Page 4 of Little Child Gone

Courtney rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t they fly straight here from LAX?”

“Caitlin said the same thing,” Nikki answered. “Liam tried to save some money on the trip home,” Nikki said.

Courtney snickered. “I can’t wait to see him at the office tomorrow.”

“Yeah, a tired Liam is pretty cranky,” Nikki said.

“Tired Liam is a bitch,” Courtney clarified. “It’s been nice not having him harass me for results.”

Nikki put the extra pieces of lasagna into the refrigerator. Courtney and Liam complained about each other like siblings, but they both cared deeply for each other.

“You went back to work after Christmas, right?” Ruth’s soft voice cut into the sarcasm. “How has that been?”

“It was a good decision,” Courtney answered. “Less people in the lab, easier for me to get back into a groove.”

“That’s wonderful,” Ruth said. “But how are youdoing?”

Courtney’s trauma had begun in October when she discovered a murdered co-worker in the lab. She’d been taken hostage from the lab and her hand signals had helped Nikki and the rest of the team find her in time. Despite her bravado, Courtney still had to face those memories. “I’m okay. My therapist and I prepared for a few weeks. Believe it or not, breathing really does help a lot of things. And Garcia has been really helpful, actually. He offered to clean out the storage room in the lab so I could have a new office. I couldn’t put him through that, but he’s the one who convinced the therapist that at this point, I need to be in the lab for my mental health.”

“Garcia is the Special Agent in Charge, right?” Ruth asked.

“Yeah, he’s our boss,” Courtney replied. “I’m grateful he’s been so understanding.”

Lacey sped by the kitchen window on the quad, Rory and Mark right behind her. “They better not let her go too fast.”

“It can’t,” Courtney answered. “The kid ones have a limit on them.”

Nikki’s phone vibrated in her back pocket, and as she looked at the phone, she was surprised by the name on the caller ID.

“This is Agent Hunt.”

“Agent Hunt, this is Matt Kline.”

Nikki balanced the phone against her shoulder. “How are you?” She slipped out of the kitchen to the hallway. Nikki had met Matt on a case last year, bonded over their similar tragic pasts. Nikki hadn’t had the chance to spend much time with him lately. “I heard you bought the old Hendrickson place near Scandia.” Like Matt’s own ancestors, the Hendrickson family had been among the first Swedish settlers in the area. The Hendrickson place had sat empty for the last few years while the old man’s children fought over the estate, the story making the news several times as the drama played out. “I saw a picture of the house on the news a few weeks ago. Looks like a lot of work to be done. Are you calling for Rory’s advice on where to start?”

“I wish that was the reason.” Matt’s voice trailed off. “I bought the place to restore it. Luke wants to help me.” Nikki remembered Luke well. He was Matt’s stepbrother of sorts. “Anyway, Luke and I started tearing down drywall and found a hidden room.” He paused and cleared his throat. “We found human bones.”

“You’re certain?” Nikki’s head began to buzz the way it always did at the beginning of a rough case. She could practically predict them at this point.

“Yeah,” Matt said. “Human skull stared up at me from the bottom of the closet. I don’t know if an entire person is there, but something bad happened in that apartment.”

“Apartment?” Nikki asked.

“Hendrickson’s kids said he built this addition to the main house. It looks like no one’s been inside in years, so we started cleaning. Mattresses were blocking the bedroom door. We found the remains in the closet. I have no idea how long they’ve been there, but since the place has been closed up, I’m thinking a while. That’s why I called you instead of the police.”

Nikki understood Matt’s distrust of the police. It had been Nikki who’d finally worked out what happened when his family were murdered, and given Matt, and Luke, the answers they’d needed.

“Sheriff Miller will have to be involved eventually.”

“Yeah, I know,” Matt answered. “I do trust him, but I’m near the county line. I’m not dealing with Chisago police.”

The Chisago Police Department had played a big part in letting the man who killed Matt’s family get away with it for decades. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting to bring them in now.

“I know enough to realize we’ll need a forensic anthropologist,” Matt said. “This can’t be a recent death. I hate to ask, but could you at least come out and look at things before we have to involve the police?”

Lacey’s blue and white ATV flashed past the window again. She’d be out riding with Rory and Mark for a while.

“Text me the address,” she told him.

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