Page 340 of Rangers Last Promise

The Keeper had made this personal.

“We need to identify her,” I said.

“And then?”

“Then I’m going to Eagle River.”

“You aren’t going alone.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“You’re still not going alone. Take Carson with you, and Will.”

Before I could answer, Will called from the bedroom.

“You both need to come back in here.”

I returned to the bedroom with Mills behind me. Will stood beside the open closet, holding an evidence bag.

Inside it was a photograph.

The picture had faded around the edges, but I recognized the wooden sign immediately. A painted tree stood above a winding blue river.

WELCOME TO EAGLE RIVER.

Nine women stood beneath it.

Someone had drawn a black line through eight of their faces.

Only one remained untouched.

Mills moved closer. “Do you know her?”

I stared at the woman in the center of the photograph.

Eighteen years had passed since I had seen her, but I knew exactly who she was.

“Rylie Tate.”

“The college friend you mentioned?”

I nodded.

Mills looked from the photograph to the dead woman on the bed. “Where does she live now?”

“Eagle River.”

My phone was already in my hand.

The Keeper wasn’t returning to where his killing began.

He was going back to finish it.

26

MACE

The Last Stand Tavern looked nothing like the building my Ranger brothers had inherited years ago.