Page 39 of Montana Manhunt

“Took them too long,” Grant murmured.

“About 40 minutes late,” Noah said. Finally, he noted a small contingent of officers climb into their vehicles and head toward the apartment building.

He returned to his seat on the couch. “Mrs. White, the police will be in the building in a few minutes.”

The older woman studied his face for a moment. “That’s why the four of you are here, isn’t it?”

“It’s part of the reason.” Violet clasped her friend’s hand briefly. “I wanted to talk to you about Cami. The gunfire at the hospital just gave me an excuse to talk to you sooner.”

Mrs. White narrowed her eyes. “Someone shot at you and your friends.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I see. Well, whoever pulled the trigger was a bad shot because none of you appear to be injured.”

“We were lucky,” Grant said. “Noah and Violet were the targets, but the bullets missed them.”

Rayne smiled. “Our SUV wasn’t so lucky.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Mrs. White frowned. “What is happening in this town?”

An alarm went off in Noah’s mind at her words. “Is something out of the ordinary going on?”

“Young women disappearing. Others attacked with a knife. Truly vicious attacks.”

“Do the police have any suspects?” Grant asked.

The woman snorted. “Of course not. Our police force is the modern-day version of Keystone Cops. They’re a joke. They couldn’t find a clue with a map drawn for them.”

Huh. That didn’t give Noah much hope for the detectives on Camilla’s case to arrest the killer. “I’m sorry to hear that. The police will come to your apartment soon to ask questions. They’ll also want to know how long we’ve been with you.”

Mrs. White chuckled. “I assume you want me to tell them you were with me when the shots were fired.”

“We don’t want you to lie, ma’am. The police will check the security cameras at the hospital. What we don’t want is for them to think we’re lying to them. They’d keep us tied up longer than we need.”

“I see. So, what time should I tell them you stopped by to visit, then?”

“Thirty minutes ago, Mrs. White.” Violet patted her hand. “It will keep us out of the interrogation room.”

“No problem, my dear.”

Seconds later, someone pounded on Mrs. White’s door. Perfect timing. Noah turned to her. “Want me to answer that?”

She smiled. “That sounds like a perfect idea. Old people are so slow to answer the door, you know.”

He chuckled as he strode to the door. Noah checked the peephole and glanced over his shoulder at Grant.

His teammate shifted closer to the women to be in a better position to defend them.

Noah opened the door.

Fitz Hanson looked startled a moment, then his expression morphed into a suspicious glare. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Violet wanted to visit Mrs. White.”

“And you visited right after a shooting spree at the hospital across the street, right?” Hanson snorted. “If I believed that, I’d be buying beachfront property in Montana. You’ll have to lie better than that to convince me you’re telling the truth.”

He glared at each of the operatives before his gaze finally landed on Violet. “What do you know about the shooting at the hospital?”

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