Page 69 of One Last Shot

She sat back. “That’s rough.”

“Yep. Are you from Alaska?”

A huff, a smile. “Nope. Actually, I grew up in Florida.”

“That’s a hike.”

She lifted a shoulder. “I like Alaska. The summer is great—so much sun. And the winter can be... quiet.”

“You like quiet?”

“I like safe.” She met his gaze, fixed on it. Seemed to be asking a question.

He answered it with silence, and a nod.

Another beat went by, and then she got up. “Break is up. I’ll get your pie.” Tying on her apron, she walked away.

He reached for his shake and took a sip, his gaze on Tillie.

Yes. He very much was going to ask her out.

CHAPTER 8

Oaken was no hero, but someone was going to die if they didn’t get to that van.

“Do not go in there, Oaken. Wait for the state troopers. Wait for Moose!” Boo scrambled after Oaken down the embankment, and he turned to catch her before she slid into the icy waters.

She caught up to him, wrapped her arms around him. They stood halfway down the rocky embankment, the rain sheeting down over them, and all he could think was...

Hollie.

Hollie had died because no one stopped—or even saw her, maybe—but no one had taken even a moment to check out the car buried under a tree on the side of the road.

And maybe that wasn’t fair, but the last thing Oaken was going to do was wait while someone drowned. Or froze to death.

The van had landed wheels down in the water, but already the current had dragged it twenty feet, and it bobbed, jostled by the tumultof rapids and rain.

“It could go over, Boo. And maybe the people inside are unconscious.”

Boo had already called Moose while Oaken dialed 911. But help couldn’t be sooner than ten minutes away, so he’d gotten out of the car, slid across the road, and spotted the vehicle in peril in the water.

He hadn’t even thought about it as he’d run to the edge of the bridge and thrown his leg over the guardrail. Started down the embankment.

Now he wished he’d at least grabbed a flashlight. Darkness hid the tumble of rocks. “Careful,” he said as he continued down, Boo’s hand now captured in his.

The hiss of the water rose over the thunder of rain, but he didn’t hear any panicked yelling from the van.

An older-model Caravan, maybe mid-nineties. Probably had airbags.

He slipped on a boulder, let go of her hand, and stopped his foot from sliding into a crevasse, bracing himself on the slippery rock.

They needed light?—

Behind him, a light flashed on. Boo’s phone.Smart.

See, that’s what she did—she stayed calm, didn’t let her emotions lead.

He didn’t have time right now to think about her words in the car—“You meant it when you said you’d watch my back.”But he was going to get to the bottom of that.