Caleb understood.
"Keep everyone fighting."
Takoda nodded.
"When frightened people fight each other, they stop watching the men profiting from the fear."
"Who?"
"A trading company."
"What company?"
Takoda looked at him.
"Black Ridge."
Caleb nearly pulled his horse to a stop.
Black Ridge Mercantile supplied half the ranches surrounding Tucson.
Its owner, Gideon Rusk, was one of the wealthiest businessmen in southern Arizona.
More importantly, Rusk had known Caleb's family his entire life.
Gideon had attended Jonathan Morgan's funeral.
After Caleb's mother died, Gideon had helped the nineteen-year-old cowboy secure his first ranch loan.
"That's impossible."
Takoda said nothing.
Caleb shook his head.
"Gideon was my father's friend."
"So was I."
The answer made Caleb uneasy.
By afternoon they reached Red Mesa.
Nothing stood there except cliffs and abandoned stone foundations.
Caleb dismounted.
"This is home?"
Takoda pointed toward a collapsed structure near the mesa.
"Your father lived there before you were born."
Caleb stared.
"My parents lived in Prescott."
"Later."
They searched the ruins.
Near sunset, Nayeli found an iron ring buried beneath dirt.
Caleb pulled.
A wooden hatch opened.
Below it was a small underground room.
Inside stood a table.
Two chairs.
Shelves.
And dozens of sealed metal containers.
Caleb opened one.
Documents.
Maps.
Letters.
Old newspaper clippings.
Accounts.
He lifted a photograph.
Three men stood together outside the same stone building.
One was a much younger Chief Takoda.
Another was Jonathan Morgan.
The third was Gideon Rusk.
Caleb felt something cold move through him.
"They knew each other."
Takoda nodded.
"All three of us did."
Caleb turned.
"You said Rusk was behind it."
"He became part of it."
"Became?"
Takoda entered the room.
"When we were young, Gideon believed what Jonathan believed. That ranchers and Apache families could stop being manipulated into endless retaliation."
"What changed?"
"Money."
Black Ridge began as a legitimate trading company.
Then railroad surveyors arrived.
Land values rose.
Mining companies appeared.
Water became more valuable than cattle.
Gideon realized that frightened settlers sold cheap.
Displaced Apache communities left valuable corridors open.