Two Wanted Men [Badlands 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (14 page)

“Did she talk to anyone?”

“No. She walked out the door with a sad expression on her face and I didn’t see her again.”

From across the small room, the postmaster called out, “I saw her. She asked for any letters she might’ve received, but I told her I’d given all her letters to you.”

Ben sighed. She was probably in a snit because he’d kept and hidden the cryptic letters from those two strangers she’d received. They only signed with initials L and R. He wouldn’t have known their names except for the pressure he put on the hotel owner where they’d stayed. “Luke” and “Reese” sent three letters telling Miranda they were proud she was a doctor. Bastards.

They didn’t seem to know a woman’s place any better than she did. They said they missed her but didn’t let on as to where they were or where they were going. Frustration poured through him like a pitcher of water emptied into a hot desert sand dune.

“When are you two getting hitched?” the old man behind the post office counter asked.

“As soon as I find her.” And suddenly a brilliant idea occurred to him. “Did anyone buy a ticket leaving this station?”

“Some lawyer fella bought a ticket for
Omaha
. Said he was arranging a mail order bride or somethin’.” The telegraph operator turned away signaled by a bell that a telegraph message was arriving. He sat down at his desk to transcribe the clicks and noises coming through. Ben waited impatiently for him to finish so that he could ask more questions about the mail order bride lawyer.

“Hey, this is a coincidence.” He held up a folded message slip.

“What?” Ben didn’t give a shit, but figured it was the best way to move on to his goal.

“It’s a message for Miranda Herrington.”

“What does it say?” Ben stepped forward and made to reach for it.

The telegraph operator frowned. “I can’t tell you that, sheriff. It’s private.”

Ben ground his teeth together. “She is going to be my wife. Surely I can take her messages.”

He shook his head. “I can only give it to her.”

“Can you at least tell me where it came from?”

His eyebrows furrowed and then he shrugged. “I guess that wouldn’t break any rules.” He opened the folded paper and read, “
Campbell
’s Valley,
South Dakota
.”

Ben allowed a smile to register. He vowed to drag her kicking and screaming back to Perrysburg by her hair if he needed to.

He wouldn’t be made a fool of by Miranda Herrington. He knew exactly how to get her back now that he knew where she was going.

“I’d like to send a message.”

“Okay, Sheriff. Two cents a word payable up front.”

He took the request slip and formed his message carefully. “
Arrest warrant details for escaped prisoner.
Stop.
Female, slender, waist length dark hair.
Stop
. Name, Miranda Herrington.
Stop.
Wanted for fraud and embezzlement.
Stop
. Detain and send message for immediate retrieval.
Stop
. Two hundred dollar reward for her return to Perrysburg.
Stop.”

The telegraph operator wrote the message and calculated the fee. “That’ll be seventy-two cents.”

“Fine. Now I want you to send this message to every major train stop along the journey to
Omaha
from the minute she left Perrysburg. As a matter of fact, I want a message at every stop all the way to
South Dakota
.”

He consulted a map of telegraph offices. “But there are five major stops on the way there.”

“Then you better get busy.”

Ben couldn’t wait to tote her ass back under an arrest warrant. She’d learn the meaning of obedience if he had to brand it into her forehead.

Chapter Ten

A Month Later

Badlands of
South Dakota
– 1890

Miranda had traveled seemingly to the end of the world by the time they announced the train had crossed into
Dakota Territory
.
South Dakota
had only been a state for a short time and Miranda found she looked forward to the adventure of living out west.

The door from the passenger car opened.

“I’ve been looking for you,” said a familiar voice. Clarissa Barnes was the other mail order bride contracted by Jasper Coggon. She planned to meet, and probably marry, some man named
Clyde
but didn’t seem to want to talk about her life. That was fine with Miranda who held her former life details close, as well.

“I woke up when the train started moving out of the train station again. I just wanted some quiet time. Where are we?”

Currently, outdoors in the semi-fresh air between the dining car and the passenger car, Miranda had missed disembarking on the last stop when they’d first come into
South Dakota
because of utter fatigue. She looked over her shoulder for Ben until they got to
Omaha
. The train trip had been arduous and she hadn’t slept well before she left Perrysburg, either. Eventually, her fatigue caught up forcing her to sleep hard in order to recuperate. Clarissa promised to wake her once they got to
South Dakota
.

“We just left our first stop in
South Dakota territory
.”

“You promised to wake me up.” Miranda immediately searched the terrain for the landmark she had to find.

“I had a good reason.”

Miranda turned to face her and realized she had a very worried expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“This is what’s wrong.” Clarissa handed her a piece of paper with the words Arrest Warrant at the top of the page. She read further down the page. They were looking for a woman. Unusual. And then she read the line that contained her name.

“It’s my name.” She looked up at Clarissa with alarm. “Why is there an arrest warrant with my name on it?”

