over to the narrow cot the manager had sent up, tucked him in, and


quietly left the room.




Caleb was right behind him. Jessica heard Cole mumble something under


his breath and covered her mouth with her hands so he wouldn't hear her


laugh. She had been horrified to find him in her room, but then she'd


heard him whispering to her son and realized his intentions were quite


honorable. Cole was a good man, and she and her son were perfectly


safe with him.




She fell asleep with good intentions of rescuing Cole.




Caleb ended up sleeping on Cole's lap for a couple of hours, woke up


chattering, and then fell asleep on Daniel's shoulder. Needless to


say, the marshals didn't get much rest.




Xaniel was summoned to the telegraph office at seven the following


morning.




Cole met Sloan in the lobby and ordered him to hire two deputies to


help guard the women. He waited at the hotel until the sheriff


strolled in a few minutes later with Robert York and John Carver. The


two men were heavily armed and looked dangerous. They convinced Cole


they knew what they were doing, and he quickly filled them in on what


was expected of them. Jessica and Rebecca were to stay in their rooms


until the marshals returned to meet with them. Grace had been ordered


to stay in bed until the doctor looked in on her that afternoon.




"Don't let anyone but Dr. Lawrence go upstairs, " he ordered. "York,


you stand outside Jessica's door. Carver, you take Rebecca's, and


Sloan, you watch Grace's."




"But I haven't had my morning coffee yet.




Couldn't I go into the dining room and get something to eat? " Sloan


moaned.




"No, " Cole answered. "You're going to stay outside Grace's door. t}


Lack of sleep made Cole more surly than usual, and Sloan was smart


enough not to provoke him.




Cole took the key to the jail from the sheriff and headed across


town.




The office was stuffy, and so he left the door open to get some fresh


air. Everything smelled like smoke to him, which was probably why he


didn't have an appetite.




It was almost eight when Daniel arrived. He carried a pot of coffee in


one hand and a wad of telegrams in the other.




He didn't waste any time telling Cole what he had learned. "One of the


Blackwater gang was captured."




"Where did they get him? " "He was hiding in one of the caverns just


inside the Texas border.




They've taken him over to Blackwater." Cole went to get a clean cup


from the shelf across the room. He poured himself some coffee, took a


drink, and then asked, "Is he alive? " "Barely, " Daniel answered.




"The sheriff in Maple Hills put a couple of bullets in him. It was a


piece of luck that the sheriff stumbled on him.




The man was sick as a dog with influenza, but he still put up a


fight.




I hope to God he lives long enough to stand trial. Damn, I wish I were


there now. I can't wait to talk to him."




You can't believe he'll tell you anything."




"Oh, yes, I do believe that. He's going to tell me everything I want


to know."




"Is talking all you plan to do, or did you have something else in


mind?




" he asked quietly.




"That depends on how the trial goes. He isn't going to walk away, "


Daniel said. He shook his head and added, "Judge Rafferty won't let


that happen. If the man's one of the Blackwater boys, he'll hang. "


"You sound like you know this judge personally."




"I do, " Daniel answered. "Every one in Texas knows him, or at least


has heard of him.




Rafferty has quite a reputation for being hard-nosed.




Folks think he makes Hangin' Judge Cyrus Burns look like a saint. You


don't cross Rafferty and keep on breathing. He's also got a real


personal stake in all of this, " he added. "Rafferty lost a good


friend in a robbery up in Kansas. The two of them went way back, and


he took the man's death hard. He wants revenge."




"Then he's personally involved. A fancy lawyer could argue for a new


judge."




"Maybe, but he'd lose, " Daniel said. "Rafferty's the law in west


Texas.




Fortunately, he's also an honest man. Hell, if he weren't, he would


have handed the man over to a lynching mob by now."




"You think they've had trouble? " "Yes, I do." Cole thought about


that for a moment, and then asked, "What's in the other telegrams? "


"They're all from Rafferty. He must have been standing inside the


telegraph office and was in a talkative mood. He wanted to know if we


had any leads, and I wired him back that there was a remote possibility


of a witness.




He jumped right on that. I told him there might have been a woman


hiding in the bank, that we think it's one of three, but none of them


will admit it . . . " "What did he say about that? " "He wants us to


bring all three of them to Blackwater. He says he can get the truth


out of them."




"Does he have the authority to make us bring them? " Daniel leaned


back against the wall. "Yes and no, " he answered.




"We're on special assignment, so we don't have to follow his


instructions."




"But? " "Rafferty's got some powerful friends in Washington. He might


be able to exert enough pressure to force us to do what he wants. I


don't want to get him riled up, so I'm letting him think we'll


cooperate. I promised him that we would know for certain today if we


had a witness or not."




"And will we know today? " "Hell, yes, we'll know."




"Grace might not be up to talking today. We might have to wait."




"We'll talk to her this afternoon, then. By the end of the day, we'll


know whether or not we have a witness." Cole muttered an expletive.




He'd just spotted Rebecca on the boardwalk across the street. She was


wearing a pink dress and carrying a pink-and-white-striped parasol.




She was so lovely, she was literally stopping traffic as men paused to


gawk at her. Her guard, Carver, trailed close behind, glancing in all


directions.




"Here comes Rebecca, " Cole said. "Ah, hell, she just stopped to talk


to the reporter." Ryan looked outside. "He was hanging around the


telegraph office while I was inside, and when I came out, he went


running in. He probably knows everything now, and from the look on


Rebecca's face, I'm guessing he just told her they caught one of the


gang."




"How do they know? " Daniel turned back to Cole. "Know what?




" "That the man they caught is one of the gang."




"He was carrying a large sum of money."




"So? Lots of people carry large sums of money when they travel."




"That's true, " Daniel conceded. "But they also found a copy of the


Rockford Falls Gazette in his saddlebags. The date's the same as the


day of the robbery."




"It's still circumstantial evidence, isn't it? " "Did I mention he


tried to kill the sheriff before he was captured? " Cole shook his


head. "No, you didn't mention that. He won't be walking away free and


clear, then.




They'll hold him for attempted murder."




"But I want to get him for the robberies. If he's one of the gang,


then he's going to talk to me and tell me everything. I want all the


other names."




"How do you think you're going to convince him to talk? " "I'll figure


out something, " Daniel replied. "It would make it easier if there was


a witness to point him out . . . " "I wouldn't get my hopes up,


Daniel.




Those women could have told the same story for an altogether different


reason. You think two of them are hell-bent to protect the third


woman. I'm not sure. It occurs to me that we don't know anything


relevant about these women, and I think it's time we looked into their


backgrounds."




"I'm not taking anything they tell us as true until I've checked it


out."




"Good, " Cole replied. He glanced out the window again, just in time


to see Rebecca strike the reporter's arm with her parasol. Even from


the distance separating them, he could see how pale and upset she


was.




Not paying any attention to what she was doing, she picked up her


skirts and rushed into the street, almost running headfirst into a


horse and buggy.




Carver pulled her back in the nick of time.




A minute later, she came running into the office, ordering her guard to


remain outside to watch the door. Cole and Daniel waited for her to


regain her breath.




Daniel offered her a chair, but she declined the invitation to sit and


began to pace around the office. It was very apparent that she was


highly agitated.




"Why have you assigned a guard to follow me? " she asked.




"For protection, " Cole answered.




"But why do you think I need to be protected? " "After the mob here


last night, we thought it was best to hire guards for all three of you


just to make sure no one tries to bother you."




"Does the guard upset you? " Cole asked.




"No, " she answered. "I am upset, but not because of Mr. Carver.




He's only doing his job."