“I used the UV light in the truck. No stains, and no visible trace of anything.”
Nikki had expected as much. “The sheriff’s department doesn’t have much physical evidence, either. They found nothing usable on the trail or surrounding areas. They disappeared in mid-October. The weather had been good, so no footprints. No sign of fibers or any sort of struggle, which makes me think the girls might not have been forced off the trail.”
Liam appeared in the doorway, still wearing his floppy hat. “Why didn’t I take that job in the Florida office?”
“Because you wanted to work with the best.” Courtney tossed her discarded snow pants at him. “You’re lucky to have us.”
“Some days I wonder,” he replied, looking her up and down. “Why are you sweating?”
“Long story.”
When she’d learned about the DNA testing, Nikki had told her team but had made it clear she intended to let the district attorney handle things. “I’m sure you both saw the protestors. I wasn’t aware Mark Todd had a following, but it sounds like they aren’t going away any time soon. Anyway, I just want you both to know they aren’t going to affect this case. As far as I’m concerned, that case is closed. I intend to ignore them. They aren’t going to affect my ability to work this case.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Liam said. “I just don’t want them slowing us down.”
“I’ve been told they’re keeping a respectful distance. As long as they continue to do so, they’re of no concern.” Nikki dreaded telling them the next part. Being around John wasn’t the issue. But she didn’t want Madison and Kaylee’s murders sensationalized because of her past connection. “Before you hear it from someone else, Madison’s stepfather is an ex-boyfriend. I was dating him when my parents were killed. It’s not going to be a problem for me, but I’m sure the media is going to be all over it.”
Liam nodded, wide-eyed.
Courtney shot her a quizzical look, but Nikki shook her head. As much as she wanted to tell Courtney everything, now wasn’t the time or the place.
A month into their new jobs in the criminal profiling unit, Courtney encountered her first domestic violence victim. She’d spent hours collecting evidence from the woman’s clothes and body, along with the crime scene, without batting a mascaraed eyelash. The second they clocked out, she’d turned to Nikki and announced they were going to the bar down the street. Half a bottle of tequila later, Courtney became one of the privileged few who knew the grim details about Nikki’s past. Keeping the truth from her superiors hadn’t been an option, but a decade plus since she’d become the girl whose parents were murdered, Nikki had willingly told only one person: her ex-husband. Aside from him, Courtney was still the only person at the FBI office familiar with the darkest details of that night.
Nikki looked at Liam. “I emailed you a list of all the persons of interest the sergeant compiled during the girls’ disappearance. All close family and friends have alibis that other officers have already checked out. I want you to run background information on everyone.”
The FBI had deeper resources than the sheriff’s office, and Nikki was hoping for a lucky break.
“I think Kaylee had a secret phone, so I want you to see what you can find out about it from her cousin. Apparently they were close. Then run detailed background checks on all the sex offenders within a fifty-mile radius, especially those released around the time the girls were taken. We don’t know yet if they were assaulted, but that list is a good place to start. Court, since you’re in a holding pattern, can you go through the girls’ social media and see if anything stands out? Maybe you’ll spot something that Miller’s team didn’t.”
A yawn nearly dislodged Nikki’s jaw. “I’ll go and interview the parents with Miller again in the morning. We currently have no evidence to process and it’s too late to interview any witnesses. I’ll go through the original investigation notes, you guys get home and let’s start fresh tomorrow. It might be our last chance to get any sleep for a while.”
Liam glanced at Courtney, who shook her head.
“What?” Nikki asked.
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but now we know this isn’t Frost, we don’t have to work the case. You have every authority to pack it up and let the locals handle it. I’ve seen the protesters outside, and I wouldn’t want to be around that if I were you.”
Nikki forced her best fake smile. “Don’t worry about me. The past will stay where it belongs. I’m here to find out what happened to those girls.”
Four
Blowing snow made Nikki’s drive home take twice as long. She’d blasted the radio in a futile effort not to think about the past. Long-buried memories seemed to pop out of nowhere. The sound of the floorboards creaking came into her head. That sound had saved Nikki’s life, and she’d never forget it. Hiding in the closet, sweat soaking her shirt, she’d trembled with fear as the footsteps came into the room. Then he’d whispered her name, and fear turned to rage. How could he do this to her family?
She blinked back the tears. The thought of Mark Todd convincing anyone that he was innocent, much less a group of people who were willing to spend their time and energy fighting for him, burned a hole in her gut. He’d sat silently during the trial all those years ago, refusing to look at Nikki. She’d wanted to grab him and make him look at her, make him see what he’d done to her. He’d known her family for years, their family farms bordered each other’s: they’d play in her family’s cornfields as kids, running through the mazes, sweat pouring down their backs, laughing. The first two years of high school, she and Mark had even run in the same social circle—until Nikki met John.
Looking back, Nikki could see that she’d dropped everything for John. At sixteen, he’d been her first love. He was athletic, handsome, and a junior at Bethel University. He’d made Nikki feel special and wanted—for the first time in her life. But her parents had believed the four-year age difference was too much and when they found out—caught him picking her up one evening at the top of the field by the house—they’d forbidden her to see him. And for the first time in her life, Nikki rebelled. She snuck out to meet John a few days later, half-expecting to get caught. But she hadn’t, and the rush that came with getting away with it was intoxicating.
Nikki had always been close to her parents, and growing up an only child meant she was often spoiled and doted on. Her mother was stricter than her father, who hated to tell her no. He was always the peacemaker between Nikki and her mother, and Nikki had always been able to nag him into allowing her to do whatever she wanted. But he’d sided with her mother about John, and Nikki had been furious. She barely talked to her father when he came in from the fields for dinner, and hurting his feelings felt justified.
The night of the murders, Nikki had said something rude to her father, and he’d snapped, calling her a spoiled brat. Her mother had sent Nikki upstairs with a warning not to come back down until morning. The two of them were sick of her bad attitude.
What she wouldn’t give to turn back the clock and change that last conversation and wipe out the memories of their hurt faces and the tears welling in her father’s eyes.