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Twelve

Cold air blasted from the vents, but the hot sunshine coming through the windshield was the victor. It was like winter and summer were competing, or maybe even trying to coexist. Zach entertaining the idea that he could be a father and a field agent felt much the same. Regardless, people had been choosing between career and family since the start of civilized society. It wasn’t like he was the first person to deal with this, so why should he consider his circumstances anything special? If only he didn’t love his job so much, it would be far easier to keep family in first place.

Zach and Paige were on the way to Stella Bridges’s house. It was possible they’d find Kelter there, but if not, it would seem Bridges was one of the last people to see Kelter before she disappeared.

“I can’t imagine what poor Jack’s thinking right now,” Paige said.

Zach hadn’t wanted to bring the matter into the light again, but now that Paige had… “He’s likely feeling like he jumped the gun.”

“But the director wouldn’t have approved the investigation if Jack was jumping the gun, right?” Paige looked pensive, as if she was unsure whose side she was on. Did the blame rest on Jack for making the wrong judgment call or on the shoulders of the FBI director who had approved the investigation? Did it even matter?

Zach went to pull into Stella Bridges’s drive, but another car cut him off and butted in ahead of him.

Paige leaned forward and lifted her sunglasses. “Is that Marsh?”

Both vehicles stopped and parked in front of a wrought iron gate. Beyond it were well-groomed lawns, palm trees, and magnolia trees. Tucked deeper into the property was the house, its roofline all that was visible from where Zach and Paige sat.

They got out of the SUV, and sure enough, Kelly was walking toward them.

Despite the silver-mirrored lenses of her sunglasses, she was squinting, the skin pinching around her eyes. “What brought you guys here?”

Paige pointed toward the house. “Stella Bridges was with Kelter last night at a place called Magical Bar & Grill.”

“Well, that’s good. It gives us a lead on the timeline.” Kelly glanced at Zach and let her gaze trail back to Paige. “What is it?”

“Jack didn’t call you?” Paige asked.

“Noooooo.” Kelly dragged out the word.

“We think Kelter might have left Gordon for Stella,” Zach laid out, not bothering to ask Kelly what brought her to Bridges’s front door.

“They were lovers?” Kelly raised her brows, skeptical.

“It would seem,” Zach said.

“No.” Kelly shook her head rapidly. “There’s more to this. I just know that Kelter’s been taken by a serial killer.”

Zach appreciated Kelly’s conviction, but he wasn’t convinced just yet. “Until we actually have evidence of that…”

“Kelter could be inside,” Paige stressed.

“No.” Kelly shook her head. “I’m not buying that. The victimology lines up with West and Sullivan.”

They could stand there all day arguing about how they could look at things, but it wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “We need to talk to Stella to find out what’s going on,” Zach said.

“Sure, but I’m hanging around.” Kelly walked up to the intercom, Zach and Paige flanking her. She reached out to push the intercom button, but Paige stayed her hand.

“You never told us what brought you here,” Paige said.

Kelly drew her hand back. “Jenna’s friend Carrie told me that Jenna hadn’t been going to church for years before her accident. She said she’d stopped not long after becoming friends with Stella Bridges. I was hoping to get some insight into their friendship, thinking maybe Stella might know where Jenna actually went on Sundays. From there maybe figure out when and where she was abducted.”

Paige turned to Zach. “Seems another skeleton came out of the closet,” she said.

Kelly didn’t question Paige’s comment and rang the intercom.

“Who is it?” a quiet woman’s voice said over the speaker.

“Miami PD and the FBI, ma’am,” Kelly announced. “We’d like to speak with Stella Bridges.”

“May I tell her what this is regarding?” the woman asked.

“I’m sorry, but that’s between us and Ms. Bridges.”

After a moment’s pause, a buzzing sound cut through the air, and the three of them loaded back into their vehicles. As Zach drove down the serpentine drive, he admired the landscaping. Mature palm trees and lush gardens provided hues of green and splashes of reds and yellows. The lawn was immaculately manicured and had been cut on an angle.

The end of the lane curved around a fountain with a stone sculpture in the center, which depicted a woman draped in flowing cloth holding a tilted amphora. Water poured out of its spout into a circular basin.

Zach parked at the top of the drive, taking in the building. It was two stories with a spread-out floor plan. A second-story balcony was perched above the doorway and decorated with furniture and oversized potted plants. Zach assumed it was more for show than use. It was nice, but if this were his place, he’d never leave the front of the house, which overlooked the water.

He appreciatively breathed in the salty air that carried on a gentle and somewhat cool breeze as he walked to the door that faced the road. It was black with an arched top, and it towered over his six-foot-four height by about two feet. He’d expected that the woman from the intercom would be at the door waiting to greet them, but it remained closed. He searched for the doorbell, but Paige got there first.

