Quickly, she picked up the call. The voice of her boss, Sheriff Jack Wright, crackled over the airwaves. "May? We have an urgent case that just came in. How soon can you get here?"
May stared at Kerry helplessly. Kerry shrugged. "Later," she mouthed.
Work was a priority, and her high-flying FBI sister was totally on board with that. As urgent as this personal mission was to them, going through this house a second time would have to wait.
"I can be there in fifteen minutes," she promised.
She put her phone away and ran for the door.
CHAPTER TWO
May drove as fast as she could through the morning traffic, heading for the
Fairshore police department. She felt filled with anxiety at what might have happened. Sheriff Jack had sounded seriously stressed—a world away from his usual calm self. If he was stressed, May had to fight not to panic. Jack was always calm. Always!
She reached the police station in eight minutes, parked in her bay behind the building, and rushed inside. A screech of wheels made her spin around as she reached the entrance. It was Deputy Owen Lovell, pulling up in the next-door bay, clearly having also arrived in a rush.
Her dark haired, tall deputy had been her partner for more than a year, but recently, the dynamic between them had changed. They were dating but May had discovered that this brought along its own share of problems and worries. Dating someone you worked with was not easy, and all the more so since she had found out that she was bad at communicating.
She'd kept the hunt for Lauren's past history from Owen. And he'd gotten mad at her, believing she was keeping other things from him. She wasn't! But trying to juggle a love relationship, a working relationship, and solve the mystery of what had happened to Lauren had taught May that she wasn't as good at juggling as she had thought.
And also, she had more trust issues than she'd realized. She knew that Owen deserved her trust and to know what was going on in her life. She had to work harder at it. That was the truth of it.
Now, she waited at the door for Owen to climb out, sprint up the stairs, and join her.
"Hi," she said, smiling at him, seeing the expression returned with real warmth. It made this tense day seem brighter.
"Hi, May." Now, Owen looked worried again, and the sparkle in his eyes when he'd seen her was muted. "What's going on?"
She shrugged. "I don't know," she said in a low voice. "I've never heard Sheriff Jack so worried, though."
"Me either," he agreed. They hurried into the police department.
As soon as they entered, May could feel the atmosphere was stressed.
The place was buzzing with it. The other deputies and police officers were all on their feet, rushing through the building, talking in low voices. Sheriff Jack, who was sitting behind his desk, in the corner of the shared back office, was speaking into his cellphone. His face was serious, his voice clipped and urgent.
But when he saw May and Owen, he spoke faster, wrapping up the call, nodding at them to come over. They hurried over to him.
"May, Owen." Sheriff Jack looked up at them, and his face looked more stressed than she’d ever seen it. "We've got a murder case called in."
May felt her stomach clench as he said the word. She waited, feeling breathless, for more details.
"Ed Blair has been murdered at his home in Southbrook. His body was found this morning, early, by his wife, Molly. She was out of town for the night and got back first thing."
His voice sounded ragged, torn apart with pain, and it took May a moment to piece the puzzle together. Then it hit her.
Molly Blair was Sheriff Jack's daughter. This was her husband who'd been killed.
May gasped aloud. This was unthinkable. Sheriff Jack’s family? Murdered? The realization felt like a punch in the gut.
"Your son-in-law?" Owen asked, clearly having worked it out at the same time as May. He, too, sounded horrified.
Sheriff Jack looked at them both, his gaze steady. "I'm trusting you with this because I need this solved, fast. I'm shattered that it's happened. This is family. It could have been my daughter there, at home, last night. It was sheer coincidence that she was out of town for the night. Now, her husband is dead, and she's heartbroken."
Jack's face looked fraught with grief and deeply lined with worry.
"We'll do our best," May promised, her heart in her throat. "Will you be investigating with us today?" She was sure Jack would want to, but she was also sure that her boss would do his duty first and foremost, without making an exception for any case that happened to involve family. And sure enough, Jack shook his head.
