The Outlaw Bride by Sandra Chastain

money?”
    “You think I’m that stupid, Spencer? Can’t you see, someone is trying to frame me.”
    “Who?”
    “I don’t know, but I mean to find out.”
    “Since you’re behind bars, you’d better hope Josie is as good a lawyer as she is a doctor,” Will said wryly. “Andwhile we’re talking about Josie, there’s something I want to say.”
    “Oh? What?”
    “Lubina told me that you seemed … interested in Josie. I’m telling you to leave her alone. Dr. Annie and Dan are due back any day now. When they get here, they’ll put a stop to what’s going on. Josie doesn’t know anything about men like you, and you don’t know how to handle a woman like her.”
    Callahan felt an unwelcome twinge of jealousy. Josie was
his
, not the sheriff’s. He wanted to claim her, strike out at the man who was scowling at him. But he couldn’t. “You may be right, Spencer. In fact, I’ve told Josie that myself. But I have a problem. You see, she’s the most stubborn woman I’ve ever known. She gets an idea in her head and you can’t change it.”
    “Just so long as it isn’t you giving her the idea,” Will Spencer said. “I’m warning you. You just think you’ve got trouble now. Do anything to hurt Josie Miller and your neck might find its way to a rope.”
    Josie knew that Callahan was in trouble. He had a right to be worried. She could defend him from the charges of theft. She could pull out her law books and find cases and examples. But she was in Wyoming, where decisions were based on appearances. If a snake looked like a snake, it was a snake. The money was gone. Ben Callahan was gone. If she didn’t find an explanation, that could be enough for a conviction. She’d already sent for Judge McSparren, but the truth was, she couldn’t be certain the judge would be open to more legal maneuvering. This time she needed witnesses, facts. And the facts were somewhere between Laramie and Sharpsburg.
    She needed to talk to her old law professors, but that was impossible. The only way out was to start asking questions. And the place to start was Sharpsburg. That decision made, she started packing. It was after midnight when she heard a pounding on the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and the last thing she needed was another one of her mother’s patients.
    “
Señorita
,” Lubina called out curtly, “there es someone to see you.” It was clear from the housekeeper’s voice that this someone did not meet Lubina’s approval.
    Josie let out a sigh and started for the door.
    “Miss Miller.” Ellie Allgood hurried down the corridor toward Josie. “I wouldn’t have come so late, but I’m delivering a message.” She stopped and glanced worriedly back at Lubina. “I was told we should talk privately.”
    “It’s all right, Lubina. It’s only Miss Allgood, one of my clients. Go to bed. I’ll call you if I need you.”
    Reluctantly the housekeeper returned to her room behind the kitchen.
    “Come in,” Josie said.
    “Thank you,” Ellie said quickly. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
    Once inside the parlor, Josie closed the door behind them. “What’s wrong, Ellie?”
    “I don’t rightly know. Mr. Callahan asked me to fetch you. He’s in a real tear.”
    “Callahan? Is he ill?”
    “Ill-tempered, maybe, but I don’t think that’s what’s got him stirred up. He says he’s got to see you tonight.”
    “Did he say why?”
    “He had a visitor this afternoon. Now he claims he may know who’s behind the missing money. I’m supposed to bring you to the jail.”
    “Why didn’t he send the sheriff?”
    “The sheriff rode over to Sharpsburg.”
    “And you don’t have any idea who his visitor was?”
    “A man, a dandy in a suit. That’s all I know.”
    Josie thought about her packed traveling case. “Let me change into my riding clothes and get my hat and my law books.”
    In ten minutes they were riding toward Laramie and Josie was deep in thought, mapping out her plans. She would