Free Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1) by Lori Wick

the man was talking wildly, which meant the others
    were probably all against the walls, a wise place to be if the
    whip was as long as it looked.
    Seeming for all the world to be on an afternoon stroll.
    Liberty walked down the boardwalk and through the
    swinging doors of the saloon. She stopped inside, her eyes
    scanning the room and summing up the situation. The
    afternoon was growing long, and the saloon was already
    getting crowded. A good 25 customers were backed away
    from the angry man, who for a moment was in profile to
    her.
    "I want him found," he said, his voice low as he lashed
    at a chair.
    "Is he looking for Critter?" Liberty asked Smiley, who
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    tended the bar.
    "Yeah, but Stumpy was at the table, and he said nobody
    cheated."
    The man turned suddenly, his eyes scanning the room.
    "Don't nobody move until I find him."
    "We'll find him for you, but you have to put the whip
    down," Liberty told him, taking a few more steps inside.
    The man seemed to notice her for the first time. He wasn't
    a big man, but the bullwhip looked to be a dozen feet long,
    and even with his staggering gait, he looked like he could
    70 lori wick
    use it. Crescent Moon's bouncer was against one wall, a red
    slash on his face and one on his arm. The only disadvantage
    to Shotgun's laws concerning firearms in the saloons
    was the owner's inability to protect himself or his clientele.
    "What did you say to me?"
    "I said, put the whip down. No one wants to fight with
    you. Just put it away." Liberty's voice held authority, but it
    didn't carry like Griffin's. She wasn't sure she would get
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    any response at all.
    The whip suddenly cracked with terrific force, giving
    Liberty her answer. Nevertheless, she held her ground.
    "Do you know what I can do to you?" he started to say,
    but Liberty drew and put a bullet past his ear.
    "I want the whip put down," she said, her voice deadly
    calm. She also heard riders but couldn't be certain that help
    was on the way. She tried again. "Set it gently on the floor
    and take a seat at the table there."
    The man watched her suspiciously. He noticed that she
    was holding a gun, but he still wasn't certain she had fired
    the shot. He shook his head a little and went to sit down,
    the whip still in his hand.
    "What's his name?" Liberty asked of Smiley.
    "I think Leonard something."
    "Listen to me, Leonard," Liberty said as she
    approached. "You need to drop the whip and kick it
    toward me."
    "You can't have my whip!" he stood with a roar as he
    shouted, the whip going into action again. Liberty had
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    stayed well back, and from the corner of her eye she caught
    Griffin and Slater as they entered. Keeping her target in
    view, she shot the hat from Leonard's head. That man
    stopped in surprise, reeling a little in his boots. He turned
    in a deliberate fashion when he heard the cock of a shotgun
    from his other side.
    "Put the whip down, or I'll take your arm off," Griffin
    said, his tone telling everyone in the room that he meant it.
    Slater had moved around and was coming at him from
    Every Littte Thing About You 71
    behind. When he drew close enough, he stepped on the
    whip and waited. He certainly hoped the man would do as
    he was told. It wasn't fun to shoot any man. It was
    extremely hard to shoot a drunk, when your heart told you
    he would act differently when sober.
    "I want my whip," the man said pathetically, and Slater
    was close enough to see it go loose in his grasp. He
    removed the whip gently, the man having never seen him,
    and stepped back against the wall, where he began to wind
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    it into a circle. Griffin moved toward him, and Liberty
    repositioned herself in case Leonard had more tricks up his
    sleeve. Griffin was cuffing him when Slater reached her
    side.
    "Are you all right?" He dropped his head slightly to see
    her face beneath the brim of her hat.
    Liberty blinked in surprise. "I'm fine."
    Slater nodded, but his heart smarted a little in his chest.
    Did no one ever check with