brow puckered "Involved? How do they mean that?"

"They mean from the beginning. We all know you met Ryder before you ever came out here. Florence Gardner gave that tidbit to your mother."