Page 62 of The Girls in the Snow

The man threw his cigarette onto the concrete and stomped it out. “Stupid cops. I have to get the key.”

Nikki surveyed the motel while Miller made sure the manager didn’t run. Its single dumpster was full. If someone had tossed anything from the room, it should still be inside.

Nikki and Miller followed the manager past the other first-floor rooms. For a woman running from an abusive ex, a room on the end wasn’t the best choice. “Did she ask for this room?”

“No idea.” He lit another cigarette and knocked on room six. “Anyone home?”

“Unlock it,” Miller said.

“Wait.” Nikki grabbed the man’s arm. “Don’t touch it.”

“The hell you talking about?”

She shined her flashlight app on the dark smudge near the doorknob. “That looks like blood and fairly recent.” Nikki slipped her gloves on and snatched the key without asking. “Get back.”

She checked the knob for other blood spots. She unlocked it and slowly turned the knob enough to open the door a crack and then motioned for Miller to push the door open from the right. Nikki stepped back and took out her gun, ready to back Miller up from the left.

He shoved the door open, keeping his body on the other side of the doorframe.

Nikki swept her light across the room. “Empty. Bathroom door closed.”

Miller reached in and found the light switch, and the room was bathed in yellow light.

The bed appeared to have been hastily made. Nikki crept forward and pulled back the jungle-themed cover.

The right side of the bed had a bloodstain the size of a large cooking pot. It had spilled over onto the side, with dried streaks down to the box spring.

Suddenly Nikki was sixteen years old, staring at her mother’s body, her outstretched arm dangling off the side of the bed.

Nikki pivoted past Miller. Anger she’d spent twenty years burying now simmered on the surface. She had to keep it together. If Nikki fell apart now, she wouldn’t be able to put herself back together again. She breathed in the frigid air and tried to focus.

“You all right?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Nikki said. “Guess we found our crime scene.”

Twenty-One

Janelle Gomez was paid up to the end of the week. She had been living out of two small duffel bags, but so far, they hadn’t found a cell phone or computer. Liam had spoken to Janelle’s mother on his drive into town. She told him that Janelle had canceled her phone and purchased a pay as you go in an effort to hide from her ex.

“Eau Claire police are looking for him.” Dawn had broken by the time Liam and Courtney arrived, and Nikki had spent the past few hours collecting evidence.

“Housekeeping isn’t exactly good in places like these.” Nikki didn’t want to think about what had gone on in this room over the years. “These sheets could have DNA from previous guests.”

“Looks like the pillowcases are missing,” Liam said. “The killer probably wrapped them around her head while transporting her.”

Miller picked up the small lamp lying in the corner. “The base is covered with dried blood. Hopefully we’ll get fingerprints.”

Liam nodded. “Our killer hits her with the lamp hard enough to incapacitate her and then takes her to the park to leave her to suffer.”

The room had only one small chest of drawers, and Janelle’s few clothes were folded inside. Her wallet had been left on top of the clothes, her driver’s license and fifty dollars cash still inside.

“Clearly this wasn’t about money,” Nikki said. “It’s almost as though he wanted us to identify her.”

“Condoms, a couple of packs of cigarettes, matches from the strip club.” Courtney had moved on to the bedside table. “Her killer must not be a smoker. No way these are left behind.”

Nikki’s head spun from lack of sleep. “We need to find out if Janelle told anyone about having someone new in her life.”

“I’ll go back to the strip club and talk to the girls who take the morning shifts,” Miller said. “Maybe I’ll get something useful. The Eau Claire police are sending a detective to notify the family in person.”