“I have a message for Sims Callahan,” the stranger said to Will Spencer. “Understand you have him in your jail.”
Will ambled to his feet and blocked the opening. “I do.”
“What I have to say is private.”
“Who are you?” Will asked.
“Name’s Jerome. Work for Lester Perryman.”
Will nodded. “Perryman? The banker over in Sharpsburg?”
“He owns the bank, yes. Among other things.”
“And what business would Perryman have with Callahan?” Will asked.
“My message is for Callahan, sheriff. Now, will you open his cell and let me in?”
“Callahan?” Will called over his shoulder, “You have a visitor, works for Perryman. You know him?”
Perryman? Oh, yes, Callahan knew Perryman, knew him well. He held the mortgage on his and Ben’s ranch. He’d expected to hear from the man, but not so soon. The loan wasn’t due until fall. “Yeah. Let him in.”
“Guess you’d better let me search you,” Will told Jerome. “Just in case you plan to break my prisoner out of jail.”
“I certainly do not!” Jerome sounded offended. He held out his arms while Will checked for a gun.
Wearing a black suit and a small round hat, the man looked downright odd. As Callahan watched, it came to him that it wasn’t the clothes so much as it was the man wearing them. He was lean and suntanned, not like a banker’s associate, and his boots were those of a cowboy, not a clerk.
Will paused at the suggested bulge of a shoulder holster. “I’ll take the gun,” he said.
The visitor let out an oath, then handed over a small pistol concealed beneath his coat.
“And what do you have in your case?” Will asked.
“Just some legal papers.” He opened it.
Will rifled through the case, then unlocked the cell door. “Go on in.”
“I’d like to talk in private,” Jerome said.
Will ignored Jerome and sat, assuming his resting position, feet on desk, head leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes. “You want to talk to my prisoner? Talk.”
Jerome stood awkwardly inside the cell, facing Callahan, who was lounging by the window.
Callahan let him wait for a few seconds before asking, “Don’t you think you’re a little early, Jerome? I have until November to make my loan payment.”
“No, you don’t.”
Callahan caught one of the bars in the window with his hand. “What do you mean?”
“That’s why I’m here. Your mortgage has been paid. In full.”
For a long time, Callahan simply stared at Perryman’s lackey. “I don’t understand. Who paid it?”
“Don’t know. Just know they closed out the paperwork. I had business in Laramie, and Perryman asked me to tell you that you’re out of debt. Too bad the other ranchers aren’t as lucky.” He smiled.
“Who paid it?” Callahan asked again softly, through gritted teeth. “I asked you, who paid off our mortgage?”
Jerome started backing up. “That’s confidential information. I couldn’t tell you even if I knew. And I don’t. Too bad about your cattle. But it looks like you’ve still got your land. Let me out, sheriff.”
Will opened the cell door, allowing Jerome to scurry out.
From his window, Callahan watched as Jerome tipped his hat to one of the bar girls walking down the wooden sidewalk. Then he climbed on a handsome dun-colored horse tied to the rail out front and rode off.
Callahan hit the wall with his fist and let out a roar. It made no sense. Ben was missing. Who the hell had paid off their mortgage? Why?
“Looks like that about sews it up, Callahan,” Will said.
“What does that mean?”
“You answered your own question. Your ranch note got paid. What did you and your brother do with the rest of the money?”
“You think I’m that stupid, Spencer? Can’t you see, someone is trying to frame me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but I mean to find out.”
“Since you’re behind bars, you’d better hope Josie is as good a lawyer as she is a doctor,” Will said wryly. “And while we’re talking about Josie, there’s something I want to say.”
“Oh? What?”
“Lubina told me that you seemed … interested in Josie. I’m telling you to leave her alone. Dr. Annie and Dan are due back any day now. When they get here, they’ll put a stop to what’s going on. Josie doesn’t know anything about men like you, and you don’t know how to handle a woman like her.”
Callahan felt an unwelcome twinge of jealousy. Josie was his, not the sheriff’s. He wanted to claim her, strike out at the man who was scowling at him. But he couldn’t. “You may be right, Spencer. In fact, I’ve told Josie that myself. But I have a problem. You see, she’s the most stubborn woman I’ve ever known. She gets an idea in her head and you can’t change it.”
