Fireflies: A Katie Bell Mystery (book 1) (26 page)

K
atie parked
her Camry on the side of the road just outside the heavy gates to the Asheville airport. To call it an airport was really glorifying it, it was more like several large hangars and a runway and a tower. The last half a mile Katie had had to kill her headlights to follow Amelia on the two-way highway, and she had been nervous the entire time that somebody would come from the other direction, but no one did.

Amelia had drove up to the gate and had gotten out of her vehicle, unlocking it and pulling the gate back before driving and parking it in the main lot. When she got out again she opened the trunk of her Benz and pulled out the late Dan Reedman’s backpack. Under the cover of darkness Katie easily was able to pass through the open gate and watch as she started to move around one of the hangar buildings.

Katie counted to ten and then followed after Amelia even though she had disappeared from sight around the corner of the building.

That’s when she heard the whine of an airplane engine warming up.

Katie used the noise to jog, hugging the shadows and the side of the building. She could just see Amelia disappearing. At the next corner Katie saw the small two-seater pulling out from one of the hangars across the field. Amelia walked towards the plane, and two men appeared out from the shadows at the mouth of the hangar.

Cursing silently, Katie took a deep breath and then rushed forward, sticking to the shadows as she went. The men were both focused on Amelia. Noise didn’t matter because everything was muted by the sound of the plane, and besides, it was a moonless night.

Katie pulled out her phone and tried to take a few pictures, but without the flash it was next to worthless.

She moved even closer.

The plane taxied onto the runway and was ready to go when the engine was killed. As the propeller blades began to slow, the third man got out of the plane. Katie didn’t recognize him, but she could tell by the way he walked who he was. It was Felipe Smith.

Katie crept closer.

Amelia handed the backpack to Felipe. He handed over a black box to her, and Amelia looked at it for a long time, saying something very heated to him. The two men at either side of her said something and snapped before turning around sharply. She pointed at the shadows being cast by the hangar directly to Katie’s left, roughly a hundred feet in front of her.

Katie froze.

Amelia cried out.

The planes propellers had finally stopped spinning and the night was strangely peaceful aside from the sound of crickets in distance in the field.

“What is it?” it was one of the men behind Amelia.

“I heard something…” Amelia said.

The two men looked at the leader and he nodded his head. They pulled guns out and started to move towards the shadows.

That’s when one of the shadows from the hangar in front of Katie moved towards the three men and the killer. That’s when the shadow flashed color, the end of a rifle spitting angry and red at the group by the plane.

The men started yelling and opened fire back at the shadow, which as it continued to advance Katie suddenly recognized. It was a girl, one of the Japanese foreign exchange students that had been at the parties.

Katie dropped to the ground and considered for a second, before she raised her phone and started to film as best she could.

Amelia ducked down and grabbed the backpack, even as all the men with her fired back at the exchange student. She may have had the element of surprise, but apparently she was a terrible shot because in short order she suddenly went down, clutching her chest and screaming something in Japanese.

Katie realized that one of the men, the one that had been at Amelia’s right, was limping as they made their way over to the body.

Amelia meanwhile was running with both the backpack and the black box, right back towards Katie.

Katie froze for a second and then leapt up. Amelia could see her, but there was no time to waste.

“Hey!” Amelia cried and pointed.

Katie didn’t look back, even as she heard more shouting from behind her. Suddenly there was more gunfire, the loud angry rattle of another assault rifle, and the returning volley of the CRACK-CRACK-CRACK of the men’s pistols. Katie could have sworn she heard the sound of yelling and more gunshots and screams, but she didn’t care, she knew she just had to go. Katie Bell ran, harder and faster than she had ever run in her entire life.

S
he was at her car
. Katie pulled out her keys, dropped them. Her hand was trembling and she opened the car door, and she got in and took a few deep breaths before she tried to start her car. Why the fuck had she parked so far away?

There were bright lights in her window, and Katie froze just as the Benz smashed into her Camry.

Everything began to ring and the crunch of metal and glass filled her ears. Katie felt her whole body slammed back in her seat, and her head hit the roof of her car.

Things blurred for a few moments, and she found herself moving without thinking, moving towards the passenger door, forcing it open. The smell of gasoline filled her nose, and made her eyes water.

K
atie collapsed
out of the car onto gravel and tried to stand up, but her whole body hurt.

There was a voice behind her, high and angry, but it took Katie a second to realize it was Amelia, and another to understand what she was saying.

“I should have known it would be you, you bitch. You’re not going to stop me, not with the hell of a year that I’ve had.”

“I’m sure you think it’s all about you. I mean I get it. I was an only child after all,” Katie called over her shoulder and then she started to run, down the side of the ditch into the dark open field in front of her.

Except calling it running was being kind, it was more of a limp/jog. In front of her she could hear more crickets, as she ran towards them they became quiet. Ahead of her there must have been a stream or a pond, because Katie could hear the sound of frogs as well.

Behind Katie Amelia followed. Amelia wasn’t hurt, and she was yelling something, but Katie couldn’t hear the killer. All Katie could focus on was the sound of the crickets and the frogs ahead of her. They were nature’s symphony, even though it occurred to Katie that it could be Mother Nature mocking her. It certainly felt like that.

