Alaskan Christmas Cold Case

A smart move. She’d have done the same in his shoes. He was handling this well. She should have known he would.

Well, up until he found out the full truth about Erynn. No one knew how he’d handle that.

“The message said she was in danger. She’d been working in Seward for the summer and I knew she needed my help. I went to Seward, found her before he did.”

“He?”

“I’m getting there. Please don’t interrupt.

“I managed to find her first and we talked. She told me he was after her, that he’d left her messages, talked about finding the rest of the kids from his list—though we were adults by that time—and finishing what he’d started.”

Erynn could have thrown up. Probably would have if there had been a trash can within reach. Instead she took a deep breath and willed her stomach and the rest of her to hold it together. She’d known what it probably meant when Janie had walked in. But she hadn’t been sure.

Turned out knowing in this case was much, much worse than not knowing.

“What list?” Noah asked. Erynn felt every muscle tense, tried to do one of the breathing exercises she’d learned years back.

Erynn felt Janie’s eyes on her. Refused to meet her look as Janie continued, “Someone was killing foster kids.”

“When?”

“Years ago,” Janie continued. “Then he stopped. Went silent and I guess we let our guard down. That’s when he came after me and Michelle. I never heard from her, after she warned me. I suspect she’s the one the media referred to as the Ice Maiden. The one you thought was me.”

Noah was nodding, a quick glance at him confirmed. Erynn looked away before he could see her staring.

Janie continued. “I told her we should call the police, but she reminded me that it would just put them in danger. At least one officer was killed investigating the case when it was making news and hot. I’m not sure if the police ever said his death was related, but those of us the Foster Kid Killer was after, we knew.”

Her dad. Erynn stood. Left the room to be sick. She could not hear Janie’s words from where she was in the bathroom. She’d have more questions from Noah to answer. But she’d not be able to help it.

Her forehead was hot and her heartbeat pounded in her ears. Breathe in, breathe out, she reminded herself as she’d had to do in the days after her father’s death when it had all seemed like too much. She reached for the sink knob, turned on the cold water and splashed her face.

Breathed in. Breathed out. And walked back into the lobby, not sure she was ready to hear anything else. But knowing she couldn’t hide forever.

This had proven that.

“What else can you tell me about the killer?”

“He...” Janie trailed off. “There’s not much I know, to be honest, just suspicions. Speculations. I always wondered if he’d met us personally. Maybe it always feels personal when someone is after you and your friends. But I wondered.”

“Have you seen him? Anything you know, we could use as a solid lead.”

“No.”

“We’ll need to put you in protective custody,” Noah was saying even as Janie shook her head.

Erynn had known she would. That’s the kind of woman Janie was. Once her mind was made up, there’d be no changing it.

“I’m going back home now. I just thought you should know.”

Could they keep her? Charge her with something that would allow them to keep her safe? Even as the thoughts surfaced, Erynn shrugged them off. It was still a free country and if Janie didn’t want protection, they didn’t need to give it to her.

Noah spoke again. “Then we’re officially charging you with obstruction of justice and you can come with me to the Moose Haven jail.”

If she’d been able to feel even a smidgen more lighthearted, Erynn would have laughed. The Moose Haven jail was no more than two cells in the back of the police department, Wild West style, that the department had gotten built cheap.

Still, it would work for what they needed, would do the job.

“Are you arresting Erynn, also?”

Erynn looked at Noah, met his eyes. Knew she owed him answers.

“Not at this time.”

She needed to talk to him tonight.

“For now, come with me, please.”

Noah had left over half an hour ago, had practically growled at her to “stay put.” She had, quite literally, and hadn’t moved from her desk.

Janie.

Her dad.

This couldn’t be happening.

Erynn laid her head in her hands, snapped it up again as she realized all the implications. They had Janie in custody because it was dangerous for her otherwise. What Erynn had realized but not fully felt the weight of until now was that if someone was after her old acquaintance...had killed another one of her former friends, if Janie was right and Michelle was the Ice Maiden...

She wasn’t safe, either.

She stood and walked to the window, put a hand on the flimsy mini-blinds as she looked out at the town of Moose Haven. She’d thought the assignment here years ago had worked out well. It was close enough to civilization to suit her—she wasn’t a “live in the Alaskan bush” kind of girl, but it was far enough from Anchorage to make her believe she could get away from the demons, both real and imagined, chasing her.

But she hadn’t gotten away. Not really. Erynn closed the blinds, moved back to the hallway and headed toward the front to close the other blinds. And lock the door. Noah could call or knock when he got there. She checked her watch. Her shift was over in ten minutes. Trooper Miller, a new transfer fresh out of the academy, should be in to relieve her at any minute.

The door opened just then and Miller walked in. “Whoa, you don’t look so good.”

