all."
"Marshal? " "What now? " Cole asked.
"I sure would like to get a look at them women. Could you maybe tell
me what cavern they're in? " "They aren't in a cavern, " Daniel
said.
"They're in jail." Gus grimaced. "Never mind, then. I ain't going
over there." Daniel left Cole to watch over Robertson while he went to
get Jessica.
The sheriff was waiting outside the front door, and Daniel asked him to
find a doctor for Robertson.
"Are you sure you want to save him? " the sheriff asked.
"No, but get the doctor anyway." Jessica and Grace were sitting at the
desk, but both jumped up as soon as they saw Daniel. Grace was so
overwhelmed at the sight of him alive and well she threw herself into
his arms.
Shocked by how much he needed to hold her, he hugged her tight.
"We heard the shots, but we didn't know . . . Oh, Daniel, I'm so happy
you weren't hurt. ""Is Cole . . . ? " Jessica began.
"He's fine." She was so relieved she had to sit again. Daniel
continued to hold Grace until she calmed down and stopped shaking.
Then he realized she wasn't shaking, he was. It had been a close call,
and he wantedţno, he needed to tell her what had happened and how he
had almost crossed the line between the law and a personal vendetta.
Grace would understand the torment he was going through.
"Did you get all of them, Daniel? " Jessica asked.
"No. There's still one unaccounted for. You're going to have to look
at the men. Three are dead." He added the warning so she could
prepare herself for what she was going to see. "I hate to ask, but I
have to know if they were hired thugs or part of the gang."
"I understand."
"I'm going with you, " Grace told Jessica, ignoring the fact that
Daniel was shaking his head at her.
"I would rather you waited here." She patted his chest. "I know you
would, but I'm going with her, " she insisted, and before he could
argue, she went to the door and pulled it open. "Come on, Jessica.
Let's get this over and done with." Jessica led the way. She was
worried about how she would react to the sight of the dead men and
didn't want to disgrace herself in front of Cole. She was a strong
woman, she reminded herself. She could and would get through this.
Grace's hand kept brushing against Daniel's as they walked along, but
she couldn't make herself move away from him. She couldn't stop
looking at him either and kept glancing up just to make certain he
wasn't going to vanish. When she had heard the gunshots, her heart had
felt as though it had stopped, and it wasn't until that very moment
that she realized how much she loved him. No, that wasn't true, she
thought. She'd known for a long time, she just hadn't been willing to
acknowledge it because of the complications and the pain he would cause
her.
l He had been honest from the very beginning. He loved his Kathleen