“Why? Did they say somethin’ that sounded like they might be lookin’ to do him some harm?” He kept asking her pointless questions, even though he knew they could only be the two men Hawk followed to town. He was reluctant to get into the middle of it and was halfway inclined to let Hawk handle it. He’d already had one shooting to deal with and that was enough trouble for one night.

“They didn’t have to say anything,” she insisted. “I’ve seen enough troublemakers in this town to recognize one when I see one. And I’m telling you, Porter, these two are looking for Hawk for no good reason.”

Porter put his coffee cup down on his desk and tried to turn a concerned face to her, reluctant to respond to a young woman’s intuitions. “Where are these two men now? Are they still in town?”

“They’re right down the street at the Last Chance,” Sophie said.

This was not good news to the sheriff. He had just returned to his office after having to respond to a shooting in the street involving Hawk. No one knew who the victim was or why he went after Hawk. And if Hawk knew, he wasn’t saying. If there were two strangers in town looking for Hawk right after he shot that man, chances were they were looking to avenge their friend’s death. “It might not be anything at all, but I’ll go on over to the Last Chance just to look into it,” he said. He would like to hope they were just in town to pick up the body, but he knew they wouldn’t be looking for Hawk if that were the case. He got up from his desk and strapped his gun belt on and walked to the door with her.

Outside, Sophie pointed toward the saloon and said, “Those two horses nearest the end of the hitching rail. Those are their horses.”

“I’ll see about it,” he assured her. She thanked him and watched him until he had crossed the street and stepped up on the boardwalk in front of the saloon, as if she wanted to make sure he did as he promised.

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19