Page 125 of Rangers Unexpected Return

“I’m going with you.”

Trigger turned toward her.

“No.”

She stopped in front of him.

“Emily gave that key to me because she was afraid. She trusted me to keep it safe, and I forgot about it for eighteen years.”

“You were a child.”

“I was seventeen.”

“You were a child,” Sheriff Tate repeated.

Rylie looked at her father.

“If the key is still in that box, I’m the only one who knows which sweatshirt it was in.”

Trigger’s jaw tightened.

“We wait until daylight.”

“It will be daylight in two hours,” I said. “We take two vehicles. Wolf drives the first. Sheriff Tate takes the second. Rylie stays between Trigger and Max. Nobody enters the house until Mace and the Rangers clear it.”

Mace looked at me.

“You’re staying here.”

I stared at him.

He almost smiled.

“That didn’t sound right when I said it.”

“No, it did not.”

“You haven’t slept.”

“Neither have you.”

“I’m a Ranger.”

“I’m a homicide detective.”

“You’re stubborn.”

“So are you.”

“That isn’t the same.”

“It’s exactly the same.”

Rylie looked between us.

“Did you two argue this much when you were dating?”

“We weren’t dating,” I said.