by Stacy Green
Hanson swayed. “Do you mean the farm? God, no. I didn’t do anything to those girls.”
“We’ve spoken to Ricky Fillinger,” Nikki said. “He told us about Kaylee stopping by a job site. Why didn’t you mention giving Kaylee a ride?”
Sweat glistened on Hanson’s brow. “I—I guess I’d forgotten about it.”
“I see.” Nikki didn’t buy that for a minute. “Why did you give her a ride? Her house isn’t on your way home from school.”
“I was headed to St. Paul, and it was cold and just about to rain. She was walking without a jacket, and I felt sorry for her. I didn’t want to kick her out when she said she needed to stop and talk to her mom’s boyfriend first. I figured she had to check in or something.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this?” Nikki asked. If what Hanson was saying was true, it didn’t make sense that he’d lied.
“Because I knew how it would look,” he said. “And the police would have to investigate my alibi, and I didn’t want…”
“What?”
Hanson’s shoulders dropped. “I didn’t want my wife to find out I’d been in the city the day Madison and Kaylee disappeared. That I wasn’t home. That I asked Miles to lie for me. Because I was with another woman.”
It would never cease to amaze her how far a person would go to hide an affair. Hanson wasn’t the first man she’d seen in the hot seat because he didn’t want his infidelity exposed.
Hanson slumped against the wall like he’d been given a muscle relaxer. Confession usually brought a person relief, and Nikki knew he was telling the truth.
“Does your son know you’re cheating?”
Hanson shook his head.
“Kaylee’s contact with Ricky makes him a suspect,” Miller said. “You should have told me you knew they met.”
“But he had an alibi. I read it in the paper. So I didn’t see the point in saying anything.”
“Nice of you to do my job.” Miller looked ready to haul the teacher away in handcuffs.
“Kaylee said she had to give Ricky a message from her mom, and she didn’t have his number in her phone. We stopped there, they talked a couple of minutes, and I dropped her off at home. That’s it. I didn’t think there was anything out of the ordinary about it, and I felt sorry for the kid.”
“Did she have a phone on her that day?”
“Uh… maybe. I think she texted someone, but I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“She say anything about Ricky after they spoke?”
“Just that he was a pain in the ass, and she was glad to be rid of him. I asked her why, and she said he just wasn’t good enough for her mom. I left it at that.” He glanced into the classroom. “I need to get back inside.”
“We’re going to get a warrant for your truck,” Nikki said. “And your house.”
“What?” His voice cracked. “No, there’s no reason.”
“You made your son lie about your whereabouts that day and you kept the ride from us.”
“I’m telling you the truth. If you do this, my wife’s going to ask questions.”
“That’s your problem,” Nikki said. “You shouldn’t have had an affair.”
After securing a warrant, Miller brought in Hanson’s truck for Courtney to search. She’d finished processing Ricky Fillinger’s and found some suspicious stains, but the truck was old, and Ricky hadn’t exactly kept it clean. If he’d had either girl in his truck—especially transporting a body—he would have recently cleaned it. His alibi was solid as well. Nikki had crossed him off her list of suspects.
Hanson produced receipts for the motel room he’d rented when he was supposedly home with Miles. Nikki had requested the motel’s security footage and asked the St. Paul Police to pay a visit to the mistress to confirm his new alibi. If Hanson’s wife didn’t know about the affair, she wasn’t paying attention. The man couldn’t tell a good lie to save his life.
Nikki spent the afternoon at the government center poring over Kaylee’s stories that Liam had printed from the school computers. Many of the characters in Kaylee’s stories seemed to have been inspired by the likes of Jade Eby and other bullies, observed by a snarky misfit heroine who always had the strength to stand up for herself. Viewing the characters through the heroine’s lens gave her a much better look into Kaylee’s head. Her antagonists had reasons for their actions, even the mean girls. Most had redeemable qualities, and Kaylee’s writing tended to be at its best in those scenes.
In one story, an angry young man brought a gun to school and barricaded himself in a classroom with twenty students and a teacher. The heroine believed there was good left in him and eventually succeeded in his relinquishing the gun.
Kaylee wanted to see the good in people. Despite having every reason to be bitter about her peers, Kaylee’s empathy prevented her from simply turning her back.
Nikki glanced at the window for what felt like the fiftieth time. Despite wanting to focus on the case, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rory was really going to come to talk to her.
“Not a damn thing.” Courtney came into the room with her usual dramatic flair, dumping her bag on the table, and plopped into the chair across from Nikki. “Hanson’s got some stains in his upholstery, but they aren’t blood. His kid has a stash of frozen candy beneath the back seat. What is that mound of paper in front of you?”
“Kaylee’s short stories.”
“You printed all of those off instead of reading them on the computer?” Courtney shook her head. “You still don’t own an e-reader, do you?”
“I told you that I like reading things in print instead of on a screen. Helps keep me focused.”
“Okay, Gen X. Find anything useful?”
“Actually, I did. Kaylee was a fixer.”
“As in—”
“Drawn to the misfits and outcasts.”
Courtney made a face. “The more broken the guy, the more attracted she would have been. My sister’s like that. It’s why she’s on her third marriage. How can you use it?”
