Page 162 of One Last Chance

Moose prayed. And it wasn’t awkward or even imposing. Something about faith and holding on to hope.

Thank you, God.She tried it out and let the words sink in. Fill her.Thank you for all the ways that light overcomes the darkness.

The team “amened” and passed plates, and they nearly missed the ring of the doorbell. But someone sat on it, so Moose got up.

“Expecting someone?” Axel said.

He wiped his mouth, then dropped his napkin. “Nope.”

Huh.

Then he headed into the house.

“So, Oaken, how’s that movie you’re working on?” Shep asked.

“I’m not in it, but I did a little video promo in a town called Ember a few weeks ago.”

“Ember, Montana?” asked Shep.

“Yeah.”

“I have a cousin who used to work for a smokejumper team out of Ember.” Shep dug into his steak.

“There’s a big forest fire raging right now, so hope he’s not in danger.”

“Naw, he’s married and lives in DC with his wife. Directs a Red Cross SAR Team?—”

“Boo! Flynn!”

She looked up at Moose’s voice. He’d come out of the house, his expression turning them all silent.

“Can you guys . . . come here?”

Apparently it was a siren call for everyone, because the entire team got up and followed her into the house.

A woman sat on a bench in the kitchen. Long, dark hair pulled back, a black jacket, grimy jeans, and tennis shoes, brown eyes that widened when the crew came in. She held an ice pack to her cheek, her lip broken, her eye swollen.

Flynn stilled as Boo walked up to the woman.

“Tillie?” Boo said. “What happened?”

Flynn glanced at Moose. He stood near the end of the counter, holding on like he might need it for support. Or maybe he was about to rip it from its moorings—she couldn’t be sure. He wore such a fierce, dangerous expression that for the first time she wondered exactly who he’d been before turning into a rescuer.

Then again, Axel had worn that exact same expression when he’d stopped her from running after Wilson, so maybe that was the Mulligan default when someone they loved—and she could seethatclearly on Moose’s face too—was hurt.

“I’m sorry, but I had no other choice,” Tillie said quietly, looking first at Boo, then at Moose. “My daughter has been kidnapped. And I need your help to get her back.”

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