“Just so long as it isn’t you giving her the idea,” Will Spencer said. “I’m warning you. You just think you’ve got trouble now. Do anything to hurt Josie Miller and your neck might find its way to a rope.”
Josie knew that Callahan was in trouble. He had a right to be worried. She could defend him from the charges of theft. She could pull out her law books and find cases and examples. But she was in Wyoming, where decisions were based on appearances. If a snake looked like a snake, it was a snake. The money was gone. Ben Callahan was gone. If she didn’t find an explanation, that could be enough for a conviction. She’d already sent for Judge McSparren, but the truth was, she couldn’t be certain the judge would be open to more legal maneuvering. This time she needed witnesses, facts. And the facts were somewhere between Laramie and Sharpsburg.
She needed to talk to her old law professors, but that was impossible. The only way out was to start asking questions. And the place to start was Sharpsburg. That decision made, she started packing. It was after midnight when she heard a pounding on the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and the last thing she needed was another one of her mother’s patients.
“Señorita,” Lubina called out curtly, “there es someone to see you.” It was clear from the housekeeper’s voice that this someone did not meet Lubina’s approval.
Josie let out a sigh and started for the door.
“Miss Miller.” Ellie Allgood hurried down the corridor toward Josie. “I wouldn’t have come so late, but I’m delivering a message.” She stopped and glanced worriedly back at Lubina. “I was told we should talk privately.”
“It’s all right, Lubina. It’s only Miss Allgood, one of my clients. Go to bed. I’ll call you if I need you.”
Reluctantly the housekeeper returned to her room behind the kitchen.
“Come in,” Josie said.
“Thank you,” Ellie said quickly. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
Once inside the parlor, Josie closed the door behind them. “What’s wrong, Ellie?”
“I don’t rightly know. Mr. Callahan asked me to fetch you. He’s in a real tear.”
“Callahan? Is he ill?”
“Ill-tempered, maybe, but I don’t think that’s what’s got him stirred up. He says he’s got to see you tonight.”
“Did he say why?”
“He had a visitor this afternoon. Now he claims he may know who’s behind the missing money. I’m supposed to bring you to the jail.”
“Why didn’t he send the sheriff?”
“The sheriff rode over to Sharpsburg.”
“And you don’t have any idea who his visitor was?”
“A man, a dandy in a suit. That’s all I know.”
Josie thought about her packed traveling case. “Let me change into my riding clothes and get my hat and my law books.”
In ten minutes they were riding toward Laramie and Josie was deep in thought, mapping out her plans. She would ask for a jury trial. The evidence was all circumstantial. With any luck she could cast enough doubt about his guilt to get him off.
Josie realized that Ellie was prattling on about something. “I’m sorry, Ellie. What did you say?”
“I was asking you about Sheriff Spencer. Do you care for him?”
Josie shook her head, confused at the question. “Will? Care for Will? Is he sick?”
“Not his health, Miss Miller. Don’t you know the man is crazy about you?”
That stopped her. Dan had suggested the same thing once, but Josie hadn’t taken him seriously. “Why would Will be crazy about me?”
“I don’t know, Miss Miller … Josie. Maybe because he’s a man and you’re a lady. Does he need a reason?”
“I’m not interested in Will, not that way. If a woman cared for a man, he’d know, wouldn’t he?” She let her horse slow for just a moment, then said, “I mean, Will is just a friend. Actually, he’s more Annie’s friend than mine.”
Ellie let a slow smile curl her lips. “It’s Callahan, isn’t it? You’re sweet on him.”
“Don’t be silly, Ellie. I’m not sweet on Callahan.”
“You can’t fool me. I heard it in your voice. There’s something between you two, I can tell.”
Something between them? She tingled at the mention of his name. Her insides felt like Lubina’s yeast dough, rising in the sun. It quite simply overwhelmed her when she allowed herself to remember his touch.
“Josie?”
She didn’t answer Ellie; she couldn’t. This kind of truth was private.
