Avril Dahl Thriller 01-Cold Reckoning by Ryan L T-Pearce Biba

Author:Ryan, L T-Pearce, Biba [Ryan, L T-Pearce, Biba]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense, American Suspense, Police Procedural, Crime Thriller, Murder Investigation, FBI, International Crime, Sweden, Scandinavia, Serial Killer
Publisher: Liquid Mind Media
Published: 2024-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

chapter

twenty

Christmas Day dawned frosty but clear. A thin layer of ice coated the windows, reflecting the pale morning light. Avril lay in bed thinking about Krister and their evening together. It had been fun. Her first real Christmas in nearly ten years. How sad was that?

Except, the Frost Killer was still out there. He wouldn't stop just because it was Christmas. A man like that didn't celebrate the holiday; he was evil. If she was going to catch him, she couldn't rest either.

After a quick shower, she got dressed and went around to Krister's. Frost crunched under her shoes as she strode up the driveway. He answered the door in his sweatpants and a crumpled T-shirt, his hair messy. "Seriously, Avril? It's not even nine o'clock yet."

Still, he got dressed, made them a cup of coffee, and then drove them to the precinct. The streets were eerily quiet, devoid of the usual hustle and bustle. Everyone was at home with their families, opening presents beneath twinkling Christmas trees. There was a sense of stillness, as if the city itself was taking a breath.

As expected, the police station was deserted, with only a skeleton crew manning the front desk and dispatch.

"Use my computer. I've got my laptop." Krister gestured to his desk.

After several attempts, Avril finally managed to log on to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. The computer screen flickered, the system lagging slightly as she navigated through the layers of security. She typed in "Michael Lustig" and waited. Nothing came up. She tried "Mikael" but got the same result.

"It wasn't going to be that easy," Krister said dryly, standing behind her with a cup of coffee in hand.

She moved on to "Nils Henemark," but the search yielded no useful leads either.

"Damn." Avril slumped back in her chair, frustration evident in her furrowed brow.

"He must be using an alias," Krister rationalized, leaning against the desk. "It makes sense. He wouldn't use anything already known to law enforcement, in any country."

Avril knew he was right. It had been a long shot. "What about Interpol?" he asked, glancing at her screen.

She typed in the details again, this time accessing the Interpol database. The system was slower, the international queries taking longer to process. After several minutes, she shook her head. "No hits. It seems he was only known as Mikael here. If we're going to find anything, it'll be in Sweden."

"Then we'll have to wait until the twenty-seventh. Nothing is open over the holidays."

Avril gave a resigned sigh. "In the meantime, I'm going to look at the victims' social media accounts. There might be something I missed." Even though she'd checked them again and again over the years. With every new victim, there'd been a renewed search, which never turned up any new connections.

Still, she couldn't give up.

"I'll dig into Agnes Hellgren’s background," Krister said, turning back to his laptop. "Maybe something there will tell us how he chose her.”

They worked in silence for a short while, until Krister said, "Agnes used to do the books for a small gallery.

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