Page 279 of Rangers Mountain Rescue

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Because Tank always saw things before anyone else did.

He knew that the property would go to his son. That an innocent person wouldn’t move onto the property and find it.

Because if he thought I’d come back—

Then he planned for it.

My chest tightens.

“He used the farm,” I say slowly.

“Yeah,” Havoc replies.

“Why not some other place?”

His gaze sharpens slightly.

“He wanted to make sure that it would be found,” he says. “Where there weren’t too many people. Too many eyes.”

That tracks.

I nod slowly.

Trying to keep up.

Trying to breathe through the weight of it.

Behind me, grandpa shifts in his chair.

“The barn,” he mutters.

I freeze.

“What?” I turn quickly.

He’s not looking at me.

Not really.

His eyes are distant.

Lost somewhere else.

“The boards… don’t step there…” he says softly. “Dylan, your daddy always said… don’t step there…the boards are loose.”

My heart stops.

Havoc goes still beside me.

“What boards?” I ask, moving closer. “Grandpa, what boards?”

But he’s already fading again.

Confusion slipping back in.

“The nails stick up,” he murmurs. “Bad place…”

Then he looks at me.

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