Page 83 of Montana Justice

Ray chuckled, the sound making my skin crawl. “Well, that’s what happens when the feds stick their noses in. Local cops dance to their tune, leave their own territory unprotected.”

“Speaking of which,” Piper said, glancing at the papers spread across our table. “I found something today you might want to know about.”

“Oh?”

She described the logistics reports, voice carefully neutral. I watched her face as she fed information to the man holding our daughter hostage, saw the pain she was hiding, the desperate hope that this performance would bring Sadie home.

“Evidence transport schedules,” Ray mused. “Interesting. And it sounded like tomorrow night half the department will be gone?”

“That’s what Lachlan said. Six deputies plus him, all outside of Billings.”

“Leaving just a skeleton crew for the whole county.” His satisfaction was palpable even through the phone. “You did good, sweetheart. Real good.”

“Dad?” Piper’s voice cracked slightly. “Can I…can I see her? It’s been days since the last photo.”

Silence stretched, broken only by our breathing and the buzz of the connection.

“Please,” she whispered. “Just for a few seconds. I just need to know she’s okay.”

“She’s fine. Growing like a weed. Starting to babble more.”

“She is?” Tears rolled down Piper’s cheeks.

“Baby nonsense. Though, she’s got opinions, I’ll give her that. Yells when she doesn’t get her bottle fast enough.”

Piper laughed through her tears, the sound breaking my heart.

“Listen, I’ve got business to handle. Big shipment moving tomorrow night while your sheriff’s playing soldier in Billings.”

My pulse quickened. This was what we’d been waiting for.

“Shipment?” Piper kept her voice carefully neutral.

“Nothing you need to worry about. Just some inventory redistribution. That warehouse on Elm, east side of town. The old Brackenridge building. Perfect location now that the cops will be busy elsewhere.”

The Brackenridge warehouse. I knew it—abandoned for three years, isolated, multiple exit routes. Perfect for moving illegal goods. And now we knew when and where.

“Be careful,” Piper said softly. “I can’t afford to have you get caught.”

“Glad you’re finally starting to see how it really is. You keep doing your part, maybe I’ll bring Sadie by for a visit soon. Let you see her in person.”

Piper’s whole body went rigid. “Really?”

“Maybe. Depends on how tomorrow night goes. Keep your phone on.”

The line went dead. Piper stared at the phone in her hand, setting it down with shaking fingers. She moved to the sink, gripping the edge hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

“We know where he’ll be,” I said quietly. “We know when.”

She nodded but didn’t turn around. Couldn’t face me yet. The performance had cost her.

My phone buzzed. Travis.

“It’s Travis,” I told her, answering immediately. “Tell me you got something.”

“I got something.” His voice carried rare excitement. “That call gave me the final triangulation I needed. Cross-referencing with signal patterns from the past week, I’ve narrowed Ray’s location to a three-block radius in Whitehall.”

“What sort of area is it?”

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