“What?”
Shelly nodded.
“Who is he?” Clint asked. “Do you know his name?”
“I don't know his name, but I know what he looks like. I also know he's no friend of the law.”
“Where can I find him?”
“He walks down the street right outside this place every night around ten. That's when I stretch my legs outside and get some fresh air before the night owls come in to roost.”
Clint checked the watch in his pocket and was reaching for the door before the watch was shut again.
“Where are you going?” Shelly asked.
“I'm going to find that man before he pays another visit to that family.”
“But it's not even close to ten yet.”
“A head start never hurts,” Clint replied.
“You can wait for hours and still get your head start. I don't know where he's staying or where he comes from. Do you really think it's a good idea to take the chance of him seeing you after you were just over there for supper?”
Even though it sounded like Shelly was grasping, Clint had to admit that she was making some sense.
“He was watching that woman and her son,” Shelly continued. “Do you think he may be watching you?”
Clint locked the door and turned to face her again. “If you're lying about that ten o'clock thing . . .”
“Why would I lie?”
“I don't know, but you do go to some awfully surprising lengths to get a man into bed.”
“Why is that so surprising?” she asked.
“Considering the line of work you're in, it's downright shocking.”
“First of all,” she told Clint while unbuttoning his shirt, “most of the men who pay me usually just want to get theirs as quick as possible and wouldn't even notice if they were fucking me or a hole in the wall. Most of the times, all I need to do is take my dress off and look at their peckers and they're almost finished.”
Peeling off Clint's shirt and then sliding her hands along his chest, she went on to say, “And second, the Hasselmans have lived here a long time and I wouldn't want to see any harm come to them. We may not be on friendly terms, but they're neighbors and I don't like the thought of some stranger coming in to make them miserable.”
“So you know for certain the man you're talking about is the one who gave that money to Mrs. Hasselman?”
She nodded slowly. “I saw him follow her once, which is why I kept an eye on him ever since. I started seeing him take his nightly walks, but that's all I've ever seen him do. He carries a gun and he looks like trouble. A girl in my line of work needs to know how to spot fellas like that.”
Clint knew better than to argue that point. In fact, women like Shelly stayed alive by being able to sniff out the rotten apples in any pile.
“And he's always on the street at ten o'clock?” he asked.
She nodded without hesitation.
Now that she had Clint's shirt off and his belt unbuckled, Shelly slipped her blouse down to reveal her large, rounded breasts. “And third, I don't go through so much trouble to bed down any man unless he's worth the effort.”
“And you think I qualify on that account?” Clint asked.
With the ease of an experienced professional, Shelly got Clint's pants down and slipped her hand between his legs. She cupped him at first and then slowly stroked his cock until it became thick and hard in her hand.
“Oh yes,” she said breathlessly. “You're plenty worth it.”
ELEVEN
Once he realized that there wasn't much difference in heading out now or a little later, Clint gave himself over completely to the moment. Actually, he gave himself more over to the instincts that filled his entire body the moment he felt Shelly's bare skin pressed against him.
She may have been a short woman, but her energy more than made up for her size. Shelly nearly ripped Clint's clothes off of him as soon as he stopped talking about tracking killers in the dark and started concentrating solely upon her.
Once more, Shelly practically climbed up onto Clint. This time, though, he wasn't resisting her in any way. He reached down with both hands to cup her generous backside and hold her up as he began moving toward the bed. Every step of the way, Shelly nibbled on his ear and neck as her breaths started coming faster and faster.
When Clint felt his legs bump against the bed, he stopped walking and lowered her down. Shelly wasted no time in pulling his pants all the way down and wrapping her lips around his cock. She slid her hands up and down along Clint's legs as her head bobbed forward and back.
Clint stood at the foot of the bed and closed his eyes, savoring the way her mouth slid along his penis while her tongue flicked along the bottom of his shaft. His hands moved through her hair so he could guide her movements and slow her down before she took him too close to the edge.
Obeying his gentle command, Shelly eased back and looked up at Clint with a hungry look in her eyes. Her mouth stayed open and her chest heaved with anxious breaths.
“Take that dress off,” Clint said sharply.
She smiled widely and carried out the order as quickly as she could. Her skirts came off and were tossed into the pile along with the rest of her clothes. From there, Shelly propped both feet onto the bed's splintered footboard and opened her thighs to show him her smooth, wet pussy. Her fingers slid along the glistening flesh between her legs and she reached out to him with her other hand the moment Clint leaned toward her.
He felt her hand wrap around his cock once more. This time, however, she guided him into her and let out a slow, relieved breath once he slid all the way inside. Clint stayed there for a moment to enjoy the feeling of being inside of her. That feeling only got better as he began to slowly pump his hips back and forth.
Shelly lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. Reaching up and behind her, she grabbed hold of the blanket while arching her back and letting out a quiet moan. Using her left leg, she pulled Clint in closer while thrusting her hips out a bit.
Picking up on the signals her body was sending, Clint slipped his hands beneath her and pulled her closer to the edge of the mattress. He kept his hands on her backside as he pulled her toward him while thrusting his hips forward. Their bodies met with a solid impact and Shelly raised her voice until it filled the room.
“That's it,” she told him. “Harder.”
Clint obliged her for a while, until he felt her start to tremble with an oncoming orgasm. He thrust in and out of her a bit more and then suddenly stopped.
When Shelly looked at him, her expression was the same as if she was being robbed at gunpoint. “What are you doing? Why'd you stop?”
“I want you to turn around,” Clint said.
The first time he'd spoken to her like that was when Clint had arrived in town just over a week ago. It had been a mistake, but she'd grinned so widely at him that he immediately knew when she'd like to hear that stern voice even more.
