Page 16 of One Last Promise

Yes, this might be the best idea she’d ever had.

She pushed away from him.

He caught her arms, then nodded and stepped away. “Let’s get some ice on your eye.”

She followed him, trying not to be awed by his magnificent kitchen, and in a moment, he was handing her an ice pack. “Stay here.”

But he didn’t go far, just stuck his head out of the sliding-glass door and said something to whatever guests he was entertaining.

And then she knew. Because of course, the people who followed him in were his Air One team. She knew a few of them—Axel, his brother, of course, and Shep, and Boo, the EMT, London, a fellow pilot. And country music star Oaken Fox.Huh, she hadn’t expected that.

Finally, another woman, a redhead who came in and stood by Axel.

“Tillie?” Boo said. “What happened?”

Moose stood at the end of the island, gripping it, and she got it—all that cool control went into that grip because a fierceness had entered his expression.

It was exactly that fierceness that gave her the will to swallow, then turn to his team, to Boo, then Shep and Axel, and finally back to Moose. “I’m sorry, but I had no other choice.”

Then, because of exactly that reason, she doubled down on her lie. “My daughter has been kidnapped. And I need your help to get her back.”

Silence. Moose looked at his crew, and specifically the woman standing with Axel, and finally back to Tillie.

“We’ll get her back,” he said quietly. “I promise.”

And deep down in her soul, she believed him.

CHAPTER 3

Moose didn’t even know where to start with his questions. Like, who had hit Tillie and why, and how did he get his hands on him?

And then—she had adaughter? He hadn’t even remotely seen that one coming.

The kidnapping part, however, might be the most important, so as she leveled her words at his team, he tried to ignore the shaking in her voice. And the memory of the way she had, ever so briefly, clung to him in the entryway. And just tried to focus on the Most Important Horrible Thing.

Kidnapping.Right. Focus.

His team stood, silent, absorbing Tillie’s words in his kitchen, the smell of the grilled steaks still lingering in the air. He walked over to the sliding door and shut it, and with that, muted the sound of the river rushing in the darkness and any remnant of joviality around the table just a few minutes prior.

He’d invited the team over for a small, put-the-past-behind-them celebration. His brother, Axel, had finally found the love of his life in Flynn Turnquist, a detectivefrom Minnesota, and country singer Oaken Fox had purchased an A-frame home south of Anchorage, in a posh area overlooking a ski resort, probably to start a life with Boo Kingston, the team EMT. And Moose . . . well, he’d survived being buried alive, so that had felt like a reason to celebrate.

In fact, he’d managed to almost, but not really, put Tillie and her disappearance behind him.

Okay, not at all, but he’d been trying, and that counted.

And then . . . and then the doorbell rang, and now he stood at the edge of what felt like a dark and stirring mess of trouble.

He didn’t have a second thought about diving in. And never mind helping Tillie?—

“How old is your daughter?” he asked now, cutting through the shock.

“Seven.” Tillie set her ice pack on his granite island.

“You need to keep that ice pack on,” Boo said, coming up to her. “The eye is pretty swollen.” She gave her face a once-over. “Doesn’t look like your nose is broken, however.”

“I’ve had a broken nose. I know what it feels like,” Tillie said, and Moose had to look away. Good thing he was holding on to the counter.

Seven.

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