Page 29 of One Last Promise

She stopped at a light, breathing hard.

“Where are we going?”

She looked over at Hazel. Swallowed. Right now, Shep and London were digging up the money, but if Rigger had gotten away . . .

No, she couldn’t go back to the house. “I . . .”

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Hazel said.

Right. “Okay, I’ll find a gas station.”

“And I’m hungry.”

Of course she was. “McDonald’s?”

Hazel smiled, nodded.

Fine. “One Happy Meal coming up.” Except—shoot. Her wallet was in her car . . . back at Moose’s.

“Sorry, just thepotty for now, honey.”

She should return his truck too, so as not to be a felon. There was that.

She pulled into a Holiday station and parked between a couple more trucks. Lights beamed down from the tall stanchions, and the odor of diesel and gas followed them into the station. Inside, the smell of greasy chicken fingers under the heat lamps stirred her gut.

She needed a Happy Meal too.

She followed Hazel into the bathroom. Stood at the mirror.Yikes. They looked like a couple of homeless people. Or worse. Washing her face, she emerged a little cleaner. Hazel came out, washed her hands, and met her eyes in the mirror. She had Pearl’s eyes, a little gold around the irises, a heart-shaped face. A real beauty.

Of course, that had only gotten her sister into trouble.

Tillie took Hazel’s hand, and they walked out of the station, got back into the truck. She had the urge to turn around, return to Roz’s house, check on . . . everyone. But a police car zoomed by on the road behind her, its siren moaning and . . .Nope.

She shouldn’t go back to Moose’s house either.

“Mom? Are we going?”

She’d been sitting in the car, the engine running, just holding on to the steering wheel. She glanced over. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“I want to go home.”

“I don’t think so, honey.”

She put the car into drive.

A hand slammed on her driver’s side window, and she jerked, jumped. Hazel screamed.

She stared, and for a second, blinked at the man.

Not. Rigger.

Axel stood by her door, his blue eyes fierce,his mouth set.Uh-oh.

Her heart hammered as she lowered the window. “Um—I panicked.”

Axel glanced into the truck, then back to her. “You did the right thing.”

Just like that, the fist inside her chest loosed. She breathed in. “How’s Moose?”

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