Free Pariah by J. R. Roberts Page B

like me to have Maddy stop by to say hello when she gets back?”
    â€œNo. That won’t be necessary,” she muttered. Somehow, possibly due to some sixth sense acquired by an old woman who insisted on knowing everything that went on outside her window, the neighbor was drawn to the kitchen.
    Acting as if he was clearing a path for the deputies, Clint stepped in front of her. “Weren’t Sam and Chen a hoot?”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThe boy and little girl that were here before,” Clint said. “Weren’t they a hoot?”
    â€œI suppose so. They were certainly noisy.”
    â€œOh, so you heard them squabbling all the time?”
    â€œMost definitely,” she groaned.
    â€œAnd why didn’t you come knocking on her door with the law in tow back then?” Clint asked. “I suppose you peeked through a window, snuck over a fence, or otherwise stuck your nose where it didn’t belong to make sure it was warranted to bother the sheriff?”
    That struck a little too close to home. The old woman glanced toward the lawmen and then cast her eyes toward the floor. “Perhaps I should just go,” she said. “It seems you men have enough on your plate already.”
    â€œYes, we sure do,” Clint said dismissively. “Bye, now.”
    After the neighbor was gone, Clint made his way to where the deputies were. One of them was looking in the room where Clint had slept and the other was going toward the kitchen. Needless to say, Clint was more interested in following the latter.
    â€œSo, you’re looking for what, exactly?” Clint asked.
    â€œAlready told you,” the deputy replied.
    â€œYou didn’t tell me much, apart from some trouble that was caused some time ago. You think you’ll see a bunch of outlaws huddled in a corner or some child who doesn’t strike you as the kind you want in your perfect little town?”
    â€œYeah,” the younger deputy grunted. “That’s just what I’m lookin’ for.”
    â€œWell, I don’t see the likes of that in the kitchen. Do you?”
    The deputy stopped at the doorway leading into the kitchen. “No, but the back door’s open. Were you plannin’ on skinning out of here?”
    â€œI was planning on leaving, yeah,” Clint admitted. “My horse is right outside. Then I heard the knocking at the front door and decided to answer it. Are you disappointed I wasn’t acting more like the bad element you and your sheriff so desperately want to snuff out?”
    The deputy walked toward the back door and glanced outside to where Eclipse was waiting. All the while, Clint looked at the cupboards for any trace of Lylah. He couldn’t see anything right away. If he didn’t know exactly what to look for, he would have completely missed the subtle hint of movement to be seen through the crack of one of the bottom cupboards near the stove.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, deputy?” Clint asked. “You waiting for a bribe?”
    The young lawman took the bait perfectly. He stood toe-to-toe with Clint and said, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut your damn mouth right now! Got that?”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œGood. Now let us do our duty or we’ll toss you out of this house with the rest of the trash.”
    With that, the deputy turned and marched out of the kitchen. Once he was gone, Clint stooped down next to the cupboard where he’d seen the flicker of movement. He opened the door a crack and found Lylah huddled all the way against the back. The bottom half of the cupboard was one large space and had enough shadows to hide the slender young lady almost completely even with the door open.
    â€œWhere’s Madeline?” Clint whispered.
    Having heard the question enough times already, Lylah waved toward the back door.
    â€œWe’ll go?”
    Once again, Lylah proved to be familiar with the words that