Page 131 of Rangers Last Promise

Thirty seconds.

A minute.

Two.

Then a voice comes through Doc’s transmitter.

“You brought company.”

Hampton.

My pulse jumps.

Doc answers.

“You kidnapped my former captain. You didn't earn trust.”

“You never trusted me.”

“You helped murder Grant.”

Silence.

Then Hampton laughs.

“If I wanted Grant dead, Doc, you wouldn't be standing here.”

I look at Sheriff Tate.

He heard it too.

“What does that mean?” Doc asks.

“It means the valley wasn't supposed to end the way it did.”

“Then tell me what was supposed to happen.”

“You were supposed to disappear.”

Every Ranger listening goes still.

Doc's voice turns cold.

“All eight of us?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you saw something you weren't supposed to see.”

“What?”

“Operation Twenty-Three.”

I grip my weapon tighter.

There it is.