The kid had barely met the minimum age requirement for the troopers—at least, that was Erynn’s guess. He made her feel light-years old and, at just barely thirty, she didn’t appreciate it.

“Not feeling so great, to be honest.”

“Go ahead and head out. I’ve got this.”

“I’ll wait till it’s officially time.” Miller was a decent kid so far, and Erynn trusted him, but he wasn’t the stickler for protocol that older officers she’d worked with had been. Good for some situations, not that she’d admit that on the record, but bad for others.

Noah still hadn’t showed by the time she was ready to head home. Erynn hesitated half a second at the door then shook her head and went outside. She’d been a State Trooper for years. She’d taken self-defense courses, had a sidearm on her right side concealed under her windbreaker right now.

She wasn’t technically in any more danger than she had been for years. She had known she’d never truly be safe.

Not until the Ice Maiden Killer—who, it seemed, was also the Foster Kid Killer—was in custody.

“What are you doing?”

Noah’s voice was hard as she came around the corner of the building and almost ran into him.

“I can’t stay here all night.” Not that she’d sleep at home. Maybe she should stay here, sleep on the office couch, but it would invite too many questions. Her job was one of the only things she had left, was the most important part of her life. She couldn’t lose it, too.

“I told you to stay put.”

Maybe it was the coldness in his voice. Maybe it was the fact that the day had had more surprises than she could handle on the amount of sleep she was running on currently, but she’d lost all her patience.

“You aren’t in charge of me, Noah. I’m an adult and make my own decisions.”

“I want to hear more about why she’d say you’d obstructed justice. And why you didn’t deny a word of it.”

She turned to him, mouth open, but nothing came out. She didn’t know what she wanted to say anyway, just couldn’t believe he was looking at her that way.

Like she was guilty of something.

Her shoulders fell. At the very least, she could assure him that wasn’t the case—though, yes, it would have been better for her to have spoken up three years ago when the Ice Maiden case had come across their desks. She could have told him that she’d worried that Janie’s “death” had been the work of the Foster Kid Killer, as Janie dying accidentally when so many people she’d known had been killed had seemed too coincidental to her. But when the other officers had ruled it an accidental death, something far too common in the Alaskan wilderness, she’d hoped it was true. Thought maybe she was paranoid. Hadn’t wanted to believe they were all wrong and she was right.

It had been murder.

But she hadn’t obstructed justice. She’d just...stayed quiet. Erynn rubbed a hand across her forehead, winced against the throbbing of her building headache. She’d wanted so badly to be free from the fear, that entire chapter of her life, that she’d ignored the coincidence it would have been that a former foster kid she’d known had ended up dead.

She exhaled. “Okay. Where do you want to go?”

“My house.”

She nodded. “I’ll follow you there.”

“No. You can ride with me.”

She didn’t have the energy to argue.

Noah did not have anything to say on their drive. What was there to say? “Hi, I’m Noah Dawson. Who are you really?” He’d known the woman for five years and she’d never once mentioned a connection to a serial killer case in Anchorage, or the fact that her life was ever in danger at all. She’d acted like a Moose Haven native, hanging out at the diner, doing the polar plunge into the bay in January, but she had secrets.

He’d never even imagined that. Maybe that’s why it hurt so much.

He turned down the gravel drive to his place, stealing a glance at Erynn as he parked the car.

She was just looking out the window. Silent and more serious than he’d ever seen her. Wasn’t she the one always telling him to loosen up? Calm down? She’d been a steadying influence more than once, but now he felt like he didn’t even know this woman next to him.

“Erynn?” He finally broke the silence after they’d been sitting for a full minute and she still hadn’t moved.

“I’m sorry.” She unbuckled, turned to him when he didn’t move. “Are you ready?”

Was he? He didn’t know. “Just waiting for you.”

True in more ways than she knew.

She pushed her door open. He did the same, stood to follow her to his front door, eyes open and scanning—he didn’t think she faced danger but better safe than—

Erynn stopped.

Noah did the same. Seeing nothing. “What is it?”

“On your porch. What’s that on the table?”

He squinted. The sun was still high in the sky even at this time of evening, due to Alaska’s midnight sun, and the rays were in his eyes. He didn’t see what had her so riled.

Noah stepped forward. There it was. A piece of paper?

Part of him rebelled against the idea that she could be spooked by pieces of paper. That wasn’t the woman he knew. And this was Moose Haven. He’d worked quite a few crimes here, but the town as a whole was still sort of an Alaskan coastal Mayberry. It felt wrong for her to be so on edge here.

Still, before his brother, Tyler, had gotten married, someone had been after his future wife, Emma. Tyler had been able to reassure Emma that she was safe and Emma had trusted him.

Erynn knew too much to be that easily reassured. A threat could come out of nowhere. And if she was acting like this, there was a reason.

God, help me listen when she’s ready to talk. And help me know what to do. He prayed in his head, even as he started toward Erynn. He wasn’t going to be able to do this on his own. “Stay with me. We’ll go check it out together.”

