The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,29
for her to close it.
Screw the wiper blade. Nikki needed a hot shower and a stiff drink.
Nine
Nikki slipped the ice pack beneath her tailbone and tried to get comfortable in the stiff hotel bed. The aspirin she’d taken had helped her headache, but her tailbone still throbbed, and her nerves were on edge. She’d called the district attorney, but he’d already left the office for the day. She told his service to make sure he knew she would be there first thing in the morning.
She’d spent a blissful half an hour on the phone with Lacey. The sound of her happy voice and little-girl giggles had been a perfect distraction. After Nikki told her daughter good night, Tyler took the phone and started in about the newspaper article. Her ex meant well, but Nikki didn’t have the energy to talk about it and telling him about seeing Rory was out of the question. Tyler could be overprotective, and Nikki would get snappy and say something she’d have to apologize for tomorrow. She ended the call with a promise to call tomorrow evening.
Nikki opened the internet browser on her phone and typed in her name. Her heart immediately sank. Today’s article had been picked up by just about every news outlet in the state.
You have blank spots.
That wasn’t true, Nikki thought. She remembered sneaking out of the window and meeting John at the end of the long, winding drive. They’d gone to the party. More of a gathering, really. Only a few of John’s friends had been there. Nikki had felt out of place being the only girl. She’d felt dizzy later on in the night and gone to lie down, but her memory after getting home was crystal clear.
By the time police arrived, Mark had fled, but he was arrested within hours. His bloodstained clothes were found in the trash, the blood later confirmed as her mother’s. His prints were all over the gun. And she was told that it was an open-and-shut case, according to Hardin and the prosecution. So, what biological evidence had the reporter been talking about? she wondered.
Nikki scrolled through the article and realized she hadn’t read the last paragraph.
Nicole Walsh, who now goes by her married name Hunt, is a Special Agent with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. She’s currently in Stillwater to assist the sheriff’s office in the murder investigation of two local teenaged girls. She declined all requests for interviews.
Nikki had instructed her unit’s office manager to weed out any media requests regarding her parents’ case as soon as news broke about the DNA testing. The reporter’s information wasn’t wrong, but her wording suggested she’d spoken to Nikki personally. She could probably get the newspaper to make the correction, but that also opened up a line of communication she had no interest in pursuing, and besides, the comments were already pouring in. The top two appeared to be social justice warriors engaged with several posters on whether or not the sheriff’s office might have railroaded Mark Todd. Some users claimed to have stories about other wrongdoings by police, a few attacked Nikki’s character and one user seemed particularly fascinated with the Frost Killer, but his supposed insider knowledge was way off target.
Nikki’s hand froze, and she stared at the screen.
Join our protest in Stillwater. We meet at the intersection by the sheriff’s office every morning at 9:00 a.m. Agent Hunt will have to use that entrance and we’re hoping to talk with her.
The user had commented with the information at least three times. She clicked on the username, but the account had been created today. Nikki had no way of tracing the identity. She fired off an email to the FBI’s press liaison, directing them to ask the newspaper to monitor comments that could interfere with Nikki’s investigation into Madison and Kaylee’s murders.
Nikki didn’t have time to ward off continuous interview requests and pushy protesters. Should she make some sort of statement asking the media to back off? The idea of giving anything more to the wolves was sickening, but maybe it would keep them at bay long enough for her to work this case.
She closed the browser and opened the group chat with Liam and Courtney. They’d already been brought up to speed about today’s interviews, and Liam had come back from Hudson without anything useful. Courtney didn’t have a lot to do without physical evidence, but Nikki knew she’d pressure the medical examiner to prioritize Madison and Kaylee when they could.