Read The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 for Free Online Page A

did not bode well for her escape plans. Perhaps if she annoyed him enough, he might turn his back on her, and she could break away.
    “You don’t let yourself feel anything, do you, Marshal?” she jeered. “I’m just one more prisoner to bring in, one more fugitive retrieved to add to your impressive record. You don’t even care that I didn’t do it.”
    He stilled, and though she couldn’t see his face in the darkness, she knew she had hit her mark.
    “It’s not my job to judge,” he said softly.
    “I don’t much like your job, Marshal.”
    “You don’t have to like it,” he replied. “Now get up on this horse before the whole town wakes up. Or do you want Wayne Caldwell riding over here to see what the commotion is about?”
    Her next nasty remark died on her lips. As long as she was on her own, she would be easy prey for Wayne Caldwell and his brand of justice. But if she went with Jedidiah, she would be able to get beyond Wayne Caldwell’s reach. Then she could slip away from Jedidiah and go find Abigail Hawkins.
    Her chances of escaping Marshal Brown were very slim, but they were definitely better than her chances of surviving another encounter with Wayne Caldwell.
    Which meant she would have to change her game plan and go with Jedidiah after all. Surrender didn’t sit well with her, so she stuck her nose in the air and gave Jedidiah her best princess-to-peasant attitude. “And just how do you expect me to mount with handcuffs on?”
    Cupping his hands together, he drawled, “Luckily you have a gentleman on hand to assist you, ma’am.”
    “That’s a matter of opinion.” She grabbed the pommel with both hands and set her foot into his cupped palms. He boosted her easily into the saddle, as if she weighed no more than her carpetbag, and she tried to ignore the skip in her pulse.
    The man was a boor, she reminded herself, and brute strength often went hand in hand with boorishness. Then he guided her feet into the stirrups as gently as if they were made of glass, and a warm flush swept through her. She fought to hold onto her negative opinion of him.
    Jedidiah mounted his Palomino with fluid ease, then leaned over and caught the reins of her horse.
    “I am fully capable of managing my own mount, Marshal,” she said, annoyed that she wouldn’t be able to kick into a gallop and leave him in the dust.
    He chuckled. “I’m well aware of that—which is why I’ll be leading you until we get to Denver.”
    “Why couldn’t they have sent a stupid one?” she muttered beneath her breath.
    Jedidiah’s deep chuckle echoed off the buildings of the sleeping town as he led her out of Silver Flats and into the night.
     
     
    Silence reigned between them for hours as the first rosy fingers of dawn crept over the horizon. Several times Jedidiah looked behind him to make sure Susannah was still there. He had never known her to be so quiet. But there she was, calmly sitting astride her horse as if she were out for a leisurely Sunday ride instead of being escorted to a murder trial. He thought she was engrossed in her own thoughts, but then she lifted her gaze to his, and he was drawn to her despite himself.
    He pulled up a little and let her horse fall into step with his. Even at this early hour of the morning, the woman looked stunning. The pink glow of early dawn lent radiance to her peaches and cream complexion, and a certain softness that made her look like an angel. She wore her blonde hair loosely tied back from her face, but a few curls brushed her cheeks and brow in enticing disarray. Her china doll looks could make the harshest judge believe in her innocence, if not for the keen intelligence that lurked in her smoky blue eyes, and that stubborn line to her pouty mouth.
    She was a smart one all right, and had dressed for her escape in a sensible brown skirt and matching jacket over a white shirtwaist, with a wide-brimmed hat and brown kid boots. She arched one golden brow as Jedidiah continued to