Natalie had known why Mo had sneaked into the hospital dressed as a nurse. Would Mo have gone through with it? She might never know because the woman’s words had stopped her cold.
Mo still felt stunned. By the time the words had registered, the deputy had come into the hospital room. She’d wanted to scream because she’d known that her chance to question Natalie had passed. All she could do was clear out of there with the hope that she could get another chance to question Natalie alone.
It surprised her that now she wanted the truth more than she wanted vengeance.
Unfortunately, she also now had the law looking for her. Getting free of the deputy had been instinctive. How could she reach Natalie again, though, with even more people looking for her? That cocky deputy marshal would be after her.
She pushed the thought away. She had more problems than some deputy marshal. Her body ached. Even when she could find the haven of sleep, she often woke bone-weary, more tired than she’d ever been. In her dreams, she’d been chasing Natalie Berkshire for months. In real life, it had only been since the woman had been released from custody—two weeks ago.
Today was the closest she’d come to finishing this. That moment of hesitation had cost her. She remembered looking into those pale hazel eyes. Natalie had known exactly who she was. The words she’d spoken weren’t those of a mad woman. Nor of a liar. That was what had made them so shocking.
Natalie had known why Mo was there. She’d been ready to die. Because she knew she deserved it? Or because she knew she couldn’t keep running?
In all the time she’d been a cop, Mo had never hesitated when everything was on the line, and yet earlier... If Natalie really had been catatonic... If she hadn’t opened her eyes. If she hadn’t spoken... The thought chilled her. Would she have gone through with what she’d planned?
Shaking her head at her disappointment in not being able to question Natalie after the woman had dropped that bombshell, she threw what little she’d brought into her suitcase. She didn’t have time for introspection or recriminations. Or to try to analyze what the woman said or what it could mean.
She would get another chance to talk to Natalie—hopefully alone. She had to. Natalie had evaded almost everyone—except whoever had abducted her. Mo thought about the woman’s bruises. Whoever had found her didn’t want her dead. They wanted to punish her and had.
The thought pained her. It wasn’t as if the woman was a stranger. She’d known Natalie. Or at least she thought she’d known her. Mo had spent time at that house with her sister and brother-in-law and their live-in nanny. She’d watched the woman not just with little Joey, but with her sister. Tricia had bonded with Natalie. The three women had become friends. Mo had liked the quiet, pleasant Natalie Berkshire. What’s more, she’d seen that her sister had liked the woman as well and vice versa. Natalie, during those months, had become part of the family.
That thought hurt more than she wanted to admit. They’d all trusted the woman—even Mo. She had to talk to Natalie again. If there was even a chance that what she’d said might be true...
It surprised her how just a few words from the woman could change everything. When a friend at the police department had called her to say that something had come up on the scanner, she’d driven to Big Sky as fast as she could. The marshal in Big Sky said he’d called Billings PD to let them know that he had Natalie Berkshire after she’d apparently escaped after being abducted. Mo had arrived late last night. When she’d stopped on the edge of Big Sky to get something to eat at an all-night convenience store and deli, she’d overheard a table of nurses talking. One night shift nurse had described the woman who’d been brought in.
Mo had felt a chill ripple through her. From the description, she’d known it was true. The patient was Natalie, no matter how bizarre the circumstances that had landed her in the Big Sky hospital.
She’d listened to the night nurse talking in a low, confidential tone and caught enough to know that the woman brought in had been held captive for an unknown amount of time. She heard the words duct tape, bruises, a torn and filthy sheet.
She’d also heard that a deputy marshal by the name of Brick Savage had found her and gotten her to the hospital—the closest hospital in the area—where she had originally been listed as a Jane Doe. Until her prints had come back.
This morning, Mo had picked up scubs and Crocs at the discount store. She’d walked into the hospital as if she knew what she was doing. The older woman at the information desk only smiled as she went by.
Upstairs, she’d found Natalie’s room by looking for the deputy she’d heard had been parked outside it. All she’d had to do was give him a smile and walk right into the room.
One glance toward the bed and she’d known she was about to get her chance for justice. It was Natalie, and given the shape she was in, Mo knew that someone else had caught up to her first. She’d suspected for some time that she wasn’t the only one looking for the woman.
She’d thought she’d known exactly what she would do when she found her. She owed it to her sister and to Thomas, her sister’s still grieving husband, and to little Joey, their infant son. She’d kept what she was doing from Thomas. He’d been so devastated by the loss
