Caleb reached for him, but Jessica wouldn't let the boy go. She was still trembling and taking deep, gasping breaths.

"Why the hell didn't you drop when I told you to? " Cole asked in a voice as smooth as molasses.

What he said and how he said it confused her. She couldn't tell if he was angry or not. "What did you say? " "I asked you to explain why you didn't dive for cover when I ordered you to, " he repeated.

"You're angry."

"Yes, I am."

"You want to shout at me, don't you?

" "Yes, I do, " he admitted. "But I won't. It would upset Caleb, and yelling is pointless. Next time, Jessica, do as I say. I can't protect you unless you do."

"Next time? " she shouted.

Caleb burst into tears again.

"Ah, hell, now look what you've done, " Cole muttered.

Daniel joined them. Without a thought as to what he was doing, he took the baby away from Jessica, turning so that Caleb wouldn't see the body behind them.

"Poor baby, " he whispered as he gently patted Caleb's back.

Properly soothe , the baby put his head down on Daniel's shoulder and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Did you find any identification? " Cole asked him.

"No, " Daniel answered. "His pockets were empty." Jessica grabbed hold of Cole's hand. It had finally dawned on her what he had said.

"I didn't do as you ordered because Iwasn't thinking. I only wanted to get to my son to protect him from that madman."

"I understand, " he said. "But, Jessica, I can't . . . " She squeezed his hand as she interrupted. "I'm sorry if my conduct upsets you or offends you, but I swear to you, I'd do it again. No one's going to hurt my son. Dear God, I can't . . . stop . . . thinking what almost happened. Caleb could have been killed." He didn't have to reach for her. She came into his arms willingly, desperately needing to be comforted.

He hugged her tight. "You aren't going to cry, are you? " he asked gruffly. "You're going to upset Caleb if you do."

"No, I won't cry, but you don't understand, " she whispered. "It's my fault Mr. York is dead. He was such a nice man. He'd be alive if it weren't for me."

"Hush now, " he ordered. "None of this was your doing. Poor baby.

It's all over now. I know it was frightening."

"You don't understand."

"What don't I understand, sweetheart? " He was more stunned than she appeared to be that he had used the endearment. What was even more amazing to him was the fact that it had come so easily.

"I didn't know how to shoot that gun."

"You did just fine."

"No, I didn't, " she argued. "And I have to know how."

"Jessie, I know it was a close call, but I did get the bastard. I can protect you. Have a little faith in me and let me do my job."

"I do have faith in you, but I still have to know how to protect my son." Daniel carried Caleb back to his mother. "Is she all right? "

he asked Cole.

"Yeah, she's just shaken."

"It was me, " she blurted out. "I was there."

"What? " Daniel said.

It suddenly dawned on Cole what she was trying to tell him. "Let me guess, " he muttered.

She stared up at Daniel over Cole's shoulder. "I'm your witness. "

"Ah, hell." Daniel whispered lithe expletive with a sigh.

Caleb promptly repeated it.

"Now what? " Cole asked as he tightened his hold on Jessica. She had willingly gone to him, and he wasn't going to let go.

"What's going on here? " Daniel asked, his anger mounting as he spoke.

"Know what I think? " Cole said. He squeezed Jessica before adding, "It was damned crowded under that desk. "- v he office in the front of the jail was crowded with lawmen. Marshal Jack Cooper, head of operations in Salt Lake City, and two young deputies named Spencer and Cobb, had just arrived in Rockford Falls. The three men had ridden hard and were parched and covered with a layer of dust.

Cooper was a good friend of Daniel's. The two men had worked on several investigations in the past, though admittedly none of them had involved women, and all of the cases had been far less convoluted.

Like Daniel, Cooper was no stranger to danger or the bizarre behavior of criminals.

He once escorted a smooth-tongued self-proclaimed reverend who had brutally killed and mutilated sixteen redheaded men because he believed the color of their hair indicated that they were spawns of the devil.

The crazy loon constantly misquoted scripture, insisted that he heard God's voice every day at noon on the dot, and refused counsel. The Lord, he declared, would step forward and testify on his behalf.

Ironically, the judge who heard the case just happened to have carrot orange hair, and it didn't take him any time at all to recommend to the jury that the guilty man be hanged.

Cooper had done and seen it all. Deeply tanned with creases at the corners of his brown eyes and prematurely silver-tipped hair, he looked more like a senator than a lawman. Nothing ever fazed him. After reading Daniel's notes, he tossed the pad on the desk and sat down.

The two deputies leaned against the wall behind him.

"It seems to me that you're letting these three women run your investigation, " he remarked as he stretched his long legs out and crossed one ankle over the other.

Cole heard the comment as he came in the door. He had just returned from the hotel.

Daniel introduced him to Cooper and his deputies. "This is Marshal Clayborne, " he said. "He's new to the job." The deputies rushed forward to shake his hand. Spencer looked awestruck and asked, "Is your first name Cole? Are you that Clayborne brother? " "Yes, " Cole answered.

"I've heard all about you, sir."

"Is that right? " Cole asked, wondering what he had heard.