“I repeat, I don’t know what she’s talking about,” the man replied with a shrug that wasn’t so nonchalant anymore. His body had become taut with tension. “She’s not right in the head.”
“But she has fingered you as one of the people who raided the Indian village. She has also mentioned the marshal and the orphanage as witnesses that she isn’t crazy.”
The cowboy didn’t know what to say at that. He opened his mouth and then he shut it. Unexpectedly, anger filled his eyes, and he drew forward and grasped Olivia by the arm.
“Tell them you’re crazy and I’m innocent of your accusations.”
His alcohol and tobacco-tinged breath fanned across her face, making it hard for her to breathe for some seconds.
A tingle of fear gripped her when she saw fury darkening the cowboy’s eyes. But she reckoned he couldn’t do anything to harm her, not with many people there.
“What’s going on here?”
Olivia almost sobbed with relief when she heard Adam’s voice behind her.
Chapter 20
Adam’s eyes widened when the crowd parted and he saw Olivia standing there with her shawl slightly dropping from her shoulders.
His eyes raked the man’s face that was holding Olivia so tightly, Adam feared that he would leave a bruise.
“Unhand her this minute!” he demanded fiercely.
The man did and raised his hands, taking a step back. Olivia immediately turned around, and Adam saw the relief in her blue eyes.
“What’s going on?” he softly asked this time around.
The crowd pressed around him, but Adam had eyes only for Olivia. Her pale face sent worry shooting through him.
He had been heading for the restaurant for his afternoon meal when he heard people talking about an incident going on in front of the Broken Arrow saloon.
He had sighed and given up on eating until he found out what was going on. If the sheriff had been up and doing, he would have relaxed and had his meal. But since the lawmen were wont to be slothful about their duties, he had stridden quickly in the saloon’s direction.
He hadn’t been surprised when he saw the crowd gathered in front of the saloon with its broken signage. From experience, he knew the trouble would have either been caused by the owner throwing out a drunken customer who refused to pay his bills, or drunken cowboys having a brawl.
However, when he saw a blonde-haired woman in the middle of the crowd, he had assumed the raucous was caused by two customers fighting for the favor of one of the saloon girls.
Color returned to Olivia’s face, and she presented him with a small smile.
“Thank God, you’re here, Adam.”
Returning her smile, he moved toward her as the crowd pushed forward, eager to hear what they had to say.
“What are you doing here?” he questioned with a deep frown covering his face.
She was the last person he had expected to see in the town in the middle of unruliness. He surmised that she had been walking by the saloon and the man accosted her. If that was the case, he would bring charges against the cowboy.
“I found him!” Olivia said with excitement.
Adam’s eyes narrowed as he wondered what she was talking about. Before she could reply, the cowboy shoved a man out of his way. The stumbling man collided with Olivia and she fell forward.
Adam’s hands immediately went up to hold her, and if it wasn’t for the crowd behind him, he would have fallen backward from the effort.
“Are you all right?” he asked when he steadied her.
She nodded, and then her eyes widened when she looked at something behind him.
“He’s getting away!”
