Outlaw Hearts(196)
Miranda’s heart quickened, and she rose. “What do you mean?”
Pruett held up the paper. “This is a letter from Judge Mitchell. Soon as Jake is able to travel, he’s to go back to St. Louis for a possible resentencing. All it says is that some new evidence has been discovered. I’ve got no idea which way he means, good news or bad.”
Miranda took the letter from him and read it to the others. To the attention of Warden Howard Pruett, Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary, Laramie, Wyoming Territory: You are ordered to transfer prisoner Jackson Lloyd Harkner to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis County Jail, where he will be temporarily under my jurisdiction until decision has been made regarding new evidence and resentencing. Transfer is to be made as soon as possible. Miranda looked at Jake, her eyes alight with hope. “This is something good, Jake! I feel it. I’ve prayed too hard for too long to have it mean anything but your freedom!”
Jake put a hand to his head. “What the hell kind of new evidence can they possibly have after twenty-four years? It’s probably just somebody else who wants to testify to some raid or some other murder.”
“It can’t be. The judge said at your trial that evidence pertaining only to the charges you were wanted for could be used against you.”
“They can always come up with new charges, open a new trial for different reasons. I don’t think you’ve ever understood the kind of reputation I had back there.” He took the letter from her and studied it. “Maybe Texas has decided to try me for my father’s and Santana’s murders. They figured I killed both of them deliberately.”
“Jake, read the letter. It says new evidence—resentencing. You’re being transferred to Judge Mitchell’s jurisdiction, not to Texas. That can only mean it pertains to the charges you were already tried for, nothing new.” She handed the letter back to Pruett. “Thank you for letting us stay here this long.”
Pruett took the letter. “Frankly, I’ll be glad to see all of you leave, including Jake. I hope none of you will be coming back.” He folded the letter. “I’ll wire the judge and tell him Jake is sick and that we’ll send him back as soon as he’s well enough. In the meantime, all three of you will have to get out of here. I’ve gone against the rules letting you stay this long.” He saw the worry in Miranda’s eyes. “Look, Mrs. Harkner, I want to get rid of him as bad as you want him out of here. We’ll take good care of him.”
The man left, and Miranda pulled the blankets up closer around Jake’s neck. “You’ve got to get well just as fast as you can so we can go back to St. Louis. After that, we’ll decide what to do about Lloyd. This could be something that might change everything for us.”
Jake watched her, grinning slightly. “Damn slip of a woman,” he muttered. He looked at Brian. “She’s like a damn mother hen. I don’t know what to do with her. I’ve tried to make her give up on me a hundred times over the years, but she just keeps hovering around. I can’t get through to the woman.”
Brian smiled. “She loves you.”
“Yeah? Well, I should have left her back there at Fort Laramie all those years ago and just ridden out of her life. She would have been a hell of a lot better off.”
Miranda took his hand. “I would have been very unhappy for the rest of my life.”
Jake studied her gray-blue eyes. “I want to take hope in the letter from that judge, Randy, but after four and a half years in this place, it’s pretty hard for a man to take hope in anything.”
“In a few days, when you’re well enough, we’re going to leave this place, Jake Harkner, and we’re never coming back.” She kept a tight hold of his hand. Their eyes held, and Brian saw in Jake’s eyes an amazing love and adoration he would not have thought possible for a man with his past. He had always thought that all of Evie’s love and passion and sweet devotion came from her mother. God knew Miranda Harkner had shown a great capacity to love beyond all obstacles and disappointments, a patience few people possessed. But it was obvious now that a great deal of Evie’s loyalty and compassion came from her father, the notorious outlaw Jake Harkner. He realized now more clearly than ever that Jake had never been a killer at heart. In his worst days the man had really been an angry, frightened boy, lashing out at the world. Randy had understood that.
He closed his eyes and said a quick, silent prayer that the news in St. Louis would be good. He didn’t want to see the looks on either Randy’s or Evie’s face if they were told Jake would be coming back to this place to spend the rest of his life here.