Ellie’s whoop was her own response. “Good for you. You sure you know what you’re doing? You could be getting yourself into a mess of trouble.”
“Ellie, I’m not getting myself into anything. He’s my client. Nothing else.”
“Yeah, and Will Spencer’s going to suddenly forget I work in a saloon and invite me out for a Sunday drive,” Ellie said with a touch of bitterness in her voice. “I mean, he’s too old for me, anyway, and I’m too … used for him. You’d do better to go after him and leave Callahan for me.”
Josie finally grasped the reason behind Ellie’s questioning. “You really care about Will?”
“Everybody seems to know that but Will.” Ellie slowed her horse and glanced at Josie, frowning. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”
“If he doesn’t know you exist, it’s because you haven’t made him aware of the real you, the woman who stood up to Virgil Wayne, the one who cares about other people. You’ve proved yourself. You even look different, Ellie. Just keep on standing up straight and looking Will in the eye, and he’ll notice.”
“As long as Will is interested in you, I’m thinking that he won’t notice me. But maybe if you and Callahan—”
“There is no me and Callahan,” Josie snapped. “I’m his attorney, nothing more. Tomorrow I’m going to Sharpsburg to talk to the banker who holds the mortgage on Callahan’s ranch and anyone else I can find. I have to defend Callahan in court, and I need more than case law. I need facts.”
“You’re going to Sharpsburg alone? I can’t let you do that. Look what happened to Callahan, and he’s a man.”
“But I’m not carrying five thousand dollars.”
“That’s not the only valuable thing a woman has to lose,” Ellie argued. “I’ll go with you. And don’t worry, I know how to use a gun.”
Josie patted her saddlebag. “You mean the gun you gave to me? So do I, if I have to.”
The moon was high overhead when they rode into town—too bright for secrecy, Josie decided, riding straight up to the jail and dismounting. “Take your horse around back and wait for me, will you, Ellie? Leave mine out front. If anyone comes, you mustn’t get caught.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ellie climbed from her horse and started around the building, then stopped. “Are we breaking you in or Callahan out?”
Ever since the dandy representing Perryman had left, Callahan hadn’t been able to stay still. Who had paid the loan, and why had Perryman thought it important enough to send someone to tell him? It couldn’t have been because he was concerned. Perryman didn’t know the meaning of the word. There had to be a deeper motive.
Reluctantly, Will had agreed to check out the loan payoff at the Sharpsburg bank, leaving Callahan in the care of the newly deputized hotel manager. He’d seen Ellie walking past the jail, and through the bars on the window, he’d convinced her to fetch Josie. But that was hours ago. Callahan caught the bars and shook them angrily. “Josie!”
Callahan’s thoughts kept going back to Jerome. There was something not quite right about the man. He’d been dressed like a banker, but he didn’t seem comfortable with his mission. Callahan had been convinced something was wrong when Jerome left on a big dun-colored horse. The scene kept going around and around in his mind. Where had he seen a horse like that before?
Where? He started back across the cell, then stopped mid-stride. Damn! As clearly as if he’d been thrust back in time, he remembered. When he and Ben had been ambushed, he’d ridden away from the thieves, trying to divert them so that Ben could escape. Then pain. His horse had stumbled and he’d been thrown. Just before he passed out, he’d seen the horse, the dun-colored horse. He hadn’t gotten a good look at the rider, only the brand on the horse’s haunch—white, a shape like a crescent moon.
Now he’d seen that mark again. Perryman’s lackey was riding the same horse as the man who’d shot him, or a horse with the same brand. Where was Josie? She had to get him out of this jail.
He heard the sound of a horse—no, horses. Someone was coming. The outside door opened.
He waited. He knew who it was without having to see her. He recognized Josie’s scent—the same scent as on her pillow.
“Callahan?” she whispered. “Just hold on.”
Callahan heard her fumbling with the lock. She swore again, talking to herself as she worked at the door. “You can do this, Josie. You still remember how. All you need is a hairpin,” she muttered. A second later Callahan heard the rattle of the lock as it snapped.
The door swung open and Josie ran to the bunk. “Callahan, what’s wrong?”
