Whispers of Moonlight by Lori Wick Read Free Book Online Page A

explain." Travis tried to remain calm as he repeated the same argument. "It says the man's name is Hank Randall. Mine is Travis Buchanan. Grady must have told you that."
    "Well, that doesn't make it true," the lawman reasoned. "Even if you did tell Grady that was your name, how would he know the difference?"
    Travis dropped away from the bars and lowered himself onto the lone bunk. It was preposterous. He was not Hank Randall. The facial resemblance was striking, but he was not a wanted man. And the man's description was right on the wanted poster—5'8" with a medium build. But Sheriff Turlock was not taking any chances. He thought he had a killer on his hands, and he was going to hold onto him.
    Why in the world had he stayed around an extra day? Travis had asked himself this question a dozen times, but he already knew the answer. Grady would probably never sit up in bed again, let alone ride a horse and manage the Double Star. Travis' heart had gone out to him, even though he was convinced that an act of fate had settled the man in a comfortable home and not on the streets.
    Travis had found Grady at the home of an older woman just hours after arriving in town. The woman turned out to be a distant cousin of Grady's, and although she seemed almost as frail as her patient, he could
see that Grady was in good hands. Grady had been gored by a bull, not once but several times. The foreman had lost consciousness, but witnesses had told him that he'd been tossed like a rag doll for several seconds. It was nothing short of a miracle he was alive.
    Equally amazing was the fact that he had had every dime of Andrew's money in his pocket, and it had not been stolen. When Travis arrived, Grady asked his cousin lo fetch the full amount from the bank, and he paid Travis every cent. Travis had left, but his conscience had bothered him. Andrew had given no such order, but Travis felt a need to help the older man. He'd gone back the next day to give Grady an amount he thought the owner of the Double Star would think fair. It was as he left the two-story home for the second time that he'd come face-to-face with Turlock's gun.
    There had been no struggle. Convinced the sheriff had the wrong man, Travis lifted his hands and allowed Turlock to take the gun from his hip. He was concerned about the money in his coat pocket, but as soon as they arrived at the jailhouse, he watched the man with the badge put everything into the safe. Then the nightmare had begun. There was no reasoning with him. Travis had tried every argument he could think of to get Turlock to believe him, but to no avail. Turlock had immediately written to the sheriff whose name was on the poster and eventually gone to see Grady, but Travis remained behind bars.
    The meal that night was tasty and plentiful, but Travis ate with little interest. Andrew Wagner had trusted him. And Rebecca. Would her heart forget him before he returned? The plate was still half full when he set it by the bars and stretched out on the bunk. His boots hung a laughable distance over the end, but he didn't feel like laughing. Once again he had
the feeling that no one was up there. At times it seemed that God was real and working on the earth, but not now. Travis felt as he never had before that he was on his own.

    "There isn't going to be anything left of you if you keep on this way," Andrew commented during dinner, but Rebecca only shrugged and tried to smile. She knew she was horrid company these days.
    "He'll come back, Reba," Andrew told her with more conviction than he felt. "You wait and see. He'll be back."
    Rebecca looked at the worry in his eyes. She nodded and tried to perk up for his sake.
    "Lavena's taking me to town with her tomorrow."
    "Good! Buy yourself something pretty."
    "Well, she's just going for supplies and such."
    "That doesn't mean you can't shop. I'llget Lucky to go in with you, and you can spend the day."
    "Shouldn't you ask Lavena?"
    "Shouldn't you ask Lavena what?" The