Page 36 of Montana Justice

I waited until I heard his shower running before pulling out the burner phone. My hands shook as I typed the message, each letter feeling like a small death.

Highway 37 checkpoint tomorrow 7am-7pm. Three units plus backup.

I stared at the words for a long moment before hitting send, watching them disappear into the digital ether where they would find their way to Ray and set in motion whatever plan he was working on. The response came faster than I’d expected, as if he’d been waiting by his phone.

Maybe this intel will earn you something special.

I stared at the message, hope and fear warring in my chest.Something special.Did he mean what I thought he meant? After weeks of begging, weeks of desperate requests that had been met with silence or vague reassurances, was he finally going to give me what I needed most?

The phone buzzed again, and this time, it wasn’t a text. It was a photo.

The image loaded slowly on this crap burner phone in an app Ray had installed, and when it finally appeared on my screen, my heart flipped upside down. My breath caught in my throat, and I pressed my hand to my mouth to muffle the sob that wanted to escape.

I stared at the image, trying to memorize every single detail before the photo faded to nothing after thirty seconds, programmed to delete itself and leave no trace.

The phone slipped from my trembling fingers as I collapsed onto Lachlan’s couch, crying silently into a throw pillow.

But that image had been proof that my cooperation was buying what I needed most. Proof that the sacrifices I was making, the lies I was telling, the trust I was destroying—all of it had a purpose.

I had to believe that was enough.

Chapter 12

Lachlan

I shiftedin the driver’s seat of my cruiser, eyes fixed on the checkpoint my deputies had set up on Highway 37. The late-morning sun cast sharp shadows across the asphalt, and I’d been sitting here for three hours watching absolutely nothing happen.

Deputy Martinez waved through another minivan filled with what looked like a family heading out for a weekend trip. That made thirty-seven vehicles so far, and not a single one had triggered any red flags. No nervous drivers, no suspicious cargo, no attempts to turn around when they spotted the checkpoint.

The intel had seemed solid. Warrior Security’s contact had been certain that drug smugglers were planning to use this route today, sometime between seven and noon. But noon was twenty minutes away, and we had nothing to show for it except frustrated deputies and annoyed civilians.

My radio crackled. “Unit Three to Sheriff. Another clean vehicle. Honda Accord, elderly couple heading to Billings for a doctor’s appointment.”

“Copy that.” We were all frustrated. Nobody needed to say it out loud.

A knock on my passenger window made me look up. Beckett stood outside, hands shoved in the pockets of his tactical jacket. I knew he’d be showing up sooner or later. I unlocked the door and he slid in, bringing the scent of coffee and gun oil with him.

“Figured you could use some company,” he said, handing me a to-go cup from Deja Brew. “Black, no sugar, just how you hate it but drink it anyway to prove you’re tough.”

“Thanks.” I took a sip of the bitter brew, grateful for the caffeine hit.

Beckett’s sharp gaze swept over the scene ahead of us. “Any luck?”

“Not a fucking thing.”

Beckett muttered a curse. “Our intel wasn’t solid. Shit. I thought for sure it would be.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face. “It seemed solid to me too. But…nothing.”

Somebody trafficking weapons and drugs through my own backyard didn’t sit well with me. We were starting to hear more chatter about it.

“Yeah. I’m honestly more concerned about the fentanyl than I am the weapons. Had a teen nearly die a few days ago.”

“Shit.” Beckett’s jaw tightened. “That’s new for us.”

“Yeah. We’ve been lucky so far—Garnet Bend’s been mostly untouched by that garbage. But if someone’s trying to establish a pipeline through here…” I didn’t need to finish. We both knew what fentanyl had done to communities across Montana.

“Don’t worry. Between Warrior Security and the department, we’ll catch these assholes. If not today, then soon.”

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