Samuel grabbed Elena's arm and followed her toward the narrow passage.
Behind them, Hale shouted orders.
They moved through the darkness, stumbling over rocks and uneven ground. Water splashed around their boots as they descended into a lower tunnel.
At the end of the passage, they found a narrow opening that led toward the hillside.
Samuel pushed aside a fallen branch and climbed through.
Elena followed.
They emerged into the night several hundred yards from the mine entrance.
Samuel bent forward, breathing heavily.
Elena looked toward the ridge.
"We have to leave."
Samuel nodded.
He checked the ledger inside his coat.
It was still there.
But they had lost their chance to recover the original agreement.
And Victor Hale now knew that they were determined to stop him.
Chapter Five: The Document in the Courthouse
Red Hollow's courthouse was a small brick building on the western side of town.
It had been constructed when the settlement was little more than a trading post. Its windows were narrow, its floors creaked underfoot, and its archive room smelled of dust, leather, and old paper.
Samuel and Elena arrived before sunrise.
They had spent the night traveling along the hills to avoid Hale's men. By the time they reached town, the streets were nearly empty.
The sheriff's office was dark.
Samuel approached the courthouse door and tested the handle.
Locked.
Elena looked toward the windows.
"Can you open it?"
Samuel examined the lock.
"I can try."
He worked with a small metal tool until the mechanism finally gave way.
Inside, they moved quietly through the hallway.
The archive room was at the back of the building. Its shelves contained property deeds, tax records, court documents, and maps dating back to the earliest settlement.
Elena knew the records they needed.
Her father had once shown her a copy of the original water agreement, explaining that the document had been filed when the first well was constructed.
It established that the spring was a shared resource and that no private owner could redirect its flow without the consent of the affected residents.
If the agreement remained valid, Hale's project could be stopped.
They searched for nearly an hour.
Samuel examined the shelves while Elena checked the handwritten index.
At last, she found a reference to the original spring survey.
The file was marked with a date from nearly forty years earlier.
She pulled it from the shelf and opened it carefully.
Inside were several maps and a folded agreement bearing the signatures of the town's founders.
The document confirmed what Elena had suspected.
The spring had been designated a shared water source.
The agreement also established that the underground channel crossed several privately owned properties, but the water itself could not be diverted for exclusive commercial use without public approval.
Hale had no such approval.
Samuel examined the signatures.
One belonged to his grandfather.
Another belonged to Elena's great-grandfather.
The two men had signed the agreement on the same day.
Samuel stared at the names.
"Our families knew each other."
Elena nodded.
"They helped build the first well."
Samuel looked at the document again.
"My grandfather never told me."
"Perhaps he believed the agreement would remain respected."
Samuel gave a quiet laugh.
"That would have been a mistake."
He read the final section.
A handwritten note had been added several years later, recording a dispute over the boundaries near the old mine. The note stated that the water rights would remain unchanged even if ownership of the surrounding land changed.
Samuel looked at Elena.
"This is what we need."
She nodded.
"We need copies, and we need the judge to authenticate the document."
They began copying the relevant sections by hand.
But before they could finish, a door slammed somewhere in the hallway.
Footsteps approached.
Samuel closed the file.
The sheriff entered the archive room.
Nathaniel Brooks was a broad man with a graying beard and a tired expression. He had served as sheriff for nearly a decade, and most people in Red Hollow considered him a reasonable man.
But Samuel had heard rumors about his relationship with Victor Hale.
He stepped between the sheriff and Elena.
"What are you doing here?" Brooks demanded.
"Looking for public records."
"At this hour?"
"The courthouse is a public building."
"Not when it is locked."
Samuel held up the document.
"We need you to examine this agreement."
Brooks glanced at the papers.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"From the archive."
"Put it back."
Elena stepped forward.
"It proves that the spring is a shared resource. Hale has no right to redirect it."
Brooks looked toward the hallway.
"You should leave."
Samuel stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because you are interfering with an investigation."
"What investigation?"
Brooks hesitated.
Then he spoke quietly.
"Victor Hale has filed a complaint accusing you of trespassing on company property and stealing business records."
Samuel almost laughed.
"He is redirecting a public spring, and you are investigating me?"
"The law is not as simple as you think."
"No," Samuel replied. "It is only as simple as the person paying you wants it to be."
Brooks's face reddened.
"Be careful."
Samuel stepped closer.
"Did Hale pay you to ignore the water agreement?"
The sheriff did not answer.
That silence told Samuel more than any confession could have.
Elena folded the document and placed it inside her bag.
Brooks reached toward her.
"Give me that."
Samuel blocked his hand.
"Don't."
For several seconds, the three of them stood motionless.
Then Brooks stepped back.
"You have no idea what you're involved in."
Samuel looked at him.
"Then explain it."
The sheriff lowered his voice.
"Hale has money, connections, and men who will do whatever he asks. If you continue, he will destroy your ranch, your reputation, and anyone who helps you."
"Is that why you became sheriff?"
Brooks looked away.
Samuel regretted the words as soon as he spoke them.
But he did not withdraw them.
Elena watched the sheriff carefully.
"Do you believe what Hale is doing is right?"
Brooks remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he said, "I believe that if you continue, people will get hurt."
Elena's expression softened slightly.
"People are already being hurt."
Brooks looked at her.
For a moment, the authority seemed to leave his face.
He looked like a tired man who had spent years making compromises until he could no longer remember what he had originally intended to protect.
Then he stepped aside.
"Take your copies," he said. "Leave the original."
Samuel stared at him.
"Why are you letting us go?"
Brooks looked toward the window.
"Because I am not yet willing to become the man Hale thinks I am."
They left the courthouse with the copies of the agreement.
Samuel did not trust the sheriff.