A_Wanted Man - Alana Matthews Read Online Free PDF Page B

Callie and Rusty. “Did you two hear that?”
    Callie frowned, not sure what he was getting at. “What?”
    “He just asked me if I want to come in. Sounded like an invitation to me.”
    Uh-oh, Callie thought. So Harlan was one of those. She was a strong believer in procedure and didn’t appreciate the cowboys who ignored it in hopes of getting a pass from the courts. She should’ve realized he was a “Wyatt Earp” the minute he jumped out of her SUV to confront Landry.
    But before she could tell him that neither she nor Rusty were about to play along, Jonah stepped aside, moving out onto the wide front porch. Not to invite them in, but to make room for a couple of burly ranch hands who emerged from the doorway behind him.
    He looked pointedly at Harlan. “You take one more step in this direction, I’m within my rights to stop you.”
    Callie watched as Harlan studied the two ranch hands. They weren’t carrying weapons, but then they didn’t need to.
    Harlan said, “Not like this, you aren’t. The law doesn’t look too kindly on assault against peace officers.”
    Jonah shrugged. “It isn’t too thrilled about illegal search and seizure, either. And it won’t keep these boys from putting you three in the hospital.” He gestured to his daughter. “Gloria, get in the house. No reason for you to be here for this.”
    In other words, get lost.
    Callie could see the resentment in Gloria’s eyes. Resentment that went back many years. But Gloria did as she was told. And without protest.
    When she was gone, Jonah said, “There’s no need for this to get ugly, Marshal.”
    Now Callie spoke up. “Tell that to Megan, Mr. Pritchard. And to Jim Farber’s family. She and her friends left him in quite a state.”
    “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
    “Wouldn’t you?”
    He gave her a look that said he was offended by the remark, but she sensed he was feigning it. Nothing she said could offend him. The old guy was bulletproof.
    “Meg decided a long time ago that she wasn’t interested in associating with this family,” he said. “Not that that’s any of your business.”
    Callie knew that his words were meant to cut much deeper than they did, but after thirty-four years she was immune to him. She’d long been aware that Jonah despised her. By his skewed logic, his son wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for her whore of a mother.
    The thought of this suddenly brought to surface another part of her life—her years with Harlan—and she wondered for a brief moment if she’d applied her own skewed logic to that situation.
    But no. That was different. And she had no desire to wander into any dark alleys right now.
    Focus, Callie.
    Concentrate on the matter at hand.
    “We could clear all this up,” Harlan said to Jonah, “if you’d just let us do our job. If you’ve got nothing to hide, then this conversation is over.”
    “It’s already over,” a voice said, and Callie heard the ratchet of a scatter-gun behind them.
    She and Harlan and Rusty all turned to find a smiling Landry Bickham holding a pump-action twelve-gauge. He kept it pointed at the ground, but Callie knew he’d use it if the old man gave him the nod.
    Her heart started thumping.
    This wasn’t the direction she’d wanted this afternoon to go.
    Harlan turned back to Jonah. “You’re making a grave mistake, Mr. Pritchard. I could arrest you for obstruction, right now.”
    “I suppose you could try,” Jonah said.
    They were all silent for a long moment, and Callie could see the fury creeping into Harlan’s gaze. She’d seen that fury before, when she told him she never wanted to lay eyes on him again.
    Jonah gestured. “You go on, now, try to get your warrant. If the judge says I’ve gotta open up my house, I’ll open up my house. In the meantime, you’re just trespassing, far as I can see.”
    For a moment Callie thought Harlan might do something stupid, but he held back. Thank God.
    “This isn’t over,” he said