Brick felt his pulse jump. This could be it. They could be about to confront Natalie. Ennis was already busy, the traffic slow and congested until they got away from the main street in town. He tried to remain calm, uncertain how this would go down. He could see Mo tapping the edge of her side window with her fingertips, clearly impatient. Clearly anxious. He was glad he was driving instead of her. She wore an expression that told him she would have plowed through the cars and pedestrians, horn blaring.
The apartment was in an older area of town. He drove down the street slowly, looking for the stolen silver SUV in a state that had hundreds of silver SUVs.
“The apartment is on the third floor, a small one-bedroom with stairs off the back,” Mo said. “That’s it.” She pointed at a tall white building with navy trim that had clearly once been a single dwelling, now made into three apartments. Two bikes were chained to the front porch. A small pickup was parked out front along with a smaller compact car next to the two-car garage.
He pulled over. “I don’t see a silver SUV, but I suppose it could be in the garage.”
“She probably ditched it and picked up something else.” Mo opened her door, climbed out and started across the street.
“We’re taking her back to Big Sky for questioning,” he reminded Mo.
“You wouldn’t have found her if it hadn’t been for me,” she said under her breath as they approached the apartment house. “You’d be looking as far away as Spokane.”
“Mo—”
“I just need to talk to her, so let’s find her before we debate what to do with her.”
He knew she was right. It felt as if they were chasing a ghost. He glanced behind them, thinking about the note. Was someone really following them? Look how easily Natalie had found them. He remembered Mo thinking she saw someone last night. Natalie? If so, the woman had seen them and could have followed them to the motel.
“I’ll take the back stairs,” Mo said now. “You go in the front door. Bleeding heart or not, try to remember that this woman is dangerous.” She took off at a run around the back.
He headed for the front door, determined to get to the woman before Mo did—if Natalie was in this building. Brick tried the front door, not surprised when it opened into a small foyer. There were two doors and stairs.
He took the stairs two at a time, no longer worrying about making too much noise. If Natalie had rented this apartment, if she was still up there...he had to get to her and fast.
At the top of the stairs, he found a door and quickly stepped to it to knock. He thought he heard a sound on the other side of the door and for a moment, he thought about drawing his weapon. Mo had warned him that Natalie was dangerous. But he remembered the terrified woman he’d seen in his headlights. The woman lying in the hospital bed. He still wanted to believe that she was a victim, an innocent victim. He left his gun holstered and tried the door.
It opened, startling him.
“Come in,” Mo said on the other side of the doorstep. “She’s gone.”
“Natalie?” Mo didn’t answer as she turned back into the apartment. He followed, a little stunned. Had she been right about Natalie renting this place? “How do you know for certain it was her?”
She shoved a copy of a local shopper at him. It was folded so that the want ads were on top. Several positions had been circled. His heart slammed against his ribs as he saw they were for nanny positions. One of them for an infant that needed special care.
Mo had moved into the bedroom, where she was standing at the end of the unmade bed.
“Are you all right?” he asked her. She wasn’t moving, hardly appeared to be breathing. He realized that his heart was still thundering in his chest. Mo hadn’t just been right about the apartment. She’d been right about Natalie looking for another job. A possible new victim.
“Maybe she’ll come back,” he said.
Mo shook her head. “She’s gone. I found something interesting in her trash in the bathroom. She’s changed her appearance, cut her hair and colored it red.” He could hear regret in her voice. They’d come so close. They couldn’t have missed her by more than a few minutes.
Her gaze met his, but only for an instant as she pushed past him and left.
He stood for a moment looking at the room. From what he could see, it appeared that the renter had left in a hurry. One of the drawers in the bureau stood open and empty. The door to the small closet was open, the metal hangers bare. That was if Natalie had even had time to pick up more clothing. He suspected she was traveling light.
They’d gotten close. Just not close enough.
He found Mo outside, leaning against the side of his pickup. She appeared to be looking up at the snowcapped mountains. But as he drew closer, he saw that her eyes were closed, her chest heaving as if she was having trouble breathing.
As he approached her, her eyes opened. A lock of blond hair fell over one blue eye as she turned to him abruptly. “You still think she’s innocent?” She sounded angry and upset and disappointed, he realized. Disappointed not just because they hadn’t caught up to Natalie. He had a feeling she was even more disappointed in herself for not wanting to hear what Natalie had tried to tell her that day at the house.
“You can’t second-guess yourself,” he said quietly. “You can’t change what happened.”
She shook her head and looked away. “No, but I can find out what happened to my sister. I can make sure Natalie doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
Did he still think Natalie was innocent? Did
