Page 136 of Rangers Last Promise

A truck bursts through the rear doors.

State police converge.

Gunfire erupts.

I run.

This time Tate doesn't try to stop me.

By the time I reach the barn, deputies have Miller on the ground behind cover.

Doc is nowhere in sight.

“Where's Doc?”

Miller points toward the rear.

“Hampton took him.”

Everything inside me goes cold.

“No.”

I run through the shattered doors.

A dark truck tears across the pasture.

Doc is in the passenger seat.

Hampton drives.

Wolf and Trigger race toward their vehicle.

I reach Sheriff Tate’s SUV first.

He catches up as I open the driver's door.

“Mara.”

“Don't.”

“You aren't driving.”

“This is not the time.”

“You drive like your mother.”

I stare at him.

“What does that mean?”

“She was terrifying.”

He takes the keys.

“Get in.”

Despite everything, a laugh escapes me.