The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 (5 page)

Wayne had shown some smarts by backing off, but Jedidiah knew he’d be back. His kind always came back. The trick was to get Susannah out of town before Caldwell regrouped.

Jedidiah yanked on the straps of his saddlebags, double checking that all his gear was secure and buckled tight. His Palomino stood patiently, used to such behavior. A second horse, a sturdy little paint he had picked up for a decent price from a miner passing through, waited nearby, saddled and ready to go. After Jedidiah finished, he led both horses out of the livery and into the night.

Trains and stages ran on schedules. They were predictable and could be intercepted. But two people on horseback, picking their own winding trail to Denver, would be a lot harder to track.

He’d already spoken to Benning about his plan to leave in the middle of the night and gotten his agreement. He only hoped Susannah didn’t give him any trouble. If she did, he’d be forced to bind and gag her, and darned if part of him wouldn’t enjoy the experience. The woman had a mouth on her that could bring a man the utmost pleasure or tear him to ribbons. Unfortunately, she seemed oblivious to the first and far too inclined to the second.

He left the horses tied up behind the dry goods store and crept over to the jail, keeping to the shadows. He wouldn’t put it past Caldwell to have a man watching the jailhouse.

It’s what he would have done.

The creak of a door made him freeze in the shadow of the building. He drew his gun and watched as a figure slipped out of the sheriff’s office. The person was too small to be Deputy Horner or Sheriff Benning, and it certainly wasn’t Caldwell.

The swish of a skirt reached his ears. Jedidiah muttered a curse and shoved his gun back in its holster. He reached into his pocket, then stepped out in front of the obviously feminine figure. Her perfume reached him before she did, the sweetness of jasmine sprinkled with a hint of spice.

He grinned at her shocked gasp, and she dropped the carpetbag she carried. He took her wrist.

“Evening, Miss Calhoun,” he said, slapping the handcuffs closed. “I see you’re ready to go.”

Chapter Four

“What are you doing here?” Susannah hissed, her pulse pounding from the scare he’d given her when he’d stepped out of the darkness. “Get these things off me!”

He smiled, his teeth a flash of white in the shadowed planes of his face. “I told you I was going to escort you to Denver. And here you are, all packed and ready to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Now take these things off!”

“You know I can’t do that.” He took her arm, then bent down and scooped her bag from the ground. “You wouldn’t want me to lose my job, would you?”

“If you don’t let me go, I’ll lose my
life
!” She dug in her heels as he half-dragged her behind the dry goods store where the horses stood waiting. “Darn it, Jedidiah Brown, don’t you hear what I’m saying?”

“I hear.” Keeping his grip on her arm, he hooked her bag over the saddle horn, then turned his complete attention on her. “Listen up, princess—I’m going to see justice done, no matter what. That’s my job. Do you understand me?”

“I understand,” she replied, nonplussed. Jedidiah Brown always got his man—or woman—and his efficiency did not bode well for her escape plans. Perhaps if she annoyed him enough, he might turn his back on her, and she could break away.

“You don’t let yourself feel anything, do you, Marshal?” she jeered. “I’m just one more prisoner to bring in, one more fugitive retrieved to add to your impressive record. You don’t even care that I didn’t do it.”

He stilled, and though she couldn’t see his face in the darkness, she knew she had hit her mark.

“It’s not my job to judge,” he said softly.

“I don’t much like your job, Marshal.”

“You don’t have to like it,” he replied. “Now get up on this horse before the whole town wakes up. Or do you want Wayne Caldwell riding over here to see what the commotion is about?”

Her next nasty remark died on her lips. As long as she was on her own, she would be easy prey for Wayne Caldwell and his brand of justice. But if she went with Jedidiah, she would be able to get beyond Wayne Caldwell’s reach. Then she could slip away from Jedidiah and go find Abigail Hawkins.

Her chances of escaping Marshal Brown were very slim, but they were definitely better than her chances of surviving another encounter with Wayne Caldwell.

Which meant she would have to change her game plan and go with Jedidiah after all. Surrender didn’t sit well with her, so she stuck her nose in the air and gave Jedidiah her best princess-to-peasant attitude. “And just how do you expect me to mount with handcuffs on?”

Cupping his hands together, he drawled, “Luckily you have a gentleman on hand to assist you, ma’am.”

“That’s a matter of opinion.” She grabbed the pommel with both hands and set her foot into his cupped palms. He boosted her easily into the saddle, as if she weighed no more than her carpetbag, and she tried to ignore the skip in her pulse.

The man was a boor, she reminded herself, and brute strength often went hand in hand with boorishness. Then he guided her feet into the stirrups as gently as if they were made of glass, and a warm flush swept through her. She fought to hold onto her negative opinion of him.

Jedidiah mounted his Palomino with fluid ease, then leaned over and caught the reins of her horse.

“I am fully capable of managing my own mount, Marshal,” she said, annoyed that she wouldn’t be able to kick into a gallop and leave him in the dust.

He chuckled. “I’m well aware of that—which is why I’ll be leading you until we get to Denver.”

“Why couldn’t they have sent a stupid one?” she muttered beneath her breath.

Jedidiah’s deep chuckle echoed off the buildings of the sleeping town as he led her out of Silver Flats and into the night.

Silence reigned between them for hours as the first rosy fingers of dawn crept over the horizon. Several times Jedidiah looked behind him to make sure Susannah was still there. He had never known her to be so quiet. But there she was, calmly sitting astride her horse as if she were out for a leisurely Sunday ride instead of being escorted to a murder trial. He thought she was engrossed in her own thoughts, but then she lifted her gaze to his, and he was drawn to her despite himself.

