Page 36 of Montana Manhunt

They exited the vehicle, and Noah held out his hand to Violet. “If someone asks, my girlfriend is showing us around the town where she grew up.”

Grant wrapped his hand around Rayne’s. “Camouflage. You don’t mind, do you, Rayne?”

“No, of course not,” she murmured. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink, though.

Violet faced forward before she smiled, wondering if a romance was brewing between Rayne and Grant. While they were training at PSI, the bodyguard and training school for Fortress Security, those two always seemed to be together, and the habit had remained when the teams were assigned to the same missions out in the field.

Whether the pattern continued when they were in the Nashville area was the question. If Violet had to guess, she’d say Rayne and Grant were working toward an official relationship. In her opinion, they were a perfect match.

She glanced at Noah, who continued to scan the area as they walked toward the back of the apartment building. Violet had a hard time believing they were officially together as a couple. In this horrible time of her life, she had a light in the darkness, someone to lean on and to encourage her to keep going when she wanted to lie down, yank a blanket over her head, and hide from the world.

Hiding wasn’t an option. Somewhere in this idyllic town, a murderer lurked in the darkness, waiting to strike again. Although she had no proof, Violet believed this killer had tried his hand at murder before he killed Cami.

“You okay?” Noah murmured.

“As much as I can be under the circumstances.”

“Want to talk?”

“Yes, but not here. When we’re at the hotel and have no distractions.”

“It’s a date.” He squeezed her shoulders briefly. “What should I know about this apartment building?”

“It has six floors, and most of the time, the elevators don’t work. People in that building mind their own business, so even if the police figure out the shooter was on the roof and question them about it, they won’t admit to knowing anything.

“The building is tired and run down, but not so much of a hazard that the building inspectors will shut it down. The hot water heaters are barely adequate on a good day. More often than not, the air conditioning doesn’t work during the summer and the heating system is sketchy during the winter. If I were you, I wouldn’t drink the water without running it through a purification system.”

Noah’s eyebrows rose higher the longer she spoke. “How do you know so much about that place?”

“Cami and I lived there during our last year of high school. It was the most miserable year of our lives.”

“Huh. I know you joined the Army right out of school. How did Camilla escape that building?”

“The Army offered me a large signing bonus. I sent the whole thing to Cami so she could move to better lodgings.”

“Generous of you.”

She shrugged. “What did I need with the money? The Army covered all my expenses. I was more concerned about her living situation than my own.” She’d seen how some men in that apartment building eyed Cami when they thought Violet wasn’t watching. They’d been wrong.

Even as a teenager, she was hyperaware of her surroundings. Although she’d only been five minutes older than her sister, Violet had felt years older. When their parents died in the car crash, she had immediately taken on the role of protector and provider despite being eight years old. Aunt Rosalie had done nothing to change Violet’s mind about the necessity of being responsible for the two of them.

Violet saw the opening in the hedges she was looking for. The hedge concealed the back entrance of the apartment building. Unless maintenance practices had changed drastically, the door didn’t lock properly. Even if it did, all four of the Fortress operatives could pick locks in seconds. “We’ll go through here.”

Noah and the others followed her through the almost invisible opening. They emerged at the back door of the building.

Violet tugged her sleeve down over her hand and twisted the doorknob. After offering a slight resistance, the knob turned, and she pushed open the door.

“This way,” she murmured. Violet led her teammates through a laundry room, which was mostly a graveyard of defective washers and dryers. From the looks of things, nothing had changed. All the machines were covered in dirt and dust, and many were rusted out hunks of junk.

At the entrance to the room, she opened the door enough to peer out into the dimly lit hallway. No movement. Excellent.

Violet eased into the hall and walked soundlessly toward the door hidden in a dark nook at the other end of the long corridor. When she reached the door, Violet twisted the knob gently. Locked. She glanced over her shoulder at Noah and shook her head.

Grant pulled a penlight from his pocket and shined the beam on the knob as Noah crouched in front of the door with his lock picks. Seconds later, the lock shifted and Noah easily turned the knob with his sleeve-covered hand.

“Show off,” Rayne muttered.

“Piece of cake.” Noah grinned. “It’s all in the wrist.”

---