Free Taken by the Cowboy by Julianne MacLean Page A

just came to
pay their respects. Lou’s funeral is tomorrow."
    "Men like them don't
have much respect for anything,” Wade argued. “You're the reason
they're here. I’ll put money on it."
    She moved closer. "You
mean they want revenge?"
    "That would be my
guess."
    A terrible dread
exploded in her belly. She sank down onto a chair and cupped her
forehead in a hand. “
God, if you’re listening—this isn’t funny.
Please get me out of here.”
    Sheriff Wade frowned at
her. “Where exactly would you like Him to send you?”
    She looked up and found
herself staring at that shiny star again. "I have to tell you
something,” she said. “I didn't kill Lou. Honest. Someone else
did."
    He shook his head.
"That ain't gonna work, Junebug. You can't go changing your story
now."
    "But I'm telling the
truth!"
    He paused for a moment,
then looked out the window again. "We don’t have time to argue
about it. We have to go." He made a move toward the door, but
Jessica remained seated.
    "If we tell them I
didn’t do it—"
    "Nobody's going to
believe that,” he told her. “Lou's death was worth five hundred
dollars. You trying to tell me somebody else killed him and didn't
bother to collect the reward?"
    "Yes! I don't know why,
but that's what happened. I didn't kill him."
    Wade studied her
warily, and she wondered if he’d ever believe
anything
she
said.
    "We don’t have time for
this,” he replied at last. “We have to get you out of here."
    "But where will I go?
They'll find me."
    He strode closer and
held out his hand, gesturing strongly that she accept it. "I'll see
that they don't."
    "But what makes you so
sure you can keep me safe? There's only one of you."
    He stared at her
intently, then knelt down and took both her hands in his.
    "I promise I won’t let
anything happen to you, but you have to come with me now.”
    He was so close, she
could smell his clean, outdoorsy scent, and those hands—those
killer hands—were so warm upon hers.
    “Okay.”
    She was always such a
sucker for a man who asked nicely.
    Something faintly
reassuring sparked in his eyes as he rose to his full height, and
Jessica felt a sudden charge of connection, an inexplicable bond
between them.
    “Do you need to pack
anything?” he asked. “You may not be back here for a while."
    "How long is a
while?"
    "Hard to say."
    She looked down at her
dress. "I don't really own anything else, other than my jeans and
jacket. I was going to buy another dress when I got the reward
money."
    He inclined his head,
as if confounded by her reply, then started for the door. "Let's
go, then."
    "But wait. I should
leave a note for Angus."
    She ran up the stairs
and pulled a sheet of paper out of his desk.
    After tacking the
explanation of her whereabouts to his bedroom door, she took one
hurried look around her room, then headed for the stairs. She
stopped dead at the top, however, when Sheriff Wade shouted up at
her.
    "Jessica! Stay where
you are!"
    “Why?”
    "There's a rider
coming, and he’s got a gun."

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Jessica hurried back
into her room, slammed the door shut and locked it. She dashed to
the window. Outside, a man on a brown horse reached into his
saddlebag, withdrew something that looked like a baseball, and
pitched it. Glass smashed in the other bedroom. Jessica ducked down
and hit the floor, afraid the rider might see her and fire a
shot.
    A frantic moment later,
she heard him gallop away. The blinding terror of the hoof beats
faded into the distance.
    Barely able to breathe
over the crazy velocity of her heart, Jessica got to her feet and
sank into the wing-backed chair, resting her hand on her heaving
chest, listening numbly to Sheriff Wade’s boots tapping up the
stairs.
    "Jessica!" The knob
turned and the door rattled. "Open up. It’s me. He’s gone."
    She rushed to let him
in. "He had a gun."
    "I know." Wade pulled
her into his arms and held her. “You all right?”
    Resting her cheek on
his chest, Jessica listened to