The Outlaw Bride Read online

  “Thank you.” Josie nodded and slipped inside, then stood awkwardly by the door. There was no stool, and Callahan’s large body took up the entire bunk.

  “If you’re still my doctor, get to it. I guess you’re a better doctor than you are a lawyer. You’ve patched me up to go to my own hanging, or maybe my brother’s funeral. Are you going to help me?”

  She didn’t have an answer, for she knew his question had nothing to do with her doctoring. “I … I need to check your wounds.”

  “Not necessary. They’re fine. I don’t need a doctor. I need someone to get me out of here—an outlaw.”

  “Too bad. What you’ve got is me and we have to talk. First, you seem to be using your arm better. Is the soreness dissipating?”

  “I figure I can shoot now. By tomorrow I ought to be able to kill a man, if I need to,” he said. “All I need is a gun.”

  “I said I could defend you against going to jail for stealing the money.” She untied the cotton strips and peeled back the bandage on his shoulder. “Murder is another thing. Just who do you plan to shoot?”

  “The son of a b—”

  Will coughed.

  “—whoever is responsible for getting me shot and Ben lost,” Callahan finished.

  “Will, I’d like to talk to my client alone,” Josie said.

  Josie could tell that Will wasn’t at all happy about leaving them, but he finally nodded. “I’m right outside, if you need me, Josie.”

  “Talk about what?” Callahan asked, as soon as the door closed behind Will.

  Josie jerked off the old bandage on his shoulder and cleaned the wound. “Your defense. I need to know exactly what you and Ben had set out to do. Tell me what happened that day,” she prodded, applying medication to the area. “You told me that the ranchers around Sharpsburg were having a problem with sick herds.”

  “Sick is putting it mildly. Try dead.”

  Josie nodded as she began to button his shirt. “All right then, let’s try something else. Did everyone know when you were leaving for Laramie?”

  “Sure. And they knew the exact route, too.”

  She perched on the edge of the narrow cot. “You think any of them might have gotten greedy?”

  Callahan frowned. It would be easier to keep his mind on his answers if she were still poking around on his injuries. “Maybe, they’re all pretty desperate. Still, I don’t think any of them would try something like this. It would be hard to keep a herd of cattle a secret.”

  “So you pooled all your money and jewels. And now you think you’ll lose your ranches. Tell me more about that.”

  “Most of us have loans due in the fall. We won’t be able to make the payments, and Banker Perryman isn’t likely to let us slide. He’s made that clear.”

  “Are you certain you didn’t recognize the men who attacked you?”

  “Of course I’m certain. They wore masks. It was difficult to hear their voices. Then my horse threw me and I crashed into a big piece of granite.”

  “But it could have been some of the ranchers.”

  “It could have been Will Spencer, for all I know. Just get me out of here, I’ll find out.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “I’ll start by finding out if anyone from Sharpsburg’s been spending a whole lot of money.”

  Callahan took Josie by the arm and forced her up and toward the head of the bunk.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, trying to push him away.

  “Getting up.” He held on to her and pulled himself upright. “The thieves could be halfway to the Oregon Territory by now. You’re a lawyer, Josie. All you know is books. Books won’t find Ben, and they won’t save me.”

  Callahan was right. Josie’s lawyer mind kicked in, overriding her frazzled emotions. “Callahan, are you sure you aren’t fooling yourself? Ben had the money and now he’s gone. Maybe he didn’t want to raise cows anymore.”

  There was a long silence. “Ben would never steal, Josie. I’m the only one in the family who has ever been dishonorable.”

  Callahan caught Josie’s arm, then let go and touched her cheek as he said softly, “You’ve got to help me, Josie. Get me out of here.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered, leaning against his hand. “I am an attorney and I’ve sworn to uphold the law. But I’ll find a way to get you out of here. In the meantime I’ll find out who’s been spending money. Trust me, Callahan. I’m on your side.”

  Trust her? He did trust Josie Miller. It was the rest of Wyoming, making plans to hang him, that he feared.

  Long after Josie left, Callahan paced his cell. His attorney was an exceptional woman. A beautiful woman who occupied much too much of his thinking. He could still feel the soft touch of her lips, and his face still burned when he remembered what he’d done to her on her veranda. She seemed to have put the incident behind her; why couldn’t he? And why would this kind of thing be bothering him now? He must have had fifty women in the last fifteen years, and he couldn’t remember a single face. Why this one? Why now when life was crashing down around him, his future gone and Ben was missing?

  Callahan flinched, feeling the weakness in his body. She might not be a doctor, but he was still alive. And he trusted her. But finding the men who’d shot him and chased Ben to God knew where, was a job for a man. It was his job. He had to get out, to learn the truth. As much as he hated the thought of it, he had to use Josie to do that and he had to do it quick. Otherwise, some bounty hunter would believe that Ben had the money and go after him. Ben could be killed before Callahan could find him—unless Callahan found out the truth.

  But where to start? Everybody in Sharpsburg had known what he and Ben were doing. Their mission had been the biggest topic of conversation in town. Even the drifters from the cattle drives knew everything, from the route they’d taken to the time they’d left. Any one of them could have been among the thieves who’d attacked them. But he hadn’t recognized any of them. He had only a vague recollection of a horse with an odd marking.

  Callahan forced himself to walk. He had to get out of jail. To do that, he had to move.

  All that afternoon and the next morning he paced his cell, stopping only when the stranger showed up at the Laramie City jail.

  8

  “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 a
sked.

  “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.