Page 305 of Rangers Last Promise

“Could he?”

“Probably,” Wolf says.

Hampton sounds offended.

“I can hear you.”

A metallic crash echoes through the radio.

Then silence.

“Hampton?” I call.

No answer.

“Hampton!”

Static.

The radio connection ends.

Wolf looks at me.

“Harlan’s inside.”

I check my magazine.

“Yes.”

We see the sheriff’s station from two blocks away.

Every light is out.

Plywood still covers the shattered front window.

The back door stands open.

A black SUV is parked in the alley with its driver’s door hanging wide.

Wolf stops behind the courthouse.

Sheriff Tate pulls in beside us.

Everyone gets out.

Tate looks at me.

“You stay behind me.”

“I’m a deputy.”

“You were supposed to write speeding tickets.”

“I’ve written three.”

“In four years.”

“Eagle River isn’t that big.”