"Where is she? " "She's in good hands, " Cooper said. You shouldn't worry about her.

" "How long ago did she leave? Did you say a couple of hours? " "Yes, " he answered. "We should have left then too, but finding a decent coach has taken time. You're certain you won't ride a horse to the train station? " "I'm certain. I was raised in the city, Marshal, and as I explained before, I have absolutely no experience riding. I'd break my neck."

"All right then, " he said. "It shouldn't be much longer before the coach gets here. We'll just wait."

"You still haven't told me where Jessica has gone." Cooper braced himself before looking directly at Rebecca. He didn't want her to know the effect she was having on him, but, Lord, it was difficult to keep himself from staring. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, and with the sun beating down on her golden hair, she looked as though she were wearing a halo. The first sight of her angelic face had all but knocked the legs out from under him. Daniel really should have warned him, he decided, so that he could have prepared himself.

Spencer and Cobb were openly besotted with all three women. Since meeting them, they had behaved like boys who had just discovered the opposite sex. It was damned disgusting. Slowly lowering his gaze, he asked Rebecca to repeat her question.

"I want to know where Jessica and Cole have gone."

"I don't know their destination."

"North, " Spencer blurted out.

Cooper gave the deputy a look that suggested he not say another word.

"Cole and Jessica took the baby to a friend's house." "Was it one of Cole's friends? " she asked. "It must be, " she added.

"Jessica's friends are in Chicago . . . except for Grace and me.

We're her dear friends. Why did she need to take Caleb away? And why wonXt you tell me where she's gone? You're a marshal, for heaven's sake. You should know."

"Sorry, but I don't know, " he said.

"I just worry about her."

"The three of you have become close, haven't you? " "Tragic circumstances forced us together, and we found we had quite a lot in common." Cooper felt sorry for Rebecca. She sounded so forlorn and looked so damned vulnerable.

"You're going to see both of your friends real soon, " he promised.

"I will? " she asked eagerly. "When? " "Jessica and Cole and Grace and Daniel will all catch up with us." She frowned in confusion. "I don't understand. Are you telling me that Grace and Jessica are going to Texas too? " "Yes."

"But why? I'm the witness."

"I realize that, " he replied. "However, we have to keep the other women safe until after the trial. Once you've testified, the ordeal will be over.

Until then, all of you need guards. Besides, Judge Rafferty wants all three of you."

"How soon will I see them? " "They're meeting us in Red Arrow, " he answered. "We'll probably get there before Cole and Jessica, but they might surprise us and meet our train."

"Red Arrow's the last stop then? Does that mean I have to ride a horse to Blackwater? " Her worry made him smile. "You can ride with me, or I'll find a buggy somewhere." She stared down at her hands and whispered, "This is all wrong. If I had come forward sooner, Grace and Jessica wouldn't be living in fear."

"Why didn't you tell the truth in the beginning? Was it fear? " "Yes, " she said.

"Ma'am, you can get into serious trouble lying to an officer of the law, " Deputy Cobb called out. His friend Spencer nodded his agreement.

"You could go to jail for that offense, " Spencer added.

"What does it matter? " Rebecca asked. "I'm already in trouble. I'm going to be hunted by those criminals, and it will be a miracle if I survive. I don't understand why they haven't tried yet. What are they waiting for? Why haven't they tried to silence me? " "They've been busy, that's why." Daniel answered her question from the doorway.

He came down the stairs and handed Cooper a telegram. "Another bank's been robbed, " he said. "Sixty miles southeast of here." Cooper swore. "Was it clean? " Daniel looked grim. "No."

"What did you mean when you asked Daniel if it was clean? " Rebecca asked.

Daniel turned to answer her. "He was asking me if there were any carualties." Rebecca paled. "How many were killed? " "Three men, "

Daniel answered. "All of them were employees of the bank."

"Those poor men, " she whispered.

Daniel had motioned to Cooper to follow him to the corner of the garden. In a low voice he said, "There was something different about this one."

"What? " Cooper asked.

"Every desk inside the bank was overturned, and a copy of the Rockford Gazette was nailed to the wall. There was blood all over it. "

"They're telling us they know we have a witness. 2^ Daniel nodded.

"Let's get the hell out of here." raveling with a toddler wasn't difficult, it was a nightmare. The baby didn't know how to be quiet.

Most of what he said didn't make any sense, but he still expected and demanded an answer anyway, and Cole was pretty certain he chattered nonstop just to hear the sound of his voice echoing through the forest.

His favorite word was still no. He whispered it, shouted it, whined it, and sang it, and by the time they stopped for the night, Cole was sure he'd said the word at least two hundred times.

It was almost sunset when they finally made camp in a secluded area by a small horseshoe-shaped lake. Jagged rock ledges, some as high as fifty feet, jutted out over the water in spots and offered protection from the rain and wind. More important, no one could sneak up on them during the night. There was only one way into camp, and that was on the path that bordered one side of the lake.

While Cole saw to the horses, Jessica fed Caleb his dinner. The baby was far more interested in exploring his surroundings than eating, and it took considerable coaxing by his mother to get him to cooperate.

Cole wasn't worried about all the noise Caleb was making, because he knew they weren't being followed. He'd backtracked twice just to make certain. The baby needed to run and play. He had been forced to sit still on his mother's lap for most of the day, but he seemed to be making up for lost time now. Full of vitality, he raced in circles from one end of the clearing to the other, chattering away a mile a minute.

Every once in a while he would burst into laughter over what Cole decided must have been a private joke only a toddler could appreciate.

His shoulders would shake with merriment.

The kid was a charmer, even when he was having a fullblown tantrum because Jessica wouldn't let him go into the water. All her energies were spent trying to turn his attention, but for some reason, when Cole told Caleb to do something, he did it. He told him to sit, and the baby promptly did just that. Caleb had already taken off his shoes and socks and sat perched on top of one of the saddles under the overhang, watching Cole brush the horses. His undershirt had ridden up to the top of his belly, his nappy had slid to the tilt of his hips, and he looked about as happy as a baby could be.

His mother, on the other hand, looked like hell. She was clearly exhausted. She reminded him of his little sister's rag doll after it had been left out in the rain and the slm too long. Her hair hung in clumps, her white blouse was covered with dust and the strawberry jam Caleb had smeared on it while eating his biscuit, and there were smudges all over her cheeks. He still thought she looked too damned sexy for her own good . . . and his peace of mind.

Jessica was too tired to eat, until he convinced her she needed the nourishment. He coaxed her in much the same way she'd coaxed her son, but he was smart enough not to mention that fact to her. In her present state of mind, she wouldn't be amused.

He was starving and ate two helpings of the ham, beans, biscuits, and sugar cookies. He kept his eye on her while he ate.

She was definitely in a mood tonight if her frowns were any indication.

After suffering her stony silence for several minutes, he gave up and asked her to tell him what was wrong.

"Why didn't you tell me we would be camping out tonight? You should have warned me."

"Would you have done anything different if I had told you? " She started to nod, then stopped. "I don't know, but I would have insisted that you select a safer spot, " she said.