Page 120 of Ranger's Wildflower

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The words hit, but they don’t break me.

“Show us what you brought,” Ace says.

Cole nods, pulling a small drive from his pocket.

“Dispatch logs,” he says. “Original entries before they were altered. Reynolds logs in at 21:14. Crash call comes in at 21:22.”

Eight minutes.

My chest tightens.

“He was there,” I whisper.

“Yes,” Cole says. “And there’s more.”

He hands the drive over.

“Maintenance records for that county vehicle,” he continues. “Damage reported the next morning. Logged as ‘animal strike.’”

My stomach turns.

“Animal,” I repeat.

Ace’s voice goes cold. “They wrote her off like roadkill.”

Cole swallows. “I didn’t know. Not then.”

I meet his eyes.

“But you do now.”

“Yes.”

“Then say it,” I tell him.

His jaw tightens.

“Sheriff Daniel Reynolds was on scene before the crash was reported,” he says. “And the vehicle that caused the collision was a county car under his control.”

The words hang in the air.

Heavy.

Real.

“Good,” Ace says. “You’ll say that again—on record.”

Cole nods. “I will.”

A branch snaps in the distance.

Everyone goes still.

Trigger’s voice cuts low through the comm in Ace’s ear. “Two vehicles incoming. Fast.”

Of course.

Ace doesn’t even look surprised.

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