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CHAPTER SEVEN

AS MRS. WHITE and Violet continued to talk, Noah and Grant watched the police activity across the street in the hospital parking lot. Noah frowned as the officers finally set up a perimeter.

“Took them too long,” Grant murmured.

“About 40 minutes late,” Noah said. Finally, he noted a small contingent of officers climb into their vehicles and head toward the apartment building.

He returned to his seat on the couch. “Mrs. White, the police will be in the building in a few minutes.”

The older woman studied his face for a moment. “That’s why the four of you are here, isn’t it?”

“It’s part of the reason.” Violet clasped her friend’s hand briefly. “I wanted to talk to you about Cami. The gunfire at the hospital just gave me an excuse to talk to you sooner.”

Mrs. White narrowed her eyes. “Someone shot at you and your friends.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I see. Well, whoever pulled the trigger was a bad shot because none of you appear to be injured.”

“We were lucky,” Grant said. “Noah and Violet were the targets, but the bullets missed them.”

Rayne smiled. “Our SUV wasn’t so lucky.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Mrs. White frowned. “What is happening in this town?”

An alarm went off in Noah’s mind at her words. “Is something out of the ordinary going on?”

“Young women disappearing. Others attacked with a knife. Truly vicious attacks.”

“Do the police have any suspects?” Grant asked.

The woman snorted. “Of course not. Our police force is the modern-day version of Keystone Cops. They’re a joke. They couldn’t find a clue with a map drawn for them.”

Huh. That didn’t give Noah much hope for the detectives on Camilla’s case to arrest the killer. “I’m sorry to hear that. The police will come to your apartment soon to ask questions. They’ll also want to know how long we’ve been with you.”

Mrs. White chuckled. “I assume you want me to tell them you were with me when the shots were fired.”

“We don’t want you to lie, ma’am. The police will check the security cameras at the hospital. What we don’t want is for them to think we’re lying to them. They’d keep us tied up longer than we need.”

“I see. So, what time should I tell them you stopped by to visit, then?”

“Thirty minutes ago, Mrs. White.” Violet patted her hand. “It will keep us out of the interrogation room.”

“No problem, my dear.”

Seconds later, someone pounded on Mrs. White’s door. Perfect timing. Noah turned to her. “Want me to answer that?”

She smiled. “That sounds like a perfect idea. Old people are so slow to answer the door, you know.”

He chuckled as he strode to the door. Noah checked the peephole and glanced over his shoulder at Grant.

His teammate shifted closer to the women to be in a better position to defend them.

Noah opened the door.

Fitz Hanson looked startled a moment, then his expression morphed into a suspicious glare. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Violet wanted to visit Mrs. White.”

“And you visited right after a shooting spree at the hospital across the street, right?” Hanson snorted. “If I believed that, I’d be buying beachfront property in Montana. You’ll have to lie better than that to convince me you’re telling the truth.”

He glared at each of the operatives before his gaze finally landed on Violet. “What do you know about the shooting at the hospital?”

She glanced at Noah, who gave a slight nod. This wasn’t the time to hold back information except for their quick trip up to the roof of the apartment building.

“Noah and I went to the morgue so I could see Camilla. When we left the hospital, a gunman opened fire on us.”

“You should have stuck around until the cops arrived,” he snapped.

“Stayed around to be shot? No, thanks. We were the targets, Fitz. As soon as we left in our SUV, the shooting stopped.”

“And you raced right over here to see Mrs. White?”

“We drove squares for ten minutes to be sure we weren’t followed,” Grant said. “After that, we came here to check on Mrs. White. We’ve been with her about 30 minutes.”

“Write the details,” Noah said mildly, as he rested his hand on Violet’s shoulder in a show of support and possession. Yeah, he was probably being an idiot, but he wanted Hanson to know that Violet was his, and Noah protected his own. “The detectives in charge of Camilla’s case should be interested in the connection.”

“Keep your nose out of our business, Mann. You might have been a cop at one time, but you ain’t a cop here. We take care of business our own way.”

“I’ve heard that.”

Hanson scowled. “You’ll wait here until the detectives arrive to interview you, unless you want to wait in an interrogation room at the station.” He grabbed the radio clipped to his shirt. “Dispatch, This is Hanson. Notify Detectives Ellis and Freeman that I found witnesses at the apartment building across from the hospital. Unit 225.”

