Page 24 of Her Frozen Heart

“He’s divorced, and his kids are with their mom until middle of the week. He’ll have them over New Year’s. He’s meeting me at the lake at eleven a.m.”

“What about your family?” Nikki asked.

“They understand,” he said. “My girls are past Santa Claus. Presents and food are the mainstay of their Christmas. Plus, they’re old enough to understand that what I’m doing is helping another family who’s suffering right now.”

“Lacey’s grandparents are picking her up at one thirty tomorrow afternoon. I can’t leave before then, but I’ll come out to the lake as soon as she leaves. Did your friend say how long it would take to search the lake?”

“An hour, hour and a half if the dog doesn’t hit anything. Then we’ll let him start in the parking area and go from there.”

Nikki glanced at Rory still working on the dollhouse. “Are you able to help search tomorrow afternoon? Miller has a K9 lined up. We’d probably have to drive separately since I can’t leave until Lacey’s picked up in the afternoon. But if you can go earlier, Miller needs all the volunteer manpower he can get.”

“Is that normal?” Rory asked. “Am I even allowed?”

“I just need the manpower,” Nikki said. “Any other time of the year, we’d have deputies and other volunteers to help search, but there’s no way we’ll be able to put together anything official tomorrow. This will just be as many people as Kent and I can cobble together to walk through the frozen slough around the lake. Fair warning, though, there’s a chance you’ll see something awful, so I totally understand if you don’t feel comfortable.”

Rory shook his head. “I’ll go with you.”

“Would you be able to come earlier than one thirty?” Miller asked, obviously picking up on Rory’s voice. “I understand Nikki has to wait for Lacey to get picked up, but Reuben thinks we’ll be done with the lake by noon. We’ll hit the ground right after.”

“I’ll be there,” Rory said.

Nikki told Miller she’d update Liam and see if he could come out and help search too. “That makes you, me, Reuben, the dog, Rory and Liam, assuming he’s able to come tomorrow. I’d say that’s enough. We don’t want to attract more media attention. I haven’t heard anything on the news about Kesha’s hands and feet being cut off, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

After she finished talking with Miller, Nikki called Liam. “Kent and I had assumed we wouldn’t be able to search until Sunday, but his friend with the dog came through.” She explained the plan for tomorrow.

“What time and where?” Liam asked.

“Miller’s going to work with the DNR to get the cadaver dog on the lake first, and then the immediate perimeter, working out from there. If he catches any kind of scent, we’ll search on the ground. Rory’s going to be there by noon, so plan on that. The handler says too many people on the boat distracts the dog. Will Caitlin be all right with you helping out? We can’t have her there since she’s technically part of the media.”

“She’ll be fine. She’ll have her family here, and she and Zach have a Monopoly tournament planned. I have a feeling it’s going to get ugly.”

Nikki couldn’t help but smile. The relationship between Caitlin and her son, Zach, was complicated, and Zach had been the target of a deranged pedophile earlier in the year. It was good to hear he was doing well enough to act like a normal teenager.

“Like I said, this is off the books,” Nikki reminded him. “As long as no one but Miller and I touch any actual evidence, we’re fine. I’m hoping it will be nothing more than a wasted Saturday. Did you get the email I forwarded from the Forest Lake detective?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m going to read through it in the morning. My head’s killing me right now. Was fine until we got home.”

“Too much stimulus,” Nikki said. “If you can’t make it tomorrow, I understand.”

“I’ll be there, and I’ll be up to date on this Forest Lake file too,” he said, a razor-sharp edge in his voice. “If someone needs to go out there and meet with them in person, I’ll send an agent.”

Pushing the issue would only rile him up, so Nikki told him to get some sleep.

“He cut off her hands and feet?” Rory asked when she’d finished the call.

Nikki nodded. “I shouldn’t have said that in front of you, so please don’t repeat it.”

“I won’t.” He shuddered. “I’m close to finishing this if you want to go through your notes or whatever. I know sitting here not working is killing you.”

“Thank you.” Nikki leaned over and kissed him hard. “And we can talk about the sale after this case, I promise.”

Rory smiled and nodded at her, but Nikki had the distinct feeling he knew she was dodging the answer. What the hell was wrong with her?

Rory managed to finish the dollhouse by midnight, and he fell asleep immediately, but Nikki lay awake, reading over the information Detective Wiley had emailed.

While the public often focused on the gruesome details of a murder, victimology was the key to a profile and, often, to solving the case.

Kesha was a high school senior from a small suburb, but she’d been taken from a packed mall on the busiest shopping day of the year. The high-risk action showed Nikki the killer was organized and meticulous, managing to avoid not only mall security but he’d kept Kesha in check enough that police hadn’t been able to spot her leaving with the killer, despite the amount of CCTV at the Mall of America. Kesha’s parents said that she and Dion had planned the Black Friday shopping trip just a couple of days before Thanksgiving. According to the phone records shared by Detective Wiley, Kesha had only told a couple of her close friends about the trip, and they’d already been alibied. What little information they had suggested that the killer had probably chosen Kesha at random that day, possibly after witnessing her discussion with Dion and noting her frustration with her boyfriend. Predators excelled in spotting vulnerability, and many enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. Nikki was certain Kesha’s killer had been planning on taking someone that day, but had Kesha been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or did she have a connection to her killer?

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