“You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to do what we need to do soon, but you mustn’t be scared. Promise me. There’s no reason to be scared at all. I mean you no harm.”
He closed the door softly and her heart thudded. She’d lost her chance to get away. She heard the key turn in the lock.
She was still a prisoner. If there was another chance—any chance at all—Shawna resolved she was going to take it.
Otherwise, she knew, this fake, overly kind man was going to kill her.
Of course he was. She didn’t believe a word he’d said. He meant her harm, and she knew it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Arriving at the local airport terminal next morning for the pickup, May felt stressed and worried. She’d had a sleepless night thinking about Shawna, wondering where she was, if she was still alive, what was happening to her. She’d been worrying about making her shortlist of suspects, deciding on the best starting points she could use as soon as she’d done the airport run and was at her desk in the police department.
May narrowed her reddened eyes as she pulled up outside the arrivals department, seeing that Kerry was already waiting there.
She’d wanted to be early, to get there first, and in fact she had arrived early. But it seemed Kerry’s flight had landed even earlier.
Her sister looked every inch the successful FBI agent. Her short, blond hair was perfectly cut in a pixie style. Her expensive leather jacket and black cargo pants hugged her slim figure, making her look both gorgeous and intimidating at once.
Next to her stood the man May recognized from the last time as her case partner. Tall, young, and full of himself, Special Agent Adams was staring around the airport in a confident, superior way, as if he’d bought shares in it. He ran a hand over his dark hair, which had been sharply cut, and adjusted the lapel of his navy blazer.
“Morning, sis!”
Kerry grabbed the door as soon as May stopped, climbing in the passenger seat. Adams opened the trunk, stowed their bags, and got in the back.
“Morning, Kerry. Morning, Adams,” May said, noticing her voice sounded hoarse and grainy. After the stressful day yesterday and a stressful night, she felt worryingly short on sleep.
Glancing at her sister’s left hand, she saw the diamond engagement ring sparkling in the morning sun.
“May, I’m looking forward to this,” Adams said in the back. “I’m keen to help out the locals.”
“What a disturbing case! Quite similar to the last one we were involved in here, in that both sets of victims are being abducted and held. It’s actually a crime trend we’re noticing is on the rise, especially in these rural areas.”
“It’s very helpful to be tapping into the trends. Gave us a big advantage in our last case,” Adams said.
“It did. It allowed us to solve it within a very fast time. Who knows why these cases are proliferating out of town. Social pressure, the economy, or simply that there’s more inefficient policing in the outlying areas.” Kerry, too, was full of conversation as she fastened her seatbelt. “Not here, of course,” she added hurriedly.
May took a moment to study her sister. Her blue eyes were bright and alert, and she looked ready to take on anything.
“It’s good you’re here,” May said, pulling away.
She decided to be positive and ignore what might have been a veiled insult, but was more likely Kerry’s mouth running ahead of her brain as she sought to remind everyone in the car why she was so indispensable to the case. Getting offended would not be helpful or allow them to solve the case any faster, May told herself.
“I was reading through the notes last night,” Kerry added. “Getting a full picture of what we have here.”
“Very complex,” Adams interjected from the back. “Good thing you called us in.”
“I’m just worried about Shawna,” May said. “What if she’s still alive? We’ve got to find her.”
“We’re on it. You and your team have the FBI’s full support on this.” Kerry’s tone was firm and confident.
“Where do you want to start?” May asked. “I thought it would be a good idea to make a shortlist of contacts. Do you want my help with that?”
“Well, actually, I’m going to start with the strong suspect I’ve already identified,” Kerry said, sounding smug. “And, by the way, we also have to look in on our parents at some stage, but we can get to that during the day.”
“What?” May stared at her in shock, not even taking in what Kerry said about their parents. The car swerved slightly and she corrected it hastily, focusing her attention once more on the road. “You already have a suspect?”
“Yes,” Kerry said. She was clearly keeping her cards close to her chest.