“Copy that, Officer Hanson.”

The cop glanced over his shoulder and yelled, “Hey, kid. Come babysit some witnesses.”

Seconds later, a young officer who did indeed look like a kid entered the apartment.

“This here is Officer Walsh,” Hanson announced. “He’ll keep you company to make sure you don’t feel it necessary to confer with each other over what you saw. Walsh, monitor them until the detectives arrive. I’ve got more apartments to check.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Hanson left, leaving the apartment door open, Walsh stood in the doorway with his back to the corridor.

“Mrs. White, would you like some hot tea or coffee?” Violet asked. “I’ll be glad to brew something for you.”

The older woman brightened. “Why, yes, dear, coffee sounds lovely. You know where everything is in the kitchen. Make enough for your friends, too, and perhaps Officer Walsh. It appears we’ll be waiting for a while.”

Rayne rose with Violet. “I’ll help you. Officer Walsh, how do you take your coffee?”

“Uh, just black, ma’am. Thanks for thinking of me.”

She smiled. “We know what it’s like to work crazy shifts and need caffeine infusions to stay alert.”

“You’re law enforcement, too?”

“I used to be on the job in Chicago. Now, I work for Fortress Security.”

A stunned expression settled on the kid’s face. “Wow,” he murmured.

“We’ll be back in a few minutes with coffee for everyone.”

“Please, don’t talk about what you saw, ma’am. I’ll get in trouble with the detectives, and I’m a rookie. I can’t afford to tick off my superiors.”

She laughed. “No problem. Violet and I can find plenty of things to talk about besides the shooting.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“It’s Rayne.”

“I’m Jamie. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” She glanced at Grant. “You and Noah should tell Jamie about your years in law enforcement.”

The other operative grimaced. “Right.”

Walsh’s eyebrows rose. “Both of you were cops?”

Nothing like being instructed to entertain the rookie. “For ten years,” Noah confirmed. “We joined after a stint in the Army.”

“My dad was career Army. How long did you serve?”

That started a brief discussion about their milder experiences in the military. Since most of what Echo unit did during their service in the military was classified, Noah and Grant shared some of the humorous incidents on missions.

Minutes later, Violet carried a large tray with mugs of coffee into the living room and set it on the coffee table. She handed one mug to Mrs. White. “This one is yours. Three sugars and a dollop of cream, right?”

The woman laughed. “You remembered.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Rayne took a mug to Walsh. “Here you go, Jamie.”

The kid blushed. “Thank you, Rayne.”

Grant frowned, but remained silent.

Interesting reaction. Noah picked up two mugs of coffee and handed one to his teammate. Grant sipped the hot drink while watching Rayne.

Noah smiled as he rejoined Violet on the sofa. Looked like she was right. Something was brewing between Grant and Rayne. He couldn’t wait to see how long it took the two of them to figure the attraction out for themselves. Unlike some of his other teammates, the one thing Noah wouldn’t do was interfere or offer advice. He was lucky Violet was as interested in him as he was in her. Otherwise, he might be in the same place as Grant, in the dreaded friend zone.

Thirty minutes later, Detectives Ellis and Freeman entered the apartment, their suspicious gazes landing on Noah and the rest of the operatives. “That’s all for now, Walsh,” Freeman said. “We’ll take it from here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rayne walked toward the rookie. “I’ll take your mug,” she murmured.

“The coffee was great, Rayne. Thanks.”

“Sure. Be safe out there, Jamie.”

Again, he blushed. “I’ll do my best. Maybe I’ll see you before you leave town?”

“It’s possible.”

“Now, Walsh,” Ellis said dryly.

“Yes, sir.” The rookie hurried down the hall.

Rayne set Walsh’s empty mug on the tray and looked at the detectives. “Would you like coffee? We made a fresh pot a few minutes ago.”

Both men stared at her. “Uh, sure. Thanks.”

“Is black all right, or do you want cream and sugar?”

“Black’s fine for both of us,” Freeman said.

“I’ll give you a hand,” Grant muttered and trailed her to the kitchen.

Ellis held out his hand to Mrs. White. “I’m John Ellis, a detective with the Morrison PD. This is my partner, Caleb Freeman.”

“Nice to meet you, boys.” She waved toward the love seat. “Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” The detectives sat on the small sofa, and Freeman pulled out his notebook and pen. “What’s your name?”