“I’m not exactly sure yet. But she wasn’t the type of person to see red flags from a guy who came from a rough life, had a bad attitude, maybe even a juvenile record. She believed in second chances, so if she had a connection to someone, I think she sticks by him.”
“You said Madison was Type A, control freak?” Courtney asked.
“Very much so. Opposites attract. They probably balanced each other out.”
“Maybe Kaylee was meeting someone, and Madison was with her that day because she knew the guy had issues and wanted to protect her friend,” she said.
“Maybe,” Nikki replied. “I’ve spoken to Liam and he’s come up empty with the cell carriers so far. It was a long shot, anyway. But Drew Hanson confirmed that Kaylee had a phone on her two days before she disappeared, and we know she could have used Ricky’s money to keep it turned on. Did Miller come back with you?”
“He’s catching up on reports. Said to text him if anything important came up.”
Liam’s noisy entrance ended their conversation. He still wore his coat and hat, his cheeks pink from the cold. He sat down, and Nikki updated them on what she and Miller had found. “Madison and Kaylee’s school friends identified Kaylee’s crush. Bobby Vance. He’s a freshman at Mankato State. Bobby’s mother, Mindy, had been surprised when Nikki had called her, but she assured her they were just trying to talk to anyone who might have information and that she’d just learnt that Bobby and Madison had been close friends. “I met his mother at the Bankses’. Bobby was at school when the girls disappeared, but we still need to talk to him. She promised to tell him to call me if she talked to him. Hopefully he returns my call soon.”
“I found something you need to see.” Liam opened his laptop and quickly typed in his password. “This is from the condo next door to Jessica’s house. Essentially sharing a wall means the neighbor’s security camera catches anyone walking up the sidewalk.”
Nikki scooted closer, expecting to see Ricky
Fillinger swagger into frame.
“That’s Amy Banks.”
“Madison’s mom?” Courtney said.
“Three weeks before the girls disappeared. She was at the Thomases’ house for about seven minutes. We’ll have to double-check with Jessica to make sure she didn’t switch shifts or call in sick, but going by the schedule she gave us, she was at work.”
“Getting time and a half on a Saturday.” The same thing she’d done the day the girls went missing. Jessica would probably carry that guilt for the rest of her life.
“Madison never shows up in the footage? Maybe she came to pick her up.”
“Just Amy.”
“Amy never mentioned this during the initial investigation?”
Liam shook his head, the silly tassels on his hat bobbing. “She specifically said she didn’t know where Kaylee lived.”
“You tell Miller about this?”
“Not yet.”
What was Amy Banks doing at the house and why hadn’t she told them? Nikki wondered. Had Amy Banks gone behind her daughter’s back and told Kaylee to stay away? Was she worried it made her look bad? Or did she have something else to hide?
“I’ll call Miller on the way to my hotel. Liam, meet me at the Bankses’ first thing in the morning.”
Fifteen
Nikki foolishly lingered in the lobby well after Liam and Courtney headed home. The wait for the autopsies added more pressure for her team to find something to move things forward. The medical examiner wouldn’t even think about letting Courtney collect evidence for at least two more days.
Why had Amy Banks gone to see Kaylee? Amy had been out of town with her son when the girls disappeared. Amy’s parents confirmed the timeline, and they lived far enough away that Amy would need a good reason for being gone for hours.
“No way Amy overpowered both girls,” Nikki muttered to herself. Kaylee had at least thirty pounds on the woman.
Grief had been Nikki’s second skin for so long that she could easily spot fake emotion. But was Amy’s grief laced with guilt? Nikki wasn’t leaving the Bankses’ house tomorrow without the truth.
Nikki hadn’t been exaggerating to Newport about the possibility of more murders. While she was certain the girls’ killer had been someone they knew and trusted, Nikki still had to consider that their killer might murder more girls.
The front desk clerk cleared his throat. “Sorry, Agent Hunt. I need to close the building and lock up.”
Nikki flushed and glanced at her watch. She’d waited twenty minutes for Rory, and that was more than she’d intended to wait. She slid her coat on and shouldered her bag, irritated at her own disappointment. Not having to deal with Rory again should have felt like a good thing.
She said goodbye to the night guard and braced for the cold air, ducking her face from the wind. She hadn’t gone more than ten steps when a male voice made her stop short.
“Agent Hunt?”
Nikki’s hand instinctively went to the gun still secured on her hip as a young man appeared between two vehicles.
“Can I help you?”
He took a few steps toward her.
“Stop. You’re close enough.”
A lock of blond hair stuck out from beneath his skull cap. A few days’ scruff dotted his jawline. “My name’s Bobby Vance.”
Nikki’s shoulders relaxed, but she kept her hand on the gun. “You didn’t have to come down here. Approaching a cop in a dark parking lot isn’t exactly a smart decision.”
Bobby’s cheeks turned pink. “Ah. I didn’t think of that. I was already here.” He pointed toward the parking lot exit where the protestors had gathered outside of the gate. “I’m protesting for Mark Todd.”
“I see.”
