“I know.” Of course, it would be all right. Cordell’s escape team was waiting in a dilapidated collection of deserted and condemned buildings. How hard could it be to round them up?
“Cordell is cooperating,” Wyatt said. “They both say Karl killed Stan,” he added quietly.
Of course, he’d remembered how much she wanted justice for her friend. “Do you believe them?”
“Yes. The stories line up and frankly, they’re too exhausted to lie well.” His gaze drifted to Pickering. “I should get going.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Cordell’s getaway guys are sitting ducks. The FBI and the sheriff’s team will be doing the hard work,” he assured her. “I’m just guiding them in to takedown a couple of city boys who probably can’t handle their four-wheel drive out here. We can’t lose.”
City boys armed with guns and radios if they worked with Cordell. “They must have heard by now that the robbery failed.”
“Probably,” he admitted. “The sheriff parked a team of deputies on the access road, but they can’t take down this team alone.”
Her hands went cold and her heart stuttered as worry washed over her. It wasn’t her place to fuss over him. They were friends. Friends who had shared a few kisses and confessions and no guarantees. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about the future, about what a new relationship might look like.
“Evie.” He ran his fingertips along the rolled collar of her robe, not quite touching her skin. “I’ll be back in a few hours. It’ll give you time to get dressed.”
She laughed, but her cheeks went hot. Hotter still when Pickering cleared her throat.
“Wait up for me,” he said. “I’ll bring up champagne to celebrate.”
Did that mean what she wanted it to mean?
“Jameson, we need to get moving,” Pickering said.
“Give me another minute,” he said.
Everything inside her rebelled at the idea of him leaving Deadwood. Irrational but true. A small voice in her head refused to accept he was only heading a few miles north. “Why now? The roads aren’t clear,” she protested. And why were the authorities so eager to move now when they refused to leave the hotel when Wyatt needed them most?
“They won’t wait forever. Cordell convinced them he’d be there before midnight. I’m not going in on my own. I’m just a guide,” he repeated. “The take down is a cooperative effort between the sheriff and the FBI. But we have to move now.”
It was more dangerous than ever. She chewed on her lip so her concerns couldn’t spill out. From the corner of her eye she caught Pickering edging toward the door.
“Jameson,” the agent said, “Clock’s ticking.”
“You’d better go.” Did she dare kiss him?
He bent his head and caught her lips in a soft kiss full of promises. A kiss that erased all her doubts. When he eased back, she pressed her fingers to her lips, holding the sensation close.
“I wanted to talk,” he said backing away.
That was laughable. “You did not.” She crossed her arms over her chest, so her heart wouldn’t go flying after him. He said he was coming back. He kissed her like he was coming back. “We will talk, though,” she warned.
“I can’t wait,” he said. His wild grin had only become more irresistible with time. “Your snow day is already a hit. I’ll make sure the press is here.”
She didn’t want to know how he’d manage that. “Be safe. And be smart.” She glared past him to Pickering. “I mean it. If you let anything happen to him, you’ll answer to me.”
“Evie.” He rushed across the room and kissed her again. “You’re the best. I love you.”
Her heart cracked and hope overloaded her system. He meant it. Love glowed in his beautiful blue eyes. She reached deep for one last scrap of courage and realized it was the easiest thing in the world to give him the words that had been carved on her heart years ago. “I love you too.” Always. “I never stopped loving you either.”
“I knew it.” He cradled her face. “Give us a minute,” he said to Pickering, his eyes still locked on Evie.
The door opened and closed.
She pressed up on her toes and kissed him, willing all of her heat into him to keep him warm during his next trek through the snow. “Don’t you dare get hurt.”
“What kind of husband and business partner would that make me?”
She stared up at him. “That doesn’t count. When you decide to propose for real, you have to do better.”
