Afterburn: A Kenzie Gilmore Thriller

by BIBA PEARCE

  “Ping Bella Montague and Snake’s phones. I want to know where they are, right now.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She hung up and he got back to searching. It was in the spare bedroom that he found a trapdoor to the loft. Bella lived on the second floor of a property that had been converted into two apartments. Downstairs got the garden, and she got the loft.

  He looked around for the pole, found it behind the door, and pulled down the hatch. It smelled dusty and dank.

  He reached for the ladder and extended it down. If that suitcase was anywhere, it was up here. Stupid to keep it in her own home if she had, but it was highly noticeable. Discarding it would be risky. Even cleaned, there was a chance they’d find Natalia’s DNA in it. These days, all it took was a tiny drop.

  He climbed into the dark room, his pulse increasing with every step. He searched for a light but didn’t find one. Improvising, he used the flashlight on his phone. He stumbled around for a full 10 minutes before he found the suitcase, stashed behind some old picture frames.

  “Gotcha,” he whispered.

  His phone rang. It was Ryan.

  “Sir, Bella Montague is with Snake at Miami Airport.”

  “Shit, really?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “They’re making a run for it. Get a team out there now, and call airport security. Do not let them get on a plane.”

  “Sir!”

  Taking out a pair of gloves, he pulled them on and reached for the suitcase. It was one of the largest he’d seen. Kenzie was right, it could hold a body, especially one the size of Natalia Cruz.

  Heart thumping, he carried it downstairs. “Get this to the lab,” he told one of the officers, then he raced back to his car.

  “You found it, didn’t you?” Kenzie said, the moment he climbed in. He hadn’t let her take part in the search. It made sense now why Bella had met them at a hotel. She didn’t want to risk them coming here, where the evidence was hidden.

  He nodded. “Yeah, and guess what? Bella and Snake are at the airport.”

  She paled. “They’re escaping. They’ve got Natalia’s money and now they’re flying off into the sunset together.”

  “Not if we can help it.”

  Reid flicked on the lights and put his foot down. The Ford shot forward, and he drove like a maniac to the airport.

  “We can’t let them get on that plane,” he muttered.

  Kenzie, seatbelt securely fastened, sat silently beside him. She let him concentrate on getting them there quickly and in one piece.

  His phone rang. He answered and put it on speaker. “Garrett.”

  “Sir, it’s Ryan. I’ve notified airport security. They’re looking for them now. It appears they’ve already checked in for a flight to Mexico City.”

  “Crap,” Kenzie whispered. “We’re going to be too late.”

  Reid gritted his teeth and kept driving. “Stop them at the boarding gate.”

  “They’re trying. They don’t know whether they’ve boarded or not.”

  Crap! “We’re almost there.”

  Moments later, they skidded to a halt outside the airport terminal. Reid grabbed his phone, still on speaker, and jumped out of the car, leaving the door open. Kenzie followed. Together, they sprinted to the concourse.

  “Which boarding gate?” he shouted.

  Ryan’s voice echoed back. “Terminal C, Gate Twenty-three.”

  “This way,” called Kenzie, changing direction. Reid flashed his badge at the terminal security checkpoint, and despite some worried glances, they were let through.

  Reid took note of the gate numbers as they raced past. “Twenty-three,” he called when he saw the sign. “It’s still boarding.”

  They burst into the waiting room for the Mexico City flight. Travelers were queuing to board. Uniformed airport staff were surveying the line. Reid ran up to one of them. “Any luck?”

  “No, sir. We don't think they’ve boarded yet.”

  “I’ll check the restroom,” said Kenzie.

  She darted into the ladies’ before he could stop her. If they weren’t in the line, they must be hiding somewhere, waiting for a chance to board. At least they weren’t on the flight.

  He checked the men’s, but it was empty. A short time later, Kenzie re-emerged.

  “Nope,” she said. “She’s not in there.”

  He raked a hand through his hair. “Where could they be?”

