The Outlaw Bride by Sandra Chastain Read Free Book Online

collapse was too convenient. Now she was sure of it.
    “You really going to leave that low-down thief here?” one of the older men asked.
    “Looks like I don’t have any choice. If we take him to town and he dies, we may never know what happened to that money.”
    “What if he runs off in the middle of the night?”
    “He’s not. I’m leaving Wash in charge to make sure he doesn’t.”
    “If you think you’re going to get him off like you did that bar girl, you got another think coming,” someone in the group said to Josie.
    Another joined in. “Yeah, and if we don’t get our money back, you can forget a trial. We’re going to hang the son of a …”
    “That’s what I thought you had in mind,” Will said. He turned to Josie. “Just so you know, I’m not going to let that happen. Arresting him may be as necessary to save his life as your doctoring.”
    Josie could only nod.
    When Wash was firmly posted outside the door to Josie’s room, Will finally left, taking his posse with him.
    Josie walked back to her room, opened the door, and leaned against it. “All right, Mr. Callahan, I know you didn’t pass out. You can open your eyes now.”
    He did. “Why’d you make up that cock-and-bull story about prosecuting them for murder if I died? I didn’t ask for your help.”
    “I don’t know. I guess it’s the lawyer in me—anything to save a client.”
    “You really are an attorney?”
    “I am. But saving you will cost you, and I could use a big fat fee.”
    “I’m broke, remember. And now we’re going to lose the ranch and what few cows we have left. We’re pretty well wiped out.”
    “What happened to your herd?”
    “Our cows caught some kind of fever from a Mexican herd passing through last spring. Ben had read about some cows being bred in England to resist the fever. He thought if we brought in some new, stronger stock, we’d be better off.”
    “Go on,” Josie said.
    “A group of us pooled together all our money, jewels, and anything else we could come up with to pay for them.”
    “But you didn’t coerce the others into making the deal, did you?”
    “Ben and I didn’t talk them into anything. I’ll admit that I was worried about the risk, but the rest of the ranchers didn’t think twice. Too bad. Now it’s all gone. We’ve lost the chance to buy new cattle and we’ll probably lose our ranches. And Ben’s missing.”
    “Callahan, who shot you?”
    “Never saw a face. They ambushed us. I was too busy turning my back on trouble to get a good look.”
    She let out a deep breath. “And what did you intend to do when you reached Laramie?”
    “Pay for the cattle and drive them back to Sharpsburg.”
    “And then what?”
    “What do you mean? Each rancher got his share and we’d eventually breed cattle that resisted the fever.”
    “So everyone stood to lose if the money disappeared?”
    “
Lose
is putting it mildly. Even with the cattle, we lose. Rebuilding our herds will take a year. We all have mortgages due in the fall.”
    One of the ranchers had mentioned it earlier. Now Callahan had just given Ben a motive for riding off with the money. “What do you think happened to your brother?”
    Callahan let out a ragged sigh. “I don’t know. I thought I held them off long enough for Ben to get away. But he should have made it back to Laramie by now. Damn it to hell, Ben doesn’t know how to look after himself.” Callahan was becoming irate. “I swear, if Ben’s hurt, I’m going to find and kill the bastard who did it.”
    Josie shivered. This man was serious. He could kill a man—and would.
    “Still want to be my lawyer, Miss Miller?”
    The shadows around Callahan had deepened, casting a smear of darkness across his face. His jet-black eyes seemed to penetrate that darkness, pinning her to this moment of truth. Josie’s heart raced. She could send Wash to catch Will. No, something told her not to. She was intrigued by this man. She needed to find out the truth