Page 117 of Rangers Last Promise

Seventeen.

My pulse changes.

“Who are they?” Mara asks.

“Contractors.”

“All of them?”

“According to this.”

Wolf points to the header.

“They were temporarily assigned to our forward operating base for seventy-two hours.”

Mara looks at the photograph Hampton wrote on.

“Seventeen were waiting.”

“Maybe,” I say.

“Who authorized their assignment?”

Trigger turns the page.

A signature sits at the bottom.

FRED MILLER.

Mara exhales.

“Miller again.”

“His signature,” I say. “That doesn't prove he created the order.”

“Especially after what Hampton told us,” Mara says. “Miller transmitted the order.”

Wolf looks between us.

“What exactly did Hampton say?”

I tell him.

By the time I finish, Wolf's expression has hardened.

“So Miller may have been following orders.”

“Or helping whoever gave them,” Mara says.

“Either way, we need to find him.”

Sheriff Tate folds his arms.

“Assuming he's alive.”

“He is.”

Everyone looks at me.