The Outlaw's Redemption. Renee Ryan

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СКАЧАТЬ of familiar footsteps approaching from behind.

      Instinct had him reaching for the gun at his hip, the gun he hadn’t worn in years. Forcing his fingers to relax, Hunter let out a slow hiss of air and reminded himself he had nothing to hide, nothing to defend. His outlaw days were over.

      “Looking for me?”

      At the sound of that low, amused drawl, Hunter spun around to face the man he’d come to see. Trey Scott. Smiling that half smile of his. On any other man, the gesture would have softened his face. Not Trey. There was nothing soft about the seasoned lawman. His hair was still black as midnight, his eyes nearly as dark beneath the brim of his hat, his presence as menacing as ever.

      Hunter remained motionless, refusing to give an inch of ground, or to show any sign of weakness. Trey did the same.

      This was a ritual of theirs, this stare down. Welcoming the familiarity of the routine, Hunter settled in, keeping his mind on his goal—pay off the debt he owed this man. Not in money. But in words.

      Money would have been easier, cleaner.

      Shifting his weight to the balls of his feet, Hunter flexed his fingers. “Sheriff,” he said in a bland tone. “Been a while.”

      “Too long, by my estimation.”

      Hunter didn’t disagree.

      He hadn’t seen Trey since the other man had handed him over to the U.S. marshal assigned to escort him to the Colorado State Prison in Canon City. In the weeks leading up to his trial, Trey had shown Hunter what it looked like to live as a man of integrity, what it meant to show mercy where it wasn’t deserved. To understand God’s forgiveness in all its infinite wonder.

      The irony that Trey had made such an impact on his life wasn’t lost on Hunter. Logan, Hunter’s estranged brother, looked up to this man, as well. They’d served together as U.S. Marshals for years, with Trey teaching Logan everything he knew about law enforcement. On principle alone, Trey should have been Hunter’s enemy. Instead, the sheriff had turned into his greatest ally during the trial and his confidant in the endless hours of waiting for a verdict.

      Hunter owed the man his life.

      He’d never be able to repay him, not in worldly measures. Nevertheless, he was here to try. But first...

      “I have something of yours I need to return.”

      Trey nodded solemnly, showing no surprise at this. “Come with me.”

      The other man stepped off the sidewalk into the busy street. Hunter kept easy pace with the sheriff as they wove through the morning traffic. At the threshold of the jailhouse, Trey swung open the door, then stepped back, indicating Hunter should proceed ahead of him.

      He paused a fraction of a beat, then entered the building first. His gaze darted around the room, taking in the stark interior. Cold, bleak memories took hold. He’d spent a lot of time in this jailhouse, specifically the cell on the far left.

      Like always, a fire crackled and spit in the black stove on his right. The air beyond the fire’s reach shimmered with cold, all the way into the dank, empty cells.

      “Slow week?”

      “Blessedly slow.” Trey shifted around him.

      Rubbing his palms together, Hunter moved deeper in the room, too, then dropped a cursory glance at the desk cluttered with unruly piles of paper. “Still ignoring your reports?”

      Trey let out a low laugh. “What can I say? Got an image to uphold.”

      Brow arched, Hunter cut his friend a speaking glance. They both knew Trey’s legendary reputation had nothing to do with filing late reports.

      Trey simply studied Hunter in return, with that quiet, reflective air of his. “This your first stop?”

      “No.” Hunter shook his head. “I went to see Mattie Silks last night.”

      Trey stared at him, infuriatingly calm as always.

      Hunter stared back, reminding himself—again—that he had nothing to hide. Even though his past was littered with the wreckage of his mistakes, Hunter was a new man.

      A changed man.

      Still, he waited for Trey’s expression to fill with disappointment, waited for him to say something about the ills of stopping in a brothel his first night in town. But Trey’s gaze never changed. There was no lecture forthcoming, no leaping to conclusions. The complete lack of censure proved he had more faith in Hunter than Hunter had in himself.

      “That couldn’t have been easy,” Trey said at last.

      “You have no idea.” Hunter paused, remembering. No, it hadn’t been easy at all, walking into Mattie’s last night. There’d been painful moments of self-recriminations, a lot of regret, guilt, raw emotions he hadn’t been able to sort through then, or now. “I went to Mattie’s because of this.”

      He dug in his jacket and pulled out the letter the interfering woman had sent him last month—bless her ornery soul.

      Trey accepted the paper without looking down.

      “Go ahead,” Hunter urged. “Read it.”

      Trey lowered his gaze. A moment later, he drew in a sharp breath, looked up, then back down at the letter.

      He continued reading in silence, flipped over the paper and scanned the back. When he was finished, he refolded the letter along the well-worn creases and handed it back to Hunter.

      A thousand words passed between them, reminding Hunter of the last day he’d been in this building, and their final conversation. He’d spilled his guts to this man, admitting his deepest anger at God for forsaking him, at Jane for dying on him. Most of all, he’d raged over the dream that had vanished with the death of his infant son and murder of his wife a few days later.

      After too many years on the wrong side of the law, Jane had been Hunter’s chance for a new, wholesome life that had lasted barely two years.

      Trey was the only person in the world who knew Hunter’s desperate wish for a family of his own, why he’d married Jane in the first place, and why he’d sought revenge for her murder. He wanted the stability he’d denied himself for years, but had been snatched from him so ruthlessly. Now, here he was, on the brink of achieving that dream, after all. Answered prayer, if in a different form than he’d ever dreamed.

      “I take it you had no idea about the child until Mattie contacted you.”

      “None.”

      “You’re sure she’s yours?”

      The question of the hour. “Not completely. But Mattie claims the child resembles me enough to eliminate any doubt.”

      He went on to explain the circumstances of his brief first marriage, leaving nothing out, including Maria abandoning her vows to return to her former life.

      “So the child might not be yours.”

      Hunter hesitated, fighting off a wave of alarm. What if Sarah СКАЧАТЬ