  “Could security be mistaken and they did make it onto the flight?”

  “I don’t know. We’d better check.”

  They were just making their way to the front of the line when Reid’s phone buzzed.

  It was Ryan. “Yeah?”

  “Sir, they’ve been spotted in the North Terminal, leaving the airport. They’re heading to the bus station.”

  “Thanks, Ryan,” he yelled, taking off again.

  “What?” Kenzie raced to keep up.

  “They’re in the North Terminal,” he told her. “They know they’re cornered. They’re heading for the bus station.”

  Together, they sprinted out of the boarding area, through airport security and back into the central terminal.

  “North is that way.” Reid’s eye caught a signboard. Kenzie was breathing too hard to reply. They kept running.

  “There!” Kenzie pointed, as the two fugitives climbed aboard a shuttle bus. The doors closed and the bus was about to depart. Kenzie stood in front of it and held up her hands.

  The driver tooted his horn, but she stood her ground.

  Reid pounded on the door and held up his badge.

  The doors wheezed open.

  “Miami PD,” panted Reid, boarding the bus. He looked up the rows until he spotted Bella and Snake. “You two are coming with me.”

  46

  There was a round of applause as Reid led Bella and Snake into the police department for questioning. They’d been read their rights and their hands were cuffed behind their backs.

  Snake was complaining profusely, but Bella was silent. She knew the game was up. Kenzie could see it in her eyes.

  “She’s with me,” Reid had said at the front desk, and Kenzie had been waved through. Now she kept to the back of the group, trying to remain inconspicuous.

  “Prep them for interrogation.” Reid handed them over to a correctional officer.

  “They’ll both get a chance to lawyer up,” he said.

  Pérez came out of his office. “Well done.” He thumped Reid on the back. “You got ‘em.”

  “Yeah, they were making a quick getaway,” he said.

  His gaze fell on Kenzie, and he frowned. “What’s she doing here?”

  “She was instrumental in helping me apprehend the suspects,” he said. “Kenzie Gilmore, meet Lieutenant Pérez.”

  They shook hands, but Kenzie didn’t like the distrustful look in Pérez’s eyes. “I’m here to observe,” she said.

  “I said she could watch the interview,” Reid explained. “May as well get the facts straight.”

  Pérez grunted, then pulled Reid aside. “Keep an eye on her, you hear? We can’t have her wandering all over the department.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Pérez gave Kenzie a curt nod and disappeared to his office.

  Reid gave her a thumbs up. “You’re in, for now. But don’t push it, okay?”

  Her eyes gleamed. “I won’t. Thank you.”

  Finally, she was getting the inside scoop. She glanced around the squad room. The activity, the buzz, the efficient detectives going about their business. This was where she should have been. A pang of regret hit her in the chest, and she caught her breath.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just thinking about how different things could have been.”

  He grimaced sympathetically. “Probably best not to dwell on it.”

  He was right. She couldn’t change what had happened. Couldn’t take back the past. At least she was here now, to witness the apprehension of Natalia Cruz’s killers. />
  Snake was put into Interrogation Room 1. The camera on the screen was live, and Kenzie watched as he slumped in his chair, looking more pissed off than scared.

  “I can’t believe he planned to kill his wife,” a young female detective said, coming to stand next to her. “I always thought they were so much in love.”

  “So did I,” murmured Kenzie.

  “Detective Ryan, by the way.” The detective smiled at her.

  They shook hands. “Kenzie Gilmore.”

  “From the Herald. I know, I read your articles.”

  “Oh.” Kenzie took in the young detective. She had dark hair pulled back in a tight bun, her uniform was spotless, and she had ink stains on her fingers. “Reid’s mentioned you.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “Yeah, he thinks very highly of you.”

  Ryan flushed. “He’s one of the best detectives I’ve ever worked with. I’m glad he’s back. I guess we have you to thank for that?”

  “I didn’t persuade him to do anything he didn’t want to do,” she said.

