Page 130 of Rangers Unexpected Return

Fresh wood showed beneath the white paint.

Someone could have opened the gate with a thin piece of metal.

I didn’t touch anything else.

When we returned inside, Rylie and Sheriff Tate were carrying boxes from the hall closet. Trigger had opened the curtains so he could see the front yard.

Judy stood near the kitchen island, pulling gloves from her pocket.

“You found something,” she said.

I looked at her. “How do you know?”

“Your face.”

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“It talks too much.”

“That’s interesting coming from you.”

“Mace.”

I stopped smiling. “Max alerted at the side gate. There’s fresh damage near the latch and a partial boot print beside the garage.”

Sheriff Tate set down the box in his hands. “I use the back gate all the time.”

“Do you open it from the other side with a piece of metal?” Judy asked.

“No.”

Trigger’s expression changed. “Rylie stays with me.”

Rylie raised an eyebrow. “I had already planned to.”

“I mean you don’t leave my sight.”

“Trigger—”

“I know you can take care of yourself. I also know a killer has been close enough to our bedroom window to take a picture of us asleep.”

Her expression softened.

“I’m not trying to lock you away,” he continued. “I’m asking you to let me stand beside you.”

Rylie reached for his hand. “That’s different.”

“It is.”

“Then you can stand beside me.”

Sheriff Tate’s face tightened for a second before he looked down at the boxes. He loved his daughter. That much was obvious.

He also trusted Trigger to protect her.

“We should get these searched,” Judy said quietly.

We carried everything into the living room. Six boxes came from the hall closet. Sheriff Tate brought down four more from the attic. Rylie opened the first one and stared at a pile of school notebooks, old photographs, and ribbons.