Page 39 of Dust and Ashes

Ramon opened the file and spread the gruesome photos across the table. “We know you buried these people. What wedon’tknow is who you’re working with.”

“No?” The suspect chuckled. “That’s a shame.”

So he wasn’t going to deny that he had a partner. She figured he would use some tactic that pitted her against Ramon. She decided to do the same thing between him and his “partner” with a snide comment. “Well, it’s not like you could have pulled that off on your own.”

Under the photos was a full history that had been put together on their suspect. His entire background—for the sake of the exercise.

“Domestic battery,” she began, then read down the list. “More than one bar fight. A couple of speeding tickets and driving without insurance. You don’t strike me as a guy with their creativity it takes to pull off something like this.” But the history they had been given for this exercise spoke of a guy who absolutely would choose to target women—especially if the accomplice convinced him that he could get away with it.

The suspect lifted his chin. “I know who you are, Kenna Banbury.”

She shrugged. “Okay, so you can read a newspaper. Or you can watch the news. You’re just proving my point.”

“You’re not the kind of guy with the brains to come up with something like this,” Ramon pointed out. “After all, you’re sitting here.”

“And if you’re not careful,” Kenna added, “you’re going to be the one taking the rap for all of it.” Maybe that was what he wanted. To feel like he was the big man. Even if that meant serving multiple life sentences, he would be known in the public eye as the one who dreamed up the entire escapade. “If you tell us who brought you in, we can speak to the US Attorney and try to get you a deal.”

The suspect barked a laugh. “You think I’m going to roll over? I don’t play dead.”

“You do realize that you were only brought into this. So when the heat turns on, you’re the one who gets cooked.” She pointed at him.

The suspect glanced between them.

Kenna realized this was where it would come.

She knew she was right when he said, “You won’t find enough evidence to tie me to these people.”

“We already have.” She shrugged one shoulder. “And why are you so convinced that we can’t pin all of this on you?”

He eyed her. “Maybe I have inside knowledge of what you need to make a case.” More likely it had been told to him—the man he was pretending to be for the training exercise.

She continued, “Or whoever you are working with watches a lot of true crime shows. Or reads books. Even a modicum of above average intelligence coupled with access to the internet would tell you what you need to know. It’s really not that hard.”

“Is that how your dad got away with all those crimes?” Here it came. “Pinning them on other people when he was the one who was the killer. That must be how you know so much about accomplices.”

So he was going to play that card?

“Is that the best you can come up with?” She stared at him. “It’s a shame you didn’t think of all this first.” She waved at the photos on the table. “Then someone else could have been the patsy instead of you. It’s almost sad, really.”

Ramon snorted. “Tell us who recruited you. Because whoever they were, they were only manipulating you into doing what they said.”

The suspect looked at Ramon. “Why are you doing this to me? You said you’d help me if I got caught.”

Kenna glanced over at Special Agent Santiago. Sure, the guy had an edge to him. But pinning him as the one who was the killer’s accomplice? The tactic was divide and conquer.

And Kenna wasn’t going to let that happen.

A muscle flicked in Ramon’s jaw. He didn’t know how to fight off being undermined?

Kenna gathered the photos back into the file. “All you’ve got is accusations that we are involved personally? Do you realize how statistically unlikely that is?”

The suspect’s expression faltered.

Ramon stood stiff, and said nothing.

“I’ll be sure and inform the US Attorney that you will say just about anything to try and get out of this. You aren’t going to see any kind of a deal.” She stepped back from the table. “Enjoy prison, Mr. Miller.”

ChapterTwelve

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