Page 53 of Montana Manhunt

Grant stood and extended his hand to Rayne. “As a paramedic with Fortress Security, all of us owe Violet our lives. She’s the best medic we’ve ever seen under pressure. It’s too bad you don’t appreciate her skill.” He glanced at Rayne. “Let’s go, sweetheart.” They left the house.

“Thanks for your time,” Noah said as he escorted Violet to the front door.

“What will you do now, Violet?”

She paused and glanced at her aunt. “Whatever is necessary to find Cami’s killer. He won’t get away with taking my sister from me.”

“You’d be wise to stay away from this. I assure you James has everything in hand. He won’t rest until he has Camilla’s murderer behind bars.”

“Do you trust him?” Noah asked. From what he’d observed of the Morrison police, he wasn’t impressed.

“With my life,” the other woman said.

“I hope your trust isn’t misplaced,” he murmured and escorted Violet to the porch.

Rosalie followed them, pausing in the doorway. “Don’t come back, Violet. You won’t be welcome inside my home again.” She stepped back and slammed the door.

“I told you this would be a waste of time,” Violet murmured.

Noah waited until they were standing beside the SUV and their waiting teammates to say, “It wasn’t a total waste. We learned your sister had girls in her care to disappear and she was afraid they had been victims of the serial killer.”

“The serial killer the Morrison police say doesn’t exist.”

“If he’s responsible for the death of your sister, we’ll find him and nail his hide to the wall.” And if Noah and Grant could capture him, they would press the DA to seek the death penalty.

Violet wrapped her arms around Noah’s neck. “Thank you for caring enough to pursue this despite police warnings to stay out of their case.”

“You don’t have to thank me for doing what’s right. This guy has gotten by with murdering women for too long. The Morrison police should have asked for fed help long before now, and that makes me wonder why they haven’t.”

“Could be the long-standing feud between local and federal law enforcement officials,” Rayne said.

“Maybe, but I don’t think so.” Noah unlocked the SUV and opened the passenger door for Violet. When he climbed behind the wheel, he glanced at Violet, then at the rest of his passengers. “I think we should return to the hotel for a while. We’ve been on the move since early this morning, and we need time to do a deep dive into the backgrounds of people on our suspect list.”

Violet’s head whipped toward Noah. “I want to see Cami’s apartment.”

“We’ll do that, but I prefer not to explain to the local police why I’m breaking into a crime scene in broad daylight.”

“We should eat and get some rest if we’re doing some after midnight B & E.” Rayne leaned forward and squeezed Violet’s shoulder. “We’ll divide the list of suspects and rip apart their lives. I’m sure Zane has already been digging into their backgrounds.”

Noah wondered how soon he and his teammates would receive a visit from the local police. If Rosalie was dating the police chief, she would tell him about her visit with the Fortress operatives.

On the drive back to the hotel, he watched the mirrors to see if they’d picked up a tail. Sure enough, three blocks away from Rosalie’s home, a black and white patrol car appeared in the rearview mirror.

“Picked up a tail,” Grant said.

“I see him.”

Violet looked in the side mirror. “Police.”

“I think your aunt called her good friend, James Hanson, as soon as we left.”

“May have to slip away later to go to Camilla’s apartment,” Grant said.

“I doubt it will be a problem. Those boys don’t strike me as being too alert.”

Rayne frowned. “I hope we don’t find out. With our luck, we’ll have to put up with Fitz Hanson again.”

Violet grimaced. “I’d rather avoid another confrontation with that jerk.”

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