Page 37 of Rangers Mountain Rescue

---

The dog thumps his tail.

I crouch beside the box.

The lock is rusted.

But the engraving on the lid stops my breathing.

A name.

Carved deep into the metal.

J. Gray

Tank’s real name.

Joseph Gray.

Wolf exhales slowly.

“Looks like Tank left something behind.”

Aspen frowns.

“Joseph never mentioned a lockbox.”

My instincts scream.

If Tank hid this…

There was a reason.

And buried secrets rarely stay buried forever.

My mind is racing.

Too many questions.

Too many unknowns.

But even as Havoc opens the box—

my eyes drift back to Dylan.

Standing there.

Watching everything.

Too young for this.

Way too young.

I move closer to him without thinking, resting my hand on his back.

Grounding him.

Grounding myself.

Whatever this is…

I have to protect him from it.

---