He pulled up a little and let her horse fall into step with his. Even at this early hour of the morning, the woman looked stunning. The pink glow of early dawn lent radiance to her peaches and cream complexion, and a certain softness that made her look like an angel. She wore her blonde hair loosely tied back from her face, but a few curls brushed her cheeks and brow in enticing disarray. Her china doll looks could make the harshest judge believe in her innocence, if not for the keen intelligence that lurked in her smoky blue eyes, and that stubborn line to her pouty mouth.

She was a smart one all right, and had dressed for her escape in a sensible brown skirt and matching jacket over a white shirtwaist, with a wide-brimmed hat and brown kid boots. She arched one golden brow as Jedidiah continued to stare at her.

“Something wrong, Marshal?”

“Not a thing,” he answered with a grin. “I was just thinking how pretty you look today.”

Her lips curved and a sly gleam came into her eyes. “Why thank you, Marshal. I must admit, you look quite handsome yourself.”

He touched his hat brim. “Nice of you to say so.” He paused. “Yes, ma’am, I was just sitting here thinking how pretty you look—and how no one would ever figure you for a killer.”

In the blink of an eye, her sweet smile changed to a furious scowl, and her eyes took on a chill that would have made the most vicious gunfighter fall back. No angel here—except perhaps the angel of vengeance.

He laughed at her fury. “Yes indeed, unless you get that look on your face, a body would think you couldn’t even crush an ant without crying. Luckily, I know you better.”

“You barely know me at all, Marshal,” she corrected tightly. “As I recall, we didn’t have enough time to get to know each other. You left Burr that morning without a word to anyone.”

He tipped back his hat. “I’m a marshal, princess, and I had a prisoner in custody. I couldn’t stick around Wyoming Territory even if I had wanted to.”

“A convenient excuse, Marshal. You didn’t even have the manners to say good-bye before you took off in the middle of the night.”

 
“What’s the matter? Did you miss me?”

She stiffened in the saddle. “Don’t be ridiculous. Sarah and Jack, however, were disappointed that you hadn’t stopped in to say good-bye.”

“You didn’t miss me at all? Not even after that sweet kiss we shared?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, you know, all right,” he muttered. “But if you’ve got any ideas about working your wiles on me while you’re in custody, you can just forget them.”

Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened. “Marshal Brown, I thought no such thing!”

“Didn’t you?” He pulled up, stopping both their mounts in the middle of the road, and leaned toward her “You use that beauty of yours to get your way the same way a gunfighter uses his gun. It’s not going to work on me, Susannah Calhoun, because I know how you are. Do we understand each other?”

She stared at him for a long moment. “You don’t know how I am, Marshal,” she finally said quietly. “All my life people have overreacted to the way I look. Don’t condemn me for using a gift like that to my advantage. Everyone does it. It’s called survival.”

“There’s more to you than your looks,” he scoffed. “You’re intelligent and resourceful, too, and don’t act like you don’t know it.”

She looked as surprised as if he had just plucked the sun from the sky and handed it to her. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she finally whispered.

“Good. Everyone else may underestimate you, but I don’t. Do we understand each other?”

“Perfectly,” she murmured.

She looked almost vulnerable, but Susannah Calhoun was a consummate actress. He wouldn’t put it past her to try and lull him into a false sense of security with her lost little girl expression.

Well, he wasn’t about to fall for that. He kicked the horses back into an easy trot, letting her mount fall into line behind his. Susannah was a stunning woman, there was no denying that, but she had gotten too used to manipulating other people with her looks. She had even tried it with him only moments ago, flattering him like a flirt at a country dance. She knew she was in more trouble than she could handle, but had she asked for his help? No. Had she told him there was a witness who might be able to clear her name? No.

If she had simply asked for his help, sincerely and without any games, he would have told her that he planned all along to locate Abigail Hawkins and find out the truth. But instead she had alternately insulted him and cajoled him, never once just talking straight with him.

If he were a different kind of man, he might be bedazzled by that siren’s face and body. But he was U.S. Marshal Jedidiah Brown, and he always moved on when the job was done—even though she haunted his dreams. No woman, not even one who looked like an angel and had the cunning of the devil, could keep him tied down.

The sooner he cleared her name and got the hell away from her, the better it would be for both of them.

He thought she was intelligent
.

Susannah stared blindly at Jedidiah’s back as he rode ahead. She had been complimented on her eyes, her hair, her complexion and her figure countless times, but never had anyone complimented her mind.

Intelligent and resourceful
, he had said.

She placed a hand over her pounding heart and took a deep breath. This melting feeling could not be good. She had to get away from him to save her own neck—but all she wanted to do was get closer to this contradictory man.

He was the same Jedidiah Brown who had been so rude to her last year in Wyoming Territory, she reminded herself. The same Jedidiah Brown who was escorting her to her execution, after making it clear that he didn’t believe in her innocence. Just because he was perceptive enough to see past her looks as no one else ever had, was no reason to get all excited.

Yet all her life, she had been looking for a man who would see beyond the pretty face and care for the person she was inside. How ironic that she should find such a man here, now. Jedidiah was wrong for her in every way—but that didn’t stop her from wanting to explore this new attraction.

She didn’t know how to approach him. Flirtatious smiles and coy glances didn’t work with this man. And she knew that he would doubt her sincerity if she tried to get to know him better, and maybe even break her heart in the process. The best thing to do was to stay away from him. Not only was he a distraction, but he had the power to hurt her as no man had ever had before.

She had to escape as soon as she had the opportunity. No matter what it took.

They stopped to eat at mid-afternoon and shared a simple meal of sandwiches and fruit in silence. Susannah could feel herself tiring. She had left the jail in the middle of the night, and they had ridden straight through the morning. Jedidiah, on the other hand, didn’t seem fatigued at all. He sat with his back to a rock, biting into an apple while scanning the area, his rifle across his lap.