“It was always my pleasure.”
I step forward into his embrace and hold him a few heartbeats longer before letting him go and walking slowly to the waiting car.
“Now,” I say, and Freddie helps me inside.
My eyes drink in the buttery leather interior of the small limo taking us to the New Orleans International Airport. My stomach is fluttery to be leaving here, not knowing what awaits us in a new country where we don’t speak the language and our only friend is this man who thinks we’re something we’re not.
The car rumbles quietly forward, and Molly spins in her seat to look out the back window. My eyes are fixed on the man sitting in front of me as the soft strains of classic jazz surround us.
Freddie reaches for my hand. “It won’t hurt my feelings if you shed a few tears. I know it’s hard to say goodbye to the people you know and love.”
“You’re always so kind to me.”
“Only because I adore you.” Freddie gives my hand a squeeze. “And I really do think you’re going to adore Paris as well. Perhaps I can make you happy there the way you’ve made me happy here.”
“Perhaps.”
“Annemarie’s already planning to take you shopping,” he continues. “Make a list of everything you want to do and see.”
Molly finally turns around, and for the first time in two days, she slips her small hand into mine. Her head is on my shoulder, and she speaks quietly.
“Lara loves diamonds. And she wants a little dog.”
Freddie laughs. “I can’t wait to get to know you better,” he says, tapping the end of her nose lightly.
His gesture fills me with an emotion I’ve almost forgotten.
Hope.
The car hastens our departure, and I look down at the small hand holding mine. She’s safe now, and perhaps one day we’ll learn to forget the things that happened here. Maybe one day we’ll learn to never think about this place, ever again.
There’s no reason for ghosts to follow us across the Atlantic.
Epilogue
Mark
It’s black as pitch when my eyes open again.
Time has passed, but I don’t know how much. My entire body is wracked with intense pain, and the coppery flavor of blood is in my mouth.
I try to move, but my wrists are tied to my ankles. I try to roll, but my shoulder collides with hard wood. I’m in some kind of box or a crate. Getting still, I listen.
The rhythmic noise of clattering wheels on metal rails is unmistakable. I rock side to side, and I realize I’m tied up in the dark in a box on a train.
I didn’t save Lara.
She’s still back there.
She’s still in danger.
I can’t let myself think about how those men might have hurt her. I’ve got to get out of here and get back to her.
This isn’t the end of my story…
The story continues in UNDER THE STARS, coming Jan. 22…
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“Sundown” is a special BONUS novella that occurs between Under the Lights and Under the Stars!
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(NOTE: A slightly different version of “Sundown” previously appeared in THE VAULT anthology.)
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More Tia Louise
BOOKS IN KINDLE UNLIMITED
THE BRIGHT LIGHTS DUET
Under the Lights (#1), Jan. 8, 2018
Under the Stars (#2), Jan. 22, 2018
“Sundown” (a Bright Lights novella) Hit Girl, coming March 2018!
STAND-ALONE ROMANCES
When We Touch, 2017
The Last Guy, 2017*
(*co-written with Ilsa Madden-Mills)
PARANORMAL ROMANCES
One Immortal (Derek & Melissa, vampires) One Insatiable (Stitch & Mercy, shifters)
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THE DIRTY PLAYERS SERIES
The Prince & The Player (#1), 2016
A Player for a Princess (#2), 2016
Dirty Dealers (#3), 2017
Dirty Thief (#4), 2017
THE ONE TO HOLD SERIES
One to Hold (#1 - Derek & Melissa) One to Keep (#2 - Patrick & Elaine) One to Protect (#3 - Derek & Melissa) One to Love (#4 - Kenny & Slayde) One to Leave (#5 - Stuart & Mariska) One to Save (#6 - Derek & Melissa) One to Chase (#7 - Marcus & Amy) One to Take (#8 - Stuart & Mariska)
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“Sundown”
Exclusive Sneak Peek
“I was quiet, but I was not blind.” –Jane Austen
Mark
This time it’s different.
I’ve made the annual journey from British Columbia to Juneau and back on the White Pass-Yukon Route for as long as I’ve been a detective. It’s a treacherous route in the winter, one with no direct connection to any other railway.
Tourists will ride it in the summer to see the glaciers, gorges, waterfalls, and steep grades. Now, only a very few individuals with proven business in the remote stops are allowed to travel this line.
Perhaps that’s why I do it each year at this time, for the adventure.
Perhaps it’s nostalgia, missing the dusty clutch of regulars riding these rails for their line of work.
I’d say I’m doing due diligence, keeping tabs on the outer reaches of my territory. This part of the country is so remote and isolated, anyone could get away with anything, and it would take months if not years for the authorities to notice. If it were even reported.
The truth is I’m here for a very specific reason.
I’m here waiting for him to slip up, to give me the reason I need to nail him.
“Confidence.” The slender man’s pronouncement breaks through my musings.
He leans forward on the bar, grasping his chunky shot glass in three fingers. Emerald-green absinthe swirls around inside the cup.
“Confidence is the key to everything,” he slurs. “The best criminals know this.”
Dropping back onto his stool, he slides two fingers along the corners of his thin mustache, pushing down his shifty grin. Aleister is a hustler, and he seems to be feeling the effects of his liquor.
Or it could be a lie… a grift. He could be stone cold sober and trying to get my guard down. He knows I’m searching. He wants to know why, what for.
His brown tweed three-piece suit has the finishing details only a tailor would know, tabs on the lapels, specialty labels. It’s old, but it’s expensive.
“Is that so?” I take a small hit of my scotch, poker face in place.
Unlike this fellow, my suit is off the rack, and I wear a beard, although I do keep it neatly trimmed. He’s a relic from another way of life. I’m the younger generation he feels compelled to educate.