And so the questions began. Ten minutes after Ellis started, he accepted a mug of coffee from Grant and shifted his attention to Violet. “So, you and your friends were visiting Mrs. White when the shooting occurred?”

“Not quite.”

“Help me out here, Violet. Let’s start at the beginning. Where exactly did you go after you left the police station?”

Noah wrapped his hand around Violet’s.

“The morgue. I wanted to see my sister.”

“I see. Did Dr. Royce arrange a viewing for you?”

“He did. He was very kind and allowed me to take as much time as I wanted.”

“When did you leave the morgue?”

She gave him the approximate time.

Ellis’ eyes narrowed. “That’s when the shooting occurred.”

“It is,” she confirmed.

“Are you telling me you were the target?”

“It’s possible. Other civilians were in the parking lot, heading toward the hospital entrance, so they’re potential targets as well,” Noah said. Yeah, he didn’t blame Ellis and Freeman for the expressions of disbelief on their faces. No question in his mind that he and Violet were the shooter’s intended victims.

“What about your friends? I assume they were with you and Violet.”

“Grant and Rayne were waiting for us in the SUV. They were parked at the entrance.”

“I see. Were any of you hit?”

Noah’s lip curled. “Shooter had poor aim.”

“You’re lucky,” Freeman said flatly. “The outcome could have been a lot different.”

“Perhaps.” From his perspective, the shooter must have had a scope. If he was any good at lining up a target, he shouldn’t have missed. That told Noah the shooter wasn’t as good as he thought.

He paused. Unless the shooter had deliberately missed them, hoping to send a message and scare off Violet. If that was his intent, he missed the boat. Noah’s woman had gotten the message all right, but instead of running scared, she was angry and more determined than ever to find her sister’s killer.

After going over the same questions with Grant and Rayne, the detectives ran through the entire interview again. When they finished, Freeman scowled. “Some hotshot black ops agents you are,” he muttered. “You didn’t see a thing and can’t give us any help. Three of you used to be cops, too. You rank near the bottom of the scale as witnesses. And by the way, you should have stayed around to report the shooting.”

Fury poured through Noah’s veins like lava. “Unlike you, Detective Freeman, I was more interested in protecting my girlfriend than acting like a sitting duck and daring the shooter to pick us off.”

Freeman’s face reddened.

Ellis held up his hand to prevent his partner from spouting a retort. “Thank you for your cooperation, folks. We’ll be in touch if we have more questions.” He looked at Noah. “I expect a phone call if anything like this happens again, Mann.”

Noah saluted without saying a word.

Ellis pressed his lips into a straight line and motioned for his partner to leave the apartment. He followed in Freeman’s wake.

“Well,” Mrs. White said. “That’s the most entertainment I’ve had in a long while.”

Noah and Grant chuckled. “We need to go, ma’am.” Noah helped Violet to her feet. Grant did the same for Rayne. “We have more errands to run before we return to the hotel.”

Violet hugged Mrs. White. “I’ll come back soon. I promise.”

“Don’t wait years this time,” she murmured. “I’m not getting any younger. All of you, please be careful.”

“We will, Mrs. White.” Rayne kissed her cheek. “Keep your door and windows locked even when you’re at home.”

The older woman looked startled. “You think I’m in danger?”

“We want you to be careful until this killer is behind bars.”

“I’ll take precautions, but I’ll be fine, my dear. Thank you for the concern.”

In minutes, they’d returned to the SUV. Noah stopped several feet away from the vehicle. “Wait here while I check our ride.” The last thing he wanted was to lose any of his teammates because he’d been careless.

He walked to the SUV and pulled out his electronic signal detector, a black gadget the size of a credit card. As he circled the vehicle, Noah watched the chaser lights. By the time he finished the circuit, he breathed easier. No signs of an unwanted electronic signature.

One last thing to check. Noah dropped to the asphalt and inched his way under the frame. He used his penlight to check for a bomb and came up with nothing. Although he should feel better about things, he didn’t. Uneasiness gnawed at his gut. What was he missing?

Noah got to his feet and slowly quartered the area. Nothing had changed.

“What’s wrong?” Grant asked.

“I don’t know, but something is off. No unusual electronic signals or bomb on the undercarriage.”

His friend frowned a moment, then said, “Check under the hood.”

Noah’s eyebrows winged up. “Wouldn’t I have seen a bomb from underneath the vehicle?”

“Not necessarily.”

