Read Online An Outlaw in Wonderland by Lori Austin - Free Book Online Page A

Everyone there will as well.”
    He was right. Ethan had been proven a Yankee spy. As the woman who was considered
     his mistress, what would that make her?
    She didn’t want to know.
    “Luke’s at the Union prison in Rock Island, Illinois.”
    Annabeth gaped at the change in subject, then blurted, “Get him out.”
    “Hell, Annabeth, I can’t get you out.”
    “Sure you can. You just don’t want to.” He scowled, but he didn’t deny it. “Where’s
     the sniper?”
    Moze’s scowl turned wary. “Why?”
    “Tell me you didn’t shoot him.”
    “Not yet.” His gaze narrowed. “What are you thinking?”
    “Prisoner exchange.”
    “That sniper’s pretty important.”
    “So is Luke.”
    “To us.”
    “One of Mosby’s Rangers should be worth as much as a sharpshooter.”
    “They might not know he’s a Ranger. If they did, they would have hung him.”
    Grant
had
ordered immediate hanging for captured partisans.
    “The Union is going to hand over just about anyone to get their sniper back,” she
     said. “If they believe they’re giving us only a lowly cavalryman, they’ll do it even
     faster.”
    “My superiors won’t agree.”
    “Then arrange the exchange on your own.”
    “Who the hell do you think I am? Bobby Lee?”
    “I think you’re a lot more than you’re saying. You want me to spy for you, Moze? Get
     my brother back.”

C HAPTER 6
    T hough Annabeth slept among the other female prisoners, she was not bothered by them
     or the guards. Which only added to her belief that Moze was a lot more powerful than
     he was letting on. Or maybe he was a lot more dangerous than he’d ever revealed. Either
     way, he managed to keep her safe during the time she spent in Whitlock’s Warehouse,
     and he managed to get her permission to enter Palmer’s Factory.
    The joy that spread over Ethan’s face the instant he saw Annabeth was echoed in the
     joy that burst to life within her at the sight of him. Whatever he’d held in his hand
     dropped to the floor forgotten as he crossed the room and crushed her into his embrace.
    He was still a Yankee, a spy who’d betrayed her country, the man who might be responsible
     for one or more of her brothers’ deaths. But she loved him.
    “Beth,” he murmured against her hair, saying the word for the first time without the
     Irish lilt. Lie though his accent had been, she missed it. “I’m sorry; I’m sorry.”
    She peered into his slate-gray eyes. “Me too.”
    “For what? I . . .” He released her, stepped back. She was suddenly cold despite the
     sweltering heat in Palmer’s Factory. “You know what I did.” She nodded. “I can’t say
     I’m sorry for that. I believed—I
believe
I was saving lives.” He lifted one shoulder. “A shorter war would be best for everyone.”
    After so many years of conflict, so many dead, she, too, wanted it over so they could
     all move on.
    “I
am
sorry I lied to you,” he continued. “That you were caught in my trap.”
    Annabeth managed not to wince. It had been
her
trap, and by not saying so, she was now the one lying. But telling him would do more
     harm than good.
    “I can’t believe they allowed you to say good-bye.”
    “Not good-bye. Not hardly. I’m your new nurse. Or maybe I’m your old nurse.”
    “No,” he whispered. “You have to leave. You can’t stay here.”
    “I was arrested, Ethan. I don’t get to leave.”
    “I’ll tell them you had nothing to do with it.”
    “Why didn’t I think of that?”
    “Where’s a guard? The commandant?” He stepped past her, and she set her hand on his
     arm.
    “They aren’t going to believe you.”
    His mouth opened, closed. “Beth,” he whispered, anguish chasing the joy from his face.
     She felt like muck on the bottom of a shoe.
    “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I have nowhere to go. I’d rather be here with you.”
     And as those words were some of the truest she’d ever spoken, she smiled.
    Ethan did not. “Go