Grady Hart: A President’s Bargain (Episode 10)

The air in Charleston was damp with the promise of rain, the streets alive with the bustle of a port city. Grady Hart rode Crow into town, his eyes scanning the well-dressed folk moving between shops and carriages. Behind him, Sam lit a cigarette, letting the smoke curl lazily into the humid air, while Defiance kept her knife close, her sharp eyes wary of every stranger. Buck, for his part, looked distinctly uncomfortable.

“This place is somethin’ else,” Buck said. “Feels like everyone’s watchin’ us.”

“They are,” Defiance replied dryly. “You look like you just crawled outta the woods.”

Buck opened his mouth to retort, but Grady cut them both off with a low growl. “Quiet. We’re here to find Wade Rivers, not make a scene.”

They pulled up in front of a modest boarding house, the kind of place where travelers stayed when they didn’t want to be noticed. Grady tied Crow to the post, his fingers brushing the handle of his Colt out of habit.