Page 99 of Montana Manhunt

He moved on to Grant and shook his head at the weapons he discovered. “They’re clean now, sir.”

Hardin rested his hand on the butt of his weapon. “Mr. Mann, tell me why we found absolutely nothing on any of you when we ran your names.”

“First, Fortress doesn’t take chances with the lives of its people. All of our information is locked down tight. Second, three of us were in the military. Third, three of us were on the job.”

“Makes our job that much harder.”

Noah inclined his head.

“Why do I have the feeling that those of you in the military were not regular front-line grunts?”

He smiled. Hardin was intuitive, all right.

The cop shook his head slightly, his lips curving. He handed back the identification for each operative. “All right, Mr. Mann. We’ll question you and your friends separately. If we don’t like the answers we get, you can expect a trip down to the station for further questioning. The detectives assigned to Ms. Gilmore’s case will also want to talk to you.”

Hardin took Noah to his cruiser while the other officers separated the other operatives for questioning. Hardin opened the back door of his cruiser and motioned for Noah to get in.

“I’d prefer to stand out here so I can monitor Violet.”

The officer frowned. “You think Marcie will hurt her?”

“Violet is very special to me. I want to be close in case she needs me.”

“Based on her weapons stash, I think your lady can protect herself,” Hardin said wryly.

“You’re correct, but I protect what’s mine.”

The officer studied him a moment, then nodded. “I understand. I feel the same about my wife and kids.” He pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket. “Tell me what happened here.”

Noah went through the steps he and his teammates took when they arrived at Lauren’s home and how they’d found her on the floor of her office. When he told Hardin about Violet helping Lauren until the ambulance arrived, the officer frowned. “Does she have medical training?”

“Violet is a paramedic with more medical training than most doctors. The Army did a great job training her to be a medic. Fortress took her training to a much higher level. If she wanted to go to medical school, Maddox would send her in a heartbeat. Violet is one of the best paramedics working in black ops. If Lauren makes it, she’ll have Violet to thank for saving her life.”

“How well did you know Lauren?”

This is where the conversation could turn in the wrong direction. “We’ve never met her.”

“Why did you show up on her doorstep, then?”

“Chasing a lead.”

“Explain.” After Noah finished, Hardin dragged a hand down his face. “A serial killer. You’re sure?”

“Lauren’s wounds are the same as Camilla’s and several other women in Morrison and the surrounding counties. The only difference is the killer didn’t deliver the killing blow to the heart.”

“Think you interrupted him?”

“It’s possible. We weren’t expecting trouble, so we didn’t cover the back and the front.”

“Why didn’t the Morrison police sounded the alarm about a serial killer on our turf? We haven’t seen an alert or been warned by the FBI.”

“The Morrison PD refuses to believe they have a hunter in their midst.”

“So they haven’t called the feds.”

“You got it.”

“Unbelievable.” Hardin sighed. “Can anyone verify the time you arrived at Ms. Gilmore’s home?”

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