Page 259 of Rangers Unexpected Return

"Yes."

I looked at every face on the board.

"No more."

I picked up another marker.

Across the very top I wrote one sentence.

WHO WAS THE LITTLE GIRL?

For the first time since arriving in Eagle River...

I wasn't asking the Keeper's questions anymore.

I was asking Emily's.

Behind me...

Max stood.

His ears lifted.

Not toward the front door.

Not toward the street.

Toward the office.

The hidden room beneath the tavern.

The dog took two slow steps.

Stopped.

Then looked directly at me.

Almost as if he was saying...

You missed something.

29

MACE

Nobody slept.

The hidden room beneath the tavern had changed everything.

Not because of what we'd found.

Because of what we hadn't.

The room was empty.

Too empty.

The shelves along the stone wall held nothing but dust.