“Sorry,” she replied with embarrassment, and the way she looked at him melted any irritation he felt. “That said, company’s fine. Maybe not a good man, Flynn, but can be better. If you try.”
It wasn’t an offer or promise of reward for reaching the end of some distant tunnel of redemption. It was a show of faith, and that Shea felt it for Flynn meant more to him than he could put into words. He wasn’t ready to give up, and he was starting to believe there was so much more he could learn and do, and that these damaged circumstances were not beyond salvation.
“There’s a long road ahead of us,” he warned her. “Not to be bleak, but nothing may come of it.”
Shea rolled the depleted cigarette in her fingers. “Schedule’s open. Time to spare.”
A way beyond this world waited somewhere in the distance. It was the only one, and the simplicity was welcome. “Then we’ll go together,” he promised, and led her down the way. The smoldering cigarette butt Shea left behind was the only sign they’d ever been there.
Killers, Traitors, & Runaways: Outcasts of the Worlds, Book II Page 45
