Page 179 of Rangers Unexpected Return

And much more frightening.

“You came after me,” I said.

“Of course I did.”

“Why?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Judy stared at me.

Firelight moved across her face. Smoke filled the sky behind her, and men were shouting near the burning office.

But she didn’t look away.

“Because I already lost you once,” she whispered.

My heart stopped.

Then she seemed to realize what she’d said.

“Mace, I⁠—”

The phone in my hand vibrated.

We both looked down.

A new message appeared on the cracked screen.

YOU STOPPED ONE BULLET.

YOU WON’T STOP THE NEXT.

The words remained on the cracked phone screen while the camp burned behind us.

For several seconds, I couldn’t move.

Smoke rolled through the trees. Flames climbed above the roofline of the old office, throwing orange light across Mace’s face. Men shouted near the clearing. Somewhere closer to the lake, wood cracked as the fire reached another dry section of grass.

But all I saw was the message.

The Keeper had seen Mace pull me behind the dock.

He had watched Mace cover my body with his when the bullets struck the wood above us.

He knew Mace had protected me.

And now he was promising there would be another chance.

I lifted my gaze.

“He saw us at the dock.”

Mace’s expression hardened. “He saw everything.”

“He was across the lake.”

“Or he had someone closer.”