Kiamichi Refuge Read Online Free PDF

miss his kindness and dry sense of humor. He talked about you all the time.”
    “So I’ve been told. He was my only relative, and it’s good to know that others thought well of him. He was my hero in every way.” Erin blinked back tears, and tried to smile. “I’d like to have you go ahead and order those items, and now that what I need has been taken care of, it’s time to shop for what I want .”
    Erin left the store with two bags of sundries, a diffuser and some oils, a painting of the Kiamichi River by a local artist, and a ceramic tray shaped like a large elm leaf. She also bought a pair of rustic candleholders. Lydia helped her carry her purchases to the Expedition, and as she watched Erin drive away, felt that she had just made a new friend.
    Erin drove slowly down the street, taking the time to notice each building as she passed. Several had boarded-up windows, but most of the businesses were open. The town appeared to be doing okay, if not truly well. Erin knew that some of the coal mines in the region had shut down, mostly due to government regulations.
    Parking in front of the courthouse, Erin removed her Glock from its holster and put it under the bags that held her purchases from Lydia’s. As she hurried up the sidewalk toward the door, she passed a small cluster of rough-looking men who were just standing around smoking. The election board office and the tax office were both on the second floor, so after she took care of the property taxes, she stopped in to register to vote.
    On her way back out, one of the men she had seen earlier suddenly stepped in front of her, and with a smirk and a glance at his companions to make sure they were watching, touched her arm and said, “Hey, sugar. What’s your hurry?”
    Only mildly alarmed, Erin stepped back a bit. “I’m always in a hurry. I’m very busy.”
    The skinny fellow grinned, revealing that his few remaining teeth were yellowed and crooked. “Now, that’s not very friendly at all. How about we go somewhere and get to know each other?”
    “I don’t think so. Excuse me,” Erin said coldly, as she tried to step around the man.
    He grabbed her arm. Cold chills crept through Erin’s body as she tried to jerk free, which only made the man’s companions laugh. The stench of his body odor mixed with stale cigarette smoke almost made her gag. She was about to panic, when a deep voice interrupted.
    “There you are, honey. I’m sorry to be late. Are you ready to go?”
    Erin turned, looking over her shoulder. That voice belongs to a giant, she thought, as she noted that the man must be at least 6’7”, with a pair of very broad shoulders. Muscles rippled under a blue tee shirt.  His black hair needed a trim, and his eyes were the color of dark chocolate, glittering dangerously with suppressed violence. The high cheekbones and sharp angles of his bronzed face could have been chiseled from stone. And he’s a fine looking giant, at that.
    “Uh, yes. Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
    The giant stared pointedly at the hand that still grasped Erin’s arm. Erin’s assailant released her and stumbled back, intimidated by the size of her rescuer. He looked viciously angry at being embarrassed in front of his buddies.
    “If we hurry, we can beat the rush,” the big man urged.
    He and Erin moved past the group, and when they were well beyond them, the giant whispered, “Just keep going. We’ll enter the café on the corner and they’ll think we had a lunch date.”
    Holding the café’s door open, the big man followed her inside, where Erin breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you so much for helping me. I usually travel armed, but since I couldn’t take my gun inside the courthouse, this was one of the few times I didn’t have it with me. That jerk just refused to take no for an answer.”
    “He’s a convicted sex offender. Been a problem around here for years, with a seven-year gap while he was in the state prison for rape. He and his