Page 137 of Rangers Unexpected Return

“When?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Before or after Rylie moved away?”

“After.”

“What year?”

“I said I don’t remember.”

“You remembered that he kept half her childhood.”

His jaw tightened. “I’ve known this family a long time.”

Sheriff Tate closed the door. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“I saw the vehicles.”

“From the road?”

“Yes.”

Mace leaned one shoulder against the wall. He appeared relaxed, but I had already learned that Mace noticed everything.

“You can’t see the driveway from the main road until you pass the house,” he said.

Evan looked at him. “Who are you?”

“Mace Walker.”

Recognition flashed in Evan’s eyes. “The Ranger with the dog.”

Mace’s expression didn’t change. “People talk?”

“I suppose they do.”

“I’ve been here two days.”

“You walked into the Last Stand with a military dog. People noticed.”

“You weren’t there.”

“No. I wasn’t.”

Mace glanced at me.

Evan knew he had arrived with Max. That could have come from anyone in Eagle River. Newcomers didn’t go unnoticed in a town this size, especially when one of them was an Army Ranger reuniting with his old friends.

But Evan hadn’t said he’d heard about Mace.

He had called him the Ranger with the dog.

Maybe it meant nothing.

Or maybe Evan had seen them himself.

Max took one slow step forward.