Page 131 of One Last Promise

“You should have told us about the lawsuit,” Axel said, now serious.

“Yes. Yes, I should have. I’m sorry. But now you know and . . . I can’t let us do this.”

More quiet, the darkness now heavier, their expressions shadowed.

Finally, from Axel, “Okay, then what are we supposed to do?”

And then, as they sat in silence, it didn’t matter?—

Fire exploded out of a downstairs window.

It rocked the neighborhood, the SUV, the team, and they turned silent as black smoke billowed out of the lower level and sirens blared.

And all Moose could think as he barreled out of the SUV was,Oh, Tillie, what have you done?

Yeah, that hadn’t gone as planned. In fact, Tillie had planned exactly none of the chaos that now erupted at the back of Rigger’s hacienda.

Fire licked from the main floor, windows bursting, and then, from the front door, Courtney ran out screaming, and all Tillie could think as she got off her bike was . . .

Now.

She’d been sorting out how to get inside for the better part of an hour, and it had dawned on her when the pizza guy went by to simply . . .

Make it simple.

He’d parked at the end of the street, and she’d waited for him, planning to grab the red insulated bag when hereturned from his delivery—no need to deprive anyone of their pizza—when the absurdity of her idea hit her.

She’d counted at least three former MMA fighters, two she knew personally, surrounding the complex—as if Rigger knew she might be coming.

Of course he knew. Probably counted on it.

Although, it also had to do with what was going down on that yacht.

Even if she got inside the gate, her skills weren’t the kind that could neutralize three grown men, no matter what the movies said. She had U-turned the bike and reached the property, her eye on the window where she’d seen Hazel, when the explosion rocked her off her bike.

She hit the ground.

And then she stopped thinking. Because Hazel wasinsidethat house somewhere?—

Lights burst around the perimeter as if there was a surge of electricity, but she was already on the fence, then over, onto the grass.

This was easy. Columns held up a deck that hung over the pool area, and all she did was run past them to the far side, land on one column, bounce to the other, then spring up to the upper railing, catching it and pulling herself up.

Behind her, the yacht tore away from the dock, heading out of the canal into the passageway, but she was inside, second level, and on the hunt for Hazel.

Smoke billowed up into the night, obscuring her entrance, and she opened the unlocked doors and ran into the master suite.

She braced herself to find Rigger inside, but the doors hung open, so she ran past the massive king bed, under hanging lights that looked like a cascade of tiny pebbles, and then stopped and edged out into the hall.

Shouting rose from below. Whatever hadexploded had caught a sofa on fire, then some kind of fancy wall covering, and smoke blurred everything.

She’d seen Hazel on the second story, east side, and now ran down the hall, slamming open doors.

A kid’s room with a television the size of her car and a wall of Legos on display. She ran through a Jack and Jill bathroom to a similar bedroom, then out and down the hall to the next room. Bathroom—Hazel would love that tub—and then to the final room.

An office. But a Murphy bed had been pulled out, and crayons lay on the surface of the bed, and then?—

Hazel’s locket. It lay broken on the floor. Tillie scooped it up. “Hazel!” She didn’t want to shout, but—aw, “Hazel. It’s Mom!”

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