Free Defiant by Bobbi Smith

Clint answered.
    “Good. Make sure you visit the Festival,” he encouraged. “We have it every year, and it’s going on right now. There’s a dance later on tonight, too.”
    “So that’s what all the excitement is about. I saw the crowd and wondered what the attraction was.”
    “Folks come from miles around.”
    “So why aren’t you down there?” Clint asked with a grin.
    “Somebody’s got to take care of business.”
    “I guess that’s right.”
    He went up to his room and dropped off his things before heading over to the Last Chance. He was surprised to find that the saloon was quiet. Since it was late Saturday afternoon and the Festival was going on, he’d expected it to be busy.
    “Where is everybody?” Clint asked Trey as he walked up to the bar.
    “At the picnic. Business will pick up later once the dancing starts. It always does,” Trey told him. “Where’ve you been these last few days?”
    “I had some business I had to take care of. How’ve you been? Has the preacher man been back to give you any more trouble?” he asked with an easy smile, wanting to direct their conversation away from himself.
    “No, it’s been nice and peaceful around here, just the way I like it.”
    “Some days are better than others.”
    “What’ll it be?”
    “Whiskey.”
    Trey poured him a healthy drink in a tumbler and slid it across the bar to him.
    “Have you heard anything new on the attempted stage robbery? Has there been any word back from the posse?” Clint asked as he paid the bartender and picked up the glass to take a drink.
    “Sheriff Reynolds and the posse rode back in yesterday,” Trey said.
    “They’re back already?” Clint was honestly surprised by the news, but he was careful to hide his reaction. Even taking the longer return routethat he had used, he’d expected to beat the posse back to town. Since the storm hadn’t moved in their direction and they still had a trail to follow, he wondered why they’d called off their pursuit of the gunmen so soon.
    “Yeah, they’re back, and they brought one of the ‘good’ outlaws with them.”
    “I didn’t know there were any ‘good’ outlaws.” Clint frowned, wondering what the other man meant.
    “There are. They’re the dead ones.”
    “Oh. What about the rest of the gang? Did the sheriff have any luck finding them?”
    “No. They got clean away.”
    “Does anyone know who the dead outlaw was?”
    “Not right off. Sheriff Reynolds said he was going to do some checking to see if he could find out.”
    “What’s he saying about the gunmen? Does he think they’ll be back?”
    “The sheriff seems to think they’re long gone.” Trey shrugged. “And I hope he’s right. We don’t need their kind around here causing trouble.”
    “I’m with you on that,” Clint agreed.
    Picking up his drink, he made his way to a table in the back of the saloon. He settled in to relax for a few minutes and try to figure out what to do next.
    It didn’t take him long to make up his mind. He decided to sit tight and wait a few more days to see if Tucker would show up. In the meantime,he was going to find the people who’d been on the stage and talk to them. He hoped to find out if they’d noticed anything unusual about the outlaws. He figured the stage driver was probably off on another run by now, so he decided to go to the Festival and look for the man named Hank who’d been riding shotgun—and Rachel.
    Something stirred deep within Clint at the thought of seeing the innocent beauty again.
    He forced the feeling from him.
    He was going after information on the would-be robbers.
    That was all.
    Finishing his drink, Clint left the saloon and returned to the hotel. After three days of hard riding, he needed to get cleaned up before going to the Festival.
    The Dry Springs Annual Festival was in full swing. There were booths and games and refreshments. Folks had come from all over to enjoy themselves.
    “Who are you looking for?” Michelle