Page 66 of Montana Manhunt

“I’m aware.”

“Watch your back, Noah. I don’t like the way this is playing out.”

“Copy that, sir.”

“How is Violet?”

“No change.”

“Do I need to pull her?”

“No, sir.” Wouldn’t help matters. Violet wouldn’t leave Morrison until after her sister’s funeral despite a direct order from their boss. In fact, Noah wasn’t sure Violet would stand down from the investigation if Maddox gave the order.

After a long pause, Maddox said, “All right. I’ll leave her in place for now. Don’t make me regret it.”

“Copy that, sir.”

Maddox ended the call.

Noah blew out a breath and shoved his phone in his pocket.

Violet walked to the small kitchen and nuked a cup of water. “He wants to send me home, doesn’t he?”

“He’s worried about you.”

“I’m fine. He needs to focus on other problems, not me.”

When the microwaved signaled the end of the heating cycle, Violet dropped a tea bag into the hot water and returned to the sitting room to curl up on the sofa.

“You know he won’t do that. He cares about you.”

“Maddox doesn’t want to lose his investment. He’s afraid I’ll do something stupid because I’m distracted.”

“That’s not fair, Violet.”

She held up her hand. “I know. You’re right. Forget I said that. We should plan our approach to Cami’s apartment because the less time we spend in Morrison, the better.”

Couldn’t argue with her logic. “You’ve been away for years. Did Camilla send you pictures of her apartment building and neighborhood?”

She shook her head.

Noah considered the options and grabbed his phone to send Zane a text. His friend responded seconds later. “Zane will send satellite images of the apartment building and the neighborhood in a few minutes.”

“I should have thought of that myself.”

And that’s why Maddox was concerned about her. Inattention at the wrong moment would be deadly. Noah wouldn’t let that happen. Violet meant too much to him to lose her.

“Do you think Maddox is right?”

“Do you?”

Violet sipped her tea. “Maybe.”

“There’s a reason cops aren’t allowed to investigate crimes involving their friends and family. They can’t be objective. The investigator doesn’t consider things that would be obvious if he wasn’t close to the victim. Most murder victims are killed by someone they know.”

“And if you don’t consider everyone a suspect, the killer will murder another victim?”

“Exactly.”

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