Free On Distant Shores (Exiles Triology Book 1) by Mark Harritt Page A

day when he walked out the door, and never came back.
    They stood there for the better part of two or three minutes, just holding each other. 
    “You take care of you and the baby until I get back.”
    “Okay, I will.  I love you.”
    “I love you, too,” reluctantly, he loosened his grip and gave her a kiss. 
    She returned it, and then let him go.  She walked with him to his pack, watched as he picked it up.  She held his hand, and then at the front door, she grabbed him, turned him, and fiercely pulled him towards her.  She gave him a passionate kiss, surprising him with the intensity.  She pulled away, “So you don’t forget me.”
    He smiled at her, “As if.”  He leaned in, and light as a feather’s touch, kissed her on the cheek, turned and walked out the door.  She watched through the door as he went to the truck, put in his back pack, hopped into the front seat, and fired up the engine.  He waved at her, pantomimed a kiss, and drove away.
    She sighed, and closed the door.  She walked back to the kitchen, then noticed the dogs outside.  She walked over to the door and let the dogs back in.  They were both moving slowly, but they seemed to be doing okay.  Jo grabbed some bread, opened up a bottle of pain medication that the vet prescribed for the girls.  She started wrapping the bread around the pills, and dipped the bread in the grease in the skillet.
    “That should get them to eat the pills,” she thought.  Moira was looking expectantly at her.  Jo couldn’t see Fiona.  She looked around.  Fiona was standing at the front door.  Her tail was wagging.
    “Oh, baby, Daddy’s gone.”
    Jo fed them the pills, checking to make sure that they didn’t spit the pills back out.  Then she put on coffee, cleaned the table, and put the plates into the sink.  She waited until the dogs were done with their food, and she put them back into their kennel.
    It was too late for her to go back to sleep, so she grabbed some of the sausage biscuits and filled a cup with coffee.  She watched the morning news while she ate.  One of the dogs, probably Fiona, whimpered as she sank into sleep.  The morning stock market news was on, but she wanted to listen to something light, so she turned the channel until she found some news personalities on a couch talking about the latest Hollywood gossip.
    Soon, she was done with the food and the coffee.  There was still nothing interesting on TV, so she stood up, took the dishes to the sink, and put them in.  The coffee cup she kept, poured some more coffee, then walked to the bedroom to get ready for the day.
     
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    Mike drove to the back end of the parking lot.  He hopped out of the truck, grabbed his bag, locked it, and walked over to the front gate.  Everett and Mickey were both standing outside the turnstile, in front of the window where the guard was.
    “Hey guys, do we have a ride over to the flight line?” Mike asked.
    Everett nodded, a cup of coffee in his hand, and his travel bag at his feet, “Yeah, the staff duty driver is going to take us over there.”
    They stood around for a few more minutes and the duty driver came out, apologizing for the wait.  Mike, Everett, and Mickey followed him over to the SUV, and got in.  The driver started down the road, and ten minutes later they were at the gate to Peterson Air Force Base.  Had they waited until later, there would have been a problem getting through the traffic in Colorado Springs to the Air Force base in time for the flight.  Mike rounded up their military IDs and passed them to the duty driver.  The duty driver pulled up to the gate and handed the IDs to the young Air Force military policeman.  He took a look at each of the IDs and then matched them individually to the people in the car.  He asked where they were going. The duty driver told him that they were going to the PAX terminal.  The MP nodded and let them through the gate.
    They arrived at