She stood perfectly still now, forcing herself to breath evenly and slowly as she listened to Turley settle himself down and the deputy move about the office beyond the door. She hoped she hadn’t left anything too out of place in her rush to escape the office.
A quietclicksounded from nearby, and Lina stifled a gasp. Perhaps there was another prisoner in here besides Turley. She let go of the bars and stepped backward along the side wall, feeling behind her for the wall at the rear of the building. Instead, her hands found more bars.
That was odd. Lina stepped forward again, paying extra careful attention to her direction. There were the bars in front of her.
A sense of dread crept through her bones. Quietly and carefully, she stepped to the right, back toward the direction from where she’d come. Her outstretched hand met more bars.
No. This couldn’t be what she feared it might be. Lina turned and followed those bars toward the rear of the building again. Her hands brushed over something smooth set into the bars. Lina continued in the same direction.
More bars.
Frantic now, she paced the length of them toward the side wall, then around again until she reached the smooth area in the bars. She reached around through the space between the smooth area and the bar beside it. It was a lock. There was denying the truth of the matter now.
Lina had locked herself into a jail cell.
She bit back the metallic taste of fear. She had Hawk’s keys. All she had to do was find the right one and let herself out. That couldn’t be too difficult.
She pulled out the keys as quietly as possible, muffling their clinking together with her free hand. Then, one by one, she reached through the bars and tried them each in the lock.
Not a single one worked.
Biting back the urge to scream or cry, Lina tried each key again. And again, not a single one would turn the lock.
She stepped backward until she hit the side wall, and then slid down to the floor. Frustrated tears pricked at her eyes. Those keys in the desk—those must be the keys to the cells.
She’d locked herself into jail, and there was no getting out. Not until the deputy or Hawk found her.
How could she possibly explain this?
Chapter Eight
WHEN HAWK AROSE THEnext morning, Lina was still abed. Persuading her to cook up a breakfast for the man who’d helped rob the stagecoach she’d arrived in wasn’t anything he’d looked forward to anyway. Turley could make do with bread and cheese again.
He grabbed the food and returned for his hat and keys—only to discover an empty table where his keys had been.
Hawk glanced down at the floor and then behind the settee. That was odd. Had he left them in the office? It wasn’t like him, but then again, yesterday hadn’t been ordinary. Feeling quite the fool, he slid out the door and hoped Garland had already arrived. Else he’d be standing outside with no way in.
