Page 39 of Scorched

Unease crept up Declan’s spine, making him edgy. He had a feeling the person responsible was only getting started.

The sound of the front door opening and closing drew Maggie’s attention. She looked up from her laptop. Declan stood in the doorway to the living room.

“Hi.” She smiled.

He smiled back and held up the white paper bags in his hands. “Hungry?”

“Yes!” She closed the lid on her computer and set it on the floor, standing. “Did you remember my pie?”

“Of course I did.”

“Good. Who brought you home?” She followed him into the kitchen.

“Gehring. Your voice sounds better.” He set the bag down while Maggie took two plates from the dishwasher.

“Yeah. Once the sleep wore off and I drank some hot tea, it really loosened up. It’s still sore, but it’s not that bad.”

“Good. It should get steadily better. Did you have to use your inhaler at all?” He handed her a sandwich and a box of fries.

“Thanks.” She put them on her plate, then opened the fridge to get the ketchup. “I had to this morning after you left. I started coughing and couldn’t stop.” She squirted some on her plate, then handed him the bottle. “It cleared up after that.”

He nodded and added ketchup to his plate. They walked over to the table to sit down.

“So, how was your day? Did the hunting shack offer any information?” She took a bite of her sandwich.

He sighed, putting down the sandwich he just picked up. “Just more questions. There was another body inside.”

“What?” Who were they dealing with and how many more people were they going to find murdered because of this guy?

“A woman this time. Seb called before I left and said Alex determined she died in the fire. Katie was hoping she could get DNA from a bone. There wasn’t much usable soft tissue. The killer doused her in gasoline.”

Maggie set down her sandwich. “That is a horrible way to die.”

“Agreed.”

“What else did you find out there? Anything that might give you a clue about who’s doing all this?”

“Not really, no.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Well, I hope that woman offers some clues. Seb needs to find this person before more people die.”

Declan nodded, taking a bite of his food. Maggie swirled a fry through her ketchup and ate it, lost in thought. “That woman has to be the key. Especially if Jed was killed to cover up her death.”

“She could just be some random person, too. There haven’t been any missing people reported around here. Seb checked.”

She frowned and ate another fry. He had a point.

“Whatever it is, we’re not going to solve it over grilled chicken sandwiches and fries. Tell me about your day.”

“My day? I prepped for court Tuesday. I’m so thankful for the internet. And that our county digitized its case files.”

“And that’s all you did?”

“Yes.” She held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“You weren’t a scout, either, Maggie.”

She grinned.

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