Page 103 of Montana Manhunt

“I was afraid that would happen. Update me again as soon as anything changes. If you need more boots on the ground, let me know. Shadow unit is not on rotation this month, but they’ll be glad to help if you need them.”

Violet looked up at Noah and shook her head. No way. Shadow unit took on the worst missions dealing with human trafficking. They needed their months off the rotation to keep them mentally healthy.

Noah gave a slight nod. “I’ll keep that in mind, sir.”

“Violet.”

“Sir?”

“I’m sorry I had to send your teammates on another mission. If I’d had another team available, they would be in Montana with you as we speak.”

“I understand. Zane explained. It’s fine.”

“Take as long as you need before you return to work.”

Violet stiffened. “Artemis needs me. I won’t leave them without a medic.”

“I can send a substitute medic with your team. I can’t replace you if you make a fatal mistake on a mission because you returned to work sooner than you should have and were distracted at a critical moment. Are you hearing me?”

She gritted her teeth. “Yes, sir.”

“Noah, whatever you need, we’ll take care of it if possible. Maddox out.”

He slid his phone into his pocket.

“We can’t call in Shadow,” Violet said. “They need their time off to decompress.”

Noah wrapped his hand around hers. “I agree with your assessment, but we may not have a choice if this mission goes sideways.”

“Then we can’t let it go sideways. I won’t cause them more stress.”

“I’m with Violet,” Rayne said. “I think we can handle this on our own.”

Grant slowed for a right turn. “Brent’s right. The killer is cleaning up.”

“But what’s the connection between Cami and Lauren?” Violet asked. “Cami never mentioned Lauren, Charity, or Dana to me in our conversations.”

“Is it possible Lauren contacted Cami?”

“Maybe. How we’ll prove that is another matter altogether. We don’t have Cami’s computer.”

“That may be something Zane can help us with. We can ask.”

“Her laptop may not be on or connected to a network,” Rayne pointed out. “One of the tech geeks might have an easier time hacking into Camilla’s work computer.”

Violet stilled. Cami’s work computer. That’s where she would have written her notes on the cases of the missing girls. Violet doubted child services would allow her access to the computer. While she understood their need to protect the privacy of the children, if she and her teammates could not find what they needed elsewhere or through Zane’s efforts, they might have to break into Cami’s office.

“One step at a time,” Noah said. “Let’s have a talk with Melton first, then we’ll go back to the hotel and regroup.”

She smiled at him. “Do we need to ask the hotel management for white boards or those large pads of paper that stick to walls?”

He chuckled. “I’d rather not explain that we’re on the trail of a killer. If we find an office supply store, we’ll pick up what we need.”

“As long as we put everything away before the maids service the room,” Grant said. “Don’t want to give the hired help nightmares.”

“Or call the police on us if they misunderstand what we’re doing,” Rayne added.

An hour later, Grant parked in front of Bradley Melton’s home and office. “Hope we can talk our way past Carol,” he said. “Melton isn’t our biggest fan.”

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