“All assumptions are based on the testimony of a man I don’t trust.”

“That’s a given.”

Her gaze roamed toward rolling green hills dotted with gray headstones. “Have an officer search the entire area. No telling what he’ll find.”

“Right.”

She handed the phone to the forensic tech and then stripped off her bloodstained gloves and discarded them in a crime scene disposal bin by the van. “Let’s see what Mr. Dawson can share with us.”

 

Nikki drove to Fredericksburg in less than an hour. In the middle of the day, there was light traffic, and she pressed the speed limit, going well over eighty in some spots. It had not been too hard for her to find Becky Mahoney, Larry Prince’s former secretary and lover. There were others who had known the Prince family back in the day, but there was nothing like an old flame to give the inside scoop. If Nikki was lucky, Becky would have some lingering animosity toward Prince and be very willing to talk.

The GPS took her to the south side of the city, down several winding roads undergoing construction, and then into a small neighborhood. She had not called ahead and was not surprised when no one answered the front door. She checked her watch, guessing that it might be hours before Becky Mahoney returned home. That gave her enough time to find a fast-food place. She pulled out of the neighborhood, and two miles down the main road, she spotted several drive-through restaurants. She picked the first and ordered a burger and a Diet Coke. She pulled into a parking space, and as she ate, she opened her file on the Prince case.

Back in the day, she had been sleeping with a cop who had helped her obtain copies of the detectives’ case notes. What she had learned was that Larry Prince had been suspected of bribing state officials in exchange for the big contract he had won shortly before Marsha had vanished. However, there had not been enough evidence to bring charges. Some had whispered that Larry had broken a few key promises to local politicians. One detective had theorized that Marsha’s disappearance was payback for Larry’s disloyalty. It was all hearsay in the newsroom, but nothing could be proven, so no one had aired it. Today, she doubted her former colleagues would be so worried about lawsuits. Hell, at this stage, she was not really worried. As long as she attached alleged or sources said, she could wiggle out of just about anything.

Her stomach knotted, and her appetite vanished. She dropped the half-eaten burger in the bag and took a pull on the drinking straw. She leaned forward and opened the glove box, searching for the packet of cigarettes she always kept there. Technically, she had quit last year, but she had held on to this emergency stash as a kind of safety blanket. Her fingers skimmed over the crumpled packet. She’d thought she had one or two cigarettes left. It was empty.

“Shit.”

She turned up the police scanner she had on the Alexandria Police Department and listened for chatter. Officers were being dispatched to a cemetery. She kept waiting to hear the name Foster. When the cops didn’t say it, she knew something was up.

Glancing at the clock on the dash, she decided it was time to get back to Mahoney’s house and have a chat with her. Afterward, she would haul ass back to the cemetery.

She pulled in front of the house just as a woman parked in the driveway. The woman was older and plumper than she remembered, but there was no missing Becky Mahoney’s tall frame and bleached-blond hair.

Out of her car, she shouldered her backpack and hurried across the residential street. “Becky!”

The woman’s head turned, and the automatic smile dimmed a fraction as Nikki got closer. Her eyes narrowed. “Do I know you?”

“We met years ago. I’m Nikki McDonald. I was a reporter for Channel Five in the DC market.”

Becky’s face flushed as she drew back, tightening her grip on her keys and purse strap. “I haven’t been up there in years. And I don’t talk about the time I lived up there.”

“The news might not have reached you yet, but Marsha Prince’s remains were found.”

“I never had anything to do with Marsha’s disappearance.” Becky moved toward her front door, her hands trembling slightly as she tried to insert her house key.

Nikki noticed the bicycle in the front yard and the basketball hoop in the driveway. “I’m not trying to wreck what you have. It looks like you’ve moved on and left Larry in the dust.”

Becky’s shoulders hunched and her fingers stilled. “I have moved on. I choose not to think about Larry or his family.”

“Please, talk to me,” Nikki said. “I’m trying to figure out who killed that young girl.”

“What difference does it make?” Becky said, whirling around. “She’s dead, her parents are dead, and Hadley moved west years ago.”

“Hadley moved back with her husband and daughter about a year ago. And now she and her kid are missing.”

“What do you mean?”

“The cops are swarming all over her house as we speak. My sources tell me the interior is covered in blood.”

Becky’s face paled. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“We can’t save Marsha, but maybe Hadley and her daughter can be helped.”

Her annoyance seemed to slip away. “One doesn’t have anything to do with the other.”

“I’m not so sure about that. One sister is dead, and the other is in grave danger.”

“I made a mistake with Larry,” she said, stepping forward. “I thought I loved him and he me. But it was all a lie. I know what people thought about me, what you insinuated in some of your stories, but I never thought he had anything to do with his daughter’s disappearance.”

“You told the cops he was planning to leave the family for you.” She had to strike a delicate balance. She wanted Becky to keep talking, but she also didn’t want her sensitive questions to shut her down.

Her brows knotted. “I was wrong.”

“I’m wondering if he figured the easiest thing to do was to get rid of his family. Maybe he started by killing Marsha, but for whatever reason, he lost his nerve.”

Becky’s mouth flattened into a frown as she shook her head. “That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Larry didn’t like his wife, but he loved his girls.”

“Someone messaged my website and told me exactly where to find Marsha Prince’s remains.”

Becky folded her arms over her chest. “That must have been a great scoop for you.”

“I’m not going to lie. I could use a great story right now. But I keep thinking about Marsha. She had her whole life ahead of her. And now that Hadley and Skylar are missing, I wonder if the same person who killed Marsha is involved.”

Becky shoved out a breath. She did not invite Nikki inside, but she also didn’t disappear behind the now-opened door.

“Marsha worked in the office that last summer, right?” Nikki asked.

“Yeah. She took orders and even went out to price some of the jobs. Larry called her his smart daughter.”

“How’d Hadley feel about her father not considering her as smart?”

“She never said anything, but I could see it bothered her. Marsha tried to downplay her father’s compliments for Hadley’s sake.”