Page 13 of The Last Promise You Made

I snooped around the files on the device, hacking into the code, but there didn’t seem to be anything there. I dug around the menus and code some more while Addy watched me with more patience than any kid I’d encountered. I wanted to go through it some more, but I was afraid if I did, it might mess up the little girl’s games, and right now, this was the only thing she had left from her old life. So, reluctantly, I gave it back to her.

We spent the rest of the trip lost in our separate electronics.

When we landed outside Knoxville, the pilots waited inside the cabin while Addy and I gathered our things. I had her pull the hood up on her sweatshirt and led her down the steps to where Leland had another SUV waiting for me. It was a black Escalade that looked almost identical to the one in Denver, except this one had a child’s booster seat in the back. I hadn’t even thought about needing one when I’d driven Addy from Denver to the Space Force base. Clearly, no one was going to award me any gold stars for parenting.

Addy buckled herself in, and we headed toward Willow Creek. My nerves were unaccountably jittery, especially considering I’d been in much worse situations, like the time I’d been surrounded by guerillas in South America. And yet, one little girl and the man I was driving her to had my insides flip-flopping like I was facing an MK47 while holding only a knife.

Needing a distraction from my thoughts, I switched the radio on. A twangy voice and guitar solo filled the air.

“You like country music?” I asked, and Addy shrugged. “The place we’re heading…the people there eat it up like it’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. I like it myself, even when it can be pretty corny. When I was in high school, I made my older brother take line-dancing lessons with me.”

In the rearview mirror, I saw her lips twitch again, and I wanted to make her smile fully, to somehow lighten her load, even if it was only for a few moments.

“My brother swore he hated every second of it and that he hated country music, but I caught him swinging his hips to Carrie Underwood at Christmas. His fiancée gave him a hard time about it too, because she’s a rock star. You ever heard of The Painted Daisies?”

She nodded her head furiously, lips quivering upward.

“His girlfriend is Leya, but I’d bet a deluxe tablet that you’re an Adria Rojas fan,” I said, and she nodded again. “Badas—cool drummer. You look a bit like her.”

That got me a full smile. It was sweet and stunning and beautiful.

I wanted to tell her she looked more like her mom than Adria and that they both made the drummer look ordinary instead of the beauty queen she’d once been. And I’d know. I’d met her in person once as part of our joint operations with the CIA. She was gorgeous, no question about it, but Addy and her mother had something hard to name. The altered image of Anna that Rory had shown me had made the woman more stunning instead of less.

I understood completely why a man like Ryder Hatley would have been attracted to her, slept with her, and made a baby with her. What I didn’t understand was the spike of pain it sliced through me at the thought of them together. Neither Ryder nor Anna-Ravyn had anything to do with me, and certainly not years ago when they’d made Addy. I would have been in college—still fresh-eyed and idealistic. Even back then, Ryder was not the kind of guy I would have been drawn to. Grumpy and growling had never been my thing. I liked wide smiles, humor, and easy-going demeanors.

Eventually, Addy nodded off, her little head dropping to the side. It wouldn’t take us long to get to Willow Creek, but she’d at least get a couple hours of rest. With only the quiet of the radio breaking the silence, I turned my thoughts to the best way to tell Ryder about his daughter. The truth was, no matter how I said it, he’d react badly. He didn’t trust me, so telling him about Addy would go over like a skunk at a birthday party. He’d reject the idea as fast as I introduced it, and I didn’t want the tension between Ryder and me to make Addy feel like her dad didn’t want her.

The idea of her being hurt by him curled through me like a venomous snake. In mere hours, I felt more protective of the kid than I did anyone but my family. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It could impair my judgment if push came to shove. I’d just have to keep that fact in mind.

As we neared Willow Creek, I realized there was an easier way for me to deal with Ryder. Someone he’d believe way more than me. So instead of driving directly to the Hatley Ranch, I headed for the sheriff’s station and Ryder’s brother. The Hatley siblings were close. They looked out for each other in the same way my brother and I did. If Holden showed up with news I had a kid, I’d believe him even if it was physically impossible for me to have had one and not know. I shuddered at even the possibility of having a baby.

It was hard enough figuring out what to do with the seven-year-old in the back seat, who’d only be my responsibility long enough to ensure she was safe. Right now, that meant trusting the sheriff with the truth and hoping to hell my instincts about him were right.

From Anna’s letter, it didn’t seem like the Hatleys were connected to the Lovatos. Instead, it seemed like Anna was trying to protect Ryder and his family from them, but the Hatleys had still had two close brushes with the cartel. It was suspicious enough for me to keep my guard up. Suspicious enough that I’d have to dig through their pasts and their finances all over again. If someone in the family, or even near them, worked for the cartel and heard about Addy, they’d make a beeline for Tennessee to grab her. If they thought she had something on them that Anna had left behind, they’d do even worse.

That wasn’t going to happen on my watch.

The sun was just rising over the horizon as I drove down the cobblestone streets of Willow Creek and pulled into a slot at the sheriff’s station next to a department-issued F150 I’d seen Maddox driving. It was early for him to be at work, but I was relieved to find him there. When I turned off the car and looked back at Addy, she was rubbing small hands over large eyes. It took her a minute to figure out where she was, and raw anguish crossed her tiny face before her gaze met mine.

“It’s going to be okay,” I told her. “I know you’re scared and sad. I know you’re hurting. You’re probably going to feel that way for a long time, but I also know, it’ll get better.”

I was speaking out of my ass. I hadn’t lost anyone close to me. I’d had a couple bad breakups over the years, but that wasn’t the same. The only people in my family who’d died were my grandparents on my mom’s side, but that had happened when I was little more than a toddler. I’d loved them in a distant way you were supposed to love people who were related to you, but I hadn’t grieved them. Not the way this little girl was grieving for her mom.

I swallowed hard, got out of the car, and went around to open Addy’s door. She jumped down, shouldering the backpack that was almost as big as her, and slid her hand into mine. It screamed a trust I certainly hadn’t earned yet. My throat closed a bit as we headed toward the station doors.

As we entered, an older woman with pale-gray eyes and hair so white it was almost see-through rose from behind the counter. She looked from me to Addy and back.

“Can I help you?”

“I need to talk to the sheriff,” I told her. I flipped out my badge, showing it to her. “It’s urgent.”

She scanned the badge, raised a brow, looked down at Addy, and then headed for an office door at the back. She was only inside a few minutes before she came out again, followed by Maddox Hatley. He had a leaner frame than his brother and dark-blond, almost caramel-colored hair, whereas Ryder’s was dark-brown chocolate. But they shared a tan, square jaw, aquiline nose, and clear blue eyes. I’d never seen the sheriff’s gaze spark with danger the way Ryder’s had, but then again, I’d never been on Maddox’s bad side the way I’d been on his brother’s.

“Is there somewhere Addy can wait safely?” I asked the two adults.

They exchanged a look, and then the older woman held out a hand to the little girl. “I’m Amy. We have donuts and hot chocolate in the break room. You interested?”

Addy squeezed my hand tightly, stepping closer to me. I squatted down and looked straight into her eyes in a way I hoped would be reassuring. “I have to talk to the sheriff before we can take you to your dad. I won’t be long. I promise, and I’ll be right there.” I pointed to the office door. “If you feel worried or scared, you just come barreling in there no matter what, okay?”

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