“Refused!” Vanburgh replied. “Can you imagine the insolence?”
Troy brushed his thumb across the scar on his cheek as he leaned against the doorway. If he hadn’t cleared his throat, Vanburgh would have forgotten he was there.
“Sir, he’s made it personal,” Troy said. “The townsfolk are talking. Everyone. Hawk didn’t just refuse...he humiliated Carter in front of the whole town.”
Vanburgh’s eyes narrowed. A dark glint sharpened his gaze. “Humiliated him?” He rose from the desk and began pacing. “Humiliated him? He’s mocked me, and he thinks he can walk away?”
Dilan stepped forward carefully. “He’s fast and clever. The town whispers about him already. People are either scared or impressed. Either way, they’re watching.”
“I don’t care what they’re watching,” Vanburgh said, spinning around. “I am the authority. I am power in this county. And Hawk just made it personal. Interesting. And intolerable.”
A clerk swallowed. “Shall I send men after him, sir?”
“Do you think I’m not already planning that?” Vanburgh asked. “This little stunt will not go unpunished. I want himwatched, every nerve punished before I consider what comes next. And Carter...his jaw is ruined. Good. Let him learn what it means to serve me and fail. Lesson one.”
Joel leaned on the doorframe as he glanced between the men in the room.
“Sir, we could move tonight,” he spoke up. “Send a small team. Catch him before he rallies anyone. The tribe, the townsfolk...they’re murmuring.”
Vanburgh’s smile was thin and dangerous. “Tonight? No. Hawk thinks I strike fast and blind. He doesn’t know me. He thinks law and bullets are all I have. Patience...patience is a weapon he’ll learn soon enough. But I will act soon. This insolence cannot fester.”
“Should we warn the men in town, sir?” the clerk asked, his voice trembling.
“Warn them?” he asked. “Why would I? Hawk and his little friend Abigail think they’ve seen a storm. They haven’t. They’ll see it soon. And when it comes, it will burn every boardwalk, every roof, every inch of Silver Cross that dares harbor them.”
Troy nodded slowly. “And the railroad?”
“The railroad doesn’t care about townsfolk or some half-breed prospector’s morality,” Vanburgh replied. “It bends to money and power. But Hawk...he thinks he can stand inthe path of progress and law? He’ll learn what happens when ambition meets me. This is no longer business. It’s personal. Don’t think I’ve forgotten what he’s done to the men stationed at Eagle Rock.”
He strode to the window, gripping the sill. Outside, the plains stretched far and wide. Dust glimmered in the late afternoon sun. Hawk was out there, outsmarting him with every step. Vanburgh’s muscles coiled, every nerve thrummed with anger.
“He thinks he can humiliate Vanburgh and walk away? He’ll find out the mistake he’s made. The entire valley will remember his insolence.”
“Sir...” Dilan said slowly. “Send word to the men in the canyon. Reinforcements?”
“Reinforcements?” Vanburgh asked before scoffing. “No. They’ll be too late. Hawk moves fast, but he cannot outrun the reckoning. I need precision. I need fear. I will act myself first, and he’ll never see it coming. Then...then he’ll learn what happens when I am insulted.”
“And the woman that rides with him?” Joel asked.
“She’s collateral,” he replied, narrowing his eyes. “Not the target...but any shield she throws in his way...that’s a lesson too. He cares for her. Makes it easier to strike where it hurts. When Hawk’s pride bleeds, he’ll make mistakes. And we will be waiting.”
He leaned back, eyes tracing the maps on the walls. Roads, trails, riverbeds. Every path Hawk might take.
“The courts are slow,” he added. “The law is weak. Patience is mine. Hawk can provoke, mock, punch my agents, and the town can whisper. I will not forgive. I will not forget.”
Silence fell. Only the soft rustle of maps and the clink of Vanburgh’s rings punctuated the quiet. Then Vanburgh spoke again.
“Send word,” he said. “Watch the town. Keep me informed of every move he makes. Tell the men in the canyon to be ready. If Hawk shows near Eagle Rock, they do not fail. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the men chorused.
Vanburgh returned his gaze to the horizon with his jaw set. “I’ll deal with him myself if I must,” he said. “No more waiting. No more insults. Hawk thinks he can mock me in my own county...Now he’ll see why that’s a mistake.” He sank back into his chair, fingers steepled. “Tomorrow...or the day after, he’ll wish he had taken the money. But he didn’t. I always collect what is owed.”
The wind shifted outside, carrying dust and the faint sound of distant hooves across the plains. Vanburgh’s plans were dark. Unforgiving. Anthony Hawk had moved first, but Vanburgh was ready. When the pieces fell, only one would remain standing.
The anger that simmered through days of obstacles now boiled into something lethal. His lips twisted into a thin line.
“He’ll pay,” he whispered. “And he’ll pay in ways he can’t imagine. He thinks it’s about money, about courts, about pride...it’s about power. And power always wins.”
