Page 66 of Rangers Unexpected Return

The humor left her face.

“No.”

“Did anyone die?”

Her hand tightened around the coffeepot.

Sheriff Tate looked at her.

“Rylie?”

She set the pot on the table.

“There was an accident.”

“What kind of accident?” I asked.

“A counselor drowned in the river.”

“The room went still.”

“That’s right. I had forgotten all about that,” Sheriff Tate said.

“What was her name?” I asked.

“Emily Ross.”

I wrote it down.

“How old was she?”

“Nineteen. Maybe twenty.”

“Did you know her?”

“We shared a cabin. She was two or three years older than me. Very nice.”

Carson stopped drinking his coffee.

Will reached for his camera.

I held up one hand.

Rylie saw the movement.

“What does Emily have to do with your investigation?”

“I don’t know.”

That was the truth.

“Tell me what happened.”

“There was a closing-night bonfire. A storm moved in, so everyone went back to their cabins. Emily was gone the next morning.”

“When did they find her?”

“Three days later. Downriver.”