Page 53 of One Last Stand

Benton narrowed his eyes at her, then back to Moose. “You think this is over. But it will never be. Someday you’ll know what it’s like to lose someone you love and stand by helpless to stop it.”

He blinked at the man.What?—

“Is that a threat?” Axel said, sidling up to Moose.

Benton’s lawyer pushed him away, but Grant kept his eyes on Moose as they headed out of the courtroom.

“Ignore them,” Ridge said. He turned and shook Moose’s hand. “It’s over.”

“Thanks, Ridge,” Moose said, ripping his gaze away from the closing door. He put his arm around Tillie.Over.

On to the future.

He walked outside with Tillie and Axel, onto the city street, and stood in front of two snow-covered totem poles, the traffic sparse as dusk began to settle.

“Pie?” Tillie said. “Hazel is with Grandma Roz.”

“I’m out,” Axel said. “I need to catch up with Flynn. We’re going to look at a condo.” Axel twirled his key on his finger and lifted a hand before he turned to walk down the street.

Moose breathed out, turned to Tillie. “I might have something else in mind.”

Her eyes widened.

“But maybe, yes, let’s start with pie.”

CHAPTER6

Despite the security detail that met them at the airport, the tall gates that cordoned off the US Embassy, and the guards that stood by the doors of her family home, the entire situation had Shep’s gut in a knot.

“What do you mean your Ranger team was sent to kill me?”

Her question still hung in his head, the way her eyes had widened, the quick look at York and Tomas.

They’d started to descend for the landing, and maybe then hadn’t been exactly the right time to tell her the entire story, but he couldn’t escape the idea that the entire mission, from the very moment when he and the Ranger team had arrived at the meet in Zermatt three years ago, supposedly to safeguard the exchange, had been a setup.Especiallywhen he’d spotted London.

He couldn’t shake the sense, also, that someone had determined thatheshould be there.

“We were sent to protect a man named Alan Martin, a CIA agent who was apprehending a rogue agent, a man named Mick Brown.”

“No—he wasn’t . . . I mean . . . I don’t think so . . .” London said. “Mick was my handler.”

“I know. We saw Alan kill him.”

She just stared at him, her beautiful blue eyes wide.

“We weren’t on site at the time—the guys on overwatch saw the whole thing go down. Colt and a couple of the guys were taking position when Alan slit his throat, then took his place for your meet. I was positioned downslope, watching. And that’s when I saw you.”

The landing gear had gone down. “I knew something wasn’t right—even when you were fifteen, you were a patriot. I couldn’t believe that you would betray your country, so I told Colt and his team lead that I knew you. That you weren’t rogue.”

“They were supposed to take me into custody?”

“Yes. Or prevent you from leaving.”

Her mouth had opened. “You stopped them.”

“I told them I’d intercept and find out what was happening.”

“I always thought it was so . . . crazy . . . that you ended up in that chalet with me—” London said.