Page 176 of Rangers Last Promise

“Because she loved you.”

Mara looks away.

I want to touch her.

I don't.

Not yet.

Sheriff Tate speaks instead.

“What exactly did Mrs. Ellis ask you to do?”

“Find Doc.”

Everyone looks at me.

I don't move.

Hampton continues.

“She said if anything happened to her, Mara would eventually clean out the house.”

“The cedar chest,” Mara whispers.

“Yes.”

“She knew I'd find Grant’s journal.”

“She hoped you would.”

That surprises her.

“But she hid it from me.”

“She hid it while she was alive.”

Hampton looks toward me.

“After she was gone, she wanted Grant’s plan to continue.”

My chest tightens.

“Why me?”

“You know why.”

The promise.

Grant.

Mara.

“She told you to contact me?”

“She told me that if Mara found the journal, I was to make sure you came back to Eagle River.”

Anger rises.