Page 274 of Rangers Unexpected Return

"The upstairs reading room."

Sheriff Tate slowly smiled.

"I forgot."

"The old librarian always said..."

He laughed softly.

"'When you can't find the answer..."

"'Look up.'"

Books.

Not ceilings.

Shelves.

The upper shelves.

Judy's eyes widened.

"The library."

Mace grabbed his truck keys.

"Wolf."

"I'm already calling Nora."

Within seconds the Rangers were moving.

The Keeper had searched the camp.

He had searched the tavern.

But if Emily trusted one place more than any other...

It would have been somewhere filled with stories.

Somewhere no one ever questioned old books sitting on dusty shelves.

Somewhere the Keeper had probably walked past a hundred times.

Without ever looking...

Up.

32

MACE

Rain drummed steadily against the windshield as I pulled into the parking lot of the Eagle River Library.

The old brick building stood exactly as I remembered it.

White columns.