Heart of an Outlaw *First in the Crane Gang series*

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

Jebidiah woke with a moan. He raised a hand to his aching head and closed his eyes as tightly as he could. Never had his head felt pain quite as intense.

Glimpses of memories swam around in his foggy brain and Jebidiah fought to snatch them up and figure out what had happened to him.

Major Winfield had arrested him...Gill had turned on him and used Preston to...

Preston!

Jebidiah's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright off the cot he'd been laying on. He was in a small stone jail cell. The rock's around him were damp. The air was heavy and musty. He was underground but he wasn't alone.

In the other corner of the cell, seemingly sound asleep, was Gill and—Maria? What was Gill's mother doing locked up with them?

It all became clear then and Jebidiah felt shame fill his gut.

Gill hadn't turned on him—of course he hadn't! They had used Maria to force his hand just the same as they had tried to use Preston to force Jebidiah's.

Jeb brought his hand to his swimming head and wondered how the hell they had gotten from that town to this cell. More flashes.... The world bouncing by as Jeb lay sprawled across the back of a horse. A rag, a terrible smell in his nose. Ether. How many times had that damn Major and his men knocked him out with ether?

"Gilliam..." he croaked, his voice barely more than a whisper through his parched and aching throat.

Instantly, Gill's eyes opened and Jebidiah took comfort in their clear brown depths. There were a million things that Jeb wanted to say and a hundred questions to ask but time wasn't on his side.

The creaking of a heavy door drew his attention to the bars of his cell. Footsteps sounded on stone and then Major Winfield appeared. A smug smile still plastered to his face just as it had been the last time Jebidiah had looked at the man.

"Good! You're all waking up," Major Winfield observed jubilantly as two men came to stand behind him.

Jeb didn't recognize them but it was clear Gill did. "Captain Morgan," he all but growled, his voice raspy and rough from lack of water. "I thought you were a better man than this."

Jebidiah saw Gill's former boss swallow hard as he stared straight ahead and avoided meeting Gill's eyes. "You broke the law, Gill. You turned on us. Justice had to be served."

"Justice?!" Gill exclaimed, though the word seemed to take a toll on his dry throat and he began to cough violently.

Jeb attempted to stand, wanting to comfort his man the best he could, but the ether that he'd been drugged with was still too strong in his blood. The world swam and he fell back on his cot with a thud.

Screeching accompanied the opening of the cell door and the Captain held a canteen to Gill's lips. "Drink," he ordered.

"Really Captain?" Major Winfield drawled. "I can't see any reason to ensure they're hydrated before they're hanged at dawn."

Jebidiah thought for a moment that Gill would refuse the offering from his former Captain but his survival instinct proved stronger than his pride and he took several long swallows.

"I won't have prisoners dying of dehydration on my watch," Captain Morgan replied as he walked to Maria and nudged her gently to wake her.