Page 283 of Rangers Last Promise

“Begging without sounding desperate.”

My heart squeezes.

I touch the front of his vest.

“I’m staying with you.”

His hand covers mine.

“This ends tonight.”

“Yes.”

“For Grant.”

“For all of them.”

I look toward the twenty-three containers beneath the floodlights.

Then back at Doc.

“And for us.”

His eyes hold mine.

“For us.”

The old Eagle River Municipal Airfield sits between two hills twelve miles north of town.

The runway hasn’t appeared on county maps in years.

Tall grass grows through cracks in the asphalt.

The control building is abandoned.

One metal hangar remains standing at the western end.

Its doors are open.

A single light glows inside.

Sheriff Tate stops our vehicles behind a ridge overlooking the runway.

Everyone gets out quietly.

We move into position beneath the trees.

Tate raises binoculars.

“What do you see?” I whisper.

“Two vehicles. One black SUV. One sedan.”

“Harlan’s?”

“The SUV matches the gas-station footage.”

Doc lies beside me in the grass.