“It wouldn’t work. My fingerprints are on the gun.”

“We could wipe them off. And off anything else you’ve touched. Besides, they wouldn’t be looking for your fingerprints.”

“It still wouldn’t work.”

“As a matter of fact, I think it would. I think you could leave here now and fly out to Rio tomorrow with no questions asked.” She slipped her hand into mine. “Why not go, Robin? This was my idea, not yours. Why should you have to answer for it?”

I stared into the darkness around us, tempted by the thought of being able to walk away, untouched and unsuspected. The chance was there for the taking, a chance very close to a certainty.

But, if I’d gone, who would have told you she didn’t want it to end as it did? You’d hardly have taken her word for it, would you? She knew that, of course. She knew it very well. So did I. That’s why I had to refuse. Because two people can only cease to be strangers to each other once. From then on, there really is no going back. The only mistake is to believe there may be. But we’re supposed to learn from our mistakes, aren’t we? I walked away once and lived to regret it. This time, I’ll stand my ground.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ROBERT GODDARD is the author of nineteen bestselling novels, including Never Go Back, Into the Blue, Play to the End, Hand in Glove, Borrowed Time, Sight Unseen, and In Pale Battalions. He lives in England, where he is at work on his upcoming novel, Made to Be Broken.