Ernie sat in the saloon as Ethan walked up to him.

"You seen Burke or Trevor…?"

The reporter shook his head while drinking from his glass of ale.

"I saw them earlier but I suspect you know that. But in the last few hours, no and I would imagine their boss Wyatt prefers it that way."

Ethan already guessed that but Darrin wasn't going to get what he wanted. As marshal, Ethan wanted answers straight up from him and his two security men but more than that, he wanted to erase the suspicions that he had that one or both men had gone after Amelia to try to hurt or kill her. To silence her at any rate would be his guess and he wanted to find out why. After all, the three of them along with the dead man and Ernie here had all been in San Francisco at roughly the same time, including the night when Warrick had been gunned down on a city street. He knew that two security men had killed Warrick in front of Amelia because they'd been after her for reasons that had to do with her ex-husband Pierce. But what the men had done…they would have to pay for once Ethan found out who they were…and since Amelia wasn't helping him that meant he had to do it on his own.

"He's not getting his way," Ethan said, "They're wanted in connection with an investigation of Walton's death."

"In your jail cell while your deputies were elsewhere."

Ethan ordered ale from Sam who handed it to him. The bartender looked unhappy with him and Ethan knew it had to do with the fact that two of his best saloon girls Rosie and Scarlett were both spending most of their time working for Bella at her ranch. He didn't trust the guy but he had bigger problems on his plate now with Darrin and his men.

"They were called out for a disturbance and when they got there they didn't find anything," Ethan said, "Looks like they were set up to draw them away from the jail while the killer could get inside and finish off the prisoner."

"Finish off? An interesting choice of words…"

"Guess it tells you who I think did it," Ethan said, "I can't find any other suspects…no one came into town that night according to Clancy and the other ranchers."

Ernie shook his head.

"I thought this was a quiet little town, a mining town trying to reemerge from the last bust but it's as full of intrigue as the city I left behind."

"I thought you were out here to do a story on Bella Rogers."

Ernie nodded.

"Originally yes, but you know the story's changed."

"So you know more about this murder than you've said so far?"

Ernie paused.

"I believe it's connected to what happened in San Francisco since that's where the players are all from or been…including Amelia. Where is she by the way? Haven't seen her either…"

Ethan shrugged and sipped his drink.

"Back at Bella's ranch," Ernie continued, "or deciding to take a trip out of town again…?"

"No where you need to know," Ethan said, "You've harassed her enough already."

Ernie smiled.

"Harassed is that what you call reporting?"

"In your case yes…if she wants to talk to you, she'll go see you."

Ernie sighed.

"It doesn't always work that way Ethan," he said, "sometimes we have to approach the subjects, not everyone's always willing to talk at first."

Ethan knew that to be true in his own line of work and yes, sometimes you had to approach people for interviews more than once before they finally weakened. But Amelia was better off where she was right now even though she'd suffered injuries and wouldn't tell him how. Not the truth anyway and she wasn't a liar…he knew there had to be a reason. But right now, he had a job to do and if he tracked down and put away the men who killed Walton, then maybe anyone who might have hurt her would be gone as well.

"I have a killer to find except I know there are two of them."

"Can I quote you on that?"

Ethan just shot him a look, finished his ale and walked on out of the saloon. He ran into Charlie who was heading towards the bank.

"Before you ask, no I haven't seen Burke or Trevor…not anywhere."

Ethan figured as much.

"They're still in town," he said, "They have to be. Darrin's got them hidden somewhere…probably in plain sight."

Charlie shook his head.

"This situation's a mess Ethan and with Founder's Day coming up…it's going to mess up the Wyatts' plans to get this town booming again."

"I don't care about that Charlie…I just want whoever killed that man to get what's coming to them."

Charlie sighed.

"It's bigger than us Ethan if it goes back to where he came from."

Ethan figured that Charlie had heard the rumors too which naturally circulated with Ernie going around and interviewing everyone.

"You know you do anything to those two men and some like Axelrod are going to protest."

Ethan sighed.

"I don't care Charlie…Axelrod's always protesting something and he's tried to have me run out of town more times than I can count. But whoever killed Walton's not getting away from it and if it costs the businessmen their paid security they'll just have to live with it."

Ethan walked away from him before his deputy responded.

Amelia looked at Bella who stood next to her at the window. She'd gotten up when her friend had arrived, feeling a little dizzy but that soon passed. She knew she was getting better and wanted to head back to the ranch soon. Ethan would be joining them after he finished his work in town and spend some time with her until she sent him back home to the children. He'd spent enough time away from them already and she knew she'd be fine.

Bella sighed.

"You need to just tell him…you need to tell him that you know Burke."

Amelia turned away from the window and went to sit on the bed while Bella stayed there.

"I don't know Burke…I just know what those two men looked like and what they did for work," she said, "I didn't know their names…and I didn't know Burke was one of them until I saw him."

"He sure remembered you it sounds like if he came after you like that."

Amelia nodded soberly. She knew that he'd remembered because she saw the flash of recognition in his eyes the minute she felt the icy chill inside of her. He'd come after her to kill her so she wouldn't be able to tell Ethan or anyone else that she knew him.

"He'll try again; you do know that once he's found out he's failed," Bella said, "If he's not looking for you already."

Amelia sighed.

"He won't try right away," she said, "Darrin's probably got him someplace lying low because he knows that Ethan suspects him and the other man of murder."

Bella shook her head.

"What a tragedy…I had no idea all this would follow us back here."

"I didn't either and I'm not sure it did," Amelia said, "I think there's some other connection here that we're all missing."

"Ethan will have to find it Amelia. He's good at that and you need to heal up from what happened," Bella said, "Burke's done enough to you already…someone just needs to find him and lock him up."

Amelia looked at her hands, not wanting to think about the past. She had to think now of what might happen to Ethan if he knew the truth.

"Ethan would kill him if he found out."

Bella shrugged.

"Maybe he should…the world needs less men like Burke. It won't miss him."

Amelia knew that but she knew that if anything happened to Ethan…she might never get over it and she'd feel guilty that she'd been its cause. No, it was better to just find a way to deal with Burke on her own and keep Ethan out of it. He had four children to raise and they needed him more than she did to take care of the man who'd hurt her.

"It's not for us to decide," She said, "It's for the justice system."

Not that she believed one word of that anymore but she'd have to keep her own plans quiet even from Bella. She'd never have a chance at a normal life anymore; she didn't feel like herself or a woman that she even recognized. What Burke and another man had done had marked her forever, in ways that could never be removed. In ways she couldn't share with anyone else because how could anyone understand what she'd been through? Something that just to survive it didn't mean staying alive.

But Bella knew her better than she thought.

"Amelia I know you don't really believe that," she said, "You have to let Ethan handle this and deal with these men. You need to stay out of it."

Amelia stood up.

"I can't ever stay out of it," she said, "I dream about those men every night and I wake up and for a split second I'm still there and then…even in the daytime I see things, I hear and then I'm there all over again and I can't escape it."

She rubbed her forehead and just wanted to stop thinking about it. She just knew she didn't want anything bad to happen to Ethan and lose him, for the children to lose the only family they had left. Bella walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll find a way to get them Amelia," she said, "You just have to trust in that."

Amelia knew if she did that then Ethan might wind up dead.