Page 26 of Chasing a Kidnapper

“To be honest, I would rather keep him close. You don’t think Renee is a suspect, do you? She reported her car as being stolen. I highly doubt she’s the one driving it.”

“That’s true.” Like most cops, he operated under the mindset of guilty until proven innocent. Backward from how the courts viewed things, but that was the approach most investigators took. Once he could rule someone out as a suspect, he moved on to the next.

“Please, West. This probably won’t take long. And I feel like we should talk to her as soon as possible.” Trisha tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear. “I can stay in the car, if that’s easier.”

Against his better judgment, he nodded. “Yeah, okay. In the meantime, we need to think about where we should stay.”

“Someplace with a kitchenette would be nice.” She picked up her phone. “I’ll start searching for possibilities.”

“Try to find a place that isn’t too far from the police station.” He knew the work of the task force needed to continue, and he didn’t want to be too far away from the flow of information.

At least he had a list of the pizzeria employees. He planned to cross-reference them with the list of gym members. That may be a way to narrow their focus on a particular suspect.

“Did you find anything at the pizzeria?”

“Nothing new, but Peanut alerted to the weapons that were kept in the storage room.” He shrugged. “According to Henry Anderson, they don’t keep the storage room locked.”

“That figures,” she muttered.

Renee Mills lived in a side-by-side townhouse. There was no garage, and no car in the driveway, either, which backed up her claim of the car being stolen. He pulled in and shifted into Park. “Wait here, okay?”

She wrinkled her nose and nodded. “Yes. But take Peanut. She could be armed.”

That wasn’t a bad thought, so he used the key fob to open the hatch, then got out to join Peanut. He clipped on her collar, then walked up to the front door. It opened before he had a chance to knock.

“Who are you?” a woman he assumed was Renee Mills asked. Her bleached blond hair had an inch of outgrowth on her roots. She sported several tattoos and piercings, and he assessed her as roughly his age of thirty-one. Yet her features were pinched as if she didn’t get enough sleep.

He flashed his gold shield. “I’m Detective Cole. I understand you reported your car as stolen?”

“Yeah, I did.” She didn’t invite him in. “Did you find it?”

“Not yet. I’d like to know when you noticed it missing.” He glanced at Peanut, who sniffed the air with interest but didn’t alert.

“About an hour ago.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “I was heading out to the grocery store, when I noticed it was gone.”

He turned to scan the driveway. “I don’t see any broken glass. Do you know how the thief took your car? Did you hear anything suspicious?”

She flushed and shrugged. “I didn’t hear anything. I don’t always lock the car. Stuff like this doesn’t happen around here.”

Clearly it did, but he refrained from pointing it out. He eyed Renee Mills thoughtfully. She was cooperating, but also seemed to be holding back. The crossed arms over her chest indicated she was feeling defensive. “Ms. Mills, if you know something about this, it’s imperative you tell us.”

“I didn’t steal my own car!” Her outburst seemed a bit over the top. “Come back when you’ve found it.” With that, she stepped back and slammed the door shut.

Interesting. In his humble opinion, the woman protested a bit too much.

It chafed at Trisha to wait in the car while West did the detective work. She was a well-trained cop and should have been out there questioning Renee Mills alongside him. Gauging the woman for herself. Reading her nonverbal cues.

She’d lowered the window and had caught the gist of the conversation. It was surprising that Mills hadn’t acted like most victims. There was no outrage, no worry about insurance claims. Instead, she’d displayed a rather strange acceptance that her car had been taken.

As soon as West had put Peanut in the back and slid behind the wheel, her suspicions were confirmed. “There’s something off about that woman,” he said darkly.

“I agree.” Trisha scowled. “I think she knows who took her car.”

West eyed her in surprise. “What makes you say that?”

“She admitted it wasn’t locked, and appeared resigned, as if the theft wasn’t that much of a surprise. We need to dig into her background.”

“That’s the plan.” West grinned. “It’s nice to know you got the same vibe from her that I did. She tried to come across as cooperative but seemed far more defensive than I expected.”

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