Page 18 of One Last Promise

“What could they do? It all happened so fast. And it’s my word against his.”

“They could arrest him for assault,” Shep said, lifting his chin toward her appearance.

“I hit him too.”

Moose drew in a breath. He wanted to sayAttagirl, but that had probably only made Rigger angrier.

Thank God she hadn’t been hurt worse, and with that thought surfaced his prayer two days ago, while trapped in the glacier.Please. Keep her safe. Bring her help if she needs it.“How did he get your daughter?”

“I called 911, but he grabbed my phone. I think he must have used it to track Roz’s address. When I realizedthat, I called Roz to warn her. . . . He answered.” She drew a breath then, maybe remembering the call, because he saw a sort of horror flit through her eyes.

“And?” Flynn said softly.

“I have an hour to get him the money or he leaves with her.”

Moose glanced at the clock. She’d been here a total of fifteen minutes. “Where is he?”

“Anchorage.”

Forty minutes away. “We’ll never get there in time.”

“I could go to Roz’s house. Stall him. . . . If someone else can pick up the money.” She looked at Moose.

Him? Um, no way was he leaving her. He looked at Shep, who nodded and turned to Tillie. “Where is it, exactly?”

“Under the firepit, under the patio pavers, in a waterproof box.”

“Cash?”

“Yes.”

Shep frowned.

“I wanted a way to get it, fast. . . .” She swallowed.

More questions, but Moose just walked over to Shep. “I’ll text you an address. You go.”

He noticed that London followed Shep to the entryway.

“Axel, grab Tillie’s address, send it to Shep. Flynn, you should get on the horn to?—”

“Dawson. I’m already on it.” Flynn had pulled out her phone. “We’ll get a negotiator on the scene too.”

“Wait!” Tillie’s voice stopped him cold.

Flynn looked up from her phone.

“You’re a cop?”

Flynn frowned. “Yeah.”

Tillie slid off her stool. “Okay. Uh, this was a—” She slid the stool in, held up her hands. “I’ll take care of it?—”

“Tillie!” Moose didn’t mean his tone, but, “What’s going on?”

Tillie had turned a little white and now swallowed,met his eyes. “I . . . It’s just that Rigger is dangerous. And if he knows there’s cops . . .” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. This was a bad idea.” She turned and headed toward the door.

Moose caught up to her, grabbed her arm.

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