Page 117 of Durango

After dinner, Durango declines their invitation to play cards at their place. Instead, he drives us to a dark road and parks.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t quite what I had in mind for the first date.”

“I had fun. I like Piper and Ozzie.”

He nods. “They are great. But so is what I want to show you next.”

We get out of the car, and he leads me down a path in a park to the water’s edge. From here, we can see Manhattan.

“It’s beautiful.”

He wraps his arms around my waist from behind. “I like to come here at night sometimes and stare at the city lights. It’s so peaceful.”

“Thank you for bringing me here,” I say.

“For our second date, I was thinking we might head to Jersey for dinner.”

I turn in his arms. “Jersey? Why so far?”

He grins. “So we won’t have to worry about dining with any of my coworkers.”

“I thought New Yorkers didn’t like going to Jersey?”

He shrugs. “Maybe some don’t, but I’m from Montana. I go where the food is good. And the best Italian restaurant is in Hoboken. Trust me.”

“Italian? Is this a pizza place?”

He laughs. “No, it’s not. Trust me, you’ll love it.”

I will. Anything that makes him light up like this must be great.

“It’s a deal.”

“Now, are you ready for what I have planned next?” he asks.

“Does it involve your place?” I ask.

“No, but I think you’ll love it.”

CHAPTER 34

Durango

“I don’t likethis at all,” I say again.

“I heard you the first time,” Harding says. “Trust me, I don’t like it, either, but we need to get Sylvia into custody. Ozzie and I will be there in about twenty minutes. Hold on.” She ends the call, and I stand there with my eyes on Sylvia, cursing her under my breath.

After our first date took a turn running into Ozzie and Piper, I planned a quiet and romantic camping trip for Willow and me the next weekend. We both enjoy the outdoors and thought this would be a great adventure.

And it has been. We set up camp yesterday, went on a hike, roasted marshmallows last night, and had a great day of exploring planned for today.

What I didn’t count on was Sylvia ruining our plans. Apparently, Harding was wrong about word getting back to Sylvia that the weapons had been retrieved. Because there is no other reason Sylvia would be here looking for me other than to find the location of the now non-existent weapons.

And somehow, she managed to follow us here. I shudder to think what might have happened to Willow had I not spotted Sylvia pulling into the parking lot.

My bigger question is, how did she find me? We are at a state park and not some remote campsite, but still, this is out of the way of the city. And if she followed us, why didn’t she confront us last night?

Sylvia gets out of her car and scans the lot. Then, she walks toward the campground. I run back to our site.

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