4Caleb and his mother were standing on the Rancho Del Oro path, waving goodbye to the last guests to leave. The gnawing stomach pain Madeleine had suffered all day was easing as she relaxed back in the Russell carriage, ready to drive home.
Minette was tucked in between her and Graysie. The canvas bag with its damning contents was wedged at her feet, partly concealed by the knee rug. Graysie’s Nathan was in the driver’s seat, the wagon was moving and she could let out a long sigh. Finally. She’d get rid of the bag and its contents as soon as she could, pretend she’d never seen it.
Shouts came from the driveway and the wagon, which had begun to roll under Nathan’s steady hand, came to a halt. In a cloud of dust, a six-rider posse headed by a bearded man with a sheriff’s star on his chest