He grabbed her, jerking her forward so that she fell across him. He intended to twist away and slip out the door. As much as he hated to do it, it was time to find his own answers. But there was one answer he needed first—from Josie.
He kissed her. She struggled briefly, but was no match for a determined man. It was a rough kiss, built of Callahan’s frustration and the knowledge that he wanted this woman, wanted her badly, wanted her to the point of risking capture by delaying his jailbreak for a kiss. It was easy to tell himself that he was only interested because he needed her help—until he touched her. Then every lie went out of his head. He softened his kiss until he felt her tentative response.
That did it. He was lost. She hesitantly allowed his tongue inside her mouth. They kissed, over and over, twisting, canting their heads, hands pulling against collars, buttons, shoulders. Her mouth was hot, her breathing sporadic, her purring soft as she pushed herself against him.
He pulled back. “Damn! I didn’t intend to do this. You drive me crazy, woman.”
She stared up at him, her lips swollen with passion and her eyes filled with confusion.
Callahan drew in a deep breath, trying to focus on his escape plan. “Something happened today, Josie. I think I know one of the men involved in the holdup, but I have to get out of here to prove it, and you have to help me.”
“You can’t go,” Josie whispered, dragging her shattered senses together. What was she doing? She reminded herself that she was here as an attorney, not some wanton woman whose body was nestled seductively against a man’s. She jerked herself free and sat down on the bunk. “Until I reach Judge McSparren, there’s no way you can be released.”
“Josie, I can’t wait. I have to get out of here.”
“No. And if you sent Ellie to get me so that I could break you out of jail, forget it. Callahan, I’m sworn to uphold the law. You’re a prisoner who happens to be my client. If you think kissing me senseless is going to persuade me to commit a crime, you’re wrong.”
“I understand your dilemma. But I won’t lose Ben. Help me, Josie.”
“You have to trust me, Callahan. I promise, I’ll get you out another way.”
Her respect for the law and her conviction that he would be exonerated was not only idealistic and misguided, it was downright foolish. He’d been on the wrong side of the law since before the end of the war. The law didn’t protect men like him, even when its representative was Miss Josie Miller.
She was still breathing hard, and she knew as well as he did that she couldn’t stop him if he really wanted to get past her.
Josie turned to look at Callahan. She couldn’t see him clearly, for there was no light, but in her mind she could picture his face, hard and chiseled. His eyes were piercing in the darkness and his breathing harsh in the silence. She could still feel the touch of his hands on her face, his lips on her mouth, and she wanted nothing more than to turn around and recapture the moment they’d just shared.
“I’m leaving, Josie,” he said, breaking the silence. “Before I go, I want you to know that I’m a man who wants you. But I know that this would be wrong—for me as your client and for you as my attorney. So you can scream for help or you can let me go and I’ll never bother you again. Either way, I’m escaping.”
Josie blinked, stared at him for a long minute, then stood up and backed away, still dazed by the tingling that made her lips feel as if they were connected to her kneecaps. Callahan had kissed her, yes. And she’d let him, welcomed it, and returned his kiss. He wanted her to betray her oath. She touched her mouth with the back of her hand.
“What did you say?”
“I said I’m leaving, Josie. I owe you my life, and I didn’t want to go without setting the record straight. What I’m doing isn’t fair to you. But I had to make a choice between you and Ben. You have a family, people who care, who will straighten this out and protect you. Ben doesn’t. I’ll lock you in this cell and you can tell them I overpowered you.”
“Callahan,” she sputtered, “if you break out of jail, you’ll seriously compromise our case.”
“I don’t have a choice,” he said moving toward her. “What happens to me isn’t important anymore. I have to find out the truth, but I can’t do it behind bars.”
For Josie, searching for the truth was a powerful persuader. Callahan’s life wasn’t like Ellie’s stolen watch. So far, she hadn’t found any legal precedent on which she could argue for release. And sleight of hand wouldn’t work here.
