LITMIR.BIZ

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a firm look. “Any business you have for me is no business I want. I told you, I’ve put that life behind me.”

      “You haven’t even heard what I have to say.”

      Will’s stubborn expression matched Owen’s. They’d been friends long enough that they could spend hours staring each other down in this manner. They’d done so often enough in the past, with each of them having their share of wins and losses. But this time, Owen wasn’t going to lose.

      “Don’t need to. I won’t turn a friend away without refreshment, but you might as well get back on that horse and go home. Nothing you have to say is of interest to me.”

      Lena stepped out of the farmhouse, wiping her hands on her apron. “Now, Owen, that’s no way to treat a friend. After all he’s done for us, you at least need to hear him out. Will, nice to see you again.”

      Growing up, Owen used to tease Lena that being a schoolteacher was her destiny because of the way she always bossed everyone around. Even having quit her job, she was still good at giving orders. Lena was also his elder by a couple of years, which meant Owen got more than his share of Lena’s commands.

      “Good to see you, too, Lena. Mary sends her regards. Even though this is a quick trip on business, there are some cookies in my saddlebags that she insisted I bring.”

      “Cookies!” The girls spoke and jumped up and down in unison. “Please, Papa, may we go and get them?”

      Owen sighed. Getting rid of Will wasn’t going to be so easy. Not that Owen wanted to get rid of his friend because entertaining guests was always a pleasurable endeavor. But business, that was another story.

      “Let’s go get Will’s horse settled in the barn. Then we can get the cookies and bring them in the house. It’ll be a nice treat for all of us.”

      His daughters didn’t need further encouragement. Laughing, they ran to the barn.

      Owen looked at his friend. “I guess that settles that, then. Go tie up your horse, and I’ll get a bucket of water.”

      Before Owen could head over to the water pump, Lena stopped him. “I don’t know why you’re being so prickly with him. You don’t even know what he wants.”

      “Doesn’t matter. He’s wearing his badge, which means it’s official business. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to drag me in on another case. I can’t do it anymore, Lena, I just can’t.”

      His sister looked at him sympathetically. “I know it’s hard. Don’t you think he knows that, too? If anyone understands the difficulties you have with going back, it would be Will.”

      “Then why is he here?” Owen shook his head as he looked at the ground. “All these years Will has been telling everyone that I’m the finest lawman he knows. But I’m not. Will has more faith in me than he should. He’s better off without me.”

      The crunch of boots on gravel made Owen turn. “I stand by my assessment of your abilities. That’s why I’m here.”

      Owen stared at his friend. “You’re wasting your time. Our friendship has blinded you to my faults.”

      “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

      Lena stepped in beside Owen. “That’s what I was just telling Owen.”

      He’d been prepared to fight Will. But with Lena on Will’s side, it seemed almost impossible to consider doing battle.

      “Fine. What do you want?”

      Will shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. His face squeezed tightly into an expression of a man bearing the worst kind of news. Owen had seen that expression on his friend’s face often enough, probably too often, that had Will opened with this expression, Owen wouldn’t have had to debate with himself. The words that were to come out of his mouth were irrelevant. No matter what they were, Owen would help his friend.

      “James Booth has escaped from prison.”

      The words were as shocking as if Will had pulled the gun out of his belt and shot Owen.

      “How can that be? They had him in maximum security.”

      Will’s brow furrowed. “Apparently not maximum enough. Two guards are dead, and they aren’t sure the third will last the night. When they catch him, he’ll hang for sure.”

      “When did this happen?”

      “A few hours ago. The prison sent a telegram right away. They think he’s headed to Leadville.”

      Owen’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d promised Laura Booth, James’s ex-wife, that this wouldn’t happen. Every day, when he’d escorted her to the courthouse for James’s trial, Owen promised her that James would go to prison for the rest of his life and never bother Laura again. One more promise Owen had broken as a lawman.

      “Does she know?”

      Will nodded. “Laura’s scared, but she thinks he’ll head to Mexico, where he has connections, something he’s always talked about doing. Laura believes that James will value his freedom more than anything else. She doesn’t think he’ll risk getting caught again.”

      Unfortunately, Owen knew better. The man thought he was invincible, which meant he wouldn’t consider it a risk to come after Laura.

      “Has she forgotten how many times he’s threatened her? At the trial, at his sentencing and even when I went with her to give him divorce papers. The last time she saw him, he was like a madman, giving in graphic detail a list of all the horrible things he would do to her before he killed her in revenge for testifying against him.”

      When Owen had met Laura, she was terrified of her husband. James Booth was a womanizing charlatan, hurting everyone in his path who did not give him his way. He’d beaten Laura into submission, making her one more of his victims. But Owen, along with Will and several of their friends in Leadville, had convinced Laura to testify against James in a case where he had been accused of murdering his mistress. At the time, Laura had been hesitant to speak out against him. He had many friends and associates, and she feared that they would help him avoid the consequences of his actions.

      Owen had been the one to convince her otherwise.

      And now James had done the very thing Laura was afraid of. He’d gotten out of jail, and he was coming after her.

      Will had been right to ask Owen to come out of retirement for this. He’d made a woman a promise—that he would keep her safe.

      Hopefully, Owen would be able to keep that promise.

      * * *

      Laura Booth smoothed out the sheets on a recently vacated bed in the boardinghouse she owned, trying to eliminate every last wrinkle despite her shaking hands. A menial task, and folks often chastised her for taking on those jobs when someone else could easily do it for her. However, in the past year and a half since her husband—no, ex-husband—had gone to jail, Laura had found a new strength in life. Before James’s downfall, she’d been helpless. A spoiled heiress who had servants for everything. And now she could do it all herself.

      She ordinarily wasn’t so jittery, but the sheriff had stopped by to let her know that James had escaped from prison this morning. The news wasn’t entirely a surprise—she’d known that James had many associates, and though Laura’s purse was now completely off-limits to James, they probably still felt a certain loyalty to him. Plus, who knows how much of her money he’d taken and stashed away before he’d gotten caught. Getting out of jail would be no problem for a man like James.

      None of that mattered. She was fine. Everything would be fine. She had a new routine, a new life, and it would be fine. She just had to stop thinking about James and the potential threat he posed. And get her hands to stop shaking.

      Though the sheriff had told Laura to be prepared because they thought James would

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