All right, then. He felt for the latch and raised the hood. Noah and Grant studied the hardware and wiring.

Grant pointed. “Right there.”

He stared at the small brick of C-4 attached to the starter. Crude but effective. “Can you disarm it?”

“Yeah. Give me a minute. Watch our six.” Grant pulled a pair of thin rubber gloves from his pocket and went to work.

“Noah?” Violet walked closer.

“Stay there, babe.”

“What is it?”

“Bomb attached to the starter.”

“Pretty bold of him to vandalize the vehicle in broad daylight.”

“I have seen no movement in the past few minutes. Most people are at work right now.”

She frowned. “Except for senior citizens. How much C-4 did he use?”

“Enough to do the job,” Grant said. “Anyone unlucky enough to be near the vehicle when we started it would have been blown to smithereens, though.”

Violet’s hands fisted. “Mrs. White walks through this neighborhood twice a day. She says it keeps her in good enough shape to avoid doctors. Do you think he targeted her, too?”

Noah considered that for a moment, then shook his head. “The chances of her being with us when we started the vehicle are slim. If we wanted to take her somewhere, one of us would have brought the SUV to her apartment building to save her a few steps and triggered the explosion before she was nearby.”

“We need to call the detectives,” Rayne said. When Violet and Noah scowled at her, she shrugged. “Sorry, but we have to look like we’re cooperating with the locals to get any kind of cooperation in return.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Noah sighed and pulled out his phone. “At least we know Ellis and Freeman are close by.”

He called Ellis and reported the bomb. After a terse conversation, Noah ended the call and returned the phone to his cargo pocket.

“Got it.” Grant straightened and showed him the C-4. “How long until Ellis and his sidekick arrive?”

“Two minutes.”

“Wonder how long they’ll keep us tied up over this incident?”

“Can’t be long, my friend. Someone attached the bomb while we were with Mrs. White.”

He proved to be right. Less than ninety seconds later, the detectives rushed up the street along with another officer.

“Show me,” Ellis demanded.

Grant held out his hand, palm up.

Freeman glared at him. “You should have waited for us.” He motioned to the unknown officer. “Jones here is a member of the bomb squad.”

“You could have blown yourselves up by messing with something you don’t understand,” Jones snapped.

“Part of my training is in EOD.”

Freeman snorted. “Some podunk cop shop trained you?”

Grant smiled. “Nope. The Army.”

Jones gave a small nod. “My apologies for assuming the worst.”

“No harm done. If I didn’t know how to disarm the bomb, I would have left it for someone better trained to handle.”

“I’m glad the detectives didn’t need my services.” He glanced at Ellis. “You need me to stick around, sir?”

He handed Jones a bag and scribbled his initials on the tag. “If you’ll take the C-4 off our hands, you’re free to take this back to the station.”

“We can keep this for a while, but we need to dispose of this eventually, sir.”

A frown. “Why?”

“Not safe to keep it in the evidence locker long term. Things have a habit of going missing in there.”

Huh. Interesting.

Ellis glanced at Noah and Grant before returning his attention to Jones. “That will be all, Officer Jones.”

“Yes, sir.” Jones retraced his steps toward the apartment building, C-4 in hand.

“Well?” Freeman said. “Will you make us beg for information again?”

“Unfortunately for you, we have nothing to offer,” Noah said. “Whoever sabotaged our vehicle did the work while we were with Mrs. White. We didn’t see or hear anything.”

“Of course you didn’t.” He shook his head in disgust. “Do you mind if we examine your SUV?”

“Go for it.” The detectives wouldn’t like what they found. He saw the moment that Freeman spotted the bullet holes.

The detective pointed out the damage to his partner and glared at Noah. “So much for your theory that someone else might have been the target of the shooter. Your SUV has five bullet holes in the driver’s side.”

“And yet none of us were injured,” he reminded the detectives. “You haven’t disproved my theory. In fact, I remember glass breaking behind us, so the shooter hit the hospital windows and our SUV.”

“Not buying it, Mann.”

“Unlock the vehicle, please,” Ellis said.

Noah used the remote. “It’s open. We have weapons secured in the vehicle.”

The detective’s eyes narrowed. “How did you get them past airport security?”

“We flew in the Fortress jet.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and sent Zane a message, asking for any information the computer genius could find on Bradley Melton.

