Page 104 of One Last Promise

No, Till?—

“I believe you.” The words from Flynn sucked the air out of the hut, and even Moose stood breathless. “I did some digging, and Julian Richer is . . . he’s got at least two assault charges in his past, both dismissed. He’s also been connected with organized crime and some drug smuggling. Apparently thevoters don’t seem to care. How he got custody of Hazel, I don’t know, but . . . after seeing his record, I believe you.”

Tillie’s hands fisted at her side. “There’s more to the story.”

“Shep filled us in.”

Moose glanced at Axel.

“He found us this morning, right before the press conference. Flynn had no choice but to go through with the press conference.”

“Pearl wanted me to raise Hazel,” Tillie said softly.

“I am sure she did,” Flynn said. “But Hazel’s custody papers list Julian Richer as the father. And he used that to get custody and got the judge to issue a warrant for your arrest in Florida.” Her voice lowered. “But Florida did not send your warrant to Alaska. And if you had let me finish in the hospital, you would have known I wasn’t arresting you. I was going to help you get a lawyer and sort it out. You weren’t under arrest. Then.”

“And now?”

Flynn looked at Axel, back to Tillie. “I didn’t file a report on the assault.”

Tillie’s fists unclenched. “So . . . I’mnotunder arrest?”

“Not here, not now. But if the police department in Miami-Dade County sends the warrant here, then . . .”

“And what about Hazel?”

“The court still needs to award her back to her father. I got a call from our CPS worker—apparently a local law firm just filed a motion for temporary child custody on your behalf.”

“Where is she?” Tillie took a step into the garage.

“I can’t tell you that.”

Tillie took a breath, and Flynn held up her hand. “Because I don’t know. I do know that she’s safe. Richer isn’t going to get her.”

“That’s because he doesn’t want her. Not really. He wantsme.”

“And he’s not going to get you,” Moose said. “But I need to get you somewhere safe while we figure out how to proveeverything you said.”

“Moose—” Flynn turned to him. “What are you doing?”

He’d taken the wooden chocks from the front of his tires. “Leaving. C’mon, Tillie. Get in.”

“Bro,” Axel said and put a hand on Moose’s arm. “You can’t?—”

“I can.” He shook off Axel’s hand, lowered his voice. “This is one thing I can do.”

Then Axel drew in a breath and turned. “Get in, Flynn. If she’s with you, then she’s not running.”

Flynn’s eyes widened. “Okay.”

Moose stood a little nonplussed for a moment as Axel helped Flynn up onto the wing and then into the plane. Axel then held a hand out for Tillie, who settled in beside Flynn in the back seat.

“I’m going to grab my go bag,” Axel said and took off for the Tooth.

Okay then. Moose did his preflight external check, then climbed into the cockpit in time to hear Flynn say to Tillie, “Yeah, I’m fine. You need to teach me that move.”

He fitted on his headset and did the rest of his preflight check as Axel stowed a duffel in the back, then climbed into the copilot seat.

Moose opened his window. “Prop clear!”

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