Page 24 of One Last Promise

Or maybe he just wished it.

Still, as they pulled past Tillie’s tiny bungalow in Eagle River, the night dropping down over it like a haze, he realized he probably needed someone who possessed a few sneak-and-grab skills.

Could be he was simply imagining a past for her, given his sketchy information. After all,he didn’t exactly?—

“Turn the corner and let’s park. See if we’ve been followed.”

He did exactly that, turning his Jeep around in a driveway and then settling it in a shadow under a massive lodgepole pine. “I feel like I’m in a spy movie.”

“No. This is a heist movie.” She looked over at him, and he couldn’t tell if she was kidding.

Then she winked, and it sent a zing right through him, and shoot, they were in an unrequited romantic tragedy.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Tillie’s place was a little box of a house, tucked away among the trees, with a facade that seemed to have been painted with melted butter. Cute. Sweet. Not at all the kind of place you’d expect to find a cache of money. But then again, people who hid things had a way of painting a pretty exterior.

He glanced at London. She’d said little on the way over here, her jaw set in a hard line, probably reliving Tillie’s words about Rigger. Shep was doing the same. The idea of a man hitting a woman the way Rigger had hit Tillie—Shep’s gut was a knot.

The least they could do was grab the money and try to untangle her.

He hoped that was the reason for London’s pensive vibe.

“The neighbors have a light,” London said, pointing to a house next door. “But it seems like they aren’t home. The house is dark. I hope nobody has a dog.”

As if on cue, a dog barked into the quiet of the night.

Perfect.

“Okay, let’s go.” London slid out of the car, then crouched by the door, closing it fast.

He grabbed a shovel out of the back seat, then got out and came around the car behind her.

The air held a hint of pine from the surrounding trees. The faint smell of smoke also wafted by, perhaps from a nearby chimney. The hum of the highway murmuredin the distance.

“We should call the cops.”

“You heard her. She needs this money.” London glanced at him. “Don’t be a pansy.”

His eyes widened and she laughed a little, the sound sneaking through him to take hold, and shoot, but this woman . . .

Maybe it hadn’t been the brightest idea to reach out with the offer to join the Air One team, but at the time it had seemed like . . .

Like he’d been saving her life.

Just like she’d saved his.

“Let’s go.” She took off across the street, walking fast, avoiding the tall streetlight, into the yard of Tillie’s home, through the grass, and over to the side of the house without stopping.

He scooted behind her, his heart a hammer.

“I’ll bet the neighbors are staring out their windows, watching, dialing 911.” He shook his head, then imitated a fictional neighbor. “Elmer, why is that man holding a shovel?”

“Just act normal.”

“How is this normal?”

“I mean—act like you belong here.”

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