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Authors: Heather Graham
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year’s Miss Maple Queen of Montpelier, Vermont.” Kelsey rose. “I’ll have these read by tomorrow and be completely up to speed,” she told Crow. “I’m in, provided you still want this team to exist if Raintree opts out.” IN PROCESS EDITION - JAN. 10, 2012
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She was surprised when Crow smiled grimly. “He’ll be at the morgue tomorrow, and he won’t opt out.” Kelsey decided not to answer. Raintree hadn’t looked as if he planned to agree. Not in her opinion, anyway.
But then, maybe she was better at understanding the dead than the living.
“Good afternoon,” she said. And she left the two men, still feeling the same sense of dread.
And the same sense of purpose.
Logan drove straight to his own office. Others greeted him as he walked through the main room, both those sworn in as Texas Rangers and civilians busy at other tasks. The world hadn’t changed for any of them; they waved at him, smiled, chatted. He went to Captain Aaron Bentley’s office, tapped on the door, but walked in without waiting for an answer. Bentley was on the phone. He was a big man with snow-white hair, as rugged-looking as any man who’d ever run a Texas Ranger division.
Bentley seemed to be expecting him. He lifted a hand in greeting and ended his conversation.
“What the hell did you send me into, sir?” Logan demanded.
“Sit down,” Bentley told him. Logan stood there stiff ly for a minute, then sighed and took the chair in front of Bentley’s desk. “Sir—”
“Oh, don’t ‘sir’ me,” Bentley said. “We’ve been together too long for that.”
“I’ve been good at my job,” Logan said.
“You
have.”
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“So…”
“So, I’m trying to get you onto a team where you can really be of service. Is that going to be on the Texas level or on the national level?” Bentley murmured. “I had to ask myself where you could do the most good, Logan. And if I’m honest, it’s with this new team. Your instincts have helped us in hundreds of cases. You have the sort of mind that reads others, and you’ve predicted the course of a perp’s actions a dozen times. I thought we’d lost you after Alana died, but you headed out to that rock you love so much and your grandfather’s place, and you came back stronger. I’d like to keep you, but when the request comes down from the top of the food chain, you do what you need to do.”
“I’m told I have a choice.”
“You do. You have time to think about this.”
“ What time? Captain, do you know what’s been going on? And if I’m so damned good at this kind of thing, why the hell didn’t I know?”
“The FBI has just shared its information,” Bentley said.
“We’re in process of analyzing it, and supplying them with whatever info we can find. Every law enforcement agency in the area will be on the hunt now. But, Logan, you…” Bentley’s voice trailed off. Bentley’s voice never trailed off. Logan knew they were both thinking about the same thing—what had happened with Alana.
“The Rangers have changed over the years, Raintree,” Bentley said, recovering his voice. “We’re a true law enforcement agency under the Texas Department of Safety.
You know as well as I do that we’re actually older than Texas as a republic, a state, a Confederate state and a U.S.
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state again. Hell, when Stephen Austin organized Rangers to protect the frontier while the Anglos were first moving in, we were frontier guards, and that was our business for a long time. Then we battled the Mexican government, and the Native American tribes, and the outlaws. We kept peace on the frontier until there was no more frontier. We had our valiant moments in the sun, and we were some of Zachary Taylor’s finest troops in the Mexican-American war. At times we
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She was surprised when Crow smiled grimly. “He’ll be at the morgue tomorrow, and he won’t opt out.” Kelsey decided not to answer. Raintree hadn’t looked as if he planned to agree. Not in her opinion, anyway.
But then, maybe she was better at understanding the dead than the living.
“Good afternoon,” she said. And she left the two men, still feeling the same sense of dread.
And the same sense of purpose.
Logan drove straight to his own office. Others greeted him as he walked through the main room, both those sworn in as Texas Rangers and civilians busy at other tasks. The world hadn’t changed for any of them; they waved at him, smiled, chatted. He went to Captain Aaron Bentley’s office, tapped on the door, but walked in without waiting for an answer. Bentley was on the phone. He was a big man with snow-white hair, as rugged-looking as any man who’d ever run a Texas Ranger division.
Bentley seemed to be expecting him. He lifted a hand in greeting and ended his conversation.
“What the hell did you send me into, sir?” Logan demanded.
“Sit down,” Bentley told him. Logan stood there stiff ly for a minute, then sighed and took the chair in front of Bentley’s desk. “Sir—”
“Oh, don’t ‘sir’ me,” Bentley said. “We’ve been together too long for that.”
“I’ve been good at my job,” Logan said.
“You
have.”
IN PROCESS EDITION - JAN. 10, 2012
9780778313298_HC.indd 65
11-12-01 3:55 PM
66
“So…”
“So, I’m trying to get you onto a team where you can really be of service. Is that going to be on the Texas level or on the national level?” Bentley murmured. “I had to ask myself where you could do the most good, Logan. And if I’m honest, it’s with this new team. Your instincts have helped us in hundreds of cases. You have the sort of mind that reads others, and you’ve predicted the course of a perp’s actions a dozen times. I thought we’d lost you after Alana died, but you headed out to that rock you love so much and your grandfather’s place, and you came back stronger. I’d like to keep you, but when the request comes down from the top of the food chain, you do what you need to do.”
“I’m told I have a choice.”
“You do. You have time to think about this.”
“ What time? Captain, do you know what’s been going on? And if I’m so damned good at this kind of thing, why the hell didn’t I know?”
“The FBI has just shared its information,” Bentley said.
“We’re in process of analyzing it, and supplying them with whatever info we can find. Every law enforcement agency in the area will be on the hunt now. But, Logan, you…” Bentley’s voice trailed off. Bentley’s voice never trailed off. Logan knew they were both thinking about the same thing—what had happened with Alana.
“The Rangers have changed over the years, Raintree,” Bentley said, recovering his voice. “We’re a true law enforcement agency under the Texas Department of Safety.
You know as well as I do that we’re actually older than Texas as a republic, a state, a Confederate state and a U.S.
IN PROCESS EDITION - JAN. 10, 2012
9780778313298_HC.indd 66
11-12-01 3:55 PM
67
state again. Hell, when Stephen Austin organized Rangers to protect the frontier while the Anglos were first moving in, we were frontier guards, and that was our business for a long time. Then we battled the Mexican government, and the Native American tribes, and the outlaws. We kept peace on the frontier until there was no more frontier. We had our valiant moments in the sun, and we were some of Zachary Taylor’s finest troops in the Mexican-American war. At times we
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