Page 24 of Montana Mystery

She smiled in relief. “I like the sound of that.”

I nodded to Brandon. “Set it up. Somewhere open where we can have full visuals. I’m going to call Daniel and fill him in.”

“Wait, Noah,” Kate followed me out of the room, “are you sure about this? The money? That’s not a small amount.”

“I’m sure.” Living simply, along with my military retirement, gave me more money than I knew what to do with. “If we get these guys, I’ll get the money back. If we don’t,” I shrugged, “then I’ll call it an investment in your brother’s future. Everyone needs that at some point, no matter what they’ve done. People have done it for me, and I don’t mind doing it for others.”

“Okay.” She bit her lip, worrying it between her teeth like she wanted to say more but couldn’t. There was no disguising the relief in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Kate.”

“I still want to though,” she said. “This is more than a lot of people would have done.”

I smiled, resisting the urge to touch her. Pull her into an embrace and tell her everything was going to be okay. But I couldn’t. “Set up the meeting with Brandon. I’ll be back shortly.”

Kate looked at me for a long moment before she retreated. I blew out a breath. Every time she looked away from me, it was like being released from an electric shock. And I was starting to crave that shock.

I was in trouble.

Chapter 9

Kate

The park bench was cold even through my jeans. I tried to keep my breath even, but it was impossible to not be nervous. When you watched movies with things like this, it seemed so far away from real life. You never imagined it could be in your city, let alone you participating in it.

In my jacket pocket there was an envelope with four thousand dollars. Cash, at their insistence. I’d expected some kind of account number or routing information. Wasn’t that the way the bad guys did it on TV? They always had their account numbers memorized and at the ready.

“Noah?” I tried to keep my lips as closed as possible so it didn’t look like I was talking to anyone.

The park was open and empty. Not many people hung out in parks in late November when there was already snow on the ground. Behind me, the river moved under a sheet of ice. In the distance to my left there were occasional cheers and announcements from the baseball stadium. Some kind of concert in the off-season. And there, across the park near some apartments and a small cafe, was a van that contained Noah and at least two other Resting Warrior guys.

Others were in separate vehicles at other potential exit points.

“Kate.” His voice was low and calm in my ear. The smallest earbud that I’d ever seen, but the connection was crystal clear. “You’re doing great.”

I swallowed. “Doesn’t the fact that they want cash kind of reinforce the fact that they’re into bad stuff?”

There was a pause. “Not necessarily, but likely, yes.”

“I just want this to be over.” Done, so that Brandon would be safe. It wasn’t like managing house sitters had set me up for a lot of intrigue in my day-to-day life.

“It will be soon,” he promised. “Thank you again for doing it.”

He didn’t have to thank me. There was very little that I wouldn’t do for Brandon. No matter how much he made me angry or messed up, he was all I had. If doing this would save our family, then I was going to do it.

Across the park, a man started walking toward me. He was tall and broad. Wearing mostly black. It could be a coincidence, but there wasn’t anyone else in the park besides me right now. Odds were this was the guy.

“Coming from the baseball side. Near the main road.”

“We see him,” Noah confirmed.

I didn’t move from where I sat until he was close. And not even then, in case it wasn’t him. But he slowed and looked at me. Looked a little too long even though I was bundled up in a down jacket and hat.

“Do you have it?”

I stood to cover my reaction. His voice. I knew his voice. He was the guy from my apartment, the one who’d promised to put Brandon in with the dogs if he didn’t pay.

“How do I know you’re with them?” I asked.

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