The New Rangers

Chapter Sixteen

After several weeks of quiet, with no word from Morgan and no sign of the man returning, Crowley cleared them to return to Redmont. The Ranger Commandant was certain Morgan was either gravely injured and it was preventing his return or he was dead.

Back at Redmont, the apprentices' training continued. Their days were long and exhausting.

It made Holly's determination to question Logan more difficult. She was still convinced he was hiding something. She didn't have an idea how to ferret out his secret.

"Would you like to tell me why you're staring so intently at Logan?"

Holly sent Deva a guilty stare. "No reason in particular."

"Liar."

She shrugged. "He's been training longer than we have, I just figured if I watched him I might learn something. That's all."

Deva snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, I don't think that's the reason you were staring."

"It is!"

"Mmmhmm." She rose and strode off before Holly could protest further.

Holly ground her teeth. She knew making any further protests would only encourage Deva into thinking she had some sort of deep feelings for Logan when that wasn't true at all. She just wanted to get to the bottom of what he was hiding.

"Stop lazing about and get over here!" Will called from where he stood beside her father.

With a grumble, she pushed up from the ground and started over to where they stood. So much for observing.

***

Mitchell sucked in several deep breaths as the instructor called a momentary halt to their practice. They'd been at it for most of the afternoon and it was nice to have a short breather. He sent a quick glance in the direction of Griffin and his friends.

Rodney had made certain the instructors knew to keep them separated as much as possible. Despite that, the boys had been sending him glances all day. He didn't like the way they were looking at him. There was a dark meaning behind those looks.

He had the feeling Griffin and his buddies were burning to confront him. It was something he knew he wouldn't like. Griffin was brewing some sort of a plan. Despite being a basic sort of bully, depending on brute strength rather than his brains, he was smart. However he was also lazy, he would rather have others do things for him. It was one of the reasons he kept the other, less intelligent boys around him. They were more than willing to do things for Griffin.

The instructor kept them working another two hours, whacking away at the practice dummies before they were released for the day. He was on his way back to the barracks when Griffin and his cohorts intercepted him, drawing him aside.

"You and I need to have a little chat."

He eyed Griffin. "You know what will happen if we're caught together."

Griffin shrugged off his words. "Let's make it a very quick conversation then. You see, you and I are going to be best friends and you, Mitchell, are going to do a few things for me."

He allowed himself a disbelieving snort. "And why would I do anything for you?"

Griffin poked him squarely in the chest. "Because I know your secret. I know who you are." He grinned and pointed at Robbie. "My boy here overheard you and the Ranger girl talking.

Mitchell felt a stab of panic at Griffin's words, but he managed to keep his expression bland. "I certainly have no secrets. I don't know who you believe I am, but I can assure you that you're probably wrong."