Page 78 of Rangers Last Promise

A memory.

“He talked about you constantly.”

Mara looks up.

“He did?”

“All the time.”

Something changes in her eyes.

“He never mentioned you very much when he came home.”

“That was probably because he wanted you to believe he spent his deployments doing heroic things.”

“He told me he spent most of them trying to keep Trigger from getting arrested.”

From across the room, Trigger says, “That was also true.”

Mara laughs.

The sound catches me somewhere beneath the ribs that Hampton's bullet missed.

“He told us about the bicycle,” I say.

Her laughter disappears.

“No.”

“The drainage ditch.”

“Doc.”

“Seven stitches under your chin.”

“I was twelve.”

“You told everyone you cleared it.”

“I did clear it.”

“According to Grant, the bicycle cleared it. You didn't.”

Wolf laughs.

Mara turns toward him. “Whose side are you on?”

“Grant’s.”

“Traitor.”

The word comes out playfully.

Then the room changes.

Not because anyone says anything.

Because we all hear it.