Page 277 of Rangers Last Promise

“What company?”

“Harlan Strategic Services.”

Doc goes completely still.

I feel the change in him before I see it.

“You know that name.”

“Yes.”

“Who is Harlan?”

“Colonel Arthur Harlan.”

The wind moves across the pasture.

Smoke burns my eyes.

Or maybe it’s the name.

“The Colonel?”

Doc keeps looking at Tate.

“Harlan commanded the regional intelligence unit attached to our operation.”

“Was he at Site Seventeen?”

“Not officially.”

Tate’s mouth hardens.

“Twenty-three men didn’t officially exist either.”

I turn toward Doc.

“Why didn’t you recognize the Colonel’s name before?”

“Because nobody called Harlan the Colonel. Not around us. By then, everyone called him General.”

“He was promoted?”

“Six months after Grant died.”

Of course he was.

Twenty-three men were murdered.

Grant died.

Daniel Kane disappeared.

Arthur Harlan received a promotion.

“Where is he now?” I ask.

Tate holds up his phone.