Page 109 of Montana Manhunt

“I knew it. Teagan will be so jealous that I knew before she did.”

Grant scowled. “Hey, will somebody please take pity on me and let me in on the secret?”

“Later,” Noah said. He dropped a light kiss on Violet’s mouth and released her. “Let’s eat and get back to work.”

Throughout the meal, Noah kept stealing glances at Violet. He almost couldn’t believe she’d agreed to marry him. He wasn’t a prize. She was a treasure, one he planned to love and protect for the rest of their lives.

When they finished the meal, cleared the dishes, and parked the serving cart outside the suite’s door, the operatives returned to the sitting room to study the large sheets of paper on the walls.

“How should we handle this?” Grant asked.

“Find the common factors with all these victims. There has to be something tying them together.”

“We found nothing as we went through the files, Noah. Many of them lived in different cities.”

“Let me pull up a map.” Rayne sat on the sofa and grabbed her laptop. When she clicked on a map of the area, she said, “Read off the names of the cities and towns where the murders occurred, and I’ll mark them on the map. There has to be a pattern somewhere.”

Grant read off the names, then joined her on the sofa and studied the map. His expression darkened. “Morrison is at the center of all these murders.”

“Can you add the dates of the murders?” Violet asked.

“I think so,” Rayne said. In minutes, she sat back. “What do you think?”

Noah stood behind Violet and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Looks like I was right. The murders started the same year Violet left Morrison.”

Violet shivered. “Coincidence?”

“You know the chances of that being true are between slim and nil, and slim is out of town.” Grant shook his head. “We need to figure out how you’re connected.”

“The first murder was in February of my senior year.”

“Do you remember anything about it?”

“Amanda Billings attended my high school. She was a junior. Everyone was so shocked that a murder occurred in Morrison. The only crimes reported on the news were thefts, vandalism, and a few domestic assaults, usually because one or both partners had been drinking.”

“Did you know her?” Grant asked.

“Only in passing. I didn’t have classes with her. Remember, I worked full time so Cami and I would have a place to live. I didn’t have time to socialize, even if the kids at school wanted to hang out with me.”

“And they didn’t?”

She laughed. “Cami and I weren’t popular. We wore clothes and shoes from the thrift store and box store.”

Rayne’s forehead furrowed. “Teenage peer pressure is terrible.”

“What kind of reputation did Amanda have?” Noah asked.

Violet remained quiet for a beat. “Painfully shy and studious. Amanda made the best grades in every class. She wanted to be a writer.”

“Did Camilla know her?” Grant asked.

She tilted her head. “Now that I think about it, she knew Amanda. They weren’t best friends, but they spoke to each other in the library and lunchroom.”

“Did Camilla mention if Amanda was worried about something or someone that winter?” Noah asked.

Violet shook her head. “I don’t remember. It’s been too long.”

“Maybe you should scan your sister’s journal for the year you graduated from high school,” Rayne suggested. “Camilla might have mentioned Amanda’s death or anything that struck her as odd.”

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