Afterburn: A Kenzie Gilmore Thriller

by BIBA PEARCE

  “Pretty much. Until we can prove otherwise, I think we need to treat Natalia’s death as an isolated incident. How’s the task force coming along?”

  Pérez grimaced. “I put Jonny in charge.”

  “What about that guy from Miami-Dade?”

  “His wife went into labor early. There wasn’t anyone else. I hope Jonny can handle it.”

  “He’ll be fine,” said Reid. “It’ll be good for him.”

  “I’ve put Jared and Chris on it, too. I can’t spare any more men.”

  Reid nodded. They were both decent detectives. They’d get the job done.

  “So far, they haven’t found a link between the girls,” Pérez told him. “The first two were out of towners, and Natalia was local. None of them knew each other. None of them stayed in the same hotel. It’s a mystery.”

  “Yet somehow the Strangler targeted them. Concentrate on the first two. Maybe they went to the same bar or hung out at the same beach. There must be a pattern somewhere.”

  Pérez glanced at him over his beer. “You sure you don’t want to come back and take over?”

  “Nah, I’m good flying under the radar for now.”

  Pérez gave a sad nod and took a long swig of his beer. “What time is the raid?”

  “I’ve arranged to have a uniformed team there at nine when they open for business.”

  Pérez nodded. “Keep me posted. You do realize that even if you find evidence of fraud, it still doesn’t prove the bastard killed her.”

  “No, but it gives us enough to bring him in for questioning.”

  “That it does,” Pérez muttered. “That it does.”

  14

  Kenzie stood outside AF Investments’ high rise and watched as the team of police officers suited up. There were eight officers in total, all wearing their Miami PD uniforms complete with utility belts, tactical vests, and weapons.

  Watching them made her suck in her breath with longing. Three months. That’s all that had stood between her and that uniform. Three lousy months and she would have graduated from the police academy.

  She glanced down at her leg. It looked perfectly normal in her jeans, but she never wore shorts. Her knee was crisscrossed with ugly scars and part of it was still numb. Nerve damage, her doctor had said. She’d never get the feeling back.

  Reid came up to her. He wore a Kevlar vest over his T-shirt and was checking his handgun. A Glock 22. Standard issue for the Miami PD.

  She swallowed her envy. “You going in?”

  “Yeah. Stay here until you hear from me, okay?”

  “Roger that. Good luck.”

  He gave a terse nod and strode back across the road toward the building. She saw him address the team, and they went inside.

  What wouldn’t she give to be with them?

  Unable to stand still, she paced up and down the sidewalk, staring at the tower block, trying to count to the sixteenth floor. She lost it after nine and had to start again. What was happening in there? Was Fernández compliant? Or had he kicked up a fuss?

  She paced up and down until her phone rang.

  Reid.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s empty,” growled Reid’s voice. “They left.”

  “What?”

  But he'd hung up.

  Heart sinking, she raced across the road and pressed the button on the elevator. In another minute, she was on the sixteenth floor staring at the thick glass doors that had been jimmied open. The lock lay in pieces on the carpet.

  She ran down the corridor to Fernández’s office and burst in. It was empty. Even the desk was gone. Reid stood there, staring out of the window. “You shouldn’t be in here.”

  She ignored him. “They must have packed up and left overnight. Have you checked the other offices?”

  “Yep, all empty, if there were any people there to begin with.”

  A uniformed officer poked his head around the door. “See you back at the station,” he told Reid.

  “Yeah, thanks Matthews.” He raked a hand through his hair. “What a waste of time. You were right. We gave them too much warning.”

  “Clearly they had a lot to hide,” she surmised, looking at the indents in the carpet where the desk had stood. “They didn’t want you getting your hands on their records.”

  “We’re going to request the CCTV footage from the building and the nearby parking garage. We might be able to pick them up on that.”

  “You might spot Torres that way too,” she pointed out.

  Reid managed a weak smile. “I’m one step ahead of you. I figured he must have left his car there, since it's the only available parking on the street. As soon as I get the footage, I’m going to find that bastard. If I can get a license number, I can trace him through that.”

  “Then what?” Kenzie asked. “What are you going to do when you find him?”

  He gave her a long, hard look. “Arrest him, of course.”

  Reid headed back to the station. At a loose end, Kenzie decided to drive up to Fort Lauderdale to see Rhys Arnold. She needed more information on Natalia’s background, like why she was investing with Fernández’s company. Had her father not advised her on those investments?

  “I wasn’t expecting you.” Arnold opened the door in sweatpants and a T-shirt. It looked like he’d been working out.

  “I know. I’m sorry to bother you. I had a few more questions about Natalia, I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Where’s your detective friend?” He glanced behind her.

  “He’s tied up at work,” she said. “I’ll pass everything we discuss to him.”

  Arnold gave a curt nod. “I had two other officers from the task force here earlier asking about her. They wanted to know when I last saw her and whether she’d been in touch at all in that week before her body was discovered. I told them the same thing I told you. I hadn’t heard from her since we had lunch together.” He sighed. “I hope they know what they’re doing.”