  “Well, you gave him a nudge. That’s all he needed.” She nodded to the screen. “Here comes Snake’s attorney.”

  The same man as before slid into the chair next to Snake. They put their heads together and talked in low voices. The audio was off so the outsiders couldn’t hear their exchange.

  Then Bella’s camera came online. She sat alone, a forlorn figure in the sparse interview room. “Didn’t she want representation?” Kenzie asked.

  “No, she declined.”

  They watched as Reid walked into the room. Lieutenant Pérez joined the crowd at the screen. “Here we go,” he mumbled under his breath.

  Reid sat down, his long legs stretching under the table. Bella looked pale, her body stiff, her eyes guarded. She was on the defensive.

  They got the preliminaries out of the way, then Reid got straight to it.

  “What was Natalia Cruz’s suitcase doing in your loft?” He slid a photograph of the floral case across the table. She didn’t even glance at it.

  “Snake asked me to keep it.”

  “Did you know it contained Natalia Cruz’s DNA?”

  Kenzie cast a glance at Pérez, but he just shook his head.

  “We haven’t gotten the lab results back yet,” whispered Ryan.

  Bella didn’t appear shocked. “It is her suitcase.”

  “Were you aware that it was used to hide her body the night she was killed?”

  Her eyes widened, just enough to appear surprised. “No.”

  “She’s lying,” Kenzie muttered.

  “Why did Snake ask you to keep it? What reason did he give?”

  “After her body was discovered in the Glades, he said he wanted to hide it, so the police didn’t think he had anything to do with her death.”

  “Why would we think that?” Reid’s gaze was fixed on her face.

  “Because he’d told the police it was missing. He knew she’d left him, walked out on their marriage, but he needed a way to prove it. So he hid the suitcase.”

  “He told you Natalia had walked out on their marriage?”

  “Yes, he said things had been tense between them for a while, and she was jealous of his relationship with me, so after our tiff at the launch party, she left.”

  “What reason did she have to be jealous? She was the one married to him.”

  Kenzie saw Bella’s shoulders stiffen. “Because he was still in love with me. I knew it, and so did she.”

  “Were you having an affair?”

  A pause.

  Bella sighed. “No, we weren’t. He wouldn’t do that to Natalia. But he realized after they were married that he’d made a mistake. They put on a show for their fans, but he didn’t love her.”

  Reid drummed his fingers on the table. “Did Snake actually tell you that Natalia was gone when he got back from the party?”

  “Yes, he called me in a panic. Said she’d disappeared and they’d searched everywhere for her.”

  Reid looked through the folder on the table in front of him. He pulled out a sheet of paper with her call records on. “According to your phone data, you never received a call from Snake that night.”

  “He must have called from the hotel phone, then.”

  Reid narrowed his gaze.

  “She’s so full of it,” murmured Kenzie. “Does she expect him to believe she knew nothing about Snake’s plan to kill his wife?”

  “Evidently,” said Ryan.

  Kenzie snorted in disgust.

  “What happened next?” Reid asked.

  “I picked up Snake and we went looking for her. We went to their house, called her father, and eventually went to look for her in the Glades.”

  “Why there?” Reid jumped on her words.

  “Because Snake said she sometimes went out there. I don’t know why. You’d have to ask him.”

  “And you just went along with all this?”

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

  “Did you want him to take his wife back?”

  “I could see he was concerned. She wasn’t in her right mind when she left. He said she hadn’t been feeling well. She was on antidepressants. She’d been drinking.”

  “So you acted the concerned friend?”

  “Exactly.”

  Reid slid another photograph across to her. “I take it you’ll want to revise your previous statement. The one where you told us you’d given a friend a lift home?”

  Her eyes flickered a little, enough for Kenzie to mutter, “She’s full of shit.”

  This time it was Pérez’s turn to snort.

