Page 29 of Wild Frost

Mr. McCarthy shook his head. His brow wrinkled with confusion. "You think this was targeted?"

I shrugged. "Just looking at all possibilities.”

"I think the savages were out for a joyride and decided to cause chaos."

"Did you know the carolers well?"

"Not well. But they all lived in the neighborhood. All good people. No one deserves something like this."

"Of course not.”

"You'll find who did this, won't you? You got the make and model of the car. Do you have a license plate?”

"No license plate. But we’ll check with other residents. I'm sure we can narrow it down and come up with some good leads."

"Tell me you’ll find the people who did this,” he pleaded. Rage tightened his jaw. “I want them to pay."

"We'll do everything we can," I assured.

I gave Mr. McCarthy a card, offered my condolences again, and said we'd be in touch.

JD and I banged on neighboring doors and collected more doorbell footage. None of the footage had a clear view of the plates.

We rejoined the sheriff as Brenda and her crew bagged the bodies.

"You got any thoughts on this?”

I said, "It's a long shot, but…”

"At this point, a long shot is better than nothing.”

"I think Dr. Carlson had been supplying a lot of ladies in this neighborhood with prescription medication. Just a hunch, but I think he might be providing some of them with more than medication, if you get my drift."

The sheriff knew where I was going with this.

"It's possible he was the one targeted out of this group,” I said. “Say, for instance, a jealous husband finds his wife dead from an overdose of pills from the local veterinarian. Maybe he wants to take revenge. Might be a deadly combination."

“Hires some gangbangers to do it,” Daniels said, following my logic. "You’re right. It’s a stretch. Look into it. Talk to Carlson’swife, see if she has anything to add. Somebody's got to tell her Dr. Carlson is dead."

"We’re on it.”

Jack and I left the scene and drove a block over to 856 Crystal Court. The lights were on, and cars were parked in the driveway. Christmas lights covered the hedges. Like all the other homes in the neighborhood, it was decorated to the max—Santa in his sleigh with a bag full of presents, illuminated reindeer leading the way.

JD parked the Porsche at the curb, and we made our way to the front porch. I rang the video doorbell and waited to deliver the bad news. Dread twisted my stomach.

A moment later, a figure approached the door, backlit by lighting in the living room. Privacy glass distorted her figure. She looked through the glass and called out, “Who is it?"

I displayed my badge and replied, "Coconut County.”

16

Mrs. Carlson pulled open the door and looked at us with curious eyes. Meredith was a striking young woman in her early 30s with deep red hair that dangled just above her shoulders. Her emerald eyes could hypnotize. Her porcelain skin was flawless. Why Dr. Carlson would want to step out on someone like that was beyond me. Then again, I had no proof he was fooling around. Just a suspicion.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, ma'am," I said before I broke the devastating news.

As usual, it hit like a ton of bricks.

Meredith stared at me in disbelief for a moment, then began to tremble. She blinked a few times. "What? How?"