Page 36 of Her Frozen Heart

He and Kendra barely looked up from their work when Nikki passed, both muttering distracted greetings.

Liam’s large cubicle was right outside Nikki’s office, and she could see his red head sticking up over the gray wall. She motioned for him to follow her into her office.

“Close the door, please.”

“Am I in trouble?” He sank into the chair in front of Nikki’s desk, rubbing his temples. “I probably gave Kendra and Jim too many things to chase down, but there are a lot to go through.”

“Of course not,” Nikki said. “I put you in charge of them because I trusted you. I’d actually debated bringing Kendra in the field on this one, since your being stuck here means I’m solo, but Hernandez is one step ahead of me.” She told him about Roth’s impending visit. “Hernandez wanted to bring him in today, but I convinced him that it made more sense to meet with Doctor Roth tomorrow, when we have a better idea of how many people are buried in the reserve.”

“I’m familiar with him,” Liam said.

“Hernandez insists that even though his current study is mostly focusing on juveniles, Roth has still spoken with more serial violent offenders than any of us, so I’m interested in what he has to say, but I’m not sure it will ultimately help us,” Nikki said. “Hernandez is giving him limited clearance, so he won’t be in the field, but he’ll be able to look at reports and photos. At any rate, I managed to put off dealing with him until tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll know a lot more about the remains in the woods by then.”

Liam nodded. “I’ve got Kendra and Jimmy helping me comb through blogs and message boards for Minnesota fishing, looking for anyone who mentioned going to Big Marine in the last month. They’re also working on a list of sporting goods stores in Washington County, starting with the one closest to the lake. You want me to have them look in the metro area too?”

“It’s probably too big of a net, even if that’s where he went to buy stuff,” Nikki said. “What about fishing licenses?”

“You think the killer took the time to get one?” Liam asked.

“If he’s smart—and it appears that he is,” Nikki said. “He doesn’t want to draw attention to himself, so the last thing he wants is the DNR creeping up on him. That said, I don’t even want to guess at the number of fishing licenses the state issues every year. I’m not sure going through them is worth our time.”

“Minnesota issued almost two million fishing licenses this year,” Liam said. “Breaking down by the county is still thousands of names.”

“Waste of time then, unless we have an actual name to search for. Where are you with missing persons?”

“In the last year, one hundred and sixty-five people have gone missing in the state. More than a hundred were women between the ages of fifteen and thirty. I’m working on weeding that down into known runaways, people who’ve been located, and women whose disappearance has any sort of similarity with Kesha’s.” Liam stretched out his long legs. “And don’t forget the current missing person, Parker Jameson, from Forest Lake. I know we’re focusing on Kesha right now, but given the timing, I wanted to look more into that case.”

“Skin and hair color are one thing, but different sexes?” Nikki asked. “I don’t know.”

“Neither do I,” Liam confessed. “But since we know there are more victims in the woods, I thought it was worth noting. I did find out that Parker’s ex-boyfriend’s mother owns the restaurant next door to the Artists’ Co-op, and the breakup was contentious. He’s the main suspect, because his mother is the one who alibied him. Said he was home with her, watching a Hallmark Christmas movie.”

“Thin alibi,” Nikki said. “You and I both know how far mothers have gone to protect their children.”

“I thought the same thing.” Liam sucked on a piece of candy. “According to friends and family, Parker’s relationship with”—Liam paused to check his notes—“Colton Troyer was rocky from the start. Colton wanted commitment, Parker wanted to see other people. They only dated three months, but Colton didn’t take the breakup well.”

“More reason not to lump him in with these victims. Assuming the bodies in the woods are actually related to Kesha’s murder,” Nikki said. “Logic and circumstantial evidence say they are, and the dog tracking Kesha’s scent from the lake makes me pretty confident the same person’s responsible for those bodies, but I want to make sure we have solid forensic evidence before that news gets out.”

“Caitlin’s freelancing now, but she still keeps up with her news contacts,” Liam reminded her. “She got a call this morning asking if she knew what was going on in the reserve, because the area was closed off and law enforcement spotted, blah, blah, blah. Caitlin said she didn’t know anything, but I don’t think Miller will be able to keep a lid on it much longer.”

Nikki barely heard the timid knock on her office door. “Come in.”

“Agents.” Kendra practically danced with excitement. “I just found a poster on one of the local fishing message boards that talked about fishing Big Marine since the ice came in. I cross-referenced our sex offender list, and he’s a Tier 2, soliciting minors under the age of eighteen. He lives in the southern part of Washington County.”

“Great work,” Nikki said. “How old is he?”

“Twenty-two,” Kendra said. “Should I contact him for an interview?”

“No,” Nikki and Liam answered in unison. “A registered sex offender isn’t going to be very eager to come down to the FBI office. Email me the information, and I’ll see if Miller can check it out,” Nikki said.

Kendra looked disappointed. Nikki smiled at her. “Seriously, this is a good catch. And if this case wasn’t such high profile I’d probably send you to talk to him, but not without Liam or myself. I’m headed to interview people at the mall, and then I’ve got to speak with Danny Stanton. All of the blood turned out to be deer blood, save for the human blood on the hilt,” Nikki said, looking at Liam. “Courtney said it’s older but not significantly. I’m waiting on the warrant for his DNA.”

“He’s going to love that,” Liam said.

“It’s for his benefit,” Nikki said. “At least, that’s the angle I’m going with. Kendra, keep up the good work. Once things settle down a bit, you can come into the field with me and hopefully Agent Wilson.”

“Thank you, Agent Hunt. Do you want the door open or closed?”

“Open’s fine.”

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