CHAPTER TEN
The FBI agent in the blue jacket turned back to the door, beckoning someone in. May's hand tightened around the beer bottle.
Please, let the FBI have listened to Jack, she thought. Please let them have sent someone we don’t know.
But then, her heart thudded as a willowy blonde with a pixie cut marched into the bar. May felt her face burn with resentment and humiliation. They'd sent Kerry. Of course they had. Here she was.
Her successful, FBI agent sister had arrived in town to take the case out of their hands. Her first case after her promotion. The case she felt invested in and determined to solve. Now it was gone.
May tried to subdue the torrent of emotion she felt. Her heart was pounding. She was so mad to see her sister again. And she was so hurt that this had happened. Perhaps the worst thing of all was noticing Dan, at the bar, turning in Kerry’s direction with a star-struck expression on his face.
"Yes, this is it. This is the local bar," Kerry said in her piercing voice. "And there's May. My sister, who works in the local police department. Hi, sis!"
She strode over to their table.
Kerry was wearing a dark brown leather jacket and jeans, and she looked smug. Her sun-kissed hair was short and spiky, and in May's eyes, she looked beautiful and elegant.
She knew that she looked plain, in comparison.
A moment ago, she'd been breaking up a bar fight, strong and calm. Now, she felt hopeless and insignificant, an embarrassment to herself and her family when compared to Kerry's comet-trail of success.
She didn't even dare meet Owen's gaze although she sensed he was looking at her in concern.
"Hi, Kerry," she managed to stammer out.
"It’s good to be back here although I’m utterly shocked by the circumstances. I can’t wait to get started on the case and bring justice to this town. This is my investigation partner, FBI Special Agent Adams.” Kerry introduced him as Adams drew himself up, squaring his shoulders. "We're here to find the killer and save lives! It’s a big responsibility having a serial case to solve, but I know I’ve got to live up to the expectations of all the folk in this county. And we can do it. This might be way out of your playing field, but it's all the way in ours."
Not knowing what to say in response to this, May felt her cheeks burn.
Dan was following Kerry to the table, a stupid grin on his face.
"Kerry! It's been years," Dan stammered out, sounding like a teenager. "What can I get you to drink?"
She glanced in his direction.
"Nothing, thanks, Dan. We're here for the car."
"The car?" May said incredulously.
"Your local sheriff - what's his name? Charming man? Just the sort of guy you picture in this small-town role, don't you think, Adams?"
"Yeah. He fits the bill, totally," Adams agreed. “Genial. That’s the word I thought of.”
"His name's Sheriff Wright," May snapped.
"Yes, Jack, I remember now. Anyway, we need wheels, and Jack said we could use yours. The local car rental office closes at six, so we arrived too late for it. We’re not used to these early closing times, where we usually work," she explained, with a sense of wonderment in her voice.
"Where do you want to go?" May asked suspiciously.
"I want to go and view the scene, of course. The most recent one, where the body was found in Misty Vale. It's after dark, but we need to get going on this case, and I'd like to get a head start on this killer's thought processes, and also check for any evidence that might be there," Kerry said.
"And you want my car?"
"Yes, that's right. Do you have the keys on you?" Kerry asked.
May did. But this felt like adding insult to injury. Not only was Kerry taking over her case, but also her car?
May decided the line in the sand was to be drawn, right there. She loved her car. It was almost paid for, she had only a few installments still to go, and she’d never had an accident in it. She would be damned if she was letting the FBI speed it around the neighborhood.
"If you want a ride, I'll drive you there," May said.
"You will?" Kerry sounded surprised. "Okay, then. You can take us there, and then I'm going to overnight at the folks. Adams is going to be in the local B&B across the road from them. Let's get going," she said.
Turning on her heel, she swept out of the bar.
May didn't even have time to give Owen an apologetic glance as she hurried out in her sister's wake, leaving her half-finished beer on the table. But, to her surprise, Owen rushed out after her.
"I'll come along too," he said strongly, marching in step beside her.
May couldn't have been more grateful for his moral support at such a time.
*
Half an hour later, May pulled up at the lake and stopped the vehicle.
"Quaint area," Adams said from the back seat. "It's like a real vacation place. I guess it's the kind of area where I would have loved to settle if I'd had smaller career ambitions."
If he used the word 'quaint' once more, May knew she'd be at risk of breaking her own rules and slapping him. Adams clearly thought the whole of Tamarack County was just too ‘hick’ and cute for words.
He didn't take the towns, or the people, seriously, she fumed, climbing out and slamming the door harder than she'd meant to.
Kerry was already striding down to the lake.
"This is where the body was found?" she asked, marching along the shore.
"Yes. The crime scene tape is there."
May tried to catch up with her, as she followed the line of the water's edge.
The sun had set already, leaving the sky a deep black. The moon wasn't up yet. The darkness gave the lake a menacing feel.
May wondered, briefly, if Kerry was thinking about their sister at all. Had Lauren intruded on her thoughts? Or was her mind focused only on the matter at hand?
May had no idea, but she hoped that Kerry would soon figure out that this was a complicated, messy situation, and that it wouldn't be solved in a day. As if to prove her wrong, Kerry marched over to the yellow police tape.
"I'm glad that you had the foresight to call us in so soon," Kerry said. "The earlier, the better, when it comes to catching guys like this. I feel I am getting more of an insight into him as we trace his moves."
"I wonder what weapon made the stab wounds," Adams commented.
"It would have been a very large knife with a serrated blade. The autopsy report came in as we arrived," she said to May.
"Can we get a shot of where the body was found?" Adams called.