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outside help before you do this? Even Karak s men wouldn t dare fire on a U.S.
Marshal.
I m not going to look like a fool calling in outsiders only to find an empty
warehouse. I won t seek a warrant until I m sure there s something to this story.
Are you saying Jim is lying? Her frustration flared to anger. Why did Nathan have
to be pigheaded and put both himself and Jim at risk?
What if they re not government goods? What if it s a legitimate business venture?
I m not wiring the marshal until I know exactly what kind of evidence I have. Nathan
crossed his arms over his chest signaling an end to the discussion. He looked back and
forth between them. Why don t you hide Jim somewhere safe until this is over? The
livery is the first place Karak would look for him.
Bending over the desk, the deputy laid out a fresh piece of paper and handed the
pencil to Jim. Looking into his eyes, he said, Show me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jim didn t like being left behind, protected like a child, but Scott refused to let him
show the way to the storage shed. It was amazing what a difference a few hours could
make.
Yesterday he d been locked in the cell with a corpse until Scott came back to drag
both bodies away. Together they d cleaned up the mess in the two cells. Jim had spent the
night terrified and feeling completely vulnerable. If someone came to shoot him too,
there wasn t a thing he could do about it. It had been the bleakest night of his life,
wrapped in the thin blanket on the narrow cot, shivering and clinging to images of
making love to Catherine instead of picturing dead men and gunmen in the dark. But
memories of her hadn t helped. He d felt more frightened and alone than ever and certain
he d never see her again.
In the morning, Scott had brought him a bowl of oatmeal. A little later, Sheriff Tate
came back to stare at him like he was a caged animal, shook his head, said something to
the deputy and left.
Another long quiet spell passed. Jim couldn t hold his piss anymore and used the
bucket in the corner of his cell, staring at the spot where the skinny man s body had lain.
He envisioned what might happen next. Imprisonment or hanging for a crime he hadn t
committed, or getting shot by one of Karak s men to ensure his silence. The best situation
he could imagine was being released for lack of proof and continuing to work for Karak
because he feared him too much to quit. What had he been thinking of to get involved
with a cold-blooded killer? He should have heeded Murdoch s advice to steer clear of
him.
As Jim counted the bars of the cell and the spider webs in the corners, Catherine had
suddenly appeared in the doorway. She was like a shining angel in the grim, dingy room,
and she walked straight to him, covering his hands with hers on the bars even though
Scott watched from the doorway. Her eyes glistened with tears and told him without
words how much she cared for him.
Jim realized the deputy must have brought her when Scott released him and left them
alone together. Holding her warm, soft body in his arms was the best thing he d ever felt.
Her lily perfume smelled like heaven after the stench in his cell. When she d questioned
him about Karak, he understood why Scott had brought her. Hesitating, Jim could almost
feel fate seesawing back and forth.
There were moments in a man s life when he knew his future could go in several
wildly different directions depending on the choice he made. He d experienced such a
moment a few weeks after his mother died when he d made the decision to stay in
Broughton rather than taking a job shoveling coal on a locomotive. Working for the
railroad would ve taken him all over the country, maybe opened other, better
opportunities, but he d chosen familiarity and what he perceived as safety.
Deciding to approach Rasmussen at last with his proposal to buy into the livery had
been another pivotal moment. Daring to kiss Catherine had set a new course for his life,
and taking the job with Karak had sent it careening in another direction. Now he must
decide if he was brave enough to betray the most powerful, dangerous man in town. By
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