She swallowed hard but offered him a small smile. At least he’d said the right thing this time.

He fought the urge to reach for her hand, settling instead for a hand on her back as he guided her along. Perfectly platonic. Not at all over the firm boundaries of their friendship and history as coworkers.

Again, nothing like his brother had been through. Or his sisters, for that matter. His siblings had found love amid danger, but Noah had long since given up on that for himself.

Because the only woman he was interested in had walls around her heart a mile high and he’d long ago realized that if he wanted to keep her as a friend he needed to respect those restrictions.

“It’s a note,” he said as they got closer to the table.

She reached for it.

“Don’t.”

She stopped at the sound of his voice, speared him with a look. “What are we going to do, call the police? We are the police, Noah.”

“I am. You’re a trooper. I believe you’ve been pretty clear about that a few times.” He couldn’t resist teasing her. Moose Haven treated its police officers well, but Alaska state troopers were proud of their title, their elite standing in the law enforcement world.

She made a face and, despite the tension in the air, despite the fact that Noah was looking over his shoulder—their shoulders—every few seconds, it felt good to know that whatever else was going on now, they still had a friendship. Or he thought they did.

Erynn reached for the paper, paused and looked at him.

“Same paper.”

“As what?”

She shook her head.

“I’m going to need the pieces I’m missing, Erynn, or I can’t help.”

He watched her face as emotions chased across it. She had never been good at hiding her feelings, except in work circumstances, and then she’d managed.

Erynn said, “It’s the same paper the serial killer Janie mentioned left with all of his victims. Thick, cream stationery. The blue ink is nothing special, your general economy pens available at any store. The paper comes from a special company, but they went out of business fifty years ago. Someone’s got a stockpile of the stuff and it’s impossible to trace.”

She paused. His mind spun in circles, trying to think through everything she’d just said.

After a moment Erynn reached forward again, picked up the stationery.

She’s mine. You’re next. And then it’s over.

Noah managed to read the words before she dropped the paper, watched as it fluttered to the table. She was back to looking pale again. He needed to get her inside, to feed her, to hear what was going on so he didn’t feel like he was always a couple of steps behind.

Wait. He grabbed up the note. “‘She’s mine’? He’s talking about—”

“Janie.” Erynn ran back to the car. “We have to get Janie out of the jail.” Noah followed her.

“She’s there to keep her safe, Erynn. There are officers in the building. She’s fine.”

“She’s not fine, Noah, trust me.”

She’d asked him to trust her once. To keep the Ice Maiden case open, against the advice of every other law enforcement officer involved.

He hadn’t done it.

“Let’s go.”

They backed out of the driveway, note carefully put inside a notebook on the back seat. They would process it for prints or any other trace evidence, though if this guy had been terrorizing and killing people for longer than a decade, Noah held out little hope it would hold anything useful.

“So much I didn’t say to her...” Erynn muttered. “I didn’t thank her for coming. Didn’t tell her I was sorry I didn’t figure it out sooner...”

“You figured out more than we did about that case, it seems like. More than anyone else.”

Erynn shook her head. “Not really. I had a hunch, that was all, but you can’t take a hunch to court. Can’t keep a case open for one.”

“You can tell her everything you want when we get there.”

She just shook her head again. “You don’t understand how he works.”

“Then tell me, Erynn. Tell me everything.”

“I’ve known him to take people from their beds while they were sleeping, with no one in the house disturbed, all the doors firmly locked when he left. He’s gotten people who were under police protection. Got an officer...”

“Janie told me you knew the officer who was killed.”

Erynn looked at him like she was asking him a question, asking his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“She’ll be okay.” He believed it or he wouldn’t say it.

“She won’t.”

They drove on. His phone rang half a mile from Moose Haven.

Janie Davis was dead.

THREE

Erynn could not remember the last time she’d cried, but she knew it had been years, likely connected to this case. But she wanted to now. If only she could make the tears come, relieve the pressure building in her face and forehead...

She’d been too late. Again.

Beside her, Noah’s body language was another worry to contend with. The man was past worked up, more so than she’d ever seen him. On most of the cases they’d worked together, Erynn would have taken it upon herself to help him calm down, to bring some perspective.

Today she had nothing to give him. Wasn’t sure she had much left to give herself.

Janie was dead.

Erynn couldn’t see how she was supposed to escape the same fate. Not when every single person this killer had ever come after was dead. He’d already found Noah’s house, realized their connection.

“I wanted to be able to look at you for this conversation, not driving, but I need to know now, Erynn. Who and what are we dealing with? What do you know?”

He had managed to say the last part with no accusation in his voice.

She might be a lot of things, but she’d never hinder progress, especially not in this case. Didn’t Noah get that? This was her life, not just her.