  “We’re following a different line of inquiry.” Kenzie wanted to put the man at ease. The task force was playing catchup, having been formed after she and Reid had already begun their investigation. To Arnold, it must look like the left hand didn’t know what the right was doing.

  “You think she was murdered by someone she knew,” he surmised. He was an astute old guy.

  “It’s a theory we’re working on, yes.” She hesitated. “Mr. Arnold, your daughter was investing through a company called AF Investments run by an advisor called Antonio Fernández. Do you know him?”

  His eyes narrowed. “That thieving scumbag. Yeah, I know him. He tried to get me to invest in his fraudulent little scheme, but I saw right through him.” He scratched his bearded chin. “I had no idea Natalia was involved with him.”

  “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” she said.

  “Christ.” He swept a hand over his thinning hair.

  “Then a further hundred thousand two months later.”

  Heat swept into Rhys Arnold’s cheeks. “The bastard was robbing her blind,” he hissed. “You know how he works, don't you? He uses the money from new investors to pay the old ones. They think their money is sitting in a trading account being used solely for trades, and when they check via an app, they see a healthy interest, encouraging them to invest more. Meanwhile, it's completely fabricated. I got a trader pal to look into it for me. I always do due diligence before I hand over large sums of money.”

  A practice his daughter should have also adhered to.

  “Excuse me for asking this, Mr. Arnold,” she said. “But why was Natalia handling her own investments? Don’t you have someone to do that for her?”

  “You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” He snorted. “Natalia—bless her soul—was a simple girl. Naive, trusting. She received a monthly allowance from a trust I set up of which she was a beneficiary. This is what she lived off. I couldn’t allow her to manage her own finances for exactly this reason. The money she handed over to Fernández came from her mother.
It was a substantial inheritance left on her mother’s death. I had no say over what she did with it. I had hoped her husband would advise her, but it seems he’s as useless with money as she was.”

  He gritted his teeth. “I’ll get AF Investments shut down.”

  “I’m afraid they’ve vanished,” Kenzie said. She didn’t think Reid would mind her passing on that information. There wasn’t much anyone could do about it now. “The police raided the premises this morning. Fernández and all his staff have gone.”

  “All his staff.” Another snort. “My pal said the entire operation was run by Fernández, some tech whiz he had working for him, and a big bastard who made sure no irate customers came clamoring for their money back.”

  “That pretty much sums it up,” said Kenzie. “Any idea where they’ve gone?”

  “No, but I hope you catch his sorry ass.”

  “We’ll definitely try,” she said. “And if you think of anything else, you have my card. Feel free to call me any time.”

  15

  Reid watched Gabriella Vincent squirm on the small screen outside the interrogation room. She crossed her legs, then uncrossed them. She leaned back, folded her arms, then unfolded them and put her hands in her lap. The woman was nervous, no doubt about it.

  He’d left her to stew for a good half hour, telling her nothing about why she was here.

  Eventually, he barged in, folder under his arm, tossed it onto the table and sat down opposite her.

  “Detective, what is all this about? Why am I here?”

  “We’ll get to that. This interview is being recorded, and as I understand it, you’ve waived your right to an attorney.”

  “If I don’t know what I’m here for, how can I know whether I need a lawyer?”

  “You’re here because we have some questions regarding your financial reports that you sent us.”

  “I told you, I have nothing to hide.”

  Reid opened the folder and took out a piece of paper. He slid it across the table. “That is an extract of your payment ledger. Do you see the highlighted entries?”

  She paled, but nodded.

  “Those publications do not exist. I checked them out myself. You’ve been invoicing Natalia for bogus payments to fake publications. How do you explain that?”

  Her lip quivered, but she didn’t respond. She stared at the entries, a defeated look on her face.

  “Ms. Vincent?”

  “Yes, I heard you. I was going to pay the money back. The company ran into some financial difficulty, and I needed cash. I took the money from Natalia because I knew she wouldn’t notice. It’s the only time I’ve done that, I swear. I was going to issue a credit note next month.”

  Reid studied her. She was worried, but still indignant. Didn’t she realize what she’d done? “You’ve committed fraud. I’m going to have to charge you.”

  “Oh, God.” She sunk her head into her hands. “Please, no. You’ll destroy everything. My reputation, my business.”

  “I can’t help that.”

  “What if I pay it back?”

  “You should ask your legal representative about that. I’m afraid I can’t advise you.”

  She shot him a scornful look. “You don’t care, do you? You don’t know how hard it is running a business in this economic climate.”

  “I’m sorry for your troubles, Ms. Vincent, but like I said, you’ll have to discuss your options with your attorney.”

  “Then I want her here now,” she sulked.

  He nodded and pushed himself away from the table. That’s what he’d thought she’d say. “Give his details to my colleague and we’ll call him for you.”

  “Lawyering up, is she?” asked Jonny, as Reid exited the interrogation room.

  “Yeah, no surprises there. She admitted to the fraud, though, so that’s something. I’ll have to wait for her attorney to arrive before I question her about Natalia’s murder.”

  “You think she did it?”

