Page 43 of Montana Manhunt

“Don’t wait years this time,” she murmured. “I’m not getting any younger. All of you, please be careful.”

“We will, Mrs. White.” Rayne kissed her cheek. “Keep your door and windows locked even when you’re at home.”

The older woman looked startled. “You think I’m in danger?”

“We want you to be careful until this killer is behind bars.”

“I’ll take precautions, but I’ll be fine, my dear. Thank you for the concern.”

In minutes, they’d returned to the SUV. Noah stopped several feet away from the vehicle. “Wait here while I check our ride.” The last thing he wanted was to lose any of his teammates because he’d been careless.

He walked to the SUV and pulled out his electronic signal detector, a black gadget the size of a credit card. As he circled the vehicle, Noah watched the chaser lights. By the time he finished the circuit, he breathed easier. No signs of an unwanted electronic signature.

One last thing to check. Noah dropped to the asphalt and inched his way under the frame. He used his penlight to check for a bomb and came up with nothing. Although he should feel better about things, he didn’t. Uneasiness gnawed at his gut. What was he missing?

Noah got to his feet and slowly quartered the area. Nothing had changed.

“What’s wrong?” Grant asked.

“I don’t know, but something is off. No unusual electronic signals or bomb on the undercarriage.”

His friend frowned a moment, then said, “Check under the hood.”

Noah’s eyebrows winged up. “Wouldn’t I have seen a bomb from underneath the vehicle?”

“Not necessarily.”

All right, then. He felt for the latch and raised the hood. Noah and Grant studied the hardware and wiring.

Grant pointed. “Right there.”

He stared at the small brick of C-4 attached to the starter. Crude but effective. “Can you disarm it?”

“Yeah. Give me a minute. Watch our six.” Grant pulled a pair of thin rubber gloves from his pocket and went to work.

“Noah?” Violet walked closer.

“Stay there, babe.”

“What is it?”

“Bomb attached to the starter.”

“Pretty bold of him to vandalize the vehicle in broad daylight.”

“I have seen no movement in the past few minutes. Most people are at work right now.”

She frowned. “Except for senior citizens. How much C-4 did he use?”

“Enough to do the job,” Grant said. “Anyone unlucky enough to be near the vehicle when we started it would have been blown to smithereens, though.”

Violet’s hands fisted. “Mrs. White walks through this neighborhood twice a day. She says it keeps her in good enough shape to avoid doctors. Do you think he targeted her, too?”

Noah considered that for a moment, then shook his head. “The chances of her being with us when we started the vehicle are slim. If we wanted to take her somewhere, one of us wouldhave brought the SUV to her apartment building to save her a few steps and triggered the explosion before she was nearby.”

“We need to call the detectives,” Rayne said. When Violet and Noah scowled at her, she shrugged. “Sorry, but we have to look like we’re cooperating with the locals to get any kind of cooperation in return.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Noah sighed and pulled out his phone. “At least we know Ellis and Freeman are close by.”

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