Page 18 of Scorched

The door to Declan’s hospital room opened. He looked up to see Seb stride through.

“Seb. Hey. What are you doing here?”

The tall lawman crossed the room in two strides and sat in the chair by the bed. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Declan struggled to sit a little higher, frowning at the serious note in Seb’s voice. “About what?”

“Alex performed the autopsy on the man from the fire. He was stabbed before he was doused in gasoline and set alight.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. The knife nicked the spine and Katie found gasoline residue on him.”

“Do you know who he is yet?”

Seb shifted, taking a deep breath. “That’s where it gets weirder. I’m not a hundred percent certain yet, but I think it’s one of the ranch hands from the Broken Bow.”

Declan’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Why would he be in that house, and what makes you think it’s one of your hands?”

“Brady told me a few days ago that one of the hands, Jed Stafford, didn’t show up for work. He thought it was unusual, because the kid was a hard worker. I asked the others if they’d heard from him and no one had, but a couple of them mentioned he’d taken on some side jobs in construction. I guess he was trying to save up enough money to buy a new truck.”

“And you think he was working on that house?”

“Yeah. I don’t have anything concrete. It’s just a feeling. Too much of a coincidence for me.”

“Why would someone stab him, though, and then burn the house down?”

“To cover up the crime.”

“Maybe.” Declan stared out the window as he considered Seb’s theory. Something didn’t add up.

“What?”

“What?” Declan looked at his friend.

“I can see the gears working. What are you thinking?”

“Whoever set that fire knew what they were doing. I don’t think it’s the first time they’ve done it.”

“We haven’t had any other arson cases in the county lately.”

“Right, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t practiced on other structures we don’t know about. If he lives somewhere remote, he could have built and burned small sheds on his own property. My point is, what if this isn’t about your ranch hand, but about the arsonist? Maybe Stafford was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Collateral damage?”

“Exactly.”

Seb sat back in his chair, running a hand over his jaw as he thought about that. “Well, damn. If that’s the case, I’m back to square one without the slightest clue where to look for a suspect.”

“I could take another look at the crime scene and—”

Seb waved his hands, cutting him off. “No. Macy and Maggie would have my hide. Then so would my wife, because I upset them. No. You are to stay away from work until the doctor says you can go back.”

“Then why the hell are you here and telling me all this?”

Seb gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Hell if I know. I guess I figured you deserved an update since you were hurt fighting the blaze. I wasn’t counting on you throwing out alternate theories.”

“Well, I still think you should share all the evidence and crime scene photos with me sooner rather than later. If I’m right about Stafford being collateral, this guy’s going to strike again. I can work on Maggie and soften her up to the idea.”

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