Footsteps were approaching from the other side, and the door slowly swung open. A woman stood there tying the belt on a sheer wraparound that draped her small frame. Beneath the coverup, she wore a patterned blue bikini. Sunglasses were perched on the top of her head. Piercing gray metallic eyes studied them. Even if her profession didn’t give away her intelligence, her discerning gaze did.

“What do you want?” she asked abruptly as she walked around them and closed the door. She smelled of coconut oil and sun-kissed skin.

Zach flashed his creds. “FBI Agent Miles. This is my colleague Agent Dawson.” He tilted his head toward Paige, then gestured to Kelly.

“I’m Detective Marsh with Miami PD, Central District, Homicide.” Kelly showed her badge.

Stella squared her shoulders. “And what brings you here?”

“Do you have someplace we could sit down?” Zach eyed the sunken living room and the wall of windows beyond it. The view of the water was breathtaking.

Stella put her hands on her hips, a diamond tennis bracelet dangling from her left wrist. “Tell me what this is about first.”

“You’re friends with Jenna Kelter, correct?” Kelly asked before Zach could speak.

“Okay, I’ll play along.” Stella reached into one of the pockets of her wraparound and glanced at her cell phone. “Sure, we’re friends.”

“Is she here, ma’am?” Zach asked, drawing a hot glare from Stella. There was the ballbuster Tommy had mentioned.

Stella let her phone drop back into her pocket and crossed her arms. “Why would she be here?”

Paige jumped in first. “You had drinks with her last night at—”

“Magical Bar & Grill,” Stella finished. “The question is how do you know that?” she snarled, obviously feeling as though her privacy had been violated.

“We’re investigating Mrs. Kelter’s disappearance.” Kelly dumped the news on Stella, but the woman didn’t seem worried in the least.

“Disappearance,” Stella scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. I saw her just…”

“Last night,” Paige reiterated. “Did you leave the bar together?”

Stella nodded. “We came back here, made love, and fell asleep together. When I woke up to use the bathroom just after two in the morning, she was gone. I figured she just went home.”

“Before prison, did she normally spend Sunday nights with you?” Zach asked, risking Stella’s wrath again.

Stella nodded.

“Does she usually slip out in the wee hours?” Kelly asked.

Stella nodded again. “She slinks home and sneaks into bed with Gordon.”

“And he’s never questioned where she was?” Zach asked.

“Not that she told me.”

Interesting. Gordon must have been obtuse to the fact his wife returned home on Monday in the wee hours. Otherwise why report her missing when he did?

“I’m assuming she normally drove herself around,” Paige started, “but she doesn’t have a license right now. Do you know how she got to Magical Bar & Grill or how she would have gotten home? Maybe she took a cab?”

“A cab?” Stella spat with disgust. “No. Well, I wouldn’t think so anyway. She knows how to reach Dominick.”

“Who’s Dominick?” Kelly asked.

“Well, he’s not my driver per se, as he’s not on my payroll, but he works for a local driving service, Checker Limousine, and I always request him when I need a ride. Not that he was around to drive us home from the bar last night. Dominick dropped me off at the bar. I called for him to pick us up, but when we stepped outside one of Checker’s cars was already there. I thought it looked like Dominick’s vehicle, but he wasn’t behind the wheel. I told Checker to disregard my request for a car.”

That had Zach’s attention, and a lead weight balled in his gut. “Did you ever have this driver before?”

“No, but we were too wasted to care. We just wanted to get back here.”

Tingles were running wild up Zach’s back. “Did you get a good look at this driver?”

“No. Again the booze. I just know that it was a man.” Stella shook her head, her regret tangible.

Their unsub could work at the same company, but before Zach jumped to any conclusion, he needed more information. “You said it looked like Dominick’s car?”

“Same make and model. A white Chrysler 300.” Stella said that as if it was enough to jump to the conclusion she had. The driving service could have had more than one white Chrysler 300.

“Did the driver mention Dominick at all?” Zach asked off the cuff.

“Actually, he did. He said that Dominick wasn’t feeling well.” Stella shrugged, then her eyes widened. “Do you think he did something to her? Maybe he showed up in the morning and took her?”

“It’s too soon to know,” Zach told her.

Stella’s eyes were filling with tears, and she began to tremble.

“Let’s sit,” Zach suggested.

Stella flicked a look to Paige and Kelly, then back to Zach. “What happened to her?”

“Let’s sit and talk.” Zach stepped toward the couch.

