“I can’t take anymore,” he’d cried when she’d argued that she had to find evidence to stop Natalie.
“But she’ll kill again,” she’d argued.
“For the love of God, Mo. I never want to hear that woman’s name again. For months Tricia and I thought we’d get justice. When Natalie was released...” Tricia had killed herself. “I need to make peace with this. I hope you can, too.”
She had known that she wouldn’t find peace until Natalie was either dead or behind bars. She had been determined that Natalie would not destroy another family.
But then Natalie had opened her eyes and said the only words that could have changed her mind—even temporarily.
Mo moved to the motel room door, suitcase in hand. She looked back to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind. She figured that it wouldn’t take long, between the deputy who’d gotten a good look at her and the surveillance cameras, before they knew her name. That would definitely make finding her easier since she’d used her real name when she’d checked into the motel.
She wouldn’t make that mistake again, she thought. Nor would it be a good idea to stay in any one place too long. Not that she was planning on this taking any longer than necessary. She would get back into the hospital. Security would be tighter. They would be watching for her.
Mo knew that the best thing she could do was wait until Natalie was released, but she had no idea when that would be. Also, she knew that Billings homicide were on their way—because some old cases were now being reopened and other departments were anxious to talk to Natalie. If they didn’t arrest her and Natalie was released from the hospital, she would run like a scared rabbit and be all that much harder to catch.
She picked up her purse on the table by the door, swung the strap over her shoulder and, shifting the suitcase in her hand, reached with the other one to open the door. She already had a plan simmering at the back of her mind, a way to get into the hospital again.
She’d go to the store, get some supplies to change her appearance. This time she’d go in not as a nurse, but as a male workman instead. She would bluff her way in and no matter what she had to do, she’d get into Natalie’s room. She would get the truth out of the woman and then...
Mo refused to think beyond that point. What she had in mind had never sat easy with her. But she felt she had no choice. She was convinced of what would happen if Natalie was as guilty as she believed and she didn’t stop her.
With purse and suitcase in hand, she opened the door and stepped out of the motel room—right into a pair of deputies...and handcuffs.
Chapter Four
Angry and frustrated, Brick was even more determined to find out the truth about Natalie Berkshire. He knew he was taking one hell of a chance, but he drove through town to Highway 191 to the convenience store where Natalie Berkshire had allegedly been abducted. Inside, he bought an ice cream cone and asked the clerk if she’d been on duty that day when the woman had been abducted. She hadn’t, but she told him everything the other clerk had told her.
Behind the wheel of his pickup again, he sat and ate his ice cream cone. The appointment with the psychiatrist had gone better than he’d hoped. He liked the man and thought his father was right. Talking about what had happened up on the mountain might get rid of the nightmares. He would gladly see the last of them. They were too vivid and bizarre, a jumble of confusing, frightening images that finally woke him in a cold sweat.
He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised, but after talking about it and everything else that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, he felt drained. He had gotten hardly any sleep last night after Natalie Berkshire stumbled into his headlights. He’d been coming from the late shift. Finding her had added even more dark images to his sleep.
Now he couldn’t help thinking about her or the blonde cop, Mo. Was Natalie a killer? Or was she innocent? Was Mo a vigilante cop with a need for vengeance? Or was she like a lot of people who feared Natalie had gotten away with murder and would kill again if not stopped?
Two women. One set on escape. The other on closure. But someone else, who was set on dispensing his own brand of justice, had already abducted Natalie Berkshire. Would they have eventually killed her if she hadn’t escaped?
And what would the rogue cop do now if she wasn’t found and stopped?
Brick knew the answers were out there and he desperately wanted to find them. He still swore that Natalie had spoken to the cop. Said something that had stopped her. Something in addition to continuing to swear she was innocent. The more he thought about it, he realized that the two had known each other before the murder. Natalie had been her sister’s nanny. Who knows how close they might have been.
What a complicated, intriguing case. It did make him wonder who was innocent. It also made him want to help solve it more than he’d ever wanted anything.
He sat in his truck for a few minutes after eating his ice cream, trying to decide what to do—if anything. He was exhausted from everything that had happened, not just in the past twenty-four hours. As he shifted in the seat, he felt his harmonica in his pocket and pulled it out. He’d carried the musical instrument from the day his grandfather Angus had given it to him. It had taken him a lot longer than he’d hoped to learn how to play it. But he’d stayed with it until he’d finally mastered
