Read Online Outlaw's Reckoning by J. R. Roberts - Free Book Online

stranger’s face was more than enough to get Clint moving again. Using every bit of strength he had left, he cocked his arm back and then straightened his back. As his upper body came up, so did his fist. When his knuckles made contact with the stranger’s jaw, there was enough force behind them to snap the man’s head back and send him staggering backward a few steps.
    Clint didn’t have much of anything left. The effects of all that running, combined with the hits he’d taken, left him barely able to stand up straight.
    The stranger appeared to be in the same boat, since he hunkered down with his hands on his knees and his breaths making him sound like a steam engine on its last legs.
    Neither one of them was in any shape to take off running, and they didn’t seem too eager to fight.
    All that remained now was for Clint to figure out what the hell to do next.

FOURTEEN
    Clint’s hand hovered over his holster. Even though he didn’t recall the moment in which he’d dropped his Colt back into place, he knew it would be there when he needed it. He’d lived by that gun for so long that it was as vital a piece of him as his own arm. Judging by the stranger’s stance and the caution in his eyes, Clint was sure the man was pretty much the same in that respect.
    â€œWho the hell are you?” Clint asked.
    The stranger didn’t reply. Instead, he glared at Clint intently while waiting for one wrong move to be made.
    â€œI know you’ve been watching the Hasselmans,” Clint said. “I know you’ve been watching them every night. I also know about the money you gave to them.”
    Finally, something struck a nerve hard enough to elicit a response.
    â€œNone of that is your business,” the stranger said. “You can just forget about that money, because it ain’t yours and it never will be.”
    â€œI’m more concerned with you watching that family like a hawk.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause they deserve to live in peace.”
    â€œDo you know them?” the stranger asked.
    â€œI know them well enough to know they should be able to rest easy in their own homes. Anyone deserves that much.”
    â€œAnd why would you take such an interest in them?”
    â€œBecause I’m in a position where I can help, and I couldn’t just ride away knowing some vulture is lurking around here waiting to sink his claws into a widow and a kid.”
    The stranger eased up slightly, but the difference was almost invisible. Clint might have missed the subtle shift in the stranger’s face and posture if he hadn’t been watching him so closely.
    â€œYou ain’t the law,” the stranger said.
    Clint shook his head. “Nope.”
    â€œAnd you ain’t a friend of Jed Hasselman.”
    â€œIs he that boy’s father?” Clint asked.
    The stranger shifted a bit more. This time, a questioning look drifted across his face. “Yeah. He sure was.”
    â€œThen I didn’t know him. Something tells me you did, though.”
    Bringing his eyes up to look at Clint, the stranger seemed as if he’d been caught napping. He no longer focused on Clint, but looked around at every bit of movement and every bit of noise that passed through the night. Finally, he muttered, “I knew him.”
    Now that his blood wasn’t racing through his veins and some of the pain from those blows had subsided, Clint was seeing things in a different light. The stranger himself had eased back and was now even starting to turn away from Clint. Even so, the stranger’s hand was still near his gun.
    â€œHow’d you know Mr. Hasselman?” Clint asked.
    â€œIt don’t matter.”
    â€œAnd why were you watching his family? If you were a friend looking in on them, I doubt the lady would have been so spooked.”
    â€œShe’s got every right to be spooked,” the stranger said. “That’s why I