Page 191 of Taken Away

“Jack Lockwood. Field operations.”

Anne shook his hand.

“Lockwood,” she repeated. “I’ve heard that name more than a few times over the years.”

He chuckled.

“Hopefully for the right reasons.”

Anne smiled.

“I’ll reserve judgment until I know you better.”

“Fair enough,” he said.

She gave him a slow, appreciative once-over. “Well,” she said. “Seems Mabel surrounded herself with very capable men. I suppose I should be grateful.”

“Grateful’s a start,” Chloe muttered under her breath.

“Chloe,” Savannah hissed, not quite hiding her smile.

From above came the sharp crack of a binder hitting the mezzanine floor.

Every head turned.

Walter stood frozen at the railing.

The ledger lay open at his feet.

He wasn’t looking at it. He was looking at Anne.

“Lord,” Chloe whispered. “Okay, this is getting dramatic.”

Anne’s eyes followed the collective gaze.

For a second, her composure slipped.

“Walter,” she said.

The name came out soft.

“Anne,” he managed.

Declan watched them with the same sharp attention he reserved for witness statements. He knew the story in broad strokes—the girl who’d left, the man who hadn’t, and the sister who’d married into the middle of it.

Seeing it was something else entirely.

Anne gave a little shake of her head, as if waking from a dream.

“Well, come on then,” she called up, forcing brightness into her voice. “You gonna hide up there like the Ghost of Bookkeeping Past, or are you comin’ down here to say hello properly?”

A ripple of laughter moved through the room.

Walter bent and picked up the fallen ledger. Aubrey stepped out onto the mezzanine as Walter started down. She’d heard the ledger hit the floor from Mabel’s office and come to check on him. She hadn’t expected… this.

Anne stood in the light from the glass wall, her sunglasses abandoned on the bar and her sharp blue eyes fixed on Aubrey.

“There she is,” Anne said, satisfaction threaded through the words. “My girl.”