The marshal sat back in his chair and listened as his son told him again what had happened at the hospital. Brick had called it in on his way to his psychiatrist’s office. Hud had been glad to see that his son hadn’t used what happened to him at the hospital as an excuse to get out of his doctor’s appointment.
Hud had been having trouble believing this story. The doctor had insisted that Natalie Berkshire was still catatonic and questioned if the deputy had actually heard her speak. But the description of the nurse Brick had seen didn’t match that of any woman who worked at the hospital. Five-foot-five, blonde, big blue eyes, a knockout.
“So you didn’t actually witness her doing anything to the patient,” Hud said now. He could see how upset his son was. Finding the woman last night had clearly shaken him and now this. As Brick had said, he felt responsible for her, something he admired in his son. But Brick couldn’t take on this kind of responsibility every time he helped someone as a deputy marshal. He wondered again if this job was right for him. Or if his son was ready for any of this after what had happened to him.
“No, I didn’t actually see her threaten the patient, but there was a pillow on the floor and she was acting...suspicious. Also, I swear, I heard the patient say something to her. If you’d seen the nurse’s reaction to whatever Natalie was saying...”
“But you didn’t hear the actual words?” Hud asked.
Brick shook his head. “She was whispering and the nurse was leaning over her. My attention was on the nurse and her expression. I’m telling you, the nurse was looking down at the patient as if she wanted to kill her. But whatever Natalie was saying appeared to have...shocked her.”
“You got all of this in an instant when you walked into the room?”
His son shrugged. “It was just a feeling I got when I walked in that something was wrong. So maybe I was paying more attention. I know what I saw and what I heard. If I hadn’t gone in when I did, who knows what the woman would have done.”
Hud groaned inwardly. If they arrested every person who acted suspicious there would be no room in the jails for the true criminals. He said as much to his son.
“She was pretending to be a nurse. Not to mention the fact that she attacked me, an officer of the law. Isn’t that enough?”
“You said you grabbed her arm as she was starting to leave. Did you announce yourself as a deputy marshal?”
Brick sighed. “No, but I was wearing my uniform, and if you’d seen the way she was looking down at the patient...”
Hud admitted it sounded more than a little suspicious. “Okay, the hospital staff will be watching for her should she try to get into the woman’s hospital room again. She could just be a reporter looking for a story. Brick?” He could see how rattled his son was. All the talk in the marshal’s department would be about this case. “I want you to take the rest of the week off. I’ll talk to your doctor at the beginning of next week. If he gives the all clear...”
His son chuckled and shook his head. “By then, Natalie Berkshire will either be arrested and hauled off for questioning, or gone.”
“It’s for the best.”
BRICK SWORE UNDER his breath. “I know what I saw and what I heard. That woman posing as a nurse was in that room to kill Natalie. But whatever Natalie said to her made her hesitate. Then I walked in... What if this nurse is the one who’s been holding Natalie captive?”
“I’ll find out the truth,” his father said. “I wasn’t just suggesting that you take the rest of the week off. It’s an order. Go camping. You’re too involved in this case. Take advantage of this time off. Hike up into the mountains to a nice lake and camp for a few days. I brought you on too soon and I’m sorry about that.”
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 she been trying to see the monster behind the skin and bone? When the woman had opened her eyes, it had startled her. She’d read on her chart that she was catatonic. But looking into the Natalie’s eyes, she’d seen fear, surprise and then something even more shocking—resignation.
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 of his son and wife that he’d begged Mo to let it go.
“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.