Page 269 of Rangers Last Promise

He could walk into a village and make children laugh within minutes.

“They told us Torres went into witness protection,” Wolf says.

“He didn’t,” Mara whispers.

No.

He ended up in a metal container beneath Texas soil.

The paramedics carry Carson toward the ambulance.

I stare into the hole.

Twenty-three men were soldiers on paper until the Colonel erased them.

Some were recruited.

Some threatened.

Some disappeared.

Grant found them.

He tried to bring the truth home.

Mara kneels near the broken floor again.

I crouch beside her.

She holds Grant’s map beneath one of the lights.

Her expression changes.

“What?”

“This isn’t Grant’s handwriting.”

I look at the words on the back.

LAST PROMISE.

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve read every letter Grant ever sent home. He made his R differently.”

She points to the word promise.

“This R curves at the bottom. Grant’s never did.”

I think of the letters inside the lockbox.

Grant’s handwriting is hard, slanted, hurried.

The map is neater.

Controlled.

“Kane,” I say.