CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Riley moved slowly to get back on her feet, watching for any attack from the men who had surrounded her. She more than half expected to get kicked back to the ground before she could stand up.
Instead, the circle of men withdrew a couple of steps.
Their retreat wasn’t out of fear—she felt none of that in the air.
They just want to give me a fighting chance, she realized.
It wasn’t really an encouraging thought. In the dim firelight, these guys looked a lot bigger now than they had when they’d been sitting huddled around their little fire. She remembered that a large percentage of today’s hobos were ex-convicts. They would be strong, and they’d learned to be violent in the nation’s prisons.
She quickly assessed whether to draw her weapon.
No, she thought.
That wou
