Page 9 of Scorched

Her face pulled in a frown. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t set the fire.”

She shrugged. “I know, but—” She broke off. “Wait. Set the fire? It was deliberate? Macy didn’t mention that.”

“Yeah, it was. We found a body in the kitchen and someone set fires at all the entry points on the first floor.”

“Oh my goodness. That’s terrible! What is going on around here lately?”

“I don’t know, but it needs to stop. I’m tired of all the drama.” He winced again as he shifted.

“I’m sure Seb is, too. He’s hardly had a day off since Abigail found Amy Beckett.”

The cubicle door swished open, admitting the nurse, whom Maggie recognized as a classmate from school, Jodie Dunlap.

“Lieutenant, hello. What lands you in my ER as a patient? Oh!” Jodie paused as she caught sight of Maggie. “Maggie Archer, is that you?” She smiled.

Maggie returned her smile. “Hi, Jodie. It’s good to see you. It’s been a long time.”

“It has.” She glanced at Declan, a curious frown on her face. “I didn’t know you two were together.”

“We’re not,” Declan said, his tone dry.

“Geez, Deck. Can you make that idea sound any more distasteful?” Maggie shook her head. “He’s right, though. We’re just friends. I’m here to make sure he actually sees the doctor and doesn’t duck out the moment no one’s looking.”

Jodie laughed. “He wouldn’t be the first man to do that.” She sat down on the rolling stool and scooted up to the computer. “What brings you in, Lieutenant?”

“I was injured in the same fire as Sam Reeves. He came through here earlier with a concussion.”

“Oh my. Okay. What hurts?”

“Everything, but mostly my ribs and hip. The medics on scene thought I broke a couple ribs, which I agree with.”

She typed that into the computer. “Did you ever lose consciousness?”

“No.”

“Good. Which side is it?”

“Left.”

Her head bobbed as she entered that into his chart, then switched screens to go over his medical history. Once finished, she pushed away from the computer and stood. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re ready. It shouldn’t be too long.”

Declan thanked her, and she left.

Maggie opened her briefcase and took out her case files and a pen. She really did need to prep for court tomorrow.

“What are you working on?”

She glanced up. “I have court in the morning. I just want to make sure I’m up to speed on all my cases.”

“Shouldn’t you know that by now?”

She rolled her eyes. “It never hurts to double check. And some of these landed in my lap this morning. They’re arraignments from arrests made in the last couple days.”

“Why did you choose to be a defense attorney, anyway? I mean, I’m grateful. You were great when I needed you. But why?”

“Why not? I know we have a reputation as money-grubbing, but we’re not all that way. And I didn’t go to law school intending to be a criminal lawyer. I was going to do corporate law. But we had to do some job shadowing as part of the curriculum. Criminal law was much more interesting. The more I looked into it, the more I realized it was what I wanted to do. And I chose defense because I met too many prosecutors who wanted to railroad defendants just to get the conviction. I wanted to make sure the truth was known, and that everyone got a fair shake with the system.”

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