The Outlaw Bride by Sandra Chastain Page B

paid the loan, and why had Perryman thought it important enough to send someone to tell him? It couldn’t have been because he was concerned. Perryman didn’t know the meaning of the word. There had to be a deeper motive.
    Reluctantly, Will had agreed to check out the loan payoff at the Sharpsburg bank, leaving Callahan in the care of the newly deputized hotel manager. He’d seen Ellie walking past the jail, and through the bars on the window, he’d convinced her to fetch Josie. But that was hours ago. Callahan caught the bars and shook them angrily. “Josie!”
    Callahan’s thoughts kept going back to Jerome. Therewas something not quite right about the man. He’d been dressed like a banker, but he didn’t seem comfortable with his mission. Callahan had been convinced something was wrong when Jerome left on a big dun-colored horse. The scene kept going around and around in his mind. Where had he seen a horse like that before?
    Where? He started back across the cell, then stopped mid-stride. Damn! As clearly as if he’d been thrust back in time, he remembered. When he and Ben had been ambushed, he’d ridden away from the thieves, trying to divert them so that Ben could escape. Then pain. His horse had stumbled and he’d been thrown. Just before he passed out, he’d seen the horse, the dun-colored horse. He hadn’t gotten a good look at the rider, only the brand on the horse’s haunch—white, a shape like a crescent moon.
    Now he’d seen that mark again. Perryman’s lackey was riding the same horse as the man who’d shot him, or a horse with the same brand. Where was Josie? She had to get him out of this jail.
    He heard the sound of a horse—no, horses. Someone was coming. The outside door opened.
    He waited. He knew who it was without having to see her. He recognized Josie’s scent—the same scent as on her pillow.
    “Callahan?” she whispered. “Just hold on.”
    Callahan heard her fumbling with the lock. She swore again, talking to herself as she worked at the door. “You can do this, Josie. You still remember how. All you need is a hairpin,” she muttered. A second later Callahan heard the rattle of the lock as it snapped.
    The door swung open and Josie ran to the bunk. “Callahan, what’s wrong?”
    He grabbed her, jerking her forward so that she fellacross him. He intended to twist away and slip out the door. As much as he hated to do it, it was time to find his own answers. But there was one answer he needed first—from Josie.
    He kissed her. She struggled briefly, but was no match for a determined man. It was a rough kiss, built of Callahan’s frustration and the knowledge that he wanted this woman, wanted her badly, wanted her to the point of risking capture by delaying his jailbreak for a kiss. It was easy to tell himself that he was only interested because he needed her help—until he touched her. Then every lie went out of his head. He softened his kiss until he felt her tentative response.
    That did it. He was lost. She hesitantly allowed his tongue inside her mouth. They kissed, over and over, twisting, canting their heads, hands pulling against collars, buttons, shoulders. Her mouth was hot, her breathing sporadic, her purring soft as she pushed herself against him.
    He pulled back. “Damn! I didn’t intend to do this. You drive me crazy, woman.”
    She stared up at him, her lips swollen with passion and her eyes filled with confusion.
    Callahan drew in a deep breath, trying to focus on his escape plan. “Something happened today, Josie. I think I know one of the men involved in the holdup, but I have to get out of here to prove it, and you have to help me.”
    “You can’t go,” Josie whispered, dragging her shattered senses together. What was she doing? She reminded herself that she was here as an attorney, not some wanton woman whose body was nestled seductively against a man’s. She jerked herself free and sat down on the bunk. “Until I reach Judge McSparren, there’s