Page 221 of Rangers Last Promise

“I’ve never heard you call him Colin.”

“Trigger.”

“Right. Not now.”

Wolf takes my phone without asking.

“Unknown number?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hear traffic? Music? Anything in the background?”

I replay the call in my mind.

The voice.

The faint rasp of his breathing.

Then something else.

“A bell.”

Doc turns toward me. “What kind of bell?”

“I don’t know. It rang twice.”

“Church bell?”

“No. Smaller.”

“Door chime?”

“Maybe.”

Wolf looks toward the businesses along Main Street.

Most are closed.

Last Stand Tavern isn’t.

Neither is Millie’s Diner.

The gas station at the edge of town stays open all night.

Trigger points toward the tavern.

“That’s where we were when he called.”

“No,” I say. “We were here.”

“I mean that could be the bell you heard. Last Stand’s front door.”

Doc looks at Wolf.

“How many people were inside when you left?”

“Fifteen. Maybe twenty.”