Read Online His Most Wanted by Sandra Jones - Free Book Online

I’m wearing a badge now doesn’t mean we should be at odds.” He softened his voice, hoping to allay her worries. “Where I’m from on the Mississippi, there’s only gambling, cheating and dueling. When I became my uncle’s ward, I had to learn to protect myself in order to survive in that kind of lifestyle.”
    â€œYou don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Her smile widened, but the worry didn’t leave her eyes.
    Self-disgust tightened his throat. The more he attempted to reassure her, the more he hated himself. This was one standoff he couldn’t win.
    Cora followed him to the building’s entrance, keeping more than an arm’s distance behind, though he could feel her watching him. At the door, she caught up with him and laid a light hand on his shoulder. “Wait.” She sighed as if she’d just lost an inner battle. “I-I just realized Andrea’s sleeping in Bernadette’s bedroom until she’s stronger. You can sleep in her vacant room, if you’d like.”
    He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and studied her expression. She averted her eyes, making it impossible to determine what had changed her mind.
    â€œThank you. That’s generous.” He supposed he should consider this a small victory.
    She led him upstairs to a hallway with five closed doors. The bedroom where he would be sleeping was the first. He’d no sooner turned the doorknob than she left him and retreated downstairs, as if being alone with him another second was unbearable.
    He laid his satchel atop a desk and turned to the small quilt-covered bed. Tomorrow he would ride out to Dillard’s Peak and finally complete his uncle’s last instructions. He couldn’t be done soon enough with that task.
    With his spirit heavy and his body still taut from his unrequited need, he unbuttoned his shirt for what he knew would be a restless night. The room was stuffy from the heat rising from the furnace downstairs. He went to the window, parted the drapes and pushed it open. There was no breeze outside, but the air felt cool and refreshing on his heated face. He leaned out to soak up more when a sound below caught his ear.
    A scraping noise came from the bushes beneath his window. As he watched, a wedge of light spanned outward from Cora’s room into the shrubbery. A figure slipped outside, and the hinge squeaked again as the opening closed.
    His heart hammered at the discovery of the secret entrance. Or exit, in this case, coming from the bedroom wall.
    The bushes shuddered, parted, and the woman emerged into the shadowed lawn with the bedroom window’s faint light illuminating her golden hair and casting sheen on the blue velvet cloak swirling around her.
    His gut plummeted at what he was witnessing.
    Cora was Velvet Grace, the murderer he sought?
    He could hardly trust his eyes as the lady darted into the street, lifting her hood to cover her bright tresses. The sight of her looking so lovely as she glanced over her shoulder at the Willows stirred him, and he ducked inside his window just in time to avoid being seen.
    Should he stop her? Question her?
    He kept her in his view while she rushed down the street. His hand closed over the handle of his revolver, instinct compelling him to draw and call for her to yield. But hell, he could no more pull a gun on Cora than he could turn it on himself. Killer or not, she was a female, and he couldn’t make himself aim a loaded Colt in her direction for any reason.
    Christ. He should follow her. It was his job as sheriff.
    He took another look out the window and watched her sticking to the shadows, hurrying away.
    Where was she headed? To kill someone else? At the rate she was traveling, he would never catch up with her in time to know her destination.
    There was no better choice than to wait for her return. She wouldn’t know he’d seen her, and he would have the element of surprise when he confronted