early grave.”
Why was Buford telling her all this? Buford appeared to be genuinely worried about his old friend. But didn’t he realize this only made Dillon look guilty of being the leader of this latest band of cattle rustlers?
As Buford walked away, Jacklyn saw that Nate Waters was sitting alone. Where was Morgan? And why hadn’t Dillon returned?
MORGAN GASPED as Dillon stepped directly into her path. Her hand went to her throat, her eyes looking around wildly as if searching for a way to escape the dim restaurant hallway.
“Dillon.”
He smiled as he moved so close he could see the fear in her eyes. “Morgan.”
She licked her lips and smiled back nervously. “What are you doing here?” Without Nate Waters beside her, she’d lost a lot of her haughtiness.
“I wanted to see you, Morgan. Don’t tell me you didn’t expect to meet up with me again.”
“I didn’t think you could…that is, I thought you weren’t allowed to go anywhere alone.”
He smiled at that. “Is that what you thought?”
She swallowed, looking again for a way to escape, but he was blocking the hallway. She’d have to go over him to get back to Nate.
“We should get together sometime,” she said, shifting nervously. “To talk. A lot has happened since you’ve been gone.”
“So I gather. You and Waters.” Dillon shook his head. She would turn Nate any way but loose before she was through.
“Nate and I are getting married.”
“You’re perfect for each other.”
She frowned, thinking he was being facetious.
“Seriously, I wish you all the best.”
“You’re not upset?” She was eyeing him now, obviously not wanting to believe that he’d gotten over her.
“I had a lot of time to think in prison,” he said, his gaze locking with hers. “It cleared up a lot for me. Like, for instance, how I just happened to get caught.”
She shifted again, pulling her shoulder bag around to the front, her hand going to it.
He put his hand over hers and smiled. “Carrying a gun now? You have something to fear, Morgan?”
Her gaze hardened as she jerked her hand away from his.
“You set me up that day, didn’t you?”
She was shaking her head. “You’re wrong. I swear to you.”
“Come on, Morgan, you were the only person who knew where I would be.”
“No, the others knew. It had to be one of them. Or maybe your luck just ran out.”
“Yeah, maybe that was it.” He reached into her purse and pulled out the gun, swinging the barrel around until the end was pointed at her forehead. Her eyes widened as she heard him snap off the safety.
“Here’s the one-time deal,” he told her. “The truth for your life. Because, Morgan, I’m going to find out who set me up. Tell me the truth now and I walk away. No foul, no harm. For old time’s sake, I’ll give you this chance. But,” he added quickly, “if I find out you lied, I’ll come back and all bets are off. So what’s it going to be?”
“I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t say a word to anyone. I swear. It wasn’t me, Dillon. I couldn’t do that to you.”
He would have argued the latter, but his time was up. Jacklyn would have realized by now that he was missing. He couldn’t chance her finding him holding a gun on Morgan.
He emptied the gun, snapped the safety back on and dropped the weapon into her purse, pocketing the bullets. “Wouldn’t want you to accidentally shoot anyone,” he said with a grin.
It would have been like Morgan to shoot him in the back and say it was self-defense. And with the Waters family behind her, she would have probably gotten away with it.
“I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again,” he said.
“Not if I see you first,” Morgan snapped back.
He chuckled to himself as he turned and walked away. Behind him, Morgan let out a string of curse words. That’s what he’d loved about her: she was no lady.
Back at the table, Jack seemed relieved to see him. As Morgan returned to her own table, Jack shot Dillon a suspicious look.
He picked up his menu and studied it. But he could feel both Jack and Morgan looking in his direction. He’d known what kind of woman Morgan was. The kind who would lie through her teeth. The fact that she was carrying a gun didn’t bode well in the truth department. She was afraid of someone. Him, no doubt. Which led him to believe she had something to hide.
She’d said the others