Page 24 of The Ice Sisters

Derrick explained the reason for his call. “I spoke with the woman in the accident you handled. She claimed she doesn’t know her name and the medics said she was unconscious when they found her.”

“Yeah, I searched the car but there was no ID inside, not even a vehicle registration. Struck me as odd.”

“Where’s the car now?” Derrick asked.

“We brought it to the police lot until the woman comes to and explains.”

Derrick ran a hand over his chin. “I’m sending a forensic team to process it for fingerprints and blood.”

“What’s going on, Agent Fox?”

“I can’t say for sure, but the driver might be related to the case I’m working and have information on the victims we found near Emerald Falls. Did you trace the license plate?”

“Yes. The vehicle is a 2004 black Pathfinder, license number RTZ 659. According to records, it was bought at a used car lot in Dahlonega by a man named Thomas Thacker. I tried calling him but got no answer.”

“His address?”

“I’ll text it to you.”

“Thanks. I’m sending that forensic team out there now.”

Derrick ended the call, put in a request for the forensic team, then grabbed his keys.

He’d confront Thacker. There had to be a reason the car registration was not inside the vehicle. Why didn’t the woman have her ID or a phone with her?

Two possibilities came to mind. She was running from something… or someone. Or there had been someone else at the scene who’d taken her ID and phone.

TWENTY-SEVEN

EMERALD FALLS

Ellie phoned Sheriff Bryce Waters and filled him in on her visit to Modelle’s house. “Could we put surveillance on him? If we catch him violating parole or doing something suspicious, we can get a warrant for his house.”

“I’ll do it myself,” Bryce said.

She thanked him then spent the next hour in the town of Emerald Falls combing the shopkeepers and vendors. Although some were still just setting up because of the weather, visitors had already started flocking to the small downtown area. Families were ice skating and visiting Santa’s workshop, and a snowman-building contest was underway.

In spite of the cold, the music from the ice cream truck drew the kids like the Pied Piper. The line at the hot cocoa booth, which offered a variety of flavors, was almost as long.

Although the deputies had canvassed shop owners, the festival had drawn other vendors and food trucks, so she paused to ask if anyone remembered seeing twin girls in town but had no luck.

When she spotted a break in the line with Santa, she made her way to him.

Santa tugged at his beard as he looked up at her then chuckled. “Ho, ho, ho. You come to tell Santa what you want?”

Ellie gave him a dry look. Was he flirting with her? “Yes,” she said. “I’m looking for information about the little girls found dead at Emerald Falls. Did you happen to see them here?”

His beard moved as he spoke. “No. I just got set up this morning.”

Frustration knotted Ellie’s belly, but she thanked him and moved on past a red bus hosting a blood drive for local hospitals. A thirty-something man wearing a lab coat stood outside the bus handing out fliers.

“Want to donate today, ma’am?”

“Sorry, not today.”

“You aren’t afraid of needles, are you?” he asked with a challenge in his eyes.

Ellie patted her holster and squared her shoulders. “I’m not afraid of anything. But I’m looking for a killer right now.”

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