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CHAPTER NINETEEN

VIOLET WOKE TO the scent of strong coffee. She opened her eyes and saw Grant sipping the brew from his post by the French doors. Where was Noah?

She glanced around the sitting room. Noah napped in the recliner with his laptop on the floor by his chair.

Grant glanced at her over his shoulder. “You okay?” he murmured.

She nodded.

Rayne handed her a steaming mug of coffee. “This should clear the fog.” She smiled. “Grant doesn’t know how to make coffee unless it’s strong enough to peel paint.”

For a day like this, she definitely needed the caffeine. Thankfully, she felt better than yesterday.

Noah stirred and opened his eyes. His gaze shot to her. He studied Violet for a moment, then smiled. “You’re better.”

She nodded. “Everything quiet overnight?”

“Yes, ma’am. The only things stirring out there were a couple of cats and a dog.”

Rayne handed Noah a mug of steaming coffee. “Magic elixir to chase away the fatigue.”

“Did you make the coffee?”

She winked. “Nope. Sorry.”

Grant chuckled.

He grimaced. “I’ll survive. Maybe.”

Rayne laughed. “You have a cast iron stomach like the rest of Echo. You’ll be fine.”

Violet pushed the blanket from her legs and sat up.

“How is the headache?” Noah asked as he sat beside her.

“Better.”

“The pain is gone?”

“For the moment.”

“Good.” He leaned over and brushed a kiss over her lips. “What time do we need to be at the funeral home?”

Her stomach knotted at the prospect of facing citizens of Morrison whom she hadn’t seen in more than a decade. “The visitation is from three to seven.”

“Do you want to go somewhere this morning, or would you rather stay here?”

“I want to check on Lauren, but we’re not family. I’m afraid the medical staff won’t allow me to see her.”

Noah set his coffee on the table in front of the sofa. “I’ll text Zane. He was keeping tabs on her overnight. He should be on duty for another hour.”

He received an answer seconds later. “Z says she’s stable and asking to see you.” Noah glanced up. “She called you Camilla.”

Violet flinched. “I’ll explain to the nurse at the desk. Maybe they’ll let me see her, anyway.”

“All right. After breakfast, we’ll go to the hospital.”

She studied him. Something was up. “What’s wrong?”

Grant turned from his post to watch them. Rayne sat nearby, her expression somber. So her friends already knew the news.

“I did some research during my shift,” Noah said.

“What did you find?”

“You said your parents didn’t have a life insurance policy.”

Where was he going with this? “That’s what Aunt Rosalie told us.”

“She lied.”

Violet froze. “Are you sure?”

Noah retrieved his laptop and booted it up. “It’s been bothering me since you told me how your aunt treated you and your sister while you were with her for those ten years. I looked into your parents’ history and searched for their life insurance policies.” He pointed at the screen. “This is what I found.”

Violet scanned the document until she reached the payout. She gasped. “Five million dollars? That’s impossible. Aunt Rosalie always said that taking care of us was draining her retirement account.”

“According to the records, the insurance company paid your aunt the life insurance money six weeks after your parents’ deaths.”

“What did Rosalie do with the money, Violet?” Grant asked.

“I don’t know.” This made little sense. How could Rosalie lie to her and Cami for years?

“We can have Zane or one of the other Fortress tech geeks look into it, but my guess is your aunt kept the money stashed away in various accounts.”

Rayne frowned. “You and your sister wore clothes and shoes from second-hand stores or from box stores. What about your aunt? Did she have the same buying habits?”

“No, she didn’t. Rosalie worked for an architectural firm. She always dressed nice, saying she had to in order to keep her job.” Violet shrugged. “We never questioned her.” In hindsight, that was incredibly na?ve of her and Cami. Then again, they never expected their aunt to straight up lie to them.

They struggled for years, worked whatever jobs they could find to pay for school clothes and supplies while their aunt squirreled the money away for her own use. Did Cami know or suspect what Rosalie had done? Perhaps that was why her sister never pushed hard for Violet to return to Morrison to visit her. Under normal circumstances, Violet would have noticed the nice house and luxury SUV her aunt drove and wondered where the money came from.

That brought another question to mind. Did James Hanson know Rosalie had stolen the insurance money from her nieces? Perhaps. The chief was an intelligent man. Then again, he may not have cared.

How long had Hanson been dating her aunt? Violet thought about that for a beat. They’d become an item not long after Violet and Cami graduated from high school.

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Noah murmured.

“How long Chief Hanson and my aunt have been dating.” She looked at him. “They’ve been together since Cami and I graduated from high school. Perhaps before then.”

Rayne frowned. “That’s a long time to be dating. Why didn’t they get married?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it? I don’t have the answer to that.”

“You could ask your aunt,” Grant suggested.

She shook her head. “Not happening. Rosalie has already made how she feels about me perfectly clear.”

“Anyone else you might ask that question?”

She thought a minute, then said, “Mrs. White. If Cami was curious about it, she might have asked Mrs. White. She has her finger on the pulse of the town. Mrs. White is also part of a church quilting circle. Those ladies talk about everything and everyone. If anyone knows the truth, they do.”

