Page 63 of Her Frozen Heart

“The temperature and wind’s going to be a problem,” Nikki said. “I checked the weather and the sun’s supposed to come out mid-morning, but with twenty-mile-an-hour winds, that doesn’t help. Volunteers need to layer up, and we need to have warm vehicles within walking distance. I don’t want someone getting frostbite. How many people do we have?” She hadn’t done a search in sub-zero weather since returning to the area, but she and Miller would be responsible for any injuries sustained from the cold, so making sure the searchers had everything they needed was crucial.

“Not many,” Miller said. “You, me, Reuben and his dog will search together. Reynolds and another deputy will be searching west of us. Chief Peek said he’s got two or three lined up for tomorrow, weather pending. Fields, drainage ditches, watershed areas that may be frozen and able to walk on—all of those will be searched.”

“Parker might still be alive,” Nikki said. “He’s been gone a little over a week, and with the ground and water frozen, our guy’s options are limited. We need to remember how long this guy has been killing and what we know he’s capable of,” she reminded them. “I agree about the state park, though, especially this time of year. Less foot traffic and staff right now.”

Liam’s phone vibrated on the table. He rubbed his eyes and then squinted at the screen. She could tell he hadn’t gotten much sleep the last couple of days, and the doctors had harped on about how important sleep was to his recovery.

“Shit.” Liam pushed his phone aside.

“You’re just tired,” Nikki said. “If you’re not careful—”

“No, that’s not it,” he cut in. “Parker’s family released a statement about the FBI and the Washington County Sheriff ignoring the police’s request for help in the disappearance. ‘The delay and ego of Special Agent Nicole Hunt may very well have cost Parker Jameson his life,’ says the family’s spokesperson.” He looked up at Nikki. “Want me to keep reading?”

“No,” she seethed. “Dover’s behind this. I told her the family was her primary responsibility. She wasn’t happy about not being in on the action.”

Miller pushed away from the table, livid. “I’m going to the Jamesons’ now.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nikki said.

The sheriff shook his head. “Let me do it. The family’s more likely to listen to me. I hope.”

TWENTY-ONE

Nikki parked her jeep on the street that overlooked the frozen Mississippi River in downtown Stillwater. As pretty as the river was in the summer, it was desolate in the winter. The gusting winds tore across the ice, sweeping snow onto the shore like a wave. It practically blew Nikki across the street as she headed toward the Oasis Café, a small riverfront diner with decent food and coffee just a few minutes’ drive from the sheriff’s station. She’d tried to convince Sheriff Miller to let her go with him to talk with Parker’s family, but he’d refused. Deep down, she knew that his decision was probably the right one. Nikki wasn’t sure she could overcome her exhaustion well enough to keep from telling the family that Dover was only using them to cover her own ass.

She and Liam had spent the last hour going through information and trying to narrow down their search window for the first victim. She’d left the sheriff’s office with the intention of heading home, but then remembered that Roth had said he’d be at Oak Park Heights Correctional all day. The prison was only three miles from downtown, so Nikki had arranged to meet with Roth before he headed back into the metro area. She didn’t see Roth when she arrived. The diner was mostly empty, save for a pair of retired couples having coffee together. Nikki asked for a table in the back corner. She sat down facing the door, her stomach reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since the donuts this morning. Her stomach felt sour from too much coffee, but she needed to eat, so Nikki ordered a BLT and iced tea. While she waited for Roth, she went through her notes and plans for tomorrow. She had plenty of cold weather gear, including insulated facemasks, but hopefully the trees in the state park provided some sort of windbreak. She needed to have extra socks and gloves and make sure her thermal underwear was clean. Rory had some hand and feet warmers he used during the cold months; Nikki made a note to pack them. Since Miller and his family spent a lot of time outdoors year round, he kept necessities like extra clothes, blankets and ice shoes in his SUV. And the walking sticks, Nikki remembered. The second case she’d worked with Miller was the murder of a mother and her young son. They’d been left in a deep ravine and getting down to the bodies wouldn’t have been possible without the titanium hiking sticks Miller kept in the SUV.

The sleigh bells hanging on the restaurant’s front door jingled. Roth entered, looking windblown but still too chic to be a psychologist. Nikki waved from her corner table. He smiled and headed her way, smoothing his sandy blond hair. His already sunburned face looked a bit chapped from the wind.

“Good afternoon.” He smiled and sank into the booth across from Nikki, his eyes missing some of this morning’s luster. Talking to killers did that to a person. Roth asked for water and nothing else.

“I know it’s early to eat—or late, depending how you look at it,” Nikki said. “But those donuts this morning were my last meal.”

“Please, you don’t have to justify anything to me,” he said. “I’m just not hungry after today’s interviews. The last one was… challenging to say the least.”

“Anyone I know?” Nikki joked.

Roth looked down at the table. “Unfortunately, yes.”

Her stomach bottomed out. “Which one?”

“We don’t have to talk about it today, Agent Hunt. I’d like to some time, though.”

“Call me Nicole, please. Which one?”

“Oliver, your brother.”

“Frost,” she corrected him. “He’s a half-brother I didn’t even know I had who murdered multiple women and my ex-husband. He traumatized my daughter.”

“That’s why I said we should talk about it another time.”

“Did he tell you that he wrote me a letter? I got it on Christmas Eve.”

Roth ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m actually the one who suggested he write to you.”

Nikki stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“Let me explain,” Roth said. “I first met with him in early November. I already knew the case file, so I was aware of his connection to you, of course.” He shifted in his seat. “You know talking to these guys isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to say things you don’t mean to earn their trust. Like pretending to empathize with your brother over his childhood, acting as though I understood his pain, maybe even warranted it.” He laughed nervously. “This is one of the only times a scientist doesn’t have to be honest to get honest results.”

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