“I took a few days off classes when I heard about Maddie and Kaylee. Wanted to be here for services and all. But we don’t know when that’s going to be, and I’ve been reading about Todd’s appeal.”
“You don’t have to justify protesting to me. That’s your right,” Nikki said. “It’s freezing. Would you mind going into the station for a few minutes? It’s just right over there.”
He grinned. “Sure. I went there first and they said you were over here.”
Nikki fell into step next to him, still on high alert. He walked with his hands in his pockets, keeping his eyes on the ground. He seemed harmless, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. “What are you majoring in at Mankato State?”
“I haven’t declared yet. Guess I’m afraid of making the wrong choice and then wasting money on school.”
She rang the sheriff’s station’s after-hours bell. “College is never a waste. And you’ll figure it out.”
A front desk officer unlocked the door. “Agent Hunt. Sergeant Miller’s left for the day.”
“I just need to borrow the lobby for a minute,” Nikki said. “He’s a friend of the Banks family, and it’s too cold to chat outside.”
“No problem. Just make sure the door is closed behind you. It automatically locks.” The officer went back to her post behind the bulletproof glass. Nikki sat down on the bench in the lobby, and Bobby perched on the end as though he were afraid to get too close and do something to offend her.
Nikki dug into her bag for the Polaroid she’d found at Madison’s house. She studied his face, hoping the element of surprise worked in her favor. “Have you ever seen this picture?’
“There was some kind of festival in Hudson last September. Maddie talked me into being their chauffeur.”
Nikki had already checked, and the department of transportation only had a handful of cars registered to a Vance in Washington County. The Toyota Camry Mindy had been driving was registered to her, and Nikki had confirmed the other registrations belonged to people with the same last name and no relation to Bobby and Mindy. “It was my understanding that you didn’t have a car.”
Bobby looked surprised. “I don’t. Mom let me borrow hers to take them.”
Nikki nodded. She believed him.
“Were you and Maddie close, then?”
He shrugged. “Not like confess-your-secrets close. She went to a lot of my baseball games in the summer. She liked hanging out with older kids. I didn’t have a problem with it, unless alcohol was involved. I didn’t want a kid partying with us, so I usually wound up giving her a ride home before things got too crazy.”
“Did she ever come to you for advice?” Nikki asked. She thought perhaps Madison might have seen Bobby as an older brother—confided in him, expected him to protect her.
“Maddie spent most of her time focusing on school.” Bobby shook his head. “She was the kind of kid that had it all together, you know?”
“Right,” Nikki said. “Were you at school when they disappeared?”
“I came home to help search.” Bobby’s voice was thick with remorse. “We must have walked up and down that trail twenty times, looking for any sign of them. I went door-to-door with my mom and we talked to a few joggers from the trail. They just seemed to vanish.”
“What about Kaylee?” Nikki wanted to see if Kaylee’s name would change his calm demeanor, but he still seemed the same.
“She seemed like a nice girl.” Bobby jammed his hands into his pockets.
“A couple of the girls’ friends said that Kaylee might have been dating an older boy. She’s blowing you a kiss in that picture. And she was a very pretty girl. If you guys were dating, I need to know.”
Bobby’s eyes widened. “No way. I’m a freshman in college. I don’t need to come back to Stillwater to find girls to date. I’ve only met Kaylee a few times. I know she had issues at school and her mom worked a lot. She seemed lonely, but she was happy to be with Maddie.” His jaw tightened. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Did she give you her phone number?”
Bobby shook his head. “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.” He paused for a moment, fiddling with the ends of his jacket. “Can I talk to you about something?” Bobby lowered his voice, uncerta
inty in his eyes. “About Mark Todd?”
Nikki had expected the question. “I’m not comfortable talking to you about him. Mark’s attorneys are doing what they believe is in his best interests. It will all play out in the courts.”
“I know that,” Bobby said. “It’s just my dad talked about that night a lot. He was with you that night, at the party. I grew up hearing about it, since nothing like that ever happens around here.”
Nikki’s insides went cold. She didn’t remember any of John’s friends from that night. “Did your dad give a statement to the police?”
“I think so,” Bobby said. “He backed up what John said happened. If the story ever came up—”
“Why would it come up?” Nikki said.
“John would bring it up. I probably don’t have to tell you that he likes to be the center of attention. He was a hero that night, at least in his eyes.” Bobby looked down at the floor and chewed the inside of his cheek.
“What is it you’re really trying to tell me?” Nikki tried not to think about John using her family’s tragedy as a party favor.
“It’s probably nothing,” Bobby said. “But a few years ago, when the case was in the media again, I think because of an appeal, we were all together at dinner. John was going on about what happened, and Amy said something about him embellishing things. Like every time he told the story, he added something that made himself look tougher or whatever. She called him out on it, and John got really mad and told her to keep her mouth shut. They started arguing, and my dad took John outside so he could cool off.”
“What happened?”
“John got in Dad’s face,” Bobby said. “And ever since then I’ve wondered about it.”
“I’m still not sure why you’re telling me this.”
“One of the protestors said that Caitlin Newport—you know who she is?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Well, she told the protestors that everyone at the party lied about what happened.”
