Page 49 of The Ice Sisters

“How about the woman named Barbara Thacker who we’ve been looking for?”

“If she did, she never mentioned it to me. Then again, we mostly just exchanged info about the kids when we made drop-offs.”

“Would you mind if I spoke to your daughter a minute? In your presence, of course.” Derrick shifted onto the balls of hisfeet. “I promise I’ll try not to upset her any more than she already is.”

Jonas looked hesitant but relented and led Derrick back to the car. “Honey, Agent Fox needs to talk to you for a minute.”

Wariness flickered across the teen’s face. “Am I in trouble or something?”

“No, honey. He’s just trying to figure out what happened to Mom.”

The girl fidgeted but stepped from the car and crossed her arms, her face a mask of anguish.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Derrick said gently. “I promise you I’ll find out who did this terrible thing to your mother.”

She swiped at her damp red cheeks. “Everybody loved Mom,” she said, her voice breaking.

“I’m sure they did.” Derrick offered her a sympathetic smile. “Your dad said she was upset over the news story about those little girls who were found at Emerald Falls. Did she talk to you about that?”

The girl shrugged her thin shoulders. “She was upset, but she was so tenderhearted she cried over coffee commercials.”

Derrick smiled again. “Did she mention knowing the girls?”

The daughter shook her head.

“How about a woman named Barbara Thacker?”

“Who?”

Derrick showed her the picture of Barbara he’d downloaded onto his phone. “This woman, Barbara Thacker.”

The teen tilted her head to the side and studied the picture. “I don’t remember seeing her. But I did hear Mom talking to someone named Barbara a couple of days ago.”

“Why are you asking about that woman?” the husband interjected.

Not prepared to divulge that Barbara could be the twins’ biological mother, Derrick chose his words carefully. “Because she’s missing and I think she knew your wife.”

He saw the wheels turning in Jonas’s mind.

“You think she was one of Delilah’s clients and that she killed my wife?”

Derrick maintained a neutral expression. “It’s too early to speculate, but we’ll explore every angle.” Although that would be reason for Barbara to disappear. But what motive would Barbara have to hurt her counselor or the children?

And what about Claire?

FIFTY-EIGHT

Ellie watched with a heavy heart as Laney performed a preliminary exam on Delilah Short. Her heart ached for the teenagers outside who now had to grow up without a mother.

“The poor woman was definitely stabbed in the back,” Laney said as she examined her injuries. “The size and shape of the wounds are consistent with a sharp instrument like a kitchen or hunting knife.”

Ellie remembered the hunting knife Cord had found in that cave. But the MO of the twins’ murder was different. He’d pushed them over a ridge, not stabbed them.

“If you find DNA from the killer, that would be helpful.”

Laney turned back to the body. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“TOD?”

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