He was about to argue when his father’s phone rang. He wasn’t leaving. Not until he convinced the marshal that he couldn’t get rid of him that easily.
Then he saw his father’s expression as he finished his phone conversation and hung up. What had happened? Something. “I’m meeting with a psychiatrist. I’m doing everything you asked. So stop trying to get rid of me. Tell me what’s happened. You know I’ll find out one way or another anyway. And if you don’t want me trying to find out on my own—”
With a sigh, Hud said, “From your description and surveillance cameras at the hospital, they’ve been able to make a possible ID of the woman pretending to be a nurse. Her name is Maureen ‘Mo’ Mortensen.”
“She must have some connection to the case,” Brick said.
His father nodded. “The baby in Natalie Berkshire’s care when he was allegedly murdered was her sister’s.”
Brick swore. “That would explain why she was standing over Natalie staring down at her as if she wanted to kill her.”
“What makes this case more tragic is that Maureen Mortensen’s sister committed suicide just days after Natalie was released.”
“Tricia Colton,” he said. “I remember seeing the husband on the news. He blamed Natalie for destroying his family. His wife had hung herself in the family garage. So Maureen Mortensen is her sister? Is she in the military or something? She attacked me as if she was trained in combat.”
“She was a homicide detective in Billings.”
“Was?”
“She’s been temporarily suspended.”
“Why?” Brick asked.
“I suspect it has something to do with her conflict of interest in the case. Apparently, she had been doing some investigating on her own before Natalie was released. She was ordered off the case, but refused to listen.” He gave Brick a meaningful look.
Brick ignored it as he thought of what he’d seen at the hospital. “She wasn’t the one who abducted and held Natalie Berkshire captive.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a feeling I got that she hadn’t seen Natalie for a while.” He felt his father’s gaze on him. “What?”
“Always trust your instincts.”
He smiled. It was the most affirmation his father had given him since he’d signed on as a new deputy. “Thanks.”
“But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t wrong.”
He thought about it for a moment. “This woman, Mo, wants her dead—not tied up and tortured.”
“You have no evidence that Mortensen was trying to kill the woman,” his father pointed out. “Also, the doctor said that Natalie Berkshire couldn’t have spoken to the woman. She’s still nonresponsive.”
Brick shook his head. “I swear I heard her. What’s more, the fake nurse-slash-cop heard her.”
“I’ve put a BOLO out on Mortensen to have her picked up for questioning.”
“How about for assaulting a lawman?”
“It’s enough to at least hold her for a while. I’m sure Billings PD will want to talk to her once they get here. But I do wonder how it was that she found out Natalie Berkshire was in the Big Sky hospital,” his father said. “Unless she’s been looking for her since her suspension—and Natalie’s disappearance.”
“Well, now she’s found her,” Brick said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to get to her again.”
Brick was still trying to process everything his father had told him. He’d been so sure that Natalie Berkshire had been the victim and that Maureen Mortensen was the criminal. Even if his father picked up the blonde cop, his instincts told him that she wouldn’t be behind bars long. When she got out, he put his money on her going after Natalie Berkshire.
Maybe his father was right, and Maureen “Mo” Mortensen wouldn’t have killed the woman lying in the hospital bed if he hadn’t walked in. But from her expression, she’d darn sure wanted to.
“I bet the cop hasn’t gone far,” he said, wondering where she’d been staying. Probably at one of the local motels. He said as much to his father.
“I know she hurt your ego and you might want to go after her yourself because of it, but you’re staying out of this. I shouldn’t have put you on the schedule until we had the release from the mental health doctor. Don’t argue with me about this. And come to dinner tonight. Your mother would love to see you.”
Brick rose and started for the door.
“One more thing,” his father said behind him. “I’m going to need your badge, star and weapon.”
Brick turned to look at him as he slowly took off his star, pulled his badge and unsnapped his holster and laid all three on his father’s desk.
“You can order me to take a few days off, but you can’t make me go camping. Just as you can’t order me to come to dinner.” He turned and walked out, telling himself that becoming a deputy and working under his father was a huge mistake.
MAUREEN “MO” MORTENSEN wiped the steam off the cracked mirror and locked eyes with the woman in the glass, but only for an instant. She didn’t like what she saw in her blue eyes. It scared her. Sometimes she didn’t recognize herself and the woman she’d become.
Splashing cold water on her face, she thought of what had happened at the hospital. She’d come close to getting caught. But that wasn’t all she’d come close to. If that deputy marshal hadn’t walked in when he had...
She was still shaken, not just by Natalie’s condition. She felt sick to her stomach at the memory. She’d looked down at the woman’s bruised face. It had been true, what she’d heard. Natalie had been abducted and held prisoner. She’d thought she couldn’t feel sympathy for what the woman must have gone through, but she’d been wrong. She didn’t wish that sort of treatment on anyone, even a murderer.
For a long moment, she’d stood next to Natalie’s bed, staring down at her. Had