Erynn had lost everything that mattered to her before. And thanks to this killer, she’d already come close again.

She didn’t want that to happen. Didn’t want to die. She drew in a shaky breath. “It’s faster if you search for some of the details online—they’re all out there. Someone handed the press quite the lovely story.” Her first brush with how newspapers could destroy an investigation. Let one detail slip at the wrong time, let the criminal know you were on to something, and it all blew up in your face. In that case, a reporter had not just interviewed her dad and other officers about the case, they’d also employed less than ethical tactics and listened to their conversations, even recorded some. And had compromised their safety because of it. Those reporters had been prosecuted, but it didn’t bring Erynn’s dad back, or solve the case.

“Give me the bare bones,” Noah said as he turned onto the main highway that would take them back to Moose Haven proper.

“There was a serial killer in Anchorage about fifteen years ago.”

“The link between his victims? Do they know that?”

It had been what he was known for. Some had even dubbed him the “Foster Kid Killer,” though the nickname grated so much Erynn tried not to use it. Instead she just thought of the killer as him. The unseen presence that had haunted her life in one way or another for years.

“Yes. He was killing foster kids. Some still in high school, some as they aged out of the system.”

She felt Noah glance at her, could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. She’d managed to keep her past out of her life in Moose Haven, invent this new identity for herself, where all anyone knew about her past was that she was a trooper.

She’d succeeded. Most days she was proud of herself. Today she knew Noah well enough to understand what a slap in the face it would be to him to learn he hadn’t known her as well as he’d thought... She wasn’t proud.

She just hurt.

“And you...?”

Still, he asked her to clarify. Erynn took a deep breath. “Yes. I was in foster care for part of that time period. I was adopted the summer before my senior year of high school.”

“So you knew the people who were killed.”

“Yes.” Every single one. Erynn stared out the window, watched the spruce forest as they drove through it on the approach to town. The trees were thick and the woods looked almost like a shelter. If she was Noah’s sister Kate and good in the outdoors, maybe she could hide there, manage to survive. But she wasn’t Kate and it wasn’t an option. She had nowhere to hide and anywhere she ran would only provide temporary security.

The fact that he was in Moose Haven proved that.

“Which foster kids was he after specifically?”

Erynn shook her head. “They never...figured that out exactly. Both males and females were killed. No other obvious patterns. One officer had a hunch. But he didn’t keep his speculations about that case in a file at work, since they weren’t founded on fact, and I don’t know where they ended up.”

“So we go to Anchorage, ask him and—”

She was already shaking her head. “He’s dead, too. And the notes weren’t found in any of his personal belongings.”

She could feel the tension building, knew the questions were coming. Erynn took a deep breath. “I know because my adoptive mom and I looked. He was my adoptive father.”

Noah absorbed Erynn’s story, careful not to let his face flinch. She was better at reading him than anyone he knew, and this was one of the times he didn’t like that fact.

The killer they were after might have more than one reason to be tracking Erynn down—she wasn’t just another former foster kid who might have been in danger. She was the daughter of an investigating officer. Was she in danger because her dad had been killed? Janie had mentioned a police officer losing his life in the investigation, so that meant Erynn’s dad...

“He was law enforcement?”

“Yes.” She still wouldn’t look his way. He knew because he kept glancing over at her as he drove.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Of course, he’d said the same thing to Janie earlier. He’d thought putting her in protective custody would be enough. He’d underestimated the man Erynn was so afraid of. He wouldn’t do that again.

“You can’t say that.”

He didn’t argue, knew it was better not to when Erynn was like this. But he meant it. If he had to stop sleeping, follow her around every day, armed, quit his job—

Noah almost jumped in his seat. The thought had come out of nowhere, and made no sense, not when his career gave him access to information that could help figure out who was behind the killings, and could help keep Erynn safe. Nevertheless, the fact that he’d even consider sacrificing the dream he’d always had if it would be enough to keep her safe...

It might be time to stop trying to deceive himself about his feelings for Erynn.

Those emotions were much different than Noah had ever had for any other coworker or any friend. He’d been half in love with Erynn for years and had just avoided it.

He didn’t see how he’d be able to entirely sidestep the feelings now. But he’d had to keep them hidden. He had always known there was more to Erynn, just hadn’t known exactly what. This was more than he’d expected. And it hurt to know she’d kept it from him.

But he understood. And was going to do everything in his power to make sure that sooner, rather than later, all of this would be in her past, the threat removed. That she could continue with her life, doing what she wanted to do with it without thinking of the implications her choices might have on the madman who was after her.

Noah pulled the car into the back lot at the station. Every vehicle in the department was there and he wished again he had a bigger police force. Not that Moose Haven saw an excess of crime, but if someone drove by and saw that all officers were at the station, it would be an ideal time to get into trouble elsewhere.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his brother, who acted as a reserve officer on occasion.