  Reid squinted at the screen. Gabriella looked devastated as the consequences of what she’d done weighed down on her.

  “I don’t think so. She’s guilty of swindling Natalia Cruz out of several thousands of dollars, but I don’t think she’s a killer.”

  Jonny nodded.

  “How are things on the task force?” Reid asked. “Congratulations, by the way. I heard you’d been put in charge.”

  “It was a surprise,” he admitted, the strain showing. “Hope I can live up to the lieutenant’s expectations.”

  “You will. You got this.”

  He grimaced. “We’re still trying to find a connection between the victims. So far, all we’ve got is that they were in the Miami Beach area on the nights they disappeared. We think that’s his hunting ground.” There was a pause. “What do you think?”

  “It’s possible,” Reid agreed. “He may have cruised the beach bars looking for his next target. Have you checked CCTV in the area?”

  “Yeah, we’ve just requested the footage, but there’s also private security cameras in bars and clubs, literally hundreds of hours of it. Impossible to know where to start.”

  “Start with what you know,” said Reid. “You know where the victims were, so concentrate on those bars or clubs first and work your way outward. Look for faces that appear in more than one location. Pay special attention to anyone who approaches the girls, even if it’s just a bump or a nudge.”

  Jonny gave a purposeful nod. “Okay, thanks boss.”

  “Well, well. Look who’s back.”

  Reid didn’t have to turn around to recognize Ortega’s mocking tone.

  “I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t think you’d have the balls.”

  “The balls for what?” Ortega was pissing him off.

  “Reid,” cautioned Jonny.

  “To show your face around here.”

  Reid took a step closer to him. “I’d advise you to stay out of my way, Ortega.”

  “Or what?” he sneered.

  Reid was at least a head taller than him and he made full use of his height now, towering over his adversary. “Or you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

  Ortega snorted, but he took a step back. He was rattled. He’d seen something in Reid’s eyes that scared him.

  Good, Reid thought, letting the tension ease.

  “I never understood what she saw in you,” Ortega murmured, before walking away.

  Reid made to go after him, but Jonny put a restraining hand on his arm. “It’s not worth it, buddy. You’ve just got back. Let it go.”

  His colleague was right. He exhaled and forced his shoulders to relax. Now wasn’t the time to make waves. One day he’d have it out with Ortega, but not today.

  Gabriella’s attorney arrived in a fire engine red power-suit and a cloud of expensive perfume. “Celine Palmer.” She thrust her hand in front of Reid’s face.

  He shook it, noting her nails matched her clothing.

  “I’ll take you to your client.” He showed her to the interrogation room where Gabriella was beginning to wilt. It was warm inside, even with the air conditioning, and she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since she’d arrived. “You’re welcome to take her some water,” he added.

  “Thank you, Detective.”

  Palmer bought a bottle of water from the vending machine and went to confer with Gabriella. Reid gave them 20 minutes, then walked in. Same folder, same no-nonsense expression on his face.

  “My client tells me she’s already admitted to the fraud charges.” Palmer fixed her gaze on him.

  “That’s correct.”

  “She’s prepared to cooperate fully,” she continued. “She feels awful about what she’s done and wants to put things right.”

  It was a bit late for that.

  “That’s good to know.” He opened the folder. “Did Natalia Cruz know you were stealing from her?”

  Gabriella gave a hesitant nod. “She suspected, but she didn’t ask me about it directly.”

  “Ho
w do you know she suspected, then?”

  “By the way she was acting. I could tell she was uncomfortable with me. Our relationship had changed. She cancelled meetings, would only speak to me on the phone, and even then, kept it short and abrupt.”

  “How did she find out?” inquired Reid.

  “I don’t know. I gave her a breakdown of everything we were doing every month, and I think she must have suspected she was overpaying for services. I can’t be sure.”

  “Why didn’t she confront you about it?”

  “That wasn’t her way. Natalia avoided confrontation of any kind. She’d rather walk away than confront me directly. Her husband told me she was going to let me go. She couldn’t even do that.”

  Natalia appeared to be a sensitive, retiring, gullible woman with a below average intellect, who others had taken advantage of. Perhaps she’d always been taken care of and didn’t know how to look after herself. Her beauty made her sought after, but her naivety made her vulnerable. Reid felt sorry for her. Right then, in the interrogation room, he decided that everyone who’d taken advantage of Natalia was going to pay. Gabriella, Fernández, the person who’d strangled her and dumped her body in the Glades. No one had a right to treat another human being like that.

  “Had her husband fired you already?” Reid asked.

  “He’d given me notice,” she explained. “I had until the end of the month to tie up any contracts and end any ongoing deals with magazines and publications.”

  “Given your tense relationship with Natalia, I’m surprised you attended her husband’s launch party.”

  “I couldn’t afford not to be there,” she said. “It was a great networking opportunity. Without Natalia’s contract, I needed to source new clients. Everybody in the industry was there.”

  “And did you source new clients?” he asked.

  “I handed out a few business cards, yes.” She straightened her back.

  “Before you left at twenty-two minutes past eleven.”