“Ben’s life is at stake, Josie,” he went on. “The Indian who brought me to you claims that a missionary train picked up Ben. If that’s not true, I might be too late to save him. But I still need to prove he’s innocent so that when Will catches up with that train, Ben won’t be branded a thief. To do that, I’ve got to get to Sharpsburg. I had a visitor today, a messenger from Perryman, the banker. The note on our ranch has been paid in full.”
That caught Josie’s attention. “But … by who? Ben?”
“That’s what I have to find out. I want to see those papers.”
“And there’s something else. I think Perryman’s messenger’s horse was wearing the same brand as the one that was being ridden by whoever shot me.” He took a step toward her.
“You’re not leaving,” she warned, reaching behind her for the cell door. “As your attorney, I won’t let you go.”
All she had to do was slide out and lock it behind her. But in the time it took her to decide, Callahan reached out and caught her arm.
“I’m dismissing you as my attorney, Josie. You’re fired.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
He jerked her against him, gave her one last kiss, then, while he had her off-balance, turned around and slipped through the door, closing it behind him and snapping the lock fast.
“Don’t do this, Callahan,” she said.
“I’m truly sorry, darlin’. You saved my life and I’m grateful. Hell, I’m more than grateful. Under other circumstances …” His voice trailed off. There were no other circumstances, and there was nothing he could say. He glanced around, wishing the sheriff had left a gun, but there was nothing.
“My horse is in front, Callahan. Take him.”
She heard the door open and close. Then there was nothing but silence. It was done. She’d picked the lock and let him break out without stopping him. Now she was an outlaw, just like him.
A few minutes passed and she went to work on the lock again. She heard footsteps and scurried to the cot to cover herself with Callahan’s blanket.
“Josie, where are you?”
It was Ellie. “I’m here,” Josie said, and flipped the blanket off.
“How’d Callahan get out of jail?”
“He broke out.”
Ellie laughed. “Somehow I don’t think your mama and daddy are going to believe that, Josie. I don’t even believe it.”
“Believe it,” she said and went back to working on the lock. “Get me some light. I’m trying to get this lock open.” She jabbed her hairpin into her thumb, dropped it, and swore.
Ellie fumbled along the wall until she found the lamp hanging by the front door. “Where’s the key?”
“I didn’t see it when I came in so I … uh … It’s too complicated to explain, Ellie. Just give me one of your hairpins.”
“You’re picking the lock?”
“I’m trying.”
By the time Josie got the door open, her hair was hanging loose over her shoulders and she was biting her lip and muttering in frustration. “I have to go after him. If he falls off that horse and rips open the stitches, he could bleed to death. I need a wagon.”
“Callahan isn’t a saloon girl you can save. You could get hurt.”
“Callahan may be desperate, but he won’t hurt me. You go on home, Ellie. I can take care of this.”
“You stay put,” Ellie said in a voice that realized argument would be fruitless. “I’ll get the wagon.”
Josie turned back into the jail, gathered up the blankets and a jacket that was hanging on a nail. Ellie’s arrest had planted the bar girl on a new path, a path that she was following with confidence and gumption. Time passed and Josie began to fidget. She was about to light out on her own when Ellie slipped around the edge of the building.
“What took you so long?” Josie grumbled as she put her blankets inside.
“I was arranging a little misdirection. Get in the wagon.”
“You don’t have to come,” Josie said. “No point in you getting in trouble, too.”
“Too late,” Ellie said. “In a little while everyone is going to think that someone was hurt over toward Cheyenne and that you’re heading up there. I’m going along to help.”
Ellie’s cool head was a pleasant surprise. “Well, if everyone believes there is an emergency, then I guess we’d better hurry.”
Josie figured Callahan had at least a half hour’s head start, and they would be moving at a slower pace in a wagon. She took the reins and gave them a flick. At the edge of town, Josie drove behind the buildings and doubled back, heading south.
“By the way, where are we really going?” Ellie asked.
“To Sharpsburg.”
“But isn’t that where Will is? Doesn’t that seem a little chancy?”
“It’s downright idiotic, but that’s where Callahan is heading.”
“Well, let’s get moving.” It would be morning when they got there, and riding into town would undoubtedly catch the sheriff’s attention. That is, if they didn’t meet him on the road along the way.
