Page 78 of One Last Promise

“My sister was brilliant. But she didn’t know who to love . . . and who to walk away from.”

“Seems to me you don’t either.”

Tillierecoiled. “What?”

“What happened to the man who came with you to the house? The one who tussled with Rigger while you got away.”

“He’s . . . I . . . You know what? I can’t have anyone else in my life who could get hurt. Like you.”

“I’m going to be fine. But you keep making decisions that lead you away from what you really want.”

“What I really want is . . .” She looked at Hazel, back to Roz, her voice low. “I want Hazel to be safe from Rigger. I want her to grow up happy, with a mother who loves her.”

Roz shook her head, and Tillie had to take a breath, step back. Gather herself.

So much pain in all of that. “I’ll get the key. And the money. And the phone.” Her eyes filled. “And . . . thank you, Roz. You’ve been . . . everything to me.”

Aw, she didn’t mean for it to end like this. Sheesh, she was a marine, made of tougher stuff than dissolving on the floor at a goodbye.

And Roz was too, although now her eyes filled, and a tear dripped down her wrinkled cheek. She looked at Hazel. “Hey, Nut, come give Grandma Roz a hug.”

Hazel ran over and flung herself into Roz’s arms. Roz grunted but just closed her eyes and held on.

Tillie took another step back. Those two deserved this moment.

The door opened behind her and she turned. “We’ll be done in a moment—Flynn?”

The woman she’d met a few nights ago stood in the doorway. Auburn hair pulled back, she wore black pants, a gray shirt, a leather jacket, open, and around her neck, a police badge.

A man walked in behind her.

“Hey, Tillie,” Flynn said.

The man walked past her over to Hazel, who’d stood up. He crouched in front of the little girl. “Hi, Hazel.My name is Dawson. I’m a friend of your friend Moose, and he asked me to come here and see if you wanted some ice cream.”

What—

Hazel looked at her mom, back to Dawson, and her expression said she didn’t believe him either.

Tillie turned to Flynn. “What’s going on?”

Flynn’s mouth pinched. “I think you know.”

For a second, the slightest brilliant second, the wordRun!flashed through her mind. The second after that, she saw herself restrained and cuffed and dragged away while Hazel watched, scarred for life.

So Tillie didn’t run. She simply looked at Roz, who sat stricken in the bed, then at Hazel and smiled. “It’s okay, Hazelnut. You go with Dawson and get that ice cream, and Mommy will be with you as soon as she can, okay?”

Dawson held out his hand, and with everything inside her, she wanted to leap across the bed and kick him in the chin. Land and follow with a spinning punch and—yeah, it all flashed through her head as Hazel reached up and met his grip.

Tillie forced a smile as Hazel walked past her, her breath cutting off as Hazel looked back at her.

Just like Pearl had when they’d taken her away that first time.

Then the door closed, and Tillie looked at Flynn.

“Tillie Young, there’s a warrant out for your arrest under Florida Statute 787.03, interfering with parental custody and kidnapping of a minor.”

“You don’t understand?—”

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