Lady Renegade. Carol Finch

female prisoner who went around shooting former lovers for proposing to her. If that wasn’t the dumbest excuse he’d ever heard, he didn’t know what was.

      Furthermore, his family should trust his instincts.

      Gideon lashed Galen’s leg to the bedpost—just in case he became rowdy again.

      Galen cursed him sourly. “That isn’t necessary, you—”

      “—tyrant,” Glenn teased, borrowing Lori’s description.

      Gideon’s arm shot toward the door, as if his annoying little brother was too dense to know where it was. “Leave. Go with Sarah to make sure Lori doesn’t try to escape while taking her meal.”

      “Where is she?” Glenn inquired.

      “Tied to a post beside the sheep pen in the barn.”

      “Tied to a post?” Glenn howled in outrage.

      “She’s a prisoner, not a princess,” Gideon reminded him caustically. “I’m not going to book her a room at the hotel in the Osage Capitol at Pawhuska for safekeeping.”

      Flashing Gideon a disapproving glance, Glenn hastened from the room.

      Galen smiled wryly. “We both seem to be upsetting the family today.”

      Gideon plunked down in the chair next to the bed. “I’m cranky from lack of sleep. I’ve been tracking fugitives for five weeks. You’re irritable because you’ve been shot, sedated and restrained. We’re destined to upset a few people along the way… Now tell me about the horse theft.”

      Galen yawned broadly then shrugged his good shoulder. “Not much to tell. I heard the broodmares and Appaloosa stud stamping around and banging against the corral railing. They were nickering uneasily so I went to investigate and called to Glenn on my way out the door.”

      “What time was this?”

      “Before eleven. I was late in returning from police headquarters in Pawhuska. I’d had to investigate a domestic quarrel between John Running Bear and his wife, Leta.”

      Gideon nodded. “Those two were going at each other while I was an officer with the Osage Police. As I recall, Leta constantly accused John of cheating on her.”

      Galen nodded. “Not much has changed. They still go on the warpath and take after one another. Their neighbors heard them raising a ruckus from a quarter of a mile down the road.”

      “So you came home late,” Gideon prompted to get his brother back on track.

      Galen blinked owlishly then shook his dark head to clear his thoughts. “Sarah fixed me something to eat. Glenn had already gone upstairs to his room. When I heard the horses nickering, I hurried outside. Like I said, I called to Glenn and grabbed my pistol on the way out the door. I figured a panther or bear was lurking around, disturbing the horses.