The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,54

about?”

“A paramedic took my blood the night my parents died. You knew I’d been drinking.”

“I gave you a sobriety test,” Hardin said. “You passed easily.”

“I remember the paramedic and the needle.”

“You were in shock and dehydrated,” he said. “They put an IV in. They wanted to take you to the hospital, but you refused.”

Nikki vaguely remembered the argument about the hospital. She’d arrived on the neighbor’s doorstep, screaming and pounding on the door. The neighbor called the police. At some point, the police had left the crime scene to speak with Nikki, and the paramedics had shown up.

“They took my blood,” she said, wanting to feel certain, as doubt crept through her.

Hardin rolled his eyes as though she were an irritating toddler. “That never happened. You told me you only had a few drinks and hadn’t had anything for at least three hours. You passed the sobriety test. But evidently you weren’t honest about how drunk you were.”

“That’s not true,” she said. “I had sobered up.”

“The facts don’t matter. It’s perception.” Beads of sweat dotted Hardin’s forehead.

Nikki tried to keep her voice calm. “At least now I know exactly what I’m dealing with.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hardin’s face had gone red.

“What do you think it means?”

“That you’re a cocky FBI star who is worried about her reputation,” he said. “If your testimony is ultimately thrown out, you’re going to look like a pariah who lied.”

“Or a traumatized teenager who was a victim of a poorly run investigation,” she snapped.

His dark eyes narrowed. “You’d better watch out who you cross, Hunt.”

“Then don’t try to manipulate me. You’re not nearly as good at it as you think.”

“You should be focused on these murders instead of wasting time in the past.”

Nikki’s hands balled into fists. “I’m completely focused.”

“Tell Miller to keep me up to date.” Hardin gunned the engine and peeled away from the curb.

Nikki’s body trembled with anger. How could he accuse her of lying about the tox report, much less her sobriety? He knew she’d been drinking that night because she’d admitted to it, and he performed the field sobriety test himself. She’d been a traumatized sixteen-year-old kid, and she’d trusted Hardin when he said she had passed the test. What else had Hardin lied about? What if Rory was right?

Miller headed towards Nikki. “What the hell’s going on?” he said, reaching her.

Nikki had to focus on the murders, and Hardin was Miller’s boss. He didn’t need her emotional baggage. “We need to get this woman identified as soon as possible.”

“We will,” Miller said. “Your theory makes sense. But what if this woman has no connection to the girls?”

“Obviously we need to hear what the medical examiner finds during autopsy,” Nikki said. “But at this point, I’m certain this is our killer trying to distract us. And Liam’s right, it stinks of desperation. Someone waited for her to die and then staged her body so she looked like Frost had killed her. That action alone suggests we’re dealing with the same person who killed Madison and Kaylee.”

“I’m on it,” Miller said. “While Liam’s getting her picture to the media, one of my deputies and I are going to show her picture to everyone already interviewed about Madison and Kaylee.”

“Good thinking. Catch them off guard.” Nikki unlocked her jeep and started the engine. “Keep me in the loop. I’m going to get Liam. We’re going to pay a visit to Amy Banks.”

Eighteen

Nikki and Liam stood outside the Banks home, shivering. Liam rang the doorbell a second time, while Nikki stared blankly at the expensive glass panes.

Liam turned around, concern on his face. “Everything okay?”

“We have a third victim on our watch,” Nikki said. “Everything is not okay.”

“That’s not what I meant. You seem distracted.”

Hardin’s insistence that her blood hadn’t been drawn tied Nikki in knots. She kept thinking about Mark Todd’s affair with Hardin’s wife. Would he have gone to such lengths to get revenge? He’d been certain of Mark’s guilt, hadn’t he? The alternative made her tremble with anxiety.

She felt Liam’s eyes on her. He was every bit as perceptive as Nikki. She didn’t want her team to think she wasn’t fully committed to the current case, and she felt terrible that her confusion might have cost a woman her life.

“I’m just trying to work out this guy’s motivation. If we’re right, he’s desperate now. That puts any number of people in danger.”

“As cold as it sounds, I hope it’s someone else,” Liam said. “If it’s some kind of domestic,