Once Walt started driving Jacob had little choice but to stay in the truck. He knew he couldn't overpower Walt and running didn't seem a viable option either. He did consider trying to get away, find someone and tell them he was being held against his will. Two things kept him from it. First, he wasn't sure anyone would believe him. He was a Native American in the company of a Sheriff after all. Most people would probably believe he had done something to deserve to be held by the authorities. Second, he was holding on to the fact that whatever difficulties he had with Walt in the past, that Walt really was an honorable man and would do the right thing in the end.

There was one thing Jacob knew for sure, that he wished he hadn't picked up the envelope the Sheriff had given to him. Once he did he couldn't tear himself away from it. Like everyone else he had heard that Walt's wife had died of cancer. The papers now in his hands proved otherwise and while reading them he started to make connections he hadn't anticipated. The crime scene photos of Martha's death were graphic and the written report included every explicit detail. He poured over the contents of that envelope almost the entire trip to Denver. He hadn't even realized the direction they had been going but after reading the file he was not entirely surprised when they crossed the Colorado state line. Once they arrived in Denver Walt drove straight to the location where Martha had been attacked letting Jacob out of the truck to walk around the crime scene. Walt took him everywhere she had been the last day of her life and finished with a trip to the hospital, going so far as to walk Jacob to the very room where his wife had died.

Jacob had been involved in some questionable activities in his past, but he had never really gotten dirty in the process. He had shielded himself from the realities he helped to create somehow thinking that if he maintained his distance and never knew exact details that he could keep his hands clean. He was now starting to doubt that had been the best course of action for him to follow, especially when he got to the last few pages of the file. They indicated that David Ridges had traveled to Denver and hired the man that murdered Martha Longmire and then later killed that same man to keep him from talking about what he had done and who had paid him to do it.

Jacob and Barlow Connally had never gotten along very well. Perhaps it was because they were too much alike. Still, Jacob had been more than willing to allow Barlow to hire his employee David Ridges for Barlow's offer of $50,000. He hadn't asked any questions, neither of Barlow or of David. He thought it better if he didn't know details of the dealings between the two men. He hadn't even known that David had left the state to take care of whatever task Barlow had for him to do. When there seemed to be no immediate fall out after the time frame for their arrangement had ended he thought all was well. Later, when Barlow approached Jacob about funneling money to his son's election campaign and made a convincing argument that it would be in Jacob's best business interest to do so, he agreed to that as well. Since then they had developed a workable, if tenuous relationship.

Jacob had no idea what Barlow had been up to three years ago but today it had become very clear. He was also confident that with the money that exchanged hands and Ridges now dead, he could be held at least partially responsible for Martha Longmire's death. One thing of which Jacob had become most aware was that right now, Walt believed he was the one who had ordered Ridges to have his wife killed. Jacob suspected that the Sheriff didn't know the part Barlow had played in all this. He wondered how much Walt would be willing to let go in exchange for that information. Jacob had something to offer Walter Longmire that could be used to his advantage.

"I want to make a deal."

"We've already tried that Jacob. I'm not interested."

"You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss it. Don't you want to know who is behind all this, who is really responsible for your wife's death?"

"I already know who's behind it all and believe me, you're going to pay for what you've done."

"Walt, you have no idea what you're saying. This conspiracy goes much deeper than you think. Besides, why would I want your wife dead?"

"She opposed your casino."

"So did a lot of people, many still do, yet none of them have turned up dead. So why her? Have you ever wondered why she was the one targeted?"

"Every day."

"Did you ever think that perhaps this was personal? A direct attack against you for instance?"

"I've already been down those roads. All of them resulted in dead ends except the one that leads to you."

"Maybe you haven't exhausted all the possibilities. You and I have had our differences, but there has always been at least some level of respect between us. I certainly don't hate you enough to kill an innocent woman. Is there anyone else you know who is cold and calculating enough to be willing to do that just to hurt you, someone who despises you with every inch of his being?"

Walt glances sideways at Jacob as he eases the truck back onto I-25.

"Maybe."