The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,97

they were both thinking the same thing. A freezer for the fish. “What kind of fishing? Lake fish? Bluegills, that sort of thing?”

“Sometimes, but they used to get a charter and go out on Mille Lacs. They wanted to catch the big trophy fish.”

“That’s up in Aiken County, off Highway 169,” Miller said. “People fish for muskies and walleyes. Big ones in there, too.”

“Did they stay at any of the resorts?” Little fishing resorts were scattered along 169 all the way into the Boundary Waters.

Mindy made a face. “They never liked staying in those places. John said they weren’t clean enough. The three of them went in on a cabin just north of Lake Mille Lacs. I don’t know if John still uses it.”

Nikki looked sharply at Miller, who looked like he’d just won the lottery. “Do you remember where the cabin’s located?”

“Maybe, if I look at a map. I haven’t been up there in a long time, but all three families took the kids a couple of summers when they were much younger. Bailey wasn’t even born yet.” She glanced from Nikki to Miller. “He’ll be okay, won’t he? Parents are supposed to protect their kids at all costs. John wouldn’t hurt his own child.”

“Let’s hope not,” Nikki said. “Would you help me locate the cabin? Whatever you can remember will be a huge help.”

Liam quickly pulled up a detailed map of the area on his tablet. Mindy put on a pair of reading glasses and studied the screen.

Nikki pulled Miller aside. “He took the girls to the cabin. Is there any chance the security footage from this house and the surrounding ones were altered?”

“Not according to my tech people.”

“Liam said the county judge is hedging on the warrant because Roan’s such a powerful company. Can you update him? Maybe he’ll sign the warrant for the emergency exit footage when he learns a child is missing.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Agent Hunt.” Liam’s voice was sharp with excitement. “I’ve got the cabin’s location. We can make it in two hours if we haul ass.”

Forty-Two

It felt like they’d been on Highway 169 for days, and they still had at least fifteen minutes to go. “I can’t believe the main route to all the fishing resorts up north hasn’t been widened. Traffic is even worse than it was when I was a kid.” Nikki cut into the left lane and gunned past a slow-moving vehicle.

“It’s January,” Liam said. “Are all these people ice-fishing?”

They’d been stuck behind a trailer carrying two small ice-fishing shanties for the past five miles, and passing zones were few and far between thanks to the many curves and villages the road ran through.

“Probably,” Nikki said. “People love it for some reason. We always came up in the summer.”

“You and Tyler?”

The image of Tyler trying to endure the relentless mosquitoes and cleaning fish would have made Nikki laugh if they weren’t racing to save a kid’s life. “God, no. My parents and me. We always came up the last two weeks in August.”

“What about school?”

“Minnesota schools start later because of the lake season,” Nikki explained. “Why do you think the state fair is in September?”

“Makes sense. Where did you go?”

“A little family-owned place called Satkos on Fawn Lake. My dad went there as a kid, and he knew the owners.” Every year, as soon as August started, Nikki’s mother began to stress about packing and planning for the trip. What should they take from home, and what should they buy from the stores up north? Having enough fish for multiple dinners was never a guarantee, so meals had to be planned ahead. By the time they actually left for the trip, Nikki was so irritated with her mother’s fussing she wanted to scream. They were going on vacation. Why did so many things have to be planned?

But she understood now. Taking Lacey anywhere for two days meant planning, let alone spending two weeks in the boonies. Nikki wasn’t sure she could manage it.

“I waited all summer for that trip,” she said. “The same families usually went at the same time every year and stayed in the same cabins. I have a lot of good memories from that place.”

They’d stopped going the summer before high school. Money was too tight, and the crops weren’t doing well. Nikki had told herself she was too old to go fishing, but she’d secretly been heartbroken. Starting high school had been scary enough, but losing one of the last rites of her childhood made it