Now was one of those times, and Shelly responded by hopping onto the bed, turning her back to Clint and settling down onto all fours. Looking over her shoulder at him, she whispered, “Is this what you wanted?”
For a few seconds, Clint let his eyes roam along the gentle curve of Shelly's back. He then let his hands roam along the rounded perfection of her backside. “That's exactly what I wanted,” Clint said as he settled behind her and eased his rigid cock between her thighs.
Clint held onto her hips and buried himself inside of her. Even after he was all the way in, Clint took hold of Shelly's hair and gave it a little tug as he pushed forward just a bit more. That caused her to throw her head back and let out a gasping moan as her body tightened around him.
Keeping hold of her hair, Clint placed his other hand on her backside as he started pumping faster and faster.
Shelly rocked in time to his rhythm and even bucked against him at the right time so he was pounding into her even harder. When Clint let go of her hair, she stretched forward and clawed the blanket with her fingers as her entire body was rocked by a powerful orgasm.
Clint eased out of her and positioned her on her back. Rather than settle down beside her, he climbed on top. Her weary eyes widened when she felt his rigid erection between her legs.
“Still going?” she asked. “Now, this is why I went to all this trouble.”
Clint smiled, guided himself into her and said, “I'm glad you did.”
Now Clint took both of her hands in his and pressed them against the bed. Shelly's legs opened wide to accommodate him as he started rocking back and forth on top of her. Her eyes were wide open and never strayed from him.
She watched as Clint sped up and drove into her harder as he thundered toward his climax.
By the time his orgasm pulsed through him, Clint felt almost too tired to move. Shelly wriggled her hips in just the right way and pumped them at just the right time to send a wave of pleasure through him that was almost blinding.
“And you've still got plenty of time before ten o'clock,” Shelly pointed out.
Clint crawled under the blanket and said, “Really? I guess we'll have to find a way to kill another hour or so.”
TWELVE
It was nine-thirty when Clint stepped out of the Whitecap Saloon and crossed the street. He'd known Shelly ever since the last time he'd ridden through this part of Montana, and she didn't have any reason to lie to him. On the contrary, the worry on her face where Henry was concerned was genuine enough, and Clint was certain she wouldn't want any harm to come to any of the Hasselmans.
Still, Clint couldn't help but feel guilty that he hadn't been scouring the town as he'd first intended. At the very least, he could have picked a spot within eyeshot of Henry's house so he could watch for anyone lurking about in the shadows.
With all the bad men he saw, Clint didn't want to let an opportunity slip by to prevent another boy turning into one. Henry was a good kid, but he had that wildness about him that was all too familiar. Clint had seen it plenty of times before in the eyes of boys who grew up to rob banks or turn their stolen guns against the law.
Clint was just about to curse himself some more for wasting time with Shelly when he saw her own prediction come to pass.
Shelly was actually leaning against a post outside the Whitecap when the stranger rounded the corner at the other end of the street. Clint was watching for anyone out there, so he picked out the other man almost instantly.
The man looked to be close to Clint's height and had a wiry build. He moved with his head down and a wide-brimmed hat pulled down to cover most of his face. But Clint didn't need to see the man's face in order to get a handle on him. Watching him move was more than enough.
Walking with strong, confident steps, the man looked like a bobcat that was ready to break into a run at any second. He kept his hands at his sides and didn't swing them with his strides, so they were always within inches of the gun holstered at his side.
As he approached the saloon, he looked over and immediately met Shelly's eyes.
For a moment, Clint thought that she'd ruined his plan before it even got started. His intention had been to keep from being seen or drawing any attention. Before he could get too worked up, however, Clint saw the man tip his hat to her and walk down the street without casting a glance in his direction.
Clint had to admire the way Shelly stood in her spot, knowing exactly where he was standing, and didn't even cast a sideways glance in his direction. After seeing the way the stranger looked at her, Clint figured the other man would have been more suspicious if she hadn't been there.
Clint waited until the stranger had gone farther down the street, then began slipping from shadow to shadow behind him. Since there weren't a lot of alleys to work with, Clint had to rely more on his own eyesight and let the stranger get a larger lead before closing in on him again. Sure enough, the other man headed toward the cluster of houses on the edge of town where Henry and his mother lived.
But the stranger didn't head directly for the Hasselman place. Instead, he began circling every other house from a big enough distance that he could see who was nearby and if anyone was in the open. When he spotted the occasional fellow out for a nighttime smoke, the stranger circled in anotherdirection. When he caught sight of a dog sniffing toward him, the stranger turned again.
Finally, like a leaf that had settled after being tossed about by a restless breeze, the stranger picked his spot. It was a thick cluster of shadows beneath a large tree. So many branches hung down from the tree that the stranger nearly disappeared as he situated himself within them.
Clint figured he should thank Shelly for holding him back until now. Apart from the obvious benefit of spending time with her, Clint had managed to stay behind the stranger's path rather than find himself in the middle of it. If he'd done what he'd originally set out to do, Clint would most likely have been discovered when the stranger went through his painstaking efforts to scout the area. Not only would Clint have been spotted, but he probably wouldn't have seen who spotted him and the stranger would have gotten away without a trace.
As it was, Clint marked the spot where the stranger was hiding and found a spot of his own to keep an eye on the other man. There was no mistaking the fact that the stranger was watching the Hasselman house. When he saw the other man start to move in closer to one of the windows, Clint worked his way to a spot where he could pay him an unexpected visit.
Clint got close enough to hear the stranger's coat flapping in the wind. He didn't think he'd made a sound, but the stranger turned suddenly to look directly at him.