Page 213 of Rangers Last Promise

“I've noticed.”

Tate points at both of us.

“I can still hear you.”

Hampton laughs.

“I'm starting to like Eagle River.”

Tate looks at him.

“Don't.”

By ten that night, the station finally begins to quiet.

The phone is secured.

The lockbox is secured somewhere Sheriff Tate refuses to tell us.

Hampton is still in custody.

Kane is still missing.

Vance has Grant’s key.

And the Colonel still doesn't have a name.

Progress.

Apparently.

I walk outside.

Mara is sitting on the hood of her SUV beneath the parking-lot lights.

I stop.

She looks at me.

“Are you following me?”

“Yes.”

The answer surprises her.

“Usually you pretend you aren't.”

“I'm tired.”

“That makes you honest?”

“Apparently.”

I walk toward her.

She shifts slightly, giving me room against the hood.

I lean beside her.