"That's the betrayal that made him push you down these stairs. Senator Stillwell wasn't very interested in what we had uncovered about Colter Canyon until we mentioned your tryst with the lieutenant. That engaged his attention. He saw us as a way to get back at you." Anna Leigh shrugged.

"If he thinks about it he'll know it didn't mean anything. Why would I care for Davis when Wilson can give me so much more? I have no intention of being a lieutenant's wife."

"Even with all the gold you have?" asked Ryder.

"That certainly would smooth out life's little bumps."

"All the gold?" Anna Leigh said scornfully.

"What do you suppose was my portion when it was all said and done? Not much, I can tell you. Wilson had the ore shipped and processed into bullion.

That's not something that can be readily used as legal tender. It will be a while before anyone can spend it."

"But in the meantime you can dream about what it will buy."

"Your uncle took the lion's share and the rest was split between all the men."

"That's only fair," Ryder said, his voice suddenly taut.

"They had to kill their bivthers for it." Anna felt the vibration of Ryder's tightly strung anger as if it were a wave in the cool, moist air.

She found herself recoiling to avoid a slap that never came.

"They knew what they had to do for it," she rejoined.

"They accepted the assignment. Most of them welcomed it. You know for yourself that none of them flinched when the time came. No one was left alive who could say what had happened in Colter Canyon except for the men who had done the deed." She raised her chin. The brilliant sparkle of her blue eyes was lost in the darkness.

"And none of them are talking."

"You certainly are," Mary said. She rested her head against the wooden wine rack and closed her eyes. So it was true, she thought. Anna Leigh had confirmed the horrible truth of Colter Canyon. One bluecoat against another. Not for flag or freedom, but for gold. Her nails continued to trace the mortar maze between the bricks in the cellar floor. Struggling for control she opened her eyes again.

"But then I suppose you still believe the senator will come to his senses and take your side."

Anna Leigh didn't have to respond. Mary knew it was the truth.

She touched Ryder's thigh.

"We have all the answers," she said.

"What do we do now?" His response was long in coming, as if he were shaking off the sadness. Mary swore she could see Ryder's slowly emerging smile when he finally said, "Celebrate, of course, and wait for the enemy to charge." Bemused, Mary let herself be drawn to her feet and led between the tall racks of wine.

"Where are you going?" Anna Leigh called a little uncertainly. She squinted, trying to see.

"Are you leaving me?" Ryder ignored her. Running his free hand along the wall of bottles, he asked Mary, "Is there something in particular you'd like to try?" Mary frowned.

"Ryder, you know I don't drink much."

"I wasn't thinking that we'd drink it."

"Well then, what are we--"

"Break them," he said.

"Break them all."

"And wait for the enemy," she whispered slowly, understanding.

"Ryder McKay, I like the way you think." She took a bottle by the neck and removed it from the rack.

"I'll start with this." Ryder found her face, cupped it, and kissed her swiftly and sweetly on the mouth.

"Be careful," he said.

"I'll be at the top of the stairs." She nodded.

"I.

thought you would." She heard him tell Anna Leigh to get out of the way; then he climbed the steps. Mary had to knock the first bottle of wine against the floor a few times before it broke.

The sound was not as satisfying as she'd hoped it would be. The thud was too dull and the bottle didn't shatter easily.

"I don't think he'll hear that," she said. Anna Leigh groped around in the darkness until she came upon Mary.

"Here, let me try." She gripped one bottleneck and pitched it hard in the direction of where she knew a wall would be. It shattered nicely.

"You have to know where to throw it. I've seen Wilson's cellar before."

"How nice for you," Mary said dryly. Anna Leigh's assistance now wasn't going to make her a fast friend. Mary hefted a bottle and tossed it. It broke easily. She tossed anothet, then another. Anna Leigh joined her and they pitched the bottles in unison. Overhead they could hear the heavy thud of running feet. Senator Stillwell was pounding down the hallway to save his beloved collection of vintage wines.

"He's coming!" Mary whispered.

"Yes," Anna Leigh said.

"He is." The last thing Mary saw was the sliver of light at the top of the stairs as Senator Stillwell threw open the door.

She remembered thinking it was a good thing the bottle Anna Leigh brought down squarely on her head didn't shatter.

"Look out, Wilson!" Anna Leigh cried.

"It's a trap!" Her warning came too late. The senator had already launched himself headlong onto the stairway, his revolver drawn. Ryder rose from his crouched position and drove a fist hard into his uncle's midsection. Wilson Stillwell groaned and lost his balance. The force of his headlong plunge knocked Ryder off his feet and for the second time in the space of an hour, Ryder twisted and dove down the length of the stairs. Stillwell's gun was discharged as it thudded against a step, its bullet exploding a magnum of Moet et Chandon. Anna Leigh screamed as she was struck in the face by champagne and shards of flying glass, and she screamed even louder when she tasted blood mixed with the bubbly. Ryder wrestled the senator to the floor, taking a surprisingly stiff blow on his chin as they both grappled for the gun.

Stillwell caught it once with his fingertips, but sent it skittering along the bricks when Ryder reached for it, too. The door at the top of the stairs began to swing shut slowly, cutting off the hallway's gaslight. With the return of complete darkness Wilson Stillwell got lucky. His roundhouse punch connected with Ryder's temple, knocking Ryder sideways and further wrenching his knee. The senator threw himself in the direction where he'd last spied the gun and began flailing around for it.

Ryder caught him by the legs and pulled him back. Stillwell's aggressive chin got a solid thudding as he was dragged belly first across the brick floor. He groaned as Ryder straddled him and yanked his arms behind him.

"Now what?" Stillwell said tersely, one side of his face pressed uncomfortably against the floor.

"You don't have anything for tying my hands." Ryder had realized that as well.

"I'm prepared to improvise." Without any more warning than that, he raised himself high enough to turn his uncle over, then he knocked him out with a hard right hook. Suddenly there was light at the top of the stairs as the door was opened again.