Katie’s leg hit the ground wrong and she went down. The frogs ahead of her fell silent. Still, she wasn’t done, and she started to crawl forwards. Until she felt somebody grab her by the leg and flip her over.

Katie knew it was Amelia, staring down at her with hate filled eyes.

Katie took a deep breath and realized she was panting. She must have not been breathing for a portion of her attempted escape.

“You … you killed them. Both of them.”

“Of course I did. You got me Nancy Drew. Bet you still don’t know how I did it.”

Katie propped herself up on her elbows. Her leg was
screaming
at her, and her forehead was pulsing and she felt something warm and sticky sliding down the right side of her face. She was dully aware it was probably her own blood.

“Sure I do. The beer keg. I’m guessing that one of them had a false bottom, with enough storage space to hide Dan’s backpack?”

Amelia looked surprised. “Nicely done. But how did I get from the upstairs down to the basement without being seen?”

“You’re small enough, and I bet you were a gymnast in high school. I’m guessing you actually slid down the laundry chute.”

“Two for two.”

Amelia reached into her pocket and pulled out something small and black. She flicked her wrist and the dull shine of a knife blade appeared. She moved over Katie, so she was standing directly above her.

“Wait. But why them? I’m assuming that Dan was a drug mule, and that he had some coke in the backpack?”

Amelia started to laugh. “Some coke? Try a brick worth two hundred grand. But no, I didn’t kill him for the damned money. He cheated on me!”

“Yeah, with a
lot
of girls.”

Amelia shook her head and leaned in, the knife blade waving in the air. “No, I didn’t give a shit about that. That was expected. No. He cheated on me with Chris.”

Katie felt utterly shocked, even though it made sense. “You killed him because he was gay?”

In the distance the frogs began to croak again.

A
melia started to shake
, she was so filled with rage and disgust.

“It was all planned out. I didn’t mind that he strayed. But we were going to go the long haul. My family had met him, and found him respectable. We were good together. But I’m not marrying some
fag.
He didn’t get to cheat on me with his nerdy little friend. That was unacceptable … So I took care of it,” Amelia started to giggle.

There was yelling behind them, and Amelia turned to see what it was all about. Katie grabbed Amelia’s leg and pulled hard, sweeping it out from under her. Amelia cried out and went down, and Katie rolled on top of her, scrambling for the knife.

Behind them there were gunshots, but neither girl cared, they were too busy fighting for their lives. Katie felt a streak of pain on her forearm and saw the flickering as the knife blade came towards the side of her neck, but she blocked Amelia’s arm and punched hard, her fist connecting with Amelia’s nose. Amelia’s head jerked back and she dropped the knife.

Katie rolled away from her and struggled to stand up. She felt something hot and wet stinging her chest and reached down. Her fingers came back wet and sticky. In the rush of the fight Katie hadn’t felt herself getting cut there, but it didn’t really surprise her. She felt light headed, and even the pain in her leg was beginning to dull.

Behind her the frogs fell silent again. Katie turned in the direction of the road and heard the footsteps before she saw him. It was Felipe.

He pointed his gun at Katie.

“The backpack,” he said, his accent thick.

Katie pointed at Amelia. “Must be over there somewhere.”

Felipe moved a few feet away, his eyes searching the dark field. After a moment he reached down and grabbed the backpack, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Felipe said, and leveled the pistol back at Katie.

“Seriously?”

Felipe tilted his head for a second, like he was considering it. “Nothing personal.”

“Neither is this,” a voice said from behind him.

Felipe spun even as the high-pitched whine of “Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop,” cracked the air, and his body jerked unnaturally sideways and back and crumpled into the field. Katie felt nauseous as she saw Felipe’s body twitching on the ground for a few long moments before he lay still.

In the darkness of the field in front of her the shadowy silhouette appeared. One moment he was not there, and the next he was, moving towards Katie at a slow pace, like he was just out taking an evening stroll.

The frogs and crickets started up again.

It was the mysterious man from both the first party and the one that had been talking to Tiffany at the SCU museum. The man in the North Face jacket. His arms were at his side ,but Katie could see the outline of a silenced pistol in his right hand, though the suppressed barrel was pointed at the ground.

A few feet away from Katie and the mysterious man, Amelia groaned. Without looking at her directly he raised his pistol and squeezed the trigger again. “Pop, Pop,” his gun went, and Amelia’s head jerked back and she fell silent.

“Jesus!” Katie gasped.

The mysterious man reached down and opened the backpack. He pulled out the black object, Katie recognized that it was a camera and some sort of hard drive, and stuffed them inside his black coat.

“That’s evidence,” she said numbly.

“Between the backpack itself and her there’s enough to explain it. This isn’t necessary,” he said.

Katie swallowed hard. There were black spots in her vision, and she felt so light headed. “Are you going to kill me now too?” she found herself asking, but it was almost like she was watching herself ask the question rather than asking the question herself.

Katie could only partly see his expression in the dark, but he looked downright offended.

