Emma and the Outlaw by Linda Lael Miller

Author:Linda Lael Miller [Miller, Linda Lael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781451655360
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 1990-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Emma was growing numb with cold, standing there in her underthings. Purposefully—she ignored the stranger as best she could—she made for her calico dress, which was spread out on a blackberry bush, and pulled it on over her head.

She was bolder, now that she was decently covered. And with narrowed eyes she studied the man who’d come upon her so unexpectedly. He might be a U.S. Marshal, or a bounty hunter, come to find Steven and see him hanged. Or he might mean to do the killing himself.

“Who are you?” she asked.

He looked amused, and when he spoke she noticed a slight Southern drawl. “I’ve already told you. I’m just a poor wayfarer, looking for a lost friend.”

Emma didn’t believe a word of it. There was nothing poor about this man, and Steven wasn’t his friend. Since she would have had to walk right up to him to get her shoes and stockings, she remained barefoot. “What gives you the idea that I know Mr. Fairfax?”

He smiled indulgently and tossed her shoes and stockings to her. “There’s a lot of talk around town about the two of you.”

Emma’s cheeks burned when she sat down on a good-sized rock to wipe sand from the bottom of one foot before putting on a stocking. “He’s gone,” she said. “I believe he was headed east, in fact. Toward Chicago.” Emma was a lamentably bad liar, and saw immediately that the stranger didn’t believe her.

All the same, his smile was friendly. “I’ve taken a room over at the hotel,” he said, throwing down his smoldering cheroot and grinding it out with the toe of his boot. “If you hear anything more about Steven, it would be smart to tell me.”

Emma bristled. “Who are you?” she demanded again. “And what do you want?”

He sighed, his compact frame dappled with sunlight and shadow. “My name is Macon Fairfax,” he answered reluctantly. “And I’m looking for Steven because he killed my son. The state of Louisiana wants a word with him, too—about the murder of a young woman named Mary McCall.”

All the starch went out of Emma. She sagged back against the rock. “Murder? I dothis man,believe it!”

“I don’t give a damn what you believe, Miss Chalmers,” Macon Fairfax said cordially. “All I want is to see justice done and, if you’re wise, you’ll assist me.” With that, he turned and climbed the bank, making no more noise than he had when he’d approached.

A myriad of emotions raced through Emma’s system. She remembered Steven’s deftness with that Colt .45 of his and shuddered. Could he really have killed two people?

Emma decided it wasn’t possible. Steven was a hard, determined man, but no murderer could have ignited the tender fire that had flared in her when they made love. The embers of it smoldered still.

Catching her skirts up in her hands, Emma quickly climbed the bank and ran toward the back of the house.

After tying her shoelaces and neatening her hair, she hastened to the marshal’s office. He

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