Kitty ignored the man for the most part at first until she'd cuffed everyone that needed cuffing. Then she righted herself and slid off her gloves, clapping them together before tucking them into her belt. Marshall took a few steps forward with purpose to confront the supposed Sheriff that had approached them, his finger in the air in a sign of protest as he spoke. "Lookie here, sir. Charley's been the acting Sheriff here the last few months and she's done a damn fine job-" Kitty strode up to meet Marshall's side.<br/>"I appreciate what you're tryin' to do here, Deputy, but this is something we can't just talk about here so openly," she said softly as she tilted her head in the direction of the saloon. A few of the more wealthy n'er do wells were peeking out from the second floor of the establishment, looking down on the exchange in satisfaction from the balcony.<br/><br/>Marshall cleared his throat. "Right," he agreed quietly.<br/>Kitty looked in the direction of the gruff man who had presumed to take over her job, speaking louder this time, "Sheriff Compton, if you'll help us get these folks booked and put up, I believe that would then make for a more appropriate situation to discuss this...exchange of duties."<br/><br/>She wasn't happy at all. But she had to put up a front as if she were in agreement with this nonsense. It was no secret that the Elite wanted her out of Driftwood. But she vowed to never give up until she'd exposed them all for what they'd done. Evil slept and crept in those city streets. The kind of evil that ripped families apart and lay to rest in a town where it could feed off of all of the negativity and underground sin, festering like a plague. This was not the Driftwood she had known and grown up in. It was becoming a den of trafficking, alcoholism, rampant disregard for the law, and a hive of traded wealth amongst those who would have the power to make things better for themselves and worse for everyone else without a care in the world. If it hadn't been for her, the streets would be overrun with mercenaries, gang members, kidnappers...<br/>They seemed like small game compared to the Fat Cats but it was all she could do to keep things in check. She wasn't technically into the political side of things and that made it much harder for her to go after the bigger fish. She knew they'd never agree to let her formally run for the position of Sheriff, however. It was too much a risk. She had names. Numbers. Encrypted evidence of a lot of their misdeeds. And she suspected several of the elected officials and more affluent citizens of Driftwood knew as much.<br/><br/>Kitty was walking target practice for all of them, but for some reason they hadn't been able to bring her down yet.<br/>Maybe this was their way of finally trying to do it the right way.<br/><br/>After the gang bangers were processed and locked up, Kitty invited Julian and Marshall into her office. She rummaged through one of the pouches dangling from her belt and produced from it a boxed transistor device of sorts. Sitting it on the table, she flipped a switch or two, set the frequency and twisted a knob just a touch to the left.<br/>"Scrambler," she explained for Julian's benefit. "I've got eyes an' ears on me at all times. This helps me to get at least a little bit of privacy, in case there are any devices around which may interfere with the confidentiality of this conversation."<br/><br/>She was trying to remain professional. But the fact that he had brought up her late husband earlier, and interrupted her work, had her hackles up just a smidge.<br/><br/>"If you're wonderin' about what happened to the men who killed Will...I killed two. Out of self defense. The third got away, and I haven't caught 'im. Yet. And when I find him, he's goin' away for a real long time, Mr. Compton. I'm not at all like them. I'm no murderer. I've only ever killed when the law was on my side and it was necessary. You must understand that this goes deeper, however. This is more than just three bandits lookin' to make some trouble. Those men were hired. It's all a part of a greater network. This city is crawling with outlaws, black market traders, assassins, drug dealers...and they all have rich patrons to back them who look on in amusement in the face of their wrongdoings, revelin' in the dance of their wrongdoings like it's a blood sport. No one else will do anything about it. So I'm gonna try like hell, even if I land up dead because of it," she paused to gather her composure. She could feel herself getting a little emotional the more she spoke about everything. Several long months trying to unravel all of this and being exposed to trauma after trauma while having to put on the mask of unwavering bravery had nearly taken its toll on Kitty.<br/>Taking a deep breath before finishing, Kitty ran her fingers through her fine, golden hair. She leaned over her desk. "You think you're the first person they've sent here to intimidate me or otherwise try to take over this job?"<br/>She chuckled humorlessly.<br/>"The others...either ended up dead, too, or they got one look at the state of things and turned 'round runnin' with their tails between their legs. I don't know why I'm not dead yet. But I have the feeling someone higher up in this godforsaken town is working on that."<br/>Kitty leaned back in her chair, propping her boots up on her desk. She took her hat off and sighed. "Maybe that's what they've sent you here for."<br/><br/>Marshall looked uneasy at that statement, as if that thought about Julian hadn't crossed his mind until now. Kitty could tell he was in a dilemma. Of course he wanted to have her back, but she couldn't just expect him to go against the law if they were to refuse to be compliant with Compton's newly stated position.<br/><br/>"At any rate, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to refuse to go along with this. I've got too much here left to tie up. I made a vow to keep this city safe. Cuff me, if you'd like. But I won't go quietly."<br/>She smiled and winked at Julian.