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woman? Are you trying to sell me a bill of goods that she might be able to fight back somehow?”
    It was a stretch and he knew it. Will also knew if he didn’t keep up hope, it was going to be harder to go after her. “As long as she’s alive, that’s what’s important.”
    “You aren’t the one who wants to marry her, Will.”
    “No, but she’s my sister. If you think this isn’t eating me up, you’re fucking wrong, Harper.”
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    For a minute they stared at each other and then the other man sighed heavily. “I know it is. Sorry. I just feel helpless. I can’t even go with you to look for her. I have that big deal closing soon. I have to be here to sign the papers. The lawyers are on their way with everything.”
    Somehow, that didn’t surprise Will. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Weston Harper, he did for the most part, but there was a shallowness there that he hoped Laurel saw as clearly as he did. Maybe that was why she had hedged over accepting Harper’s proposal so far. Wes was handsome, successful and charming, but he was also self-centered and Will had a big suspicion part of his horror over Laurel’s abduction was that everyone would know the woman he wanted to marry had been touched by other men.
    More than touched, probably. It was the only reason they’d dragged her off that train.
    He prayed they would try and ransom her, but according to the eyewitness report he’d gotten when the train rolled into Tijeras without her on board, the men hadn’t acted like they knew who she was. It was her looks that caught their eye, not the idea of their father’s money.
    Murderous rage didn’t begin to describe his reaction, but sometimes the West was a violent place. It was part of living and part of dying some of the time.
    He drained his glass, the whiskey burning his throat. “We’ll be riding out in an hour or so. My father is with John Evans arranging for men to go with us.”
    Wes leaned back in his chair, looking morose. “Good luck.”
    Will didn’t even feel sorry for him. He just got up and walked out.

    ***
    The clearing was quiet, but there was a gray stream coming from the chimney and the faint tang of wood smoke was a wonderful thing. Cal urged Goliath, his big bay, toward the small corral at the back, a lean-to attached to provide shelter in the often unpredictable weather of this part of Colorado.

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    The dog that trotted out to meet them was obviously half wolf, his wary demeanor and low growl subsiding as he registered the familiar scent. Cal said quietly, “Hello, Lobo. Where’s old Gabe?”
    “Who you callin’ old, you renegade?”
    The man who came out from around the back of the cabin was a welcome sight, even if he was lowering a rifle. A grizzled beard full of gray split in a wide smile. “I had you in my sights, damned if I didn’t. You need to be more careful.”
    Cal grinned back with weary humor. “I’m too tired to be careful.”
    “I hope that’s never true, Cal. If there’s a man I know who can’t afford to be tired, it’s you.” The other man’s smile faded. “Looks like you brought company this time. You can explain over a hot meal. I made some stew. Maybe I have second sight or somethin’
    because I’ve got extra. Bring the girl inside before you tend to Goliath. She looks like she’s tuckered.”
    It was true. Laurel had faded the past few hours, her body almost lax against his back, her arms only loosely holding on to his waist. As Cal slid from the saddle, she came with him and he was barely able to catch her before she hit the ground. “You seem to be right. Get the door, Gabe.”
    The delectable Miss Daniels gave a soft moan as he carried her toward the cabin. Not for the first time, he felt both insensitive and brutal even if he hadn’t been the one to instigate her abduction in the first place. The pace he’d set had been hard and he hadn’t stopped more