  “She claims to know nothing about it,” Reid said when he emerged from the interview. Despite not having slept for almost 36 hours, he was buzzing with pent-up energy. How he did it, Kenzie had no idea. She was lagging, and she’d managed to get a few hours at his place before they’d received the search warrant.

  “She was in on the whole thing,” Kenzie said. “I bet she helped plan it. She’s the brains, remember?”

  “Sir, there’s a call for you,” Ryan said from her desk. “The lab results are in.”

  47

  Reid sat down opposite Eric Snider, aka DJ Snake. The musician had an arrogant, almost smug look on his face. Reid couldn’t wait to wipe it off.

  “You’re being charged with the suspected murder of your wife, Natalia Cruz,” he began. “Do you have anything to say about that?”

  He may as well give him a chance to come clean.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My wife disappeared, then a week later, showed up dead.”

  “Yes, it does appear that way.” Reid gave him a hard look. “Except, we know what really happened. Bella talked.”

  Some of the arrogance disappeared. There was an uncertainty in his eyes now. Good, thought Reid. He succeeded at leading Snake on.

  “I don’t care what Bella thinks. I didn’t kill my wife.”

  “Bella is convinced you’re still in love with her. She said you realized your mistake after you got married and that you and Natalia put on a show for your fans. Her words.”

  His eyes hardened. “She said that?”

  “Yeah. Is she wrong?”

  His shoulders slumped. “No, she’s not wrong. Things went bad after we got married. I think we both knew we’d made a mistake. We rushed into it. Didn’t take the time to get to know each other. I don’t blame her for leaving me.”

  “After the launch party?”

  “Yes.”

  “But she didn’t leave you, did she? You hid her suitcase at Bella’s house to make it look like she’d left you.”

  There was a pause. His lawyer shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

  “Because I couldn’t understand why she’d just up and leave without a word. Without taking her belongings. I was hurt, so I decided to make it look like she’d packed her suitcase and left.”

  “And that’s what you told the police the next morning.”

&
nbsp; “Yes.” He glanced at his hands. The smug look was gone now as he fought to make them believe his version of events.

  “It’s what happened. It’s not my fault that serial killer got his hands on her after she walked out.”

  “He didn’t,” said Reid.

  “What?” Snake frowned, confused. “I thought he confessed.”

  “He was paid to confess to Natalia’s murder. By your ex-girlfriend.”

  Snake bit his lip. Reid could sense the cogs going round in his brain. How had they found out? Who’d talked? The lawyer? Bella? And how much did they know?

  Reid decided to bluff it out. “We know everything, Snake. You planned to murder your wife that night. You spiked her drink, and then you took her back to the hotel room where you strangled her.”

  “No, it’s not true!”

  “You killed her right in that hotel room, before putting her body into her own suitcase, and then you went back to the party.” Reid glared at him. “You even said something in the corridor to make it look like you were talking to her, when in fact it was all an act. A show for the cameras. Always the performer, right?”

  Snake had stopped protesting. He kept his eyes down and refused to look at Reid.

  His attorney was decidedly uncomfortable now.

  “Your DNA was on that suitcase along with your wife’s.”

  “No comment.”

  “We found hair and saliva inside the suitcase. Skin cells and fibers from the dress she was wearing at the time.”

  “Those could have got in there from general handling of the suitcase,” the attorney pointed out.

  “Try convincing a jury of that,” snapped Reid.

  When there was no response from Snake, Reid continued. “After the party, you pulled the suitcase down to the beach with Natalia’s body in it. Bella picked you up and the two of you took your wife’s body to the Glades to dump her. The problem was, you couldn’t get rid of the suitcase because it would be found, and your DNA would be all over it, so you dumped her body making it look like she’d been a victim of the Swamp Strangler.”

  “She was his victim,” spat Snake. “I had nothing to do with it.”

  “This is all conjecture, Detective,” said the lawyer.

  “You were caught on camera,” Reid reminded him. “That’s you in the passenger seat, isn’t it?”