Page 42 of Scorched

Chapter 8

The trill of the doorbell early Monday morning drew Declan out of sleep. He cursed as he scrambled out of bed. What the hell was up with these early morning wake-up calls? He didn’t get enough sleep as it was between his ribs and thoughts of Maggie running rampant through his brain until all hours. He pretty much avoided her yesterday. Not because he didn’t want a repeat of Saturday, but because he did. His body couldn’t handle what it thought it wanted. It was better just to not torture himself.

He stumbled into the hallway and almost ran her over as they both responded to the doorbell, which rang again.

“Why does this keep happening?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But it’s undoubtedly Seb. Does he ever sleep?” They descended the stairs.

“Apparently not.”

Declan twisted the locks and threw the door open. Seb stood on the porch, a fierce frown on his face.

“Dude. It’s even earlier than the last time.”

“I know, but this couldn’t wait.”

Declan stepped back so Seb could come inside.

“Can we sit?”

“Seb, what’s wrong?” Maggie asked.

He gestured toward the sitting area to their right. “Let’s have a seat.”

Declan shared a glance with Maggie, neither of them certain what was going on.

Seb stepped toward the furniture and sat in the recliner. Declan pulled Maggie down on the couch with him.

“Okay, we’re sitting. Tell us why you’re waking us up again, looking so grim,” Declan said.

Seb took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on Declan. “Katie got some usable DNA off the woman from the hunting shack using her CRISPR technique.”

“That’s great. Why don’t you look excited?” Declan said.

“She got a match. Well, a partial match.”

Declan rolled a hand. “And? Just spit it out, Seb.”

Seb clasped and unclasped his hands. “The match was to you.”

“What?” He sat a little straighter. Confusion pulled his mouth down and his brows together.

“It was a fifty percent familial match to you. Katie thinks it’s your mother.”

Maggie sucked in a breath beside him and reached for his hand. He clutched her fingers as he digested what Seb said.

“My mom?” Declan cleared his throat and looked away, trying to put a leash on his emotions. The intense grief was unexpected. He hadn’t seen her since he left home after graduation. When he came back after his time in the Marines, she was long gone, and not even Macy knew where she went. Cutting ties with both his parents was the best thing he ever did. Sherri Briggs was an absent mother at best. He had only a few truly good memories of his mom. When she wasn’t drunk or high, she was working and ignoring him and Macy. Her shining achievement was she never hit them.

He glanced at Maggie, whose own eyes telegraphed her disbelief, before returning his attention to Seb. “Why would my mother be in that shack? Who would want to burn her alive?” He might not have liked his mom, but she didn’t deserve to die that way.

“I don’t know. Can you think of anyone she used to associate with who might be capable of doing that?”

“God, I don’t know, Seb. I haven’t seen or heard from her since I left for basic training. She ran around with some lowlifes, including my dad, but they were all stoners and drunks, not murderers.”

“Do you know where she was living recently?”

“No. I didn’t keep tabs on her.”

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