Free Annabelle Weston by Scandalous Woman Page B

try.”
    Alvin hauled a peashooter out from under the bar.
    “ Put that thing away,” Jed told him.
    She faced him toe to toe. “There’s only one way you’re going to get me out of here.”
    She posed a challenge Jed couldn’t walk away from. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.
    She flailed at him with her fists. “Let go of me you two-bit lawman. Your tin badge don’t count for squat in the Lonesome.”
    “ You quit hitting me or I’ll put a pair of cuffs on you.”
    “ You wouldn’t dare.”
    “ Won’t I?”
    “ Somebody help me,” she wailed. Her pleas only met more laughter.
    Jed quelled any rebellion with narrowed eyes and a snarl on his lips. He kicked the doors open and carried her like a sack of grain out onto the dark boardwalk. As the doors swung behind him, he shifted her weight. Drunk and half asleep, she’d taken no effort at all to carry up a flight of steps but with her wiggling and fussing it took some doing. He held her feet securely, making sure she couldn’t kick him in his privates.
    She landed a blow to the small of his back.
    “ Stop that,” he said.
    “ Are you going to let me down?”
    “ I don’t reckon I will.” He headed for the sheriff’s office.
    The two deputies had lit a lantern and were playing checkers. When they saw him and his cargo, they stood up abruptly, sending checkers rolling to the floor.
    “ Not exactly the way a lady likes to be carted around,” she sputtered when he set her down.
    Both boys gazed at her wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. They showed more than a healthy interest in the saloon dolly, especially with plenty of petticoat showing.
    Their mothers would have Jed’s hide when they found out.
    “ You boys go on home,” Jed said. “I’ll be watching over this prisoner for the rest of the night.”
    “ Yes sir.” They made no move to leave.
    “ Evening, ma’am.” The Finney boy’s voice wobbled. Carly favored him and Sam with a smile.
    Carly raised her hand to Jed but he caught her wrist before she could strike. She yelped as if hurt and glared fire and retribution.
    “ Do as I say,” he told the boys.
    They grabbed their hats and skedaddled.
    Jed turned his attention to his prisoner. She’d calmed down considerably and her wrists went limp.
    “ So you showed me what a big, strong man you are. Now you can let me go.”
    “ I will if you behave.” He was as good as his word.
    She rubbed her wrists. “I suppose you expect me to pay a fine for breaking your curfew.”
    “ That’s for a judge to decide.”
    “ When will the judge be here?”
    “ Don’t rightly know. In the meantime, you’re the guest of the good people of Tucson.” He opened the desk drawer and took out the key he’d found still in the lock after the Crosby gang broke out their men.
    She stomped her foot. “I’m not going into that cell.”
    “ I say you are.”
    Her expression softened and she reached for the top button of his shirt. “I can make it worth your while to let me go.”
    Jed was tempted. Boy howdy, was he tempted. Duty came first. He wouldn’t be worth spit as a lawman if he let Carly get to him.
    “ Turn around,” he said.
    “ Why Sheriff, what do you have in mind?”
    “ Just do as I say.”
    With a heaving sigh that gave him an eyeful of bosom, she did as he asked.
    * * * * *
    Carly hadn’t realized how late it was until Jed arrived. The Lonesome did get rowdy about this time of night—a fact the sheriff would soon come to understand.
    He was out of line arresting her. Sure, he was angry about her not submitting to his curfew and now he was setting an example by locking her up like some criminal. To hell with his rules, she was a woman who knew how to make a man change his mind. And she would use that to her advantage.
    He walked behind her, holding her elbow. She’d no intention of going in that cell—at least not alone.
    Her instincts for survival were strong. She dropped her shoulder. The strap of her gown slid down her