CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
May heard an enormous blast behind her, and a flash of light seemed to engulf the world. The next moment, she and Owen were thrown to the ground. May landed hard on the grass, with Owen on top of her.
Glass shattered and wood splintered amid the deafening explosion. The air filled with thick, acrid smoke that belched and billowed around them.
Debris scattered down. A block of wood hit May a glancing blow on the head.
"Ouch," she said. Covering her head with her hands, she cowered down, waiting for the fallout to scatter around her, hoping she wouldn’t be hit by anything bigger. Only when debris had stopped thudding to the ground did she dare to look up. Blinking the stinging smoke away, she stared at the scene.
Owen was yelling something at her, but she couldn't make out what because her ears were still ringing from the blast. There was pandemonium around her. The crowds were scattering.
Owen scrambled to his feet. Grabbing May's arm, he helped her up. She coughed, brushing grass off her clothing. Her elbows were sore, and her head was still throbbing from where the wood had hit her.
"May, are you okay?" he asked in concern. This time, she heard him.
"Yeah, I think so. You?"
He nodded.
May looked around in concern, worried that the two bomb squad techs hadn't made it out. But to her relief, both of them were also scrambling up from the grass, where the blast had knocked them.
"We should probably get away from the house. I think it's going to collapse any minute, and what if there's a third bomb?" Owen said.
As the smoke from the blast began to clear, she could see that the house had been transformed into a conflagration.There was now a gaping, smoldering hole where the front of the house had been, which had now been completely blown away. Flames leaped high into the air.
Kerry rushed over, her face taut with concern.
"May! You're okay? I thought you were in there!"
"Owen saw the fuse light activate," May said. Her voice was hoarse and croaky. "He got us all out in time."
She was shaking. Her whole body was trembling with shock. She was aware what a huge debt of gratitude she owed to the quick-thinking and observant deputy. Without a doubt he had saved her life, all their lives, because that bomb had been well hidden until it had activated, and nobody had thought a second blast would detonate less than an hour after the first.
They stumbled further away from the scene as the firemen moved in again. Sirens approaching indicated that more fire trucks were arriving.
Someone leaned over the crime scene tape, and handed May a bottle of water.
"Here, I am sure you need this."
"Thank you," she said to the concerned-looking woman, blinking smoky tears from her eyes. She gulped gratefully at the cool water and then passed the bottle to Owen.
As her shock subsided, May found a blaze of anger taking its place. How dare the killer act in this cowardly way, killing not only his intended victims, but then deliberately targeting the responders to the scene? It was the most malicious act she had ever heard of. What kind of a sicko would do this, she thought, feeling suddenly furious.
May resolved there and then that she was not going to let this happen even one more time. Whatever it took, she was going to work out who did this, and hunt them down before they had the chance to kill one more innocent person, and traumatize and threaten the good people helping on the scene.
"How can we find out who he is?" she asked, almost to herself, but her sister overheard her.
"Well, it's clear that these bombs are being made by someone who is very knowledgeable, and who is intentionally targeting certain people," Kerry said thoughtfully. “The amount of research, and the cleanliness of the scenes, tells us that.”
"But why a retired woman? What harm did she ever do to anyone?" May asked, confused. "Or is he looking to target vulnerable people? And getting family members to detonate the devices is the most evil act imaginable."
But as she spoke the words, she wondered if they might give her some much needed insight.
"This killer maybe has an issue with family?" she asked. “Is that something we could explore? It seems like it, from those actions.”
"I suppose he could," Kerry said dubiously.
"He might," May insisted. "Maybe he is doing this because he has issues with his own family. So he's looking to destroy other families. Or at any rate, to let them destroy each other. It's been a common thread in three of the four killings. In fact, what if one of the killings was to take out his own family member, and he’s done the others as a smokescreen? With the family theme in place to confuse the issue and distract the focus from him in particular? I know that the last kill wasn’t directly related to family, but maybe now he’s just escalating and doesn’t care so much anymore."