Page 20 of Flash and Bang
Mary seemed to blink at Jarrett, incomprehensibly. “Oh, absolutely not. We never left the site unsupervised. No one but the four of us were allowed into the launch setup area and no one but the four of us handled the shells. We were the only ones ever licensed to touch anything. Greg is—was—very serious about that. Safety was his primary concern always,” Mrs. Mason said through tears.
Ada looked over at Jarrett and Thayne. “I think that about covers our questions unless there’s something more you’d like to ask?” she said to them.
Thayne shook his head but Jarrett stepped forward. “One last thing, ma’am. Was anyone on the crew particularly religious?”
She looked at him strangely, shaking her head slowly. “Religious? No. Greg and I are Presbyterian and I know nothing about Anthony and Beth.” She reached up and fingered a chain at her neck, pulling a cross out of her shirt. She ran her fingers over itabsently as she began speaking again. “Like I said, we’d only worked with them since December so we hadn’t gotten a lot of chance to know them personally.”
“I see. Thank you, ma’am,” Jarrett said.
The door opened and a young woman wearing a white lab coat came out. She had a face mask tied around her neck but it was hanging free, down the front of her coat.
“I’m Clara Cornwall, the county coroner. If the ATF would like to come in, I’m ready for you.”
Jarrett nodded and he watched as Thayne turned toward Mary Mason, reaching out to take her hand.
“Thank you for your time today, Mrs. Mason. I know this must be hard on you,” his partner said.
“Yes. Just please, catch the person responsible for doing this to my Greg,” she said.
Jarrett’s heart went out to her and he reached out, taking her hand to shake. “If you think of anything else you need us to know, please give us a call.” He reached inside his suit coat and pulled out a card, handing it to her.
She nodded. “Okay.”
Jarrett glanced over to the coroner who waited patiently. “Let’s go,” he said to no one in particular. The religious angle didn’t sound promising and he really hoped the guy had 666 somewhere under the hair on his head. He bit his lip to keep from smiling and followed Ada and Thayne into the medical examiner’s office, leaving a distraught and still crying Mary Mason alone in the corridor.
Chapter Five
Medical Examiner Cornwall had just uncovered Greg Mason’s body when there was a knock on the door. Thayne looked up to see the face of a man peeking through the window in the locked door.
“Oh, it looks like the cavalry has arrived,” she said, dropping the sheet back over the body and taking off the gloves she’d just put on.
“The cavalry?” Jarrett sneered as she walked away.
Thayne looked at his partner and shrugged. “Don’t ask me. The locals maybe?”
Clara opened the door and two men in dark suits walked inside. Both men were in their midthirties, about the same age as he and Jarrett and judging by the way they smiled and shook the coroner’s hand, they knew her. They didn’t look like cops and in fact, Thayne thought they had the look of Feds all over them.
“Feds,” Jarrett whispered as he leaned toward Thayne. Thayne nodded as he glanced over at Jarrett who gave him a knowing wink. He couldn’t help but smile at his erstwhile partner. The two men walked over to Thayne and Jarrett who still stood beside Greg Mason’s covered body. The taller of the two men flipped open a badge as he stopped in front of them.
“FBI special agents Matt Terraciano and Lincoln Snow. You’re ATF?” Terraciano asked.
“Yes. I’m ATF Special Agent Thayne Wolfe. This is my partner, Special Agent Jarrett Evans, and this is ATF Investigator Ada Carrillo.”
They all shook hands. “Aren’t you supposed to be out there checking to see what types of explosives blew up?” Terraciano, asked. “Instead, here you are, looking at bodies.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be investigating cybercrime or something?” Jarrett asked snidely, ignoring the badge as though it just pissed him off and got in the way.
They had just talked about calling the local FBI branch in on this and here they were, making trouble with his partner. Thayne got a sinking feeling in his gut. One of these days, Jarrett was going to step in it and not get out of it so easily.
“No need to get testy,” Special Agent Snow admonished his own partner. “We’re all here for the same reason, I believe.” His voice was calm and sounded much less annoyed than his partner’s.
“What makes you think this isn’t a serial killer?” Terraciano asked, frowning at Jarrett.
“Is it?” Jarrett asked. Thayne watched hishandsome partner’s dark eyebrows elevate.
The coroner cleared her throat. “As fascinating as it is to watch you agent’s circle jerk, I think you came here to examine the body. Correct? I have other things to do today.”
Thayne glanced at Ada when she snorted loudly and covered her mouth with her hand. She sent him an amused look and a shrug. “Sorry,” Thayne said, turning his attention to Clara Cornwall.