Grace realized, all the while they were questioning her.




Something she had said must have set them off. She bowed her head when


she answered.




"Rebecca was just leaving the bank when I went inside." Jessica also


could feel the hostility and was convinced that she had said something


that triggered the marshals' anger. She was exhausted from the strain


of guarding every word and knew that if she said anything more, she


would only make it worse. She decided to show the marshals out as


quickly as possible. Pushing her chair back, she stood up and headed


for the door.




Daniel stopped her with his command. "Both of you are going to be


staying in town tomorrow." She whirled around and bumped into Cole.




She neither apologized nor stepped back.




"Why must we stay? " she asked.




"You can't make us stay here, can you? " Grace asked. "I'm not


familiar with the laws in this country, but making someone do something


she doesn't wish to do is wrong . . . isn't it? " "Yes, it is, "


Jessica said. "Cole, you can't . . . " He interrupted her. "Yes, I


can make you stay. We're using the office in the front of the jail.




You ladies know where it is. Why don't you both plan on being there at


eight o'clock. Rebecca will be joining you." Jessica and Grace seemed


to wilt. They meekly followed the lawmen to the front of the house.




"This isn't right, " Grace whispered.




Daniel heard her and turned back in the doorway. "No, it sure as hell


isn't right, but we're going to figure it all out tomorrow, aren't we,


Grace? " Cole turned to address Jessica. "I don't know what kind of a


game you ladies are playing, but it ends now. Do I make myself


clear?




" He didn't wait for an answer. Jessica was shaking from head to toe


as she shut the door and bolted the lock. She turned around and fell


back against it.




Tears sprang into Grace's eyes. "Oh, God . . . they know." he


twisted turn of events left Cole and Daniel feeling bewildered and


irritated.




"All three of them rehearsed what they were going to say to us when


they were in the cell together, " Cole remarked on the way back to the


hotel.




"Hell, yes, they rehearsed. Now tell me why."




"They're scared, I guess. That's all I can come up with."




"They were all real edgy.




Rebecca did the best job of concealing it from us, but I could see it


in her eyes."




"And her hands, " Cole said. "She was gripping them.




" "Yeah, she was, " Daniel remembered. He reached up and rubbed the


back of his neck, trying to work the knots of tension out.




"I sure was wrong, " Cole said. "I thought it was going to be a waste


of time talking to Jessica and Grace. What the hell kind of a game are


they playing? " "I don't know, " Daniel replied. "I was pretty sure


it was going to be a waste, too. I was just following procedure,


hoping one of them might have noticed something unusual. It sure as


hell got complicated, didn't it? " "Yeah, it did, " Cole agreed. "And


it doesn't make any sense. They've got to know they were seen in the


bank earlier that afternoon. They all stood in line with men who would


remember them. Why did they go to all the trouble of rehearsing what


they were going to say? " "No, it doesn't make any sense. Which one


of them is lying? " "Maybe all three of them are. They're obviously


hell-bent on protecting one another."




"Or what? " "They're protecting someone else, someone we don't know


about yet."




"How do we find out the truth? " "They're going to tell us, " Daniel


said.




"Tomorrow, one way or another, Jessica and Grace and Rebecca are going


to tell us what they know."




"And if they don't? " "No one's going to get in my way, man or


woman."




Daniel's voice shook with emotion. "If I have to lock them up, by God,


I will."




"Don't do anything crazy." Cole saw the irony in his remark and let


out a harsh laugh. "I think this badge is changing me. I'm usually


the one doing crazy things, and now I'm cautioning you. I know how bad


you want those men. Hell, I'd feel the same way, but you've got to


keep it legal." Daniel disagreed. "I'm going to get them any way that


I can. I don't care if it's legal or not. Are you going to help me?




