"We aren't taking the coach, " Jessica explained.

"We're going by wagon, " Grace said. "It's in the field behind the house. Surely you noticed it on your way here."

"We should put our suitcases in it tonight, " Jessica said.

Grace agreed. "And get an early start in the morning. That's a good idea."

"Who's driving the team? " Cole wanted to know.

"We are, " Grace answered. The look on her face indicated she couldn't imagine why he would ask such a question.

Cole was staring at Jessica's hands. He reached over and took hold of one and turned the palm up. "Your hands are soft." It sounded like an accusation, and she pulled her hand back. "I'll wear gloves."

"Have you ever driven a team before? " Daniel asked.

"Not exactly, " she admitted.

Astonished by their impossible plans, Daniel looked at Cole, hoping he would be able to talk some sense into them.

Cole was just as astounded, but he tried to be diplomatic. "The two of you . . . and the baby are going to set off on your own across some of the most rugged and dangerous terrain in the country. Have I got that straight? " Both Grace and Jessica nodded.

Cole lost his patience. "Are you ladies out of your minds? " Since he was looking at Jessica, she assumed he expected her to answer his rude question. "No, we aren't out of our minds. We've thought it all out, and I assure you we know what we're doing." Grace nodded. "Yes, we do, " she agreed. She turned to Daniel and added, "We won't be traveling alone. We're going to join a wagon train."

"We must be in Gramby by Monday at the latest, " Jessica said.

Daniel was staring intently at Grace. More than anything she longed to tell him to stop it. It was rude, and it was also driving her to distraction. She had the feeling he was trying to see into her mind, which was absurd, she told herself. He couldn't possibly read her thoughts.

"Why are you asking us so many personal questions? " she demanded.

"We haven't done anything wrong, " Jessica insisted.

"Are you finished questioning us about the bank? " Grace asked. "We both have work to do." Daniel's anger was evident in his expression and voice when he said, "If one of you has information about the robbery and isn't telling, that's called obstruction. It's a punishable crime, ladies."

"Are you trying to intimidate us? " Jessica asked.

Both marshals ignored the question. Daniel turned to Grace. "I've only got one more question for you. Did you happen to run into Jessica when you were at the bank? " She looked at Jessica before she answered. "Yes, I passed her on my way out of the bank. She was going inside."

"What about Rebecca? " Cole asked. "Did you bump into her too? " The men's anger sizzled in the air between them. It had been simmering, Grace realized, all the while they were questioning her.

Something she had said must have set them off. She bowed her head when she answered.

"Rebecca was just leaving the bank when I went inside." Jessica also could feel the hostility and was convinced that she had said something that triggered the marshals' anger. She was exhausted from the strain of guarding every word and knew that if she said anything more, she would only make it worse. She decided to show the marshals out as quickly as possible. Pushing her chair back, she stood up and headed for the door.

Daniel stopped her with his command. "Both of you are going to be staying in town tomorrow." She whirled around and bumped into Cole.

She neither apologized nor stepped back.

"Why must we stay? " she asked.

"You can't make us stay here, can you? " Grace asked. "I'm not familiar with the laws in this country, but making someone do something she doesn't wish to do is wrong . . . isn't it? " "Yes, it is, "

Jessica said. "Cole, you can't . . . " He interrupted her. "Yes, I can make you stay. We're using the office in the front of the jail.

You ladies know where it is. Why don't you both plan on being there at eight o'clock. Rebecca will be joining you." Jessica and Grace seemed to wilt. They meekly followed the lawmen to the front of the house.

"This isn't right, " Grace whispered.

Daniel heard her and turned back in the doorway. "No, it sure as hell isn't right, but we're going to figure it all out tomorrow, aren't we, Grace? " Cole turned to address Jessica. "I don't know what kind of a game you ladies are playing, but it ends now. Do I make myself clear?

" He didn't wait for an answer. Jessica was shaking from head to toe as she shut the door and bolted the lock. She turned around and fell back against it.

Tears sprang into Grace's eyes. "Oh, God . . . they know." he twisted turn of events left Cole and Daniel feeling bewildered and irritated.

"All three of them rehearsed what they were going to say to us when they were in the cell together, " Cole remarked on the way back to the hotel.

"Hell, yes, they rehearsed. Now tell me why."

"They're scared, I guess. That's all I can come up with."

"They were all real edgy.

Rebecca did the best job of concealing it from us, but I could see it in her eyes."

"And her hands, " Cole said. "She was gripping them.

" "Yeah, she was, " Daniel remembered. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to work the knots of tension out.

"I sure was wrong, " Cole said. "I thought it was going to be a waste of time talking to Jessica and Grace. What the hell kind of a game are they playing? " "I don't know, " Daniel replied. "I was pretty sure it was going to be a waste, too. I was just following procedure, hoping one of them might have noticed something unusual. It sure as hell got complicated, didn't it? " "Yeah, it did, " Cole agreed. "And it doesn't make any sense. They've got to know they were seen in the bank earlier that afternoon. They all stood in line with men who would remember them. Why did they go to all the trouble of rehearsing what they were going to say? " "No, it doesn't make any sense. Which one of them is lying? " "Maybe all three of them are. They're obviously hell-bent on protecting one another."

"Or what? " "They're protecting someone else, someone we don't know about yet."

"How do we find out the truth? " "They're going to tell us, " Daniel said.

"Tomorrow, one way or another, Jessica and Grace and Rebecca are going to tell us what they know."

"And if they don't? " "No one's going to get in my way, man or woman."

Daniel's voice shook with emotion. "If I have to lock them up, by God, I will."

"Don't do anything crazy." Cole saw the irony in his remark and let out a harsh laugh. "I think this badge is changing me. I'm usually the one doing crazy things, and now I'm cautioning you. I know how bad you want those men. Hell, I'd feel the same way, but you've got to keep it legal." Daniel disagreed. "I'm going to get them any way that I can. I don't care if it's legal or not. Are you going to help me?

" "I already told you I'd help." The conversation ended when they reached the hotel and went up to their rooms. Cole threw open his window to get rid of the musty smell, then stripped out of his clothes, washed, and fell into bed. Stacking his hands behind his head, he thought about the women's answers to their questions. One thought led to another, and he was suddenly thinking about Jessica. Damn but she was a tempting woman.

He fell asleep hoping to God she hadn't been hiding under that desk.

Daniel didn't go to sleep right away. He spent a good hour pacing around his shoe box of a room, feeling like a caged animal. He tried to concentrate on the investigation, but Grace Winthrop kept getting in his way.

He'd been stunned by the impact she'd made on him, and honest to God, he didn't know how to handle it. Until tonight, he hadn't so much as glanced at another woman, and he sure as certain hadn't physically wanted any of them. Grace had gotten to him, though, and it seemed so damned disloyal of him to have such unbridled thoughts about her.