“In that case, let’s move this outside. Follow me.” She led them to a back patio that surrounded a large in-ground swimming pool. Twenty lounge chairs lined the pool. An open textbook was on one with a towel tossed over the back, and on the table next to the chair was a glass with some fruity-looking libation. Stella grabbed the drink on her way past it, and she continued to guide them to a larger table with chairs and an umbrella.

Stella sat in one of four chairs there and crossed her legs. Paige, Kelly, and Zach took the other seats.

Stella steeled herself, deep breath in, shoulders drawing back, head held high. “Okay, hit me.”

“All we know for sure is that Jenna’s whereabouts are currently unaccounted for,” Paige said diplomatically.

“So you have no idea if she’s all right or not.” Stella made the bleak conclusion and sniffled.

Kelly turned to look at Paige, then to Stella. “We have reason to believe—”

Paige glared at Kelly and cut in, “We don’t know if she’s all right or not, and that’s what we’re trying to determine.”

Kelly’s posture stiffened as she glowered at Paige.

But Stella’s gaze stayed on Kelly. “What do you believe?”

“It’s too early to say,” Paige insisted.

Stella pointed a manicured finger toward Kelly. “I’d like to hear it from you.”

“I believe she’s in danger,” Kelly admitted.

Shaking her head, Stella pulled out her phone. “This is all a misunderstanding, you’ll see.” She pushed a button and held her phone to an ear. Moments later, she said, “Jenna, baby, call me when you get this message.” She set her phone on the table. “She just has her phone off. That’s all.”

“Her husband hasn’t seen her since eleven thirty yesterday morning and reported her missing around two in the morning,” Zach said, presenting the facts as delicately as possible. “As far as we’ve figured out, you’re the last one to have seen her.”

Stella cleared her throat and lifted her head high.

“She told her husband she was going to church when she left yesterday morning, but her friends said she wasn’t there,” Zach started. “Do you know where she might have gone? Who might have picked her up?”

“Well, we were going to get together earlier in the day, but something came up at work. I didn’t get to see her until nine thirty at the bar.” Stella sounded regretful. “I’d sent Dominick to pick her up at her house and when I told her I was caught up with work, she said she’d go see a movie then come back here.”

“And that’s what she did?” Paige asked.

“Yeah, as far as I know. She got restless waiting around here for me and headed to the bar at eight thirty. I told her I’d meet her there. I went straight from work.” Stella slid her gaze to the detective and tears beaded in her eyes. “I can handle the truth. It’s obvious there’s more to Jenna’s disappearance than you’re telling me. The FBI doesn’t come around asking questions about people who may or may not be in danger. And you said you’re in Homicide.” Stella gave Kelly a pointed look.

Zach had heard enough to redirect his suspicions down their original path: Kelter had been abducted and was quite likely in the hands of a serial killer. Could Stella really handle that theory? No doubt she had to deal with unpleasant situations with her chosen career all the time. She’d likely given notice to family members on many occasions. “We think it’s possible that Jenna was taken by a serial killer,” Zach confessed.

“I see.” Stella was staring at the tabletop, her eyes glazed over.

“We’ll need the information on the driving service you use, please,” Kelly requested.

“Checker Limousine.” Stella went on to rattle off the company’s number from memory. “You don’t think she was taken from here?” She sat up straighter and uncrossed her legs. “I thought I had the best security money could buy.”

“She easily could have gone missing after she left here, or even after leaving the driver’s care,” Zach said to comfort her. “Do you have surveillance cameras on the premises? Maybe at your front gate?”

“Absolutely, and I can give you the security company’s information. Maybe you’ll see something that will help find her.” Stella paused and stared at her phone. “I just can’t believe this is happening… She was going to leave Gordon for me. We were going to be—” Stella spun her phone on the table.

“We’re going to do everything we can to bring her home safely,” Paige said. It was the same thing she had told Gordon.

Stella picked up her phone and dialed again. “I just can’t accept what you’re telling me.”

Zach’s heart ached watching this woman gripping on to hope so tightly, beyond reason and logic. As a surgeon who surely had faced life’s unfairness numerous times throughout her career, she should know that endings weren’t always happy. She simply didn’t want to—

“It’s ringing!” Stella jumped to her feet.

Zach looked at Kelly, who was on her phone already, probably getting someone on tracking Kelter’s phone immediately.

“Come on, baby, answer…” Stella was perched on the edge of her chair, tears pooling in her eyes again. “Hello? Jenna? Jenna, are you there?”

“Here.” Zach tried to take the phone from Stella.

“Someone answered…” she said. “Someone…”

Zach got the phone to an ear just in time to hear a single expletive before the call was cut off.