" "I already told you I'd help." The conversation ended when they


reached the hotel and went up to their rooms. Cole threw open his


window to get rid of the musty smell, then stripped out of his clothes,


washed, and fell into bed. Stacking his hands behind his head, he


thought about the women's answers to their questions. One thought led


to another, and he was suddenly thinking about Jessica. Damn but she


was a tempting woman.




He fell asleep hoping to God she hadn't been hiding under that desk.




Daniel didn't go to sleep right away. He spent a good hour pacing


around his shoe box of a room, feeling like a caged animal. He tried


to concentrate on the investigation, but Grace Winthrop kept getting in


his way.




He'd been stunned by the impact she'd made on him, and honest to God,


he didn't know how to handle it. Until tonight, he hadn't so much as


glanced at another woman, and he sure as certain hadn't physically


wanted any of them. Grace had gotten to him, though, and it seemed so


damned disloyal of him to have such unbridled thoughts about her.




He couldn't figure out why he was attracted to her. Granted, she was


pretty and her face was about the loveliest he'd seen in a long, long


time. She had a nice shape too. No doubt about it, she was well put


together, but she still wasn't anything like his sweet Kathleen. No


other woman could ever measure up to her. The unspoiled daughter of a


farmer, his wife had simple tastes and a passionate zest for life.




He'd been drawn to her robust laugh and her generous nature, and he had


immediately and completely fallen head over heels in love with her.




How he had marveled at the great gift God had given him, and he often


would quietly observe her as she went about her daily chores. Her


strong, sturdy hands worked tirelessly through the day, but at night


they were gentle and soft as they stroked his brow.




Grace was a dainty, petite woman. The top of her head barely reached


his shoulders. She came from wealth and status and had obviously moved


about in a world that was totally foreign to him. Yet there was a


naivete and gentleness in her that made him want to move close.




But she wasn't Kathleen. Oh, God, how he missed his wife. He ached to


take her into his arms and make love to her once again. He longed to


listen to her sing a lullaby to their little girl, to hear their


laughter, to touch . . . He forced himself to stop thinking about the


past. His life had ended when his wife and baby were taken from him,


gunned down like animals, but he had to keep going . . . had to keep


pushing and searching until he had gotten every one of the demons


responsible. Only then could he stop.




With a weary sigh, he got ready for bed and methodically went through


his notes again. He wanted to find something he'd missed before, but


that didn't happen. In frustration, he hurled the notepad across the


room and fell back against the pillows.




Oh, Kathleen, if one of us had to die, why couldn't it have been me?




He fell asleep thinking about his wife, but he dreamed about Grace.




\




( vole didn't know what had awakened him. One second he was sound


asleep, roping cattle, and the next he was wide awake and as tense as a


bow. He was a light sleeper even when he was home at Rosehill in his


own bed, and he always heard every little sound. He didn't hear


anything unusual, but he still reached for his gun and went to the


door.




As he expected, there wasn't anyone lurking in the hallway. He shut


the door and crossed to the window to look down at the street, thinking


that someone who had had too much to drink had made a racket. The


street was deserted.




A faint breeze brushed his face. He let out a loud yawn and thought


about going back to sleep, but then he saw the faint orange glow in the


distance and realized it was already dawn. The sun was slowly making


its way up into the black sky. Damn, but morning had come quick. He


was still sleepy, and it seemed to him that he had only just closed his


eyes.




He was getting old, he supposed. He stretched his arms and went to get


a drink of water before he got dressed. Because it was still dark in


the room, he lit the kerosene lamp. His pocket watch was on the


dresser next to his compass, and it wasn't until he happened to glance


at the time that he realized it was still the middle of the night.




"What the hell? " he muttered.




He turned toward the streaks of amber light once again . . . and then


he started running.




He was pulling his shirt on and trying to button his pants as he ran


into the hallway.




"Wake up, Daniel. We've got trouble." The door opened a second


later.




Daniel rushed into the hallway brandishing his gun. He was half


dressed and half asleep. "What is it? " "Fire."




"Where? " Daniel demanded as he turned and ran back into his room to