Page 54 of Rangers Last Promise

She finds it and tears open the package.

“Hold here.”

Mara places both hands exactly where I show her and applies pressure.

Parker clenches his teeth.

“Sorry,” she says.

“She isn’t either,” I tell him.

He groans. “You two are perfect for each other.”

Mara presses harder.

Parker makes a strangled sound.

“I take it back.”

Despite the situation, I almost smile.

I wrap the pressure bandage around his thigh and secure it. Mara keeps one hand near his hip, steadying him.

“What happened?” she asks.

“I was covering the rear of the building,” Parker says. “Heard glass break in Wolf’s office. By the time I got to the window, some guy in black was climbing back out with a metal case.”

My attention snaps toward the office.

“The case.”

Parker nods. “I ordered him to stop. He turned toward me with a gun.”

“Who fired first?” Mara asks.

“He did. I fired back.”

“Did you hit him?”

“I think so. Saw him stumble before he ran.”

“Then Trigger spotted him,” Wolf says.

“Yeah.” Parker grimaces as I tighten the bandage. “Trigger came around the corner just as the guy took off.”

Mara looks toward Wolf’s office.

“How long could he have been inside?”

“Less than a minute,” Parker says. “I heard the window break almost as soon as it happened.”

That makes more sense.

The tavern was locked.

Deputies covered the exits.

The intruder never came through either one.