Page 102 of Her Wild Coast Promise

“Let’s pay the congressman a visit,” Brian says.

“And stop a train or two,” Hunter adds. “Maybe throw in a boating excursion?”

I write one final word and underline it: CAUTION.

“Understood,” Hunter says, locking eyes with Brian, who nods.

After our goodbyes, Cora moves back into the chair next to me and takes my hand. “I had no idea, Seth.” She starts to cry. “To think I sent you there.”

I shake my head. On the pad, I scribble out another message.

Not your fault

She groans. “How could he do something like this? And for what, money? To treat those girls like garbage? It’s sick. Disgusting.”

I reach up and caress her brow. Her eyes flutter closed, like she’s savoring my touch. When her eyes open again, her gaze is fierce, determined. “We need to keep this kind of thing from happening.”

I raise an eyebrow. “We?”

She laughs and wipes her tears. “Get some rest, deputy. We have some plans to make.”

With her hand clasping mine and my exhaustion growing heavy, I shut my eyes.

Plans to make indeed.

* * *

I move my Monopoly shoe past GO and collect my $200 from Quinn, our game’s banker. But I land on Cooper’s block crowded with little plastic houses.

“Ooooh,” murmurs the peanut gallery.

“Need a loan, sheriff?” Cora teases from next to me on the couch.

I count out the bills. “No,” I reply, pinching her thigh.

She giggles, and our eyes lock. If we weren’t surrounded by a roomful of people, I might need to tackle her with kisses.

She holds out her palm for the dice, a challenge in her eyes, as if she thinks I won’t kiss her in front of all these people.

I drop the dice in her hand. If I start kissing her now, I won’t be able to stop, and we have a Christmas dinner to enjoy.

Cora’s in jail thanks to her last turn, and fails to roll herself out of it.

“Need a jailbreak?” I tease back.

“That would be unfair,” she replies.

“Conflict of interest,” Brian says from across the board, smirking. In his arms is his baby girl, Hailey, crashed out asleep. Darcy rolls the dice for them, and they land on the B&O Railroad.

“Five-minute warning!” Mary Alice McCabe warns from the kitchen, where Hunter and Evan are busy helping her finalize the feast.

I stare at the black steam engine on the board. It was little more than a month ago that federal agents busted the crime ring responsible for trafficking vulnerable young girls and the secret pipeline between Alaska’s interior and Russia, and arrested the people responsible. Federal cases move at the speed of molasses, so it’ll be many more months before they appear in court.

But I’m confident that with the evidence we’ve gathered, the collaboration we’ve relied on, and the solid policework that’s connected the dots, justice will prevail.

Tasha and Jared take their turn, letting Juniper roll the dice and move their pawn around the board, her little face rapt with concentration as she counts the spaces.

Thanks to the work of the Blackstone Task Force, she’s safe.

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