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“Save me.”
“Save—save you?”
She nodded and he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “I promise.”
Georgie smiled at him. “My hero. And just so there’s no confusion, I love you. I want you to know that. You are literally my first and I suspect, my last love. I want more than anything to make a life with you and Robby in Texas.”
“What about your career?”
“I’ll get a new one. And it no longer matters. I want to be with you.”
“I love you, Georgie and that’s the first time in my life I’ve spoken those words to a woman and genuinely meant them. But I do love you and want to build a life with you. I can retire, become a rancher and we can create a good life.”
“I want that too.”
“Then go do what you need to do and come to Texas.”
“That’s the plan.”
“That’s the plan,” she whispered. She only had to survive until half past six tomorrow morning and then Riggs would come. And Josh would die. Not because anyone would murder him, but because he was too far over the edge to be smart enough to surrender.
He’d beg for a fight and she had no doubt that Riggs would grant his wish. And it would most certainly be his last.
What worried her was the possibility that Riggs wasn’t fully healed, or trained sufficiently with his prosthesis. But then again, he was the man whose catch-phrase to anyone who wanted him to change his mind about something he was determined to do, was “give me one reason”.
Georgie was almost scared to hope, but needed it so much, she gave in. Riggs was coming.
*****
Riggs bounced Robby in his arms as he paced the kitchen. Gunner sat at the table, polishing off a stack of pancakes, while Naomie and Russell sat across from him with steaming cups of coffee. “Would you please stop that?” Naomie complained.
Riggs bit back all but an annoyed expulsion of breath before control was re-established. His temper was stretched thin. Since they responded to the message, he’d felt like a pressure cooker about to explode.
“Sorry,” he apologized.
“I’m right there with you.”
“I know and—”
At the tone, everyone looked in the direction of Gunner’s phone which lay on the kitchen table between them.
“Check it,” Russell barked, alerting Riggs to his anxiety. His father rarely barked and when he did, it was because his emotions were involved.
Gunner picked up the phone.
“This is the call,” he read and looked up at everyone. “That’s it.”
“This is the call?” Russell asked.
“Thank you, God,”Riggs released a breath he felt he’d been holding for weeks. His first question was to Gunner. “You have a go-bag?”
“Always.”
“Could you fly commercial with it?”
“Not likely.”
“We might need that.”