Page 30 of Her Frozen Heart

“Probably not, but my cousin would. Danny had to stop her from coming out.”

A gust of wind sent the snow flying off tree branches and the roof. Nikki pulled her hood up and zipped her coat to her chin. “Can we talk on the porch?”

“Sure, but what’s this about? Danny said you guys wouldn’t be able to do anything until tomorrow. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, by the way. How’d you know he was here?”

“I didn’t.” Nikki walked slowly up the steps, making sure to stay clear of the dog. “You’re the closest neighbor who isn’t in Florida. I wanted to ask if you or anyone in your family ever noticed people in the woods at night, in the reserve or on the lake?”

“Like sneaking around?” Tanner asked, stroking his scruff. “We can’t see the lake from here, obviously. I haven’t seen anyone out in the reserve, but I go to bed fairly early. Let me ask everyone else real quick.” He turned to go back inside.

“It would be great if I could talk to them,” she said.

Tanner shook his head. “No offense, but I don’t want to deal with my cousin’s temper any more than I have to. I’ll be right back.” He slipped inside, opening the door just wide enough to squeeze between it and the frame.

Nikki’s eyes watered as the scent of marijuana rolled out of the house. Guess she didn’t need to ask where Stanton got his pot or why the greenhouse was locked.

Tanner came back outside, followed by a teenaged girl wearing sweats and a fleece hoodie. She was the spitting image of Tanner, sans the beard. “Your daughter?” The girl might be old enough to drive, but she definitely wasn’t old enough to smoke, despite her red eyes. Tanner and his wife were either the kind of parents who’d rather their kids did illegal stuff at home, or just didn’t care.

He nodded. “Chelsea, this is Agent Hunt. Tell her what you saw.”

Chelsea stuck her hands in her pockets. “A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were driving around, just hanging out, and I saw light in the trees. Not like a flashlight, but a lantern. So, my boyfriend stopped and we went to check it out.”

“Hang on,” Nikki said. She unlocked her phone and found the screenshot she’d taken from Google Earth. She moved so that Chelsea could see the screen. “This is your house, and this is the lake. Where were you guys?”

“Around there.” Chelsea pointed to the area of Mayberry Road that bordered the reserve. The burial site was located due south, less than three hundred yards from the road. “We had just gone into the woods when all of sudden a guy comes out of the trees, holding a big camping lantern. He said he’d been out walking his dog and something scared the dog and it took off. He was looking for him, so we offered to help.”

“What did the man look like?” Nikki asked.

“He had on work coveralls, the heavy kind, and a black coat with a high collar. It went up to his nose, and he had a hat on. All I can say is that he was white and tall.”

“How did he react when you offered to help?” Nikki asked.

“He seemed surprised, but he accepted the help. We split up, my boyfriend and me walking the road while the guy looked for his dog in the woods.”

“Did he say why he wanted to walk in the reserve?” Nikki asked.

“He said he grew up around here and that he could walk through blindfolded and still find his way back to his truck.”

“Did you see the vehicle?”

“No, and we weren’t sure how we were supposed to tell the guy if we saw his dog, because he didn’t have his cell phone with him. Maybe a half hour later, he comes out of the woods and said his dog went back to his pickup at the north entrance. He thanked us for our help and told us to get home before we got lost or hurt.” Chelsea shivered. “It was weird, because we’d driven by the north entrance to the lake right before we first saw the light in the woods, and we didn’t see a vehicle. I just figured we didn’t notice it. Either way, it was cold and I had homework to get to, so we came back here.”

Nikki wanted to tell her they’d probably escaped a serial killer that night, but she didn’t want Mrs. Stanton going right to the news. “Thank you for the information,” she told Chelsea. “Did you notice any other details? Like his eye color, or his eyebrows? Were they weird shaped? Fuzzy? Or even the brand of his hat or coat.”

Chelsea shrugged. “It was dark. He had on darker Carhartts, like overalls. I remember thinking he looked close to my dad’s age. Which is forty-two.” She grinned at her father, who rolled his eyes. “He also got pissy when we shined the flashlight at him so we could see his face. He said the light hurt his eyes or something.”

“Did you two even think that guy might be up to no good and might have a gun or something?” Tanner demanded of his daughter.

“He looked like half the people I know when they go hunting,” she said. “He was friendly and thankful for our help.” Chelsea looked up at her dad. “Didn’t you say we should always help neighbors?”

“Yeah, but this guy didn’t say he was a neighbor, did he?” Tanner asked.

“He said he grew up here. Since he was out there at nine o’clock at night, I figured he must live nearby.” She rolled her eyes.

“You can drop that tone and go back inside unless there’s anything else you need to tell Agent Hunt.”

Another shrug from Chelsea. Is that what Lacey was going to be like when she was a teenager? Aloof, reckless, sassy… Nikki’s heart sank. Of course she would be, because Nikki had been the same way. And Lacey was definitely a mini version of her. “Take my card.” Nikki fished a business card out of her pocket and handed it to Chelsea. “If you or your boyfriend think of anything else, call me.”

Chelsea nodded and went back inside.

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