The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,28

replace a flat tire and put on new windshield wipers before she even got her license.

Rory leaned against the driver’s door. “You’re welcome, Nicole.”

“How do you know my name?” She looked up at him nervously.

“I didn’t until just now. At least I wasn’t certain it was really you. I thought you looked familiar.” He glanced at the newspaper lying on the console and then looked away.

“I should have said something,” Nikki admitted. “But there were other people around, and I didn’t think it was the right time or place.”

“So you made a quick decision and ran. Must be a habit of yours.” Rory wiped the sleet out of his hair and looked at her with disgust.

“Thanks again for your help,” Nikki said. “I need to get this blade replaced and head off.”

Rory still held the door. “But you’ll be back, because you’re investigating those two little girls’ murders.”

She pulled on the door again, but Rory didn’t budge. She tried to focus on the anger in his eyes and not his full lips.

“You caught the resort killer, right? I’ve heard you have quite the reputation these days,” he said. Nikki felt nervous under his gaze.

“My team and I caught him,” she replied.

“Now you’re after the Frost guy,” he continued. “You hunt big game. Tell me, Nikki, with all your fancy degrees now, do you think you can you tell when someone’s lying if you’re talking to them face to face?”

Nikki felt the heat rising to her cheeks. She hadn’t expected to stay under the radar but running into Rory was the one thing she’d hoped to avoid.

As much as she wanted to react to his sarcastic tone, she knew it would only egg him on. “I don’t need to see your brother to tell you that he’s lying,” she said evenly. “I was hiding in my parents’ closet when he came back upstairs. He whispered my name, and he would have killed me too if he’d found me first.”

Nikki had cowered inside the closet for what felt like hours, wanting to flee. She had no idea where Mark was in the house, what he was doing, or if he was close to discovering her. She’d strained to hear his footsteps, wondering when he would enter her parents’ bedroom and discover Nikki’s hiding place. Her heart had pounded in her chest, and the fear had nearly paralyzed her as the minutes ticked by. And then she’d taken a chance, managed to get downstairs and out of the house, fleeing to the neighbors.

“I can’t talk about your brother’s case, I’m sorry.” Nikki had to wrap this up before she lost her temper.

“I don’t want your apologies,” Rory said. “I want you to open your eyes and find out what really happened that night.”

“I know what happened,” Nikki replied.

Rory stared at Nikki for a moment, his eyebrows knitted together. He rubbed the back of his neck and chewed the inside of his cheek.

“What?” Nikki said. “There’s obviously something else you want to say.”

“There’s no tox report.”

“Don’t believe everything you read in the paper,” Nikki replied. “That reporter clearly has an agenda.”

Rory shook his head. “Mark’s new lawyer has a copy of the entire case file. There’s no tox report.”

Dread crept through her. She’d had her blood drawn, hadn’t she? So much of the night had become a blur to her because she’d worked so hard to bury the horrible image of her mother’s dead body. Her parents had been good people, respected by the community and neighbors. Her mother loved to volunteer at the library, working with the younger readers. She would have been a wonderful grandmother. The ache in her throat was becoming unbearable.

“Mark can fill in the blank spots,” Rory said. “He’s the only one who knows what happened that night.”

“You’re finally making sense.”

“I’m talking about the party,” Rory clarified. “You need to know what happened at that damn party while you were passed out cold. You told the police Mark attacked you while you were there, that he wanted you and you rejected him. That he went to your house to wait for you and you walked in once he had killed your parents. But the people protecting you back then weren’t honest with you. You don’t have the whole story.”

Nikki jerked the door into Rory’s hip. “I’m leaving now.”

Rory stepped back but still held the door. “You should talk to Mark soon, before the truth all comes out.”

“Goodbye.” She yanked the door harder this time, and he finally moved enough