Page 267 of Rangers Unexpected Return

Even now...

She refused to let fear win.

I kept reading.

The second box isn't hidden.

It's protected.

I frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Sheriff Tate whispered.

"Keep reading."

You taught me something when I was little.

People search where they're afraid something is hidden.

They never search the place they're certain they've already seen.

The words settled over the room.

Judy slowly lowered the page.

"No..."

Mace looked at me.

"What?"

I looked around the tavern.

Every wall.

Every beam.

Every photograph.

Everything.

Emily hadn't hidden the second box.

She'd disguised it.

Somewhere...

In plain sight.

Carson looked around the room.

"You mean..."

"Everyone has been looking at it for eighteen years."

"Without realizing it."