Page 3 of Her Frozen Heart

He kissed her cheek. “Some lies are worth telling. She’ll see the birds and feel better.”

Lacey’s boots thumped down the hall. “I’m going to the backyard.”

“Be careful,” Rory said. “The snow’s getting heavy and make sure you put on your boots and hat… actually, I’ll just go with you. Unless you don’t want me to, which is totally fine.”

Lacey looked at Nikki and rolled her eyes. “Boys ask too many questions. Come on, Rory. We can play in the snow and look for the birds.”

Nikki pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Rory cared so much about her daughter, and nothing warmed Nikki’s heart more than hearing the two of them giggling and playing in the next room. While the cookies baked, she quickly put together her hash brown casserole to bring to dinner at the Todds’, keeping an eye on the kitchen window so she could see Rory and Lacey in the backyard. He fell flat in the snow, and Lacey rushed to cover him.

She flipped through the mail, surprised to see a letter for her since she still got most of her mail at her house in St. Paul. Her heart faltered when she saw the return address.

Oak Park Heights prison, Minnesota’s only Level Five maximum security prison, current home of the cop who’d murdered George Floyd a year ago, along with the man who’d murdered Nikki’s parents and the Frost killer responsible for the deaths of six women and Tyler Hunt.

Nikki stared at the envelope as though the handwriting would tell her the identity, but she didn’t have a clue. Should she open it or throw it away?

“If you toss it, you’ll just be digging it out of the trash in the middle of the night,” she said to the empty kitchen. Since all forms of communication were searched before leaving or going into the prison, the envelope had been opened and resealed, making it easy for her to tear it open now.

Her eyes went straight to the bottom of the one-page letter to see who it was from.

OLIVER, your half-brother

With shaking hands, she quickly read the letter, which consisted of a few paragraphs about prison life and a reminder that she still had a living family member and that he wished she would come visit.

“Rat bastard.” Nikki shredded the letter into bits and tossed it in the garbage, along with the envelope. She’d dealt with enough serial killers and all-around vile people that Oliver’s manipulative tactics didn’t surprise her. He must have known she wouldn’t consider visiting or even acknowledging him as a biological relative, and he’d sent the letter to get under her skin and remind her of his permanent impact on her life.

Anger coursed through her, but Nikki managed to control her breathing before her rage bubbled over. She wouldn’t give Oliver the satisfaction of ruining the day.

Nikki grabbed three of the rum balls and stuffed all of them into her mouth. She’d made three dozen, so there were plenty left for Mark to enjoy. Right now, getting drunk off rum cookies sounded like the perfect way to spend her afternoon.

Nikki’s phone rattled on the counter, and her heart dropped when she saw Sheriff Miller’s name on the screen. He wouldn’t call on Christmas Eve unless something bad had happened.

“Happy holidays, Kent.” Nikki kept her tone light and crossed her fingers he wasn’t about to ask her for help with something terrible.

“Same to you, Nikki. Listen, I know it’s Christmas Eve, but I’ve got a situation out at Big Marine Lake. A bad one.”

“Drowning?” Nikki asked. The ice fishermen were out of their minds, as far as she was concerned, especially the ones bold enough to drive their heavy trucks out on the lake.

“An ice fisher caught human remains,” Miller said. “He recognized her as Kesha Williams. Still waiting to confirm that.”

Kesha had disappeared from the Mall of America last month, and the Bloomington police had made very little headway in the investigation. Nikki had thought about calling and offering her team’s assistance, but her partner Liam’s absence meant she was even more overloaded. Nikki had decided the police would call if they needed her help.

Now she felt sick to her stomach with regret.

“The ice fisherman recognized her face?” Nikki knew cold water greatly slowed decomposition, but surely Kesha hadn’t been dead very long if the fisher was able to recognize her. “Have you seen her yet?”

“The divers are headed out on the water now,” Miller said. “We’re short-staffed right now. Reynolds and I are at the scene. I hate to ask given the holiday—”

Nikki had already covered her casserole and turned off the oven. “It’s okay. Big Marine Lake, you said?”

“At the North Access Point,” Miller said. “DNR forest wardens are helping us keep the area blocked off. I’m trying to keep the news out of the media, at least until we can get an official ID. Her family lives ninety minutes away, but I’ve got their local PD on standby in case we’re able to confirm it’s Kesha.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Nikki went to the back door and called for Rory, who was in a serious snowball fight with Lacey. After the first big snow of the year, he and Lacey had gone to the store and purchased two snowball shooters. Nikki was surprised they hadn’t broken from heavy use yet.

Rory called time out and jogged to the house. “Her aim’s getting better.” His grin faltered when he saw Nikki’s expression. “Someone’s been murdered, haven’t they?” Without waiting for an answer, Rory told Lacey he’d be right back out and followed Nikki to the bedroom. She quickly shed her Scottie Dog fleece pants and T-shirt for jeans, thick socks, and an oversize cashmere sweater. Between it and her winter coat, Nikki should be fine in the cold for a while.

“It’s supposed to snow for a few more hours,” Rory said. “It’s thick and heavy too.”

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