to go. Please, don't ever leave him.' Xaniel was torn between
responsibilities. His primary obligation was to escort Grace to Texas,
and he was doing exactly that, but he also wanted to head over to the
small town of Clarkston, where the latest robbery had occurred, to look
for evidence that might help him in his investigation.
He couldn't send Cooper to the bank in his place, as he was with
Rebecca, making certain she got to Texas alive and unharmed. The two
of them had left for the depot an hour ago, but not before Cooper had
dispatched his two young and inexperienced deputies to Clarkston to
help the sheriff there. Rebecca had insisted on sending a telegram to
the hotel in Salt Lake City to cancel the reservation she'd made the
day before and to alert her friends that her plans had been changed,
and as soon as she came out of the telegraph office, she was put in a
coach with Cooper and sent on her way.
Cooper had suggested that he and Rebecca wait until Grace could travel
so that he could take both women with him and Daniel could go to
Clarkston, but Daniel refused. Each of the women believed herself to
be the only one claiming to have witnessed the robbery, and he was
determined to keep all three of them separated on the trip to Red Arrow
because he didn't want them making any more joint plans. Although he
personally believed that Rebecca was the real witnesstshe had given
descriptions and details to prove she had been therethe would let the
judge in Blackwater decide for himself which one of the three was
telling the truth.
He hadn't seen Cole before he left town with Jessica and Caleb. They
had taken off an hour or so after the gunman had tried to kill her.
Daniel still didn't know the name of the dead man, but he was certain
he was one of the Blackwater gang. Past reports told him that there
were seven men in the gang. One was in jail in Blackwater, another was
dead now, thanks to Cole's expertise, and five were still out there
somewhere . . . waiting for an opportunity, Daniel believed, to
silence all three women.
There was also another reason he didn't want Cooper to take Grace with
him, but one Daniel would never admit. While he trusted Cooper to do
his job, he didn't want to let Grace out of his sight. In his mind, no
one could protect her as diligently as he could. There was also the
fact that he was drawn to her, and it was his hope that by the time
they reached the stopping point in Red Arrow, he would have gotten over
his bizarre and unexplainable infatuation.
Daniel stayed in Rockford Falls that night and slept in a chair outside
of Grace's door. He went downstairs early the next morning, but didn't
plan to leave the town until late that afternoon when the coach
arrived.
