Never Run (May Moore Suspense Thriller 1)

"Because I didn't kill anyone." Boone looked her right in the eye. "I don't know who you think I am, lady, but I didn't kill anyone."

"Okay then," Kerry said. "You can rest easy tonight if you didn’t do it. But you're going to be sleeping in a cell."

"Why?" Boone demanded. "There's nothing I can do about this girl. If she didn't come home that night, it's not my fault. If she's missing, it's not my fault. If she was murdered, it’s not my fault either. If you think I could be involved in any way, you've got the wrong person." His voice was angry and loud.

May felt her heart sink.

It sounded as if this man was going to be tough to crack. She hoped that Kerry's forensic team would be as expert as she hoped, because this might come down to the evidence they found in Boone’s home. Perhaps that was why he had so aggressively resisted the FBI. Maybe that meant there would be evidence waiting to be found.

She glanced through the window again, hearing Boone’s angry voice.

"I don't want to talk to anyone but my lawyer. I don't want to answer any questions. You haven't got anything on me, and I don't have to tell you anything."

"Now you’re obstructing justice. You'll soon wish you'd been more cooperative."

"I'm not obstructing anything," Edgar said. "You have nothing on me. I have nothing to do with the missing girls."

May thought that Edgar Boone was surprisingly cool and confident. He had a tough manner. He was playing the police well.

"Oh, really?" Kerry said. "So why were you so nervous at home? Why did you smack my colleague with force, and slam me into the wall? I thought you weren't worried about the search?"

"He had no right coming into my house," Boone said. "And nor did you."

His words were almost drowned out by Kerry's angry tirade.

She’d clearly decided it was time for a tough approach.

"You can say that, but you're still going to prison tonight. No one enjoys being in prison. It's cold, it's lonely, and it's the first of many nights you’ll be spending there. The best thing you can do now is plead guilty and tell us the whereabouts of the missing girls. Then there’ll be something in mitigation."

"I won't be in prison," Boone hissed. "I didn't do anything! Now let me out of here!"

"Edgar Boone," Kerry said, with a snap of finality. "You are under arrest for obstruction of justice and for assaulting a police officer. It won’t be long before we add to those charges. And you’ll sit here until I decide otherwise.”

May heard a low growl. Then, the door to the interview room opened, and Kerry marched out.

May quickly hustled out of the adjoining office, in time to hear her sister address the onlookers.

"Okay, everyone. We need to organize a special briefing for media. And for those of you who haven't been privy to the details of this case, I'm going to give a short overview. Afterward, I will take some questions. In the meantime, we're busy deploying our forensic experts to search Mr. Boone's home."

Kerry sounded totally confident, as if the conclusion of this case was a done deal.

But at that moment, May started thinking more about that house.

Such a small and humble wooden cabin, at the end of a pathway.

Furthermore, Boone had a very nosy neighbor who seemed to know him well, and who absolutely did not miss a trick.

Then, with a clench of her stomach, May remembered what Claire had told her.

The traumatized escapee had clearly said that she'd been kept in a basement, in a brick room. She'd talked about the lack of sound, the lack of sight.

There were no bricks in that small wooden cabin, and anyone kept there would have clearly heard the sounds of the lake, and the boaters and water skiers.

So where had the girls been kept? It sounded from Claire’s testimony that the killer had visited them frequently. That would mean they were kept on his premises, or close by. But there was no place that fit the description close to that lakeside cabin.

Even though she didn’t want to, May started to wonder about the worst-case scenario. That was that Boone was telling the truth, and that he was not the killer.

This was something they had to consider, May realized, feeling anxiety wrench at her. Because if they had the wrong suspect in custody, then the real killer was still out there. At any moment, he might decide that Cassandra Cole's time was up. In fact, if he knew the police had the wrong suspect in custody, it might motivate him to kill off his hostages while he still had time, and before the hunt resumed.

May knew she had one chance left to find out the truth.

If she was wrong, it wouldn't matter. She was already in trouble.

But if she was right, she might just prevent the tragic death of a young woman who meant the world to her parents, her friends, and the whole of Fairshore.