LITMIR.BIZ

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makes me wonder if she already has a man.”

      “Like a McDougal,” Davis Lee concluded. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t we have heard if one of them had a sweetheart?”

      “Probably, unless they found a woman who can keep her mouth shut. And maybe they did.”

      “I guess if your commission from the governor is still active, you’re gonna see this through to the end.”

      “I’m assuming it’s still active.” Because of the gang’s rampage throughout the state, the governor had issued a special commission for Jericho and Hays to work strictly on catching the outlaws. “But even if it isn’t, I’m going after them.”

      “Because of Hays?”

      “And the others they’ve murdered.”

      Davis Lee stared hard at him. “Are you sure? You’ve wanted nothing but to be a Ranger your whole life, ever since your pa died and left you that old badge he had made out of a Mexican coin.”

      “It was criminals like the McDougals who killed him,” Jericho reminded him with some effort. “He wouldn’t have stood by and let some politician tell him he couldn’t pursue outlaws just because of a piece of paper.”

      “True enough.”

      “So you’ll help me?”

      “You can count on it.”

      Jericho shook his cousin’s hand to seal the deal. “Before I forget, would you send a wire back East for me, to those nuns?”

      “All right.”

      “Could you do one other thing for me?” Jericho told him about the tracks he’d followed to the Donnelly house, made by a horse carrying a lightweight rider, and sporting a chipped shoe.

      “You want me to check the barn for this horse?” Davis Lee asked.

      “Yeah.”

      “All right.” He rose from his chair and scooted it against the wall. “I’ll let you know what I find out, and I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.”

      “Could you hand me my gun and gun belt?”

      Davis Lee did so and Jericho tucked them under the sheet next to his uninjured leg. “Thanks for coming.”

      “You sure you don’t want me to wire your ma and sisters?”

      “No. I’ll do it when I’m stronger. No need to worry them.” Jericho didn’t want Jessamine Blue making a trip from Houston to Whirlwind, a journey that would surely aggravate her rheumatism. His ma had already spent herself, single-handedly raising him and his four sisters.

      “I’ll check the barn real quick,” Davis Lee said. “Then I’ve got to get over to Haskell’s. Someone broke in there last night.”

      “Was anything taken?”

      “Some food and maybe bullets. I’m sure Charlie, the owner, will know down to the last nail by the time I get there.”

      Jericho’s energy flagged and he felt a quick flare of frustration at his weakness. Just the effort of thinking, trying to determine what Catherine Donnelly knew about her brother’s activities, sapped the little energy he’d had when his cousins had arrived.

      “Take it easy, Jericho.” Davis Lee settled his fawn-colored cowboy hat on his head. “I don’t want to see you chasin’ that pretty nurse around.”

      “Don’t worry. Wouldn’t be even if I could walk.”

      The other man grinned and sauntered out.

      A wave of fatigue and pain rolled over Jericho. He closed his eyes, hearing Catherine bid his cousin goodbye. He wished she would come in and wipe his face with a cool rag. Or bring him something to eat. Or plump up his pillow.

      He wasn’t asking for her help, dammit. He had all he could handle when she did come in here. For all his denial to his cousin, Davis Lee was right. Jericho was more than aware of the beautiful woman who’d taken him in and cared for him. More aware than he liked.

      Her clear blue eyes seemed to see to the depths of his black soul. And as much as he tried, he couldn’t dismiss her soft, lingering scent.

      It didn’t matter what she looked like or that his body surged to life when she touched him. What mattered was her involvement with the McDougals.

      “Hey.” Davis Lee’s low voice drifted through the window just behind his head.

      Jericho craned his neck to see his cousin framed in the open space.

      Concern darkened the other man’s eyes. “You were right. Their sorrel wears a chipped shoe on its right back hoof.”

      The triumph Jericho had expected didn’t come. Instead, a weary resignation sighed through him. “Thanks.”

      “What are you going to do now?”

      “Wait to see what you find out from New York City. Watch and listen until I can carry my own weight again.”

      Davis Lee nodded soberly. “I’ll be back tomorrow and bring news if I have it.”

      “All right.”

      As the chirp of birds and the sawing of the wind carried into the room, Jericho felt himself giving out. Would Catherine Donnelly really be helping him if she were in cahoots with the McDougal gang?

      His left hand curled around the butt of his revolver and he tried to make a fist with his right hand. He couldn’t even touch his palm with his fingers. Until he could protect himself, he’d better hope Catherine Donnelly was as innocent as she appeared.

      A noise woke him. Night air flowed through the window as Jericho opened his eyes and listened hard. He’d heard the creak of a plank. It had to be from the front porch. The bedrooms were built off the side of the house and set back several feet from the porch.

      A soft grunt sounded in the room next to his, then the sigh of a rope bed. It was Andrew coming home from somewhere. Did his sister know? Perhaps she’d been with him. But if she had, why would he come in through his bedroom window?

      Jericho strained to hear more, but there was no further sound. Where had the kid gone, and why? Had he returned alone?

      Jericho pushed himself up with his good hand and slowly swung his legs to the floor. Pain arrowed up his right thigh, but he steadied himself by holding on to the bedside table to help him stand. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from groaning, he gripped the wooden edge until the room stopped rocking.

      This was the first time he’d been up, and his leg burned in agony. Nauseous and trembling from weakness, he limped to the wall and flattened his hand against the pine, feeling his way to the door. It opened silently and he leaned against the jamb, breathing hard from his short trip. Sweat trickled down his bare chest and beneath the waistband of his light cotton drawers.

      A full, fat moon sent light slanting into the front room that also comprised the kitchen. His gaze searched the shadows to his left until he saw Catherine. She lay on a pallet beneath the front window, her hair a curtain of midnight black flowing over her shoulder. The windows in his and Andrew’s rooms had been left open, but not in here. Stuffy air clogged Jericho’s lungs and he wondered how she could even breathe.

      Her white, sleeveless nightdress shone in the darkness. Pale moonlight fell across one cheek; gilded her straight nose and smooth skin. One slender hand pillowed her cheek; the other lay across her waist, almost as if she were protecting herself.

      As his eyes further adjusted to the dim light, he saw a sheet draped low over her hips. Her breasts were in shadow, but Jericho had a good imagination. He looked away, blinking to focus in the darkness and search the corners of the room. Everything was quiet and calm.

      He shuffled closer. If Catherine had been out with the boy, she

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