Thirty minutes later, the detectives finished searching and printing the vehicle. “No offense,” Ellis said. “But I’d rather not be called to another emergency involving you and your friends.”

“What a coincidence,” Grant said. “We’d rather not call the local police again.”

“Hopefully, we’ll find this guy soon and you can all go home where you belong,” Freeman muttered. “We had minor crime in Morrison until you people showed up.”

“That’s funny,” Noah said. “We’ve heard about the serial killer you have running around the area.”

Ellis scowled. “That’s not funny, Mann. We don’t have a serial killer in Morrison, and I don’t want you spreading rumors that might start a panic.”

Noah shook his head, disgusted with both men. “Connect the dots before you lose more innocent women, detectives.”

After another lengthy glare, the officers retraced their steps, soon disappearing from view.

“They’re idiots.” Grant wrapped his arm around Rayne’s shoulders and pulled her against his side. “They should have called in the feds long before now.”

“Talk about acting like an ostrich,” Rayne said. “We didn’t like to bring in the feds, either, but they had more resources than we did.”

“Same with the Ardmore police.” He looked at Noah. “What’s next on the agenda?”

Noah glanced at his watch. “Lunch. After that, we’ll track down Bradley Melton. I asked Zane to research him.”

“What if he doesn’t want to talk to us?” Violet asked.

“He’ll talk. If he was dating your sister like Mrs. White and Dr. Royce said, Bradley will want to do anything he can to help us identify the killer.”

“The detectives must have talked to him already.”

“No guarantee that he’s a fan of local law enforcement.”

“Can you blame him?” Grant shook his head. “I’m telling you, these guys do not know what they’re doing. They couldn’t find an actual clue unless it bit them.”

“Food first,” Rayne said. “I’m starving. Can we drive the SUV?”

Grant nodded.

“Then let’s get off the street. I feel like we’re being watched.”

“Same.” Grant nudged her toward the SUV, opened the back door for Rayne, and followed her inside.

“Any suggestions for lunch?” Noah asked as he escorted Violet to the passenger side of the vehicle.

“Perry’s Cafe. It has something for everybody and the food is great.”

“Sounds good. I remember seeing it as we drove to the hotel.”

Minutes later, the operatives sat at a table in the back corner of the cafe and perused the menu. A waitress hurried to their table, took their orders, then dropped their selections off at the kitchen window.

“Did you and Camilla come here often when you were growing up?” Rayne asked Violet.

“When we were with Mom and Dad, we used to come here for special occasions, like celebrating a good grade. After the car crash, we didn’t come back here until Cami and I were on our own. Aunt Rosalie wouldn’t waste her money on us for any reason, good or bad.”

Grant frowned. “She was that heartless?”

“Aunt Rosalie didn’t want us and wasn’t shy about letting us know. We were the reason she couldn’t follow her dream of being an artist.”

Furious, Noah’s hand tightened around hers. “That’s a cop out.”

“She said she gave up everything to raise us. Aunt Rosalie didn’t have enough money to pursue her dream and pay our expenses, too.”

“Come on. She couldn’t scrape enough dollar bills together to buy canvas, paint, and brushes?” Noah shook his head. “I don’t believe that for a minute.”

“Did your parents have life insurance policies?” Rayne asked.

She shook her head. “Rosalie told us all the time that raising us took every penny she had for food and clothes.”

“I guess her helping you buy a car was out of the question.”

Violet laughed. “We rode the bus everywhere or bummed rides from our friends. When I left for boot camp, I had a driver’s license but no car. I didn’t buy my first vehicle until I was 21 years old.”

“Did the military pay signing bonuses back then?” Grant asked.

She nodded. “I sent the money to Cami. What did I need with the money? The military paid for everything, so I saved my salary until I had enough to buy a car.”

The server returned with their plates of food. By unspoken consent, the topics of discussion during lunch remained neutral. While he listened to Grant talk about some humorous experiences growing up on a cattle ranch, Noah brooded over Violet’s childhood.

Rosalie Trevelyan had a lot to answer for. He did not know what it cost to raise two girls into adulthood, but the aunt only raised her nieces for ten years. They hadn’t even graduated from high school when she kicked them out of her house. His gut said something was wrong with the scenario Rosalie spouted to the girls and he intended to look into things to satisfy his own curiosity.

After lunch, the operatives climbed back into the SUV. Time to track down Bradley Melton to see what he could tell them.