CHAPTER TEN
May felt emotions boiling inside her as she watched Kerry jump out of the unmarked police vehicle, with Adams leaping from the passenger seat. Shoulder to shoulder they marched along the street toward the Willow police department entrance.
Watching from the lobby, she felt small and useless and thoroughly frustrated. The worst-case scenario was playing out. Her sister was taking control of the case, and insisting on doing every important step herself.
Make coffee? Righteous indignation surged inside her all over again. That was a low blow. It had been mean and insulting of Kerry, and totally unnecessary. She’d done it to be hurtful, May was sure.
And May knew that she, too, could get the answers that were needed. In fact, with local knowledge, she might be able to provide insights that Kerry could not.
Despite the fact that May and Owen had done some very intelligent research, found a common thread, located a suspect as he was in the process of illegal activities, and just survived a potentially lethal bomb blast - despite all of that, Kerry was taking over the questioning?
Really? Did FBI protocols genuinely dictate that?
She was being so overprotective about this case that May suddenly realized it almost felt as if Kerry was - would jealous be the right word, she wondered, confused. Could Kerry possibly be jealous of anything May did? Was that even feasible when she, herself, was such a top achiever? Did she really resent that May had gotten a step ahead on this case, and brought in a strong suspect?
Thinking of it, May felt incredulity bubble up inside her. Surely it wasn’t possible.
Beside her, she heard Owen give a faint snort of disapproval as the black-clad duo marched to the doorway.
"You know, I don't think this is fair, or a good use of time," he muttered to May. "We've been sitting here twiddling our thumbs and being told to make coffee when we could already have gotten well into the questioning. If this guy's innocent, Kerry's just wasted a trip. And doubled up on resources."
Owen definitely sounded angry. Now, May had to put her own frustration aside and calm him, because having an irate team member would not be good for anyone.
She muttered back, "If it's FBI protocol then we have to accept it. Kerry might also be simply following orders. The main thing is to find the killer, right?"
Her voice resounded with fake positivity which she was sure Owen could pick up on.
"Hmmm," Owen said.
May knew he wasn't convinced. She hoped that he'd be able to hide how angry he was. She was used to this treatment after years of living with Kerry. Now, as an outsider, Owen was seeing the conflict that ensued when sibling rivalry clashed with the pressure of a high profile and urgent case.
"Hi there," Kerry said. "We'd better waste no time. I think we'll pass on the coffee."
"That's fine, we didn't make it, anyway," Owen said in tones of fake helpfulness.
Kerry blinked at him, looking momentarily thrown, as if she wasn’t sure whether he was being sarcastic or not.
May thought he was, and rather skillfully.
"Are the suspects ready?" Kerry asked.
"They are. They're in the interview room. It's Cody Meyer and his friend, Elmer Breese."
"I suppose we can question them together," Kerry muttered. "But we might have to end up questioning them separately if they resist. Anyway, let's get going. You can watch from the observation room."
"I hope you will be able to pick up some useful pointers," Adams said.
The worst of it was, he was being totally serious and not sarcastic at all. That burned May, as she stomped off to the observation room in silence.
From there, she saw Kerry enter, banging the door open and marching in with her head high. Behind her, Adams followed, gazing threateningly at the two charred and smoke-stained young men, before closing the door in a way that made it clear this escape route was barred.
Kerry stared at the duo through narrowed eyes.
Cody looked up at her defiantly. Elmer shuffled his feet under the desk, staring down at his hands.
"Afternoon, gents. Let me introduce myself," she said. "I'm Agent Kerry Moore, from the FBI. This is Agent Adams. Do you know why you're here?"
"We blew up the cottage," Elmer said.