RX8Club.com - Unusual No-Start

I bought my 2006 RX-8 Shinka a little over a year ago with approx. 51k mi on her and have put about 10k on her since. She is fun to drive and has given me no problems until now. Got in her Sat am to make a grocery store run and she won’t start. I thought I heard a slight pop, like something broke, when it first started to crank over. It didn’t have a normal sound while cranking and when I let go of the ignition switch there was a longer spinning sound, which didn’t seem to be the engine. My first inclination was the starter. I jacked her up, pulled the starter and found nothing unusual (flywheel or starter). Bench test said starter was good so reinstalled and tried again with no joy. I tried the flooded engine procedures with no joy. I’m slowly making it through some of the posted threads and troubleshooting procedures. Nearest Mazda shop is 58 mi away so hoping for some suggestions.