“You know for being a pretty clever girl, sometimes you really are an idiot,” he replied, and then Katie felt her legs give out.

He was standing over her, looking down.

“You’re safe now,” he said, and then everything began to fade quickly for Katie.

She just drifted off into darkness, even though she wanted to ask the man who he was, and what exactly had just happened, her lips were simply too heavy and she was just too tired.

“
K
atie
! Katie I got you! Wake up!” the voice was warm and familiar, and Katie forced her eyes to open a little. She was being carried, and she recognized that it was Gideon, and there were lights around her, bright lights of a car, but then things began to fade again…

]

“So I just have to ask again, why did you follow Amelia that night?”

Katie was lying in the hospital bed of Asheville first general hospital, and detectives Levitt and Powell were interviewing her for the third time since she had come to Saturday evening. The question had come from Powell, as the questions often did. Detective Levitt seemed to have more of the listen and wait response to interview questions.

“I had a suspicion that she was going to meet up with Felipe, and I figured if I could get close enough to get a photo of the backpack, than maybe I could bring it to you guys.”

Even drugged up Katie had been able to tell a consistent story. At least she hoped that was accurate and it wasn’t just the Vicodin talking.

A lot of questions had been asked of Katie over the last few days, but in the end it didn’t matter. The real SCU killer had been killed, and the truth, or rather a version of it, was finally in print.

The detectives had not been happy with her, but they both seemed much happier with the real story, even if it was apparent they would never tell her that.

The door to her room opened and her father entered the room. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, and he regarded the two detectives with a dismissive shake of his head.

“Three interviews in three days? I would think you two would have all the information that you need from my daughter.”

The two detectives exchanged a look.

“Yes, Agent Bell, I believe we do,” Detective Levitt replied.

Both detectives got up to leave Arthur to be with his daughter. Levitt was just out the door when she thought of something and came back into the room.

“Officially, I want to let you both know that Katie will not be charged concerning the incidents from this past Friday. In light of her helping complete our investigation, my partner and I would like to thank you for your help.”

Levitt reached into her pocket and pulled out her card and left it on the bedside table. “I just hope that if for some reason during your time attending SCU, if you find yourself involved with anything, you call us for fuck sake,” she added before leaving the room.

As the detective closed the door, she could hear Arthur Bell starting to talk. “I still can’t believe after everything I’ve taught you that you would be so stupid as to…”

I
t was
a lot of that over the next few days. Arthur was at wits’ end, and Katie didn’t blame him. Martin Snow was still at large. Katie was very grateful to be too busy recuperating to really think about that.

Arthur had stationed a federal agent outside of Katie’s door, for her protection. Katie thought it was unnecessary, but she understood where he was coming from.

D
espite their general
awkwardness from the previous few weeks, Gideon was in her room practically every waking moment that the nurses and doctors and other visitors weren’t there.

Much to Katie’s unease, Arthur had taken a strange liking to the younger man, especially when he had found out Gideon had been the one to bring her into the hospital.

Technically, it had been Stacy and Gideon that had brought her in, since it had been Stacy without Katie’s knowledge who had planted a bug on her iPhone so they could trace her location, but that didn’t really matter, (except to Stacy, who reminded everyone when it was brought up).

T
iffany (and Duncan
) had brought her flowers and had hugged her tightly and they had cried together. Katie had wanted to ask her about the mysterious man, but in the end she knew it wasn’t the time. Besides, he had saved her. Tiffany asked Katie if she wanted to be roommates the coming fall and teary-eyed Katie agreed.

S
CU campus security
did not investigate or report on Katie’s assault of the officers, though their chief had come in to inform Katie in front of her father and Gideon of that fact. Apparently having two of “their best” being taken out by a woman was too embarrassing to make anything official of it.

S
tacy had not visited
her as often as the others, but she was there on a regular basis, and had been very pissed that Katie hadn’t managed to get the hard drive.

“We still don’t have a lot of answers,” Stacy had said to her.

Katie was silent for a long moment. “Well, there’s always next year.”

Gideon had been in the room for that conversation too.

“I really don’t want to hear that.”

“What? This was only my freshman year. I’ve got three more years to get into plenty of trouble.”

“Hopefully of a more normal college variety.”

“Well yeah, of course, I mean murders at colleges don’t exactly happen on a regular basis,” Katie said.

“I sure hope not,” Gideon said and the three friends looked at each other and started to laugh.

Katie wasn’t sure what the future had in store for her, but she was grateful to have the people in the room in her life.

There were a lot of questions still left unanswered. Katie had a feeling that there had been more going on than just the murders. She felt like she had just uncovered the first layer of something vast and dark, she just wasn’t sure
what
it was. But, she would have to leave that for a later time. Summer was ahead of her, and she had recovering from her injuries and warm weather to look forward to.

Soon enough it would be fall again. Perhaps then she could begin to explore exactly what the secret society on campus was, and maybe find out exactly who the mysterious man that had saved her was.

The only thing Katie was really certain of was that there was far more going on at SCU than it appeared, and she was keen on finding out more.

Still, Katie knew she was getting ahead of herself. For the time being, finally, it was time to rest.