Page 54 of Broken Oath

Rank.

Words summarizing a life that could never be contained by stone.

Sniper stopped beside him.

For a long moment, nobody spoke.

Rain struck the temporary marker.

Wind moved through the trees.

Finally, Sniper laughed softly.

“He’d hate this.”

Rook glanced at him.

“Viking would absolutely hate people standing around crying.”

A faint smile touched Rook’s mouth.

Because it was true.

Viking would have made a joke.

Hammer would have insulted everyone’s clothes.

Bishop would have told them to stop being dramatic.

Ghost would have stood quietly in the background.

Ridge would have rolled his eyes.

Tex would have talked about his daughter.

The smile disappeared.

Only the memories remained.

Rook stopped at Tex’s grave last.

He removed the plastic sleeve from his coat.

The photograph showed Tex’s daughter holding her enormous fish, her smile brighter than the lake behind her.

Rook looked at the message he had written on the back.

Your father talked about you during his final flight.

He couldn’t leave it here.

Rain would destroy it.

Someone might recognize his handwriting.

The wrong person might realize a survivor had attended the funeral.

He had promised Tex his daughter wouldn’t forget him.