“Read it. Apparently, the sheriff in Perrysburg is looking for you. I took this from a bulletin board in the train station, but there was a sheriff walking along the train platform with one in his hands looking closely at all the passengers, too.”

Miranda read the worst part. Two hundred dollar reward for her return to Perrysburg.

Ben Colby was an unmitigated bastard.

* * * *

“Are you sure you want to jump off of a moving train?” Clarissa asked.

Miranda had changed her mind regarding the bride contract she’d signed back in
New York
, several weeks ago. Actually,
that
was a lie. She never planned to honor that agreement. Not unless forced to do so. Not unless she couldn’t find the
Devin’s Horn
. And thereby the clue to finding Luke and Reese’s property.

With the warrant for her arrest circulating, jumping off the train before it reached the next station seemed like the best of her limited alternatives.

The worn scrap of paper Reese had handed her before they’d left was securely tucked into a deep pocket in her dress. She’d memorized the few words and directions to locating the two men she’d fallen in love with so long ago. Her worst fear now was whether they even wanted her back. Penniless and humiliated wasn’t how she preferred to show up, but her choices hadn’t been kind. And now she was on the run from the law.

“Yes. I’m sure.” Miranda wasn’t about to chicken out now. A sudden gust of wind from beneath the train whipped the hem of her skirt nearly to her thighs. “It’s not moving that fast, anyway.” She turned her head and eyed the most recent train station where they’d just departed from on this long journey. With increasing speed, the train rounded a curve in the tracks and the station disappeared altogether.

She just needed to keep anyone from seeing her jump, especially the sheriff at the last stop who’d been standing on the platform searching the departing passengers. Miranda recognized him as a fellow lawman that Ben knew. She’d nearly fallen in her attempt to keep from exiting the train and being seen back at the station. Jumping was a risk, but she didn’t want Ben Colby to know she’d gotten off the train here.

Miranda took a step and lowered her body down to the last train stair as the terrain moved faster and faster past her eyes. Wind whipped her skirt steadily around her knees as she contemplated her leap. She hoped she didn’t break a bone when she launched off of this conveyance and into her uncertain future. That wouldn’t do at all.

Searching for a couple of wanted men in this desolate land was her immediate objective. Well, truthfully they weren’t really wanted by anyone but her. However, she needed to locate them quickly and before anyone else discovered that she’d been on this train and headed for
Campbell
’s Valley. Luckily, she had a head start to where Luke and Reese lived and a crude map in her possession to guide her there.

Just past the stand of trees after the last stop, she’d seen the unusual rock formation.
Devil’s Horn.
Until she’d found it, Miranda hadn’t been sure she’d have the needed courage to jump. But she had to know if they meant what they said before they left Perrysburg. She had to find out for herself if they loved her as much as she loved them. They were her best hope for any kind of happy life. She couldn’t go back to
New York
.

She wouldn’t.

The separation had been agony these last several weeks. She only hoped they hadn’t moved on in her absence. The letters they’d sent that Ben intercepted reassured her, but without knowing exactly what they wrote, she hoped they still wanted her. Seeing each of these perfect men in person would relieve her worry.

Miranda twisted back to Clarissa. “Do you promise to tell Jasper that I’m dead?”

“I guess so. It just seems a little rash.” Clarissa’s over loud voice was barely heard above the rushing wind and sounds of the train swaying back and forth.

“Rash or not, I’m doing it.” Miranda didn’t even consider the possible consequences of jumping off of the moving train. She just did it. She wasn’t foolish enough to jump from a conveyance moving at full steaming speed. Not at all. She leapt from it after it gathered only a little bit of speed.

With every lawman from here back to
New York
searching for her with a reward for her capture, she felt she had little choice in the matter.

Miranda hit the ground in a soft patch of tall, dry grass and after rolling over a couple of times, she got up, dusted herself off and headed north with her compass leading her way.

She also checked to ensure the caboose driver wasn’t looking in her direction as she made her getaway. The trees lining the track made up a forest she planned to take shelter in.

Hopefully, she’d reach her goal before
noon
. The thought of being in Luke and Reese’s arms again soon made the unpleasant aspect of the journey bearable.

Miranda sent up a fervent prayer that she was doing the right thing. On the bright side, her plan had worked out famously up to now, on the not so bright side, she was about to leave two strangers in the lurch after they’d generously paid for her journey. One day she’d do her best to pay them back, but for now she didn’t have a choice.

Logan Granger and Derek Brand sounded like decent enough men and their mail order bride offer, while intriguing, wasn’t quite exactly what she wanted. And not because of the added condition that she’d be sharing herself with two men.

The problem was that they weren’t the
right
two men.

* * * *

Once the train was out of sight and headed to the next stop at
Campbell
’s Valley, Miranda straightened her dusty clothes, grabbed up her bag and headed toward the woods beside the track. The train hadn’t stopped suddenly to retrieve her and Clarissa promised to convince Jasper she was dead. Now all she needed to do was find her men.