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tell me how a
dying
man got out of bed andmoved it halfway across the room and I’ll listen,” Will said.
    “You tell me where Ben is and I’ll get back in bed myself,” Callahan said.
    “I came here to ask you that question,” Will said. “If you don’t know, we’ll have to assume that he’s either dead or he’s run out on you with the money.”
    Josie was still searching desperately for an explanation, any explanation for Callahan’s nudity and the bed being halfway out the door. But she didn’t have to, because at that moment, Callahan fainted and started to fall forward. “Catch him, quickly,” Josie snapped, tucking her derringer back into her pocket and rushing to Callahan’s side. She wasn’t at all certain that his faint was real, but she was willing to use it to her advantage.
    “Say the word, sheriff,” Keller said, “and we’ll tie him over my horse and haul him to jail.”
    “And I’ll have you prosecuted for murder,” Josie warned. “Don’t think I won’t do it.”
    Reluctantly, the ranchers who’d accompanied Sheriff Spencer stepped back.
    Will finally nodded his head and lay the unconscious man onto the bed.
    “If you men will just roll his bed this way,” Josie said, “we’ll get him settled for the night. I was just moving him into the family wing of the house when he fell out of bed,” she explained.
    The men who made up the posse began talking in low, agitated voices. “I don’t believe him,” Keller said. “He knows where our money is.”
    Another voice argued. “Sheriff said that Callahan and his brother left the trail. Why’d they do that if they were heading for Laramie?”
    “Maybe they had a good reason,” another suggested.
    “Ordering these cattle was Ben’s idea, and you know he’s smart.”
    “Ben, yes. It’s Callahan I don’t trust. Maybe he sent Ben on and staged getting shot so we’d let him go,” Keller argued.
    “And maybe the thief was one of you ranchers,” Josie suggested. “All of you knew where the Callahan brothers were going. All of you need money.”
    The posse rolled the hospital cot down the hall to the family wing, all the while arguing over Josie’s accusation.
    Josie confronted the sheriff. “Will, you can’t believe that he’s a thief. Those gunshot wounds aren’t self-inflicted, and they aren’t flesh wounds.”
    “I know. But, Josie, I also know he’s one of the Callahan brothers, and just like it’s your job to defend suspects, it’s my job to arrest them.”
    Josie changed the subject. “Will, where do you think his brother is?”
    “I don’t know. He may be dead or he may be halfway to California with the money. All I know is the Callahan brothers left Sharpsburg with over five thousand dollars in cash and jewels to pay for a herd of high-priced cattle imported from England. The cattle arrived, the Callahan brothers didn’t. This one’s wounded, and his brother and the money have disappeared.”
    “That doesn’t prove they stole the money, and without stolen money, you have no case. The only thing you know for sure is that Callahan was almost killed.”
    Will looked uncomfortable. “When we find his brother, we’ll find the money. Where’s Wash? He’s supposed to be protecting you.”
    “He’s … around. Besides, I’m perfectly safe. Look at Callahan’s wounds. He couldn’t even get out the door.”
    Will stared at her sternly, conscious of the ranchersstanding in the doorway, watching. “When will he be well enough to move?”
    “Dr. Annie would know,” she said honestly, “but I don’t. You’ll just have to wait until she comes back for a diagnosis.”
    “I don’t like it,” Will protested. “I need to question him.”
    “That’s going to be hard to do considering he’s unconscious.”
    “All right, but I’ll be back tomorrow. Until then, I’ll leave a guard.”
    There was an almost imperceptible tightening of the muscles in Callahan’s jaw. Josie had thought Callahan’s