With the moonlight turning the plains into a silver carpet, they would never be able to conceal their presence. Luckily for Josie and Ellie, neither could Callahan. When they caught up with him, the horse was walking slowly down the road, with Callahan sitting so upright that he looked as if he were mounted on a pole. It was obvious that sheer willpower was keeping him that way. Thank heavens he’d been riding Solomon, who never traveled in a hurry. Josie pulled even, reached out, and took the horse’s reins. “Whoa!”
Callahan started. “What are you doing here?”
Josie ignored his question. “Help me get him into the wagon, Ellie.”
Together they pushed, shoving the protesting man into the back. “If we’re arrested,” Ellie said, “I’m going to swear I was kidnapped and didn’t know what you were doing.”
Josie made a pillow with the jacket and covered Callahan with the blankets. “I told you, you weren’t strong enough to ride.”
“The last time I knew, riding was exactly what I was doing. It’s not my fault that nag is a hundred years old.”
“Why do you think his name is Solomon? He’s a lot wiser than you.”
“I’m sorry, Josie. If you’re determined to help me get there, stop wasting time and let’s go. Here’s what you’ll—”
“No, this is what you’ll do,” Josie said, tying Solomon to the back of the wagon and climbing up to the wagon seat. “You’ll shut up and rest. I’ll get you to Sharpsburg. Then we’ll decide what we’re going to do.”
Ellie, who’d been quiet up to then, turned to Josie. “And how do you plan to explain breaking a prisoner out of jail?”
“She didn’t break me out.” Callahan groaned as he stretched out in the back.
Josie ignored him. “I don’t know. I’ll figure that out when I need to.”
Ellie sat for a moment. “Okay. Give me those reins and you get back there and minister to your client—or patient—or whatever he is. I’ll drive.”
Maybe Ellie was right. Josie climbed in back and ran her fingers inside his shirt. “At least you haven’t torn these stitches.” She unbuttoned Callahan’s Levi’s.
He shifted his position. “Better watch where you put your fingers, darlin’.”
“Stop that and be still,” she retorted. “I have to make sure you’re not bleeding.”
“I’m not bleeding, Josie,” Callahan said. “Besides you’re my attorney now, not my doctor.”
“No, I’m not. You fired me. Remember?”
“Well, until we find the money I’m supposed to have stolen, I’m rehiring you—provided you work on credit.”
Josie remembered the nest egg she’d made investing her money on the advice of her grandfathers, money that was still drawing interest in the Sinclair Bank. “I’ll take my chances on your credit,” she said.
“Fine. You’re rehired. At least you are until Will Spencer finds you with me. You think you can defend all of us from jail?”
“If I have to,” Josie said, satisfied that Callahan hadn’t damaged her medical work.
“I hope you mean that,” Ellie called out. “I’m trying to make Will notice me, but I’ve had enough of jail.”
Callahan let her fasten his trousers, then reached up and removed the man’s felt hat she was wearing. He pulled her down beside him, resting her head on his good shoulder. “When we get to Sharpsburg I’m going to have to find a way to get into the bank and look at the loan papers.”
“And how do you expect to do that, just walk into the bank and ask?”
“I haven’t worked that out yet,” he admitted. “I may have to find a crooked locksmith, or maybe an out-of-work pickpocket.”
Ellie groaned.
Josie looked up into the night sky that was full of stars. She wondered what Dr. Annie would say if she knew that her adopted daughter was lying in the back of a wagon in the arms of a criminal. She could guess what Dan would do.
“Your hair smells good,” Callahan said, his voice slow and heavy. “I missed your pillow.”
“Go to sleep, Callahan.” Josie forced herself to remain focused. “I may have helped you escape, but from here on out, we’re doing this by the book.”
“By the book,” he agreed, his breathing beginning to slow with sleep.
“And which book is that?” Ellie asked later, when it was obvious that Callahan was sleeping. “And what would it say about an attorney running off with a thief?”
“Not my law book, Ellie, the Bible. Judge not that you be not judged.”
“Somehow,” Ellie said, “I don’t think Judge McSparren is gonna accept that.”