“Then we’ll make sure you talk to Mrs. White today.” Noah squeezed her hand and shut down his computer. “After breakfast, we’ll go to the hospital to see Lauren. Maybe she’ll have some answers for us, too. Do you want to eat first or change clothes?”

“Shower and change first.” Violet needed a hot shower to clear away the last of the fog.

“I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes.”

Violet went into the bedroom, grabbed her Go bag, and carried it into the bathroom. After a long, hot shower, she pulled on clean clothes and her tactical boots. After the unexpected attacks over the past few days, Violet needed to be prepared for anything. She set her Go bag beside the mike bag and returned to the sitting room.

Rayne handed her a plate with four donuts and a cup of coffee. “Not sure what you wanted to eat, so I chose donuts at random.” She inclined her head toward the balcony. “Noah is waiting for you.”

The sun was peeking over the horizon when Violet joined Noah in the crisp morning air. When she sat beside him, he draped a blanket over her lap.

“I thought you might like a few minutes of quiet.”

“Breakfast with you and a sunrise? I couldn’t ask for a better way to start my day.”

They ate breakfast and sipped coffee until the sun rose in the sky. When they finished eating, Noah wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They sat in silence for several minutes until he tipped her face up to his and kissed her with exquisite gentleness. “I love you, Violet,” he murmured.

“I love you, too, Noah, so much more than I can express.”

“Whatever you need today, I’ll be by your side.”

She blinked away the sting of gathering tears. Enough already. This day would be hard enough without a crying jag at breakfast. “Knowing that means the world to me.”

He brushed another kiss over her lips, stood, and tugged Violet to her feet. Noah walked into the suite with her.

Violet pulled up short when she noticed Grant standing close to Rayne in the kitchenette, his hands on both sides of her body.

Noah closed the French door harder than necessary.

Grant glanced over his shoulder, then back at Rayne, taking his time moving away from the other operative.

Definitely something brewing between those two. Violet couldn’t wait to share the news with Teagan and the rest of Artemis. This relationship would be fun to watch.

“Ready?” Grant asked.

“Yeah.” Noah’s eyes twinkled. “Unless you want Violet and me to return to the balcony for another few minutes.”

Rayne shook her head. “We need to go. Violet is eager to see Lauren Gilmore.”

Grant nudged Rayne toward the door. “Better get moving, then. Nothing has gone according to plan since we arrived in this area.”

He wasn’t wrong. Who knew Violet and her teammates would almost be blown up in a bombing, shot at by a sniper, and endure multiple interviews with the local police to say nothing about the confrontations with her aunt and Fitz Hanson, plus two visits to local hospitals? This mission was turning out to be more complicated than they had expected.

Noah wrapped his hand around hers and escorted her from the suite. Minutes later, they were on their way to the hospital in Colbyville, where Lauren was being treated.

An hour later, Grant parked in the lot in front of the hospital. “Do you want us to stay in the SUV, Noah?”

“Not this time. I have a gut feeling things are going to heat up today and tomorrow. I don’t think it’s wise to split up.”

“Copy that.”

The operatives met at the front of the SUV and entered the hospital together. Violet walked up to the information desk. “I’m looking for Lauren Gilmore.”

“Are you family?”

Yeah, knew that question was coming. “No, ma’am. I’m one of the EMTs who worked on her. She’s been asking to see me.”

“Name?”

“Trevelyan.”

“One moment, please.” After a low-voiced conversation, the desk worker said, “Floor five. She’s in ICU.”

“Thank you.”

“Only two visitors, ma’am.”

“Yes, ma’am. My friends will stay in the waiting area.”

“Enjoy your visit.”

A short elevator ride later, the operatives exited on the fifth floor. “Rayne and I will wait here,” Grant said, motioning to a small lounge area.

“We won’t be long,” Violet said. Lauren wouldn’t be up to a long visit, not after major surgery and serious blood loss yesterday.

Violet and Noah approached the nurses’ desk. “We’re here to see Lauren Gilmore.”

“Name?”

“Trevelyan and Mann. I’m one of the EMTs who treated Ms. Gilmore at the scene yesterday.”

“Oh, yes. Ms. Gilmore has been asking for you. She’s quite eager to talk to you. Please, keep the visit short. She’s still recovering.”

“Of course. We won’t stay for more than five minutes.”

The nurse motioned to one of the small rooms to her right. “Bay 8.”

Violet knocked on the door frame of the bay. “Lauren?”

The woman slowly opened her eyes. Her breath caught. “You’re here,” she murmured.

Violet went to Lauren’s bedside. “How do you feel?”

Lauren grimaced. “Like I have several extra holes in me.”

She squeezed the other woman’s hand briefly. “I understand you wanted to talk to Camilla.”

She stared at Violet. Finally, her mouth gaped. “You’re not Camilla?”

“I’m Violet. I introduced myself when I worked to stabilize you yesterday, but you were in shock and losing blood. You didn’t realize you were talking to me rather than my sister.”

“So, it’s true?” she whispered. “Camilla is dead?”

“Yes.”

“How? When?”

“Someone stabbed her to death a few days ago.”

Blood drained from Lauren’s face. “No. That can’t be true. She promised me she’d be careful.”