Page 142 of One Last Chance

He opened his mouth, but it was caught under an oxygen mask. He reached up to move it, and something pricked his hand. An IV.

“You just keep that on until we can check your stats.” She readjusted his mask. “The doctor will be in soon. In the meantime, breakfast is on the way. Oatmeal okay?”

“Never. How about a cinnamon roll from the Last Frontier?”

She smiled, patted his arm. He read her badge. Alicia. “I’ll see what I can do.” Then she winked, parked the stethoscope around her neck, and headed for the door. “I’ll let your visitors in if you’re ready.”

If those visitors included Flynn, that was a big thumbs-up. He nodded.

She’d been there, deep in the darkness, when he fought to come back to himself, buried under water. Calling his name.Phoenix.

Maybe he did have nine lives, although clearly he’d been using them at an alarming rate.

Now, the door opened and, oh,notFlynn.

Moose. He carried a cup of coffee and came over to the bed. Said nothing, just nodded.

Axel nodded back.

“Want to talk about it?”

Axel looked away. About the panic of being trapped under two hundred pounds of angry killer, determined to drown him? About fighting to break free until the man finally went limp and he could detach his pack strap? About how he’d gotten caught at the bottom, had run out of air while trying to escape?

Dying, right there, below the surface, just as he broke free?

“Nope.”

Moose nodded.

Axel looked at him. “Seen Flynn?”

His brother shook his head, and he tried not to let that bother him. Still, “We had a fight. I thought we were okay, but . . . I don’t know. Maybe not.”

Moose arched an eyebrow. “When in all this fun did you two have time to have a fight?”

“She—is . . . why didn’t you stop her?”

“From what?”

“Running after Parker alone!”

Moose gave him a look. “You have met her, right? She jumped into the pit trying to save your life. I don’t think I could stop her from doing anything.” He took a sip of coffee. “That’s what the fight was about? Her running after Parker?”

“She is . . . yes.”

“She is a cop.”

“Who hunts serial killers.”

Moose nodded. “You were thinking you could, what . . . trap her in Alaska, get her to quit her job?”

Actually, that might be exactly what he’d been thinking, although he’d couch it differently. “I thought maybe she’d want to stay.”

Moose sighed, nodded. “I get that.” He looked out the window.

Oh, something—“Bro?”

Another sigh. “Tillie’s missing.”

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