by John Grit
He got another hard glare. “Sit over there, and I’ll get the first-aid kit – and the fishing line.”
Half an hour later, she wrapped his sutured hand with gauze.
“Use plenty of tape, and make it tight,” he said.
Her eyes darted from his hand to his face. “Are you expecting another emergency tonight?”
He looked away.
She finished with his hand and angrily slammed the first-aid box shut. “Not a word, not a moan, not even heavy breathing – through all of that. I felt like I was torturing you, but you just sat there and took it like it was an everyday thing. All those other scars marring your body. The ones you don’t talk about. They are part of your hidden past.” After glaring at him for several seconds, her anger faded. She put her arms around him and kissed his neck. “You’re going away, aren’t you? Whatever happened tonight has changed things forever. I can see it in your eyes.”
“You don’t see shit in my eyes, woman.”
She pushed away. “Woman? So you’ve already stopped calling me by my name?”
He swallowed. “Pearl, I will never forget you. And I hope to come back someday. The fact is, though, I must leave town.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What is it in your past? What terrible things that you never speak of and seem to be trying in vain to forget?” She wiped her face with the back of her arms. “You will never say, will you?”
He looked away. “Sometimes words can kill. The less you know, the safer you are.”
She stepped back. “It would have been safer for my heart if you had –” She threw her hands up. “Never mind. I’m a grown woman. We had good times together.” She dried her face again. “I just wish it was something like you cheating on me or slapping me around once in a while. That I could handle.”
Raylan stood and stepped closer, his arms out. “I despise a woman beater.”
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, glaring at him. “But you hurt. The fact you don’t do it out of malice or anger, don’t even do it on purpose, means little.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t change the world, and the world is a cruel place that we both live in. You may think not, but you’re in the same world I’m in. My past is part of that world and therefore part of yours.” He held her. “I hope this isn’t the last time we see each other, but it may be. I would rather you understand that I don’t want to leave. I would rather you also understand I have held back most of me for your safety and I never wanted to hurt you. But understand or not, I must go. These last months have been the best of my life, but if I stay, I will die. They may even come after you.”
She pushed him away. “Go then. I expect every second you stay puts you in more danger, so go now and stop babying me. There are other men, men who bore me to death, but they’re men. I’ve forgotten you already.”
He laughed. “Good, find yourself a twenty-year-old to teach what to do in bed and be happy.”
“I would rather find one with a sense of humor.”
He gave her a strange stare. “A twenty-year-old? You ask too much.”
Pearl waved him off. “Get out of here. And don’t come back – unless it’s safe.”
He turned and rushed through the hallway and out the back door of the bar, making sure it latched when he closed it. Four miles away, he hotwired a Ford pickup and headed west, out of town.
Also by John Grit
Feathers on the Wings of Love and Hate:
Let the Gun Speak
(Volume 1 in the series)
Feathers on the Wings of Love and Hate 2:
Call Me Timucua
(Volume 2 in the series)
Apocalypse Law
(Volume 1 in the series)
Apocalypse Law 2
(Volume 2 in the series)
Apocalypse Law 3
(Volume 3 in the series)
Patriots Betrayed
Short Stories
To Kill a Cop Killer
Fierce Blood
Old Hate
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Patriots Betrayed
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Patriots Betrayed