Santa In Montana (17 page)

“Of course I do.” She nodded then smiled wryly. “Somehow I don't think the Montgomerys would know a doublewide if one snuck up on them and bit their butts. They're rich and always have been.” Her dry tone made the social divide between the Rawlings and the Montgomerys more than clear. “Still and all, they're not as snooty as some of the newcomers around here.”

“That's something,” he responded idly.

“I guess.” Doris turned back to her work. “Go ahead and start sorting what you can. I'll finish the one I'm working on while you do.”

“Okay. Take your time.”

He took off his leather jacket and slung it across the back of a folding chair, then settled his long frame into the seat, ignoring a sharp twinge in his back when he sat down. RJ opened the Montgomery file and noticed that the earliest forms had been completed on a manual typewriter. He picked up the first piece of paper and read the basics.

At a later date, someone had scrawled four bleak words across the paper.

Presumed dead. Not declared dead. Officially still considered missing. Curious, Bannon began turning pages of the thick file and soon became engrossed in it for the better part of an hour. “This is one hell of a case,” he said softly and glanced at Doris. “How come I never heard of it?”

“You were a kid when it happened, Bannon.” She sounded a little surprised by his interest. “It was before your time. Before you knew it all,” she added in a teasing way.

“Yeah, sure. But—Ann Montgomery was abducted at the age of three.” He grabbed a pad of paper and pencil and jotted down some quick figures. “That means she would be twenty-nine now if she somehow survived.”

“That's correct,” Doris agreed.

Pulling out the old reward poster and the bank document clipped to it, Bannon scanned them both. The money was held in a trust that would terminate on Ann's thirtieth birthday. “There's a year to go on this reward.” He couldn't imagine why the case was being closed. The female victim was still officially classified as missing and a million-dollar reward was still in force for information leading to her safe return.

Decades had gone by. Her family had faith, he'd give them that. Some people would cling to hope forever when no body was found. A few abducted children had turned up alive, years later, but the odds were solidly against this little girl. He flipped through the documentation, feeling a rush of hunting instinct. It felt good. Like his old self was back.