Never Run (May Moore Suspense Thriller 1)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Rushing toward the cabin, May knew they had to get there fast, because if Boone was guilty and he spotted them, he might take action. He could hide away, flee from them, arm himself – May had no idea what this man might be capable of, and didn’t want to find out the hard way.

May and Owen raced along the path, keeping their steps light and their footfalls silent. As they made it to the end of the path, the cabin came into view.

May felt breathless that they might now be within twenty yards of the killer. They might be on the point of speaking to a man who had gotten away with murder for decades.

If he’d been doing this for so long, then Lauren could have been one of his victims, May thought again, biting her lip.

This was the first time she’d been in a situation like this, approaching a strong suspect who might be a serial murderer. Never before in her career had she been faced with anything so serious. She wished she was not compromised in terms of her own authorization and powers.

"What now?" Owen breathed.

"He might be armed," May whispered back. "We need to be careful. We don’t want him to attack us, and we don’t want him to flee. We need to approach him calmly, I think, and question him. After all, we only have circumstantial evidence that he was well placed to see the victims and has a history that might be significant. We can’t jump to any conclusions.”

“I think that sounds good,” Owen agreed. “We must make sure first, and definitely don’t want to escalate the situation.”

They crept along the track and stared at the cabin.

It was small and basic, with a rough wooden door that was cracked and flaking.

But as May was about to march up to the door and knock on it, she heard a sound that sent her adrenaline spiking.

Police sirens split the air, racing along the road in their direction. With every moment that passed, they grew louder. There was no doubt at all they were headed here.

May gasped in a horrified breath. She'd been too slow.

Kerry must also have identified this man as a strong suspect, and she'd arrived in a car. With backup. May was sure she would be fully prepared to make a formal arrest if the situation merited it.

One thing was for sure, she didn’t want her sister to find her here. It would be embarrassing at best, disastrous at worst. She was sure that if Kerry saw her here, she would immediately enforce the rules that she’d accused her of breaking. May would be in deep trouble.

"Get out of sight," Owen hissed, tugging at her arm.

May leopard-crawled around the cabin, keeping low. Crouching down behind the weathered wooden structure, she couldn’t help feeling appalled that their investigation had gone wrong so fast.

She heard two sets of confident footsteps ascend the wooden steps, and then a sharp knock on the door.

Her sister's voice rang out.

"Edgar Boone? FBI here. We want to question you regarding a series of recent murders."

"What?" Stomping inside, and flinging the door open, the gray-haired man sounded aggressive and incredulous. "Murders? Are you crazy? I’m not speaking to you! I hate the police! Get out of here, now, before I make you go!”

Kerry sounded determined. “Lives are at stake here, and we need to solve this as soon as possible for the safety of this community. So answering our questions is mandatory, I’m afraid. If you can account for your whereabouts at certain key times, then you have no reason for worry.”

“You are infringing on my rights!”

“We have every right to question you,” Adams snapped, sounding aggressive.

The next second, there was a massive scuffle. May jumped to her feet in a panic as she heard shouts, thumps, and bumps coming from inside. Kerry gave a cry of outrage. Adams shouted in what sounded like pain. What was going on there?

“We need to go and help!” she hissed to Owen. Even though her sister was her least favorite person in the world right now, May couldn’t bear to think of her being hurt or in danger.

But Owen shook his head, grabbing her arm and pulling her down again

“We can’t go!” he hissed back. “You’ll get into huge trouble. They can handle it, I’m sure, May. There are two of them, and they’re armed!”

Both of them flinched as something big and heavy slammed into the cabin wall above them.

“What’s going on in there?” May felt panic surge inside her.

“I’m sure they’re busy subduing him,” Owen reassured her.

A moment later, she heard Kerry shout out, "Adams, grab him!”

There was the sound of another brief struggle. May was sure she picked up the clink of handcuffs.

"Got him!" Adams said breathlessly.

“Is your nose all right?” Kerry asked.

“I think it will be.” Adams sounded nasal, as if he was pinching his nose. May wondered if Boone had smacked him in the nose and now it was bleeding

"This will count against you, Mr. Boone," Kerry threatened. "You refused to answer our questions. You were aggressive and uncooperative. You struck an officer of the law in the nose. In fact, you struck two officers of the law!”

“Is your arm okay?” Adams asked.

“It’ll have a nasty bruise, but it’s fine,” Kerry snapped. “Now, you are under arrest, Mr. Boone! We’re bringing you in on the charges of assault, and on suspicion of the series of murders that have taken place in this county recently. We have eyewitness accounts that you were watching the lake with binoculars at the time when Cassandra Cole was out sailing with friends. We also have confirmation that your vehicle, a tan Ford pickup, received a ticket for speeding the night before last, at around eight-thirty p.m. on the main road passing the Cole residence.”

May’s eyes widened. Kerry sure had done her research, and she felt a reluctant flash of admiration at her thoroughness. This evidence was starting to be compelling.

Kerry got on the radio.

"We need forensic backup. Now. To search this cabin. Get a team here as soon as you can."

Footsteps traipsed to the door and down the stairs.