Page 44 of Scorched

“Did you hear about the body Seb and I found at that illegal hunting shack in the national forest?”

She nodded. “London mentioned it.” She straightened, dropping her arms. “Wait, did they identify the body?”

“Yeah.” Declan cleared his throat. Maggie slipped her hand into his. He gave it a squeeze, silently thanking her for the support, and continued. “Katie got a DNA match. It’s mom.”

The color drained from Macy’s face. “What?” she breathed, her eyes wide. “She’s sure?”

“Yes. My DNA is in the system from when I was arrested for murder. It’s a half-match, indicating it’s a parent.”

“Oh my God.” She pushed away from the table, pacing several feet away before turning around. Her hand curled around her ponytail, and her eyes darted around the kitchen as she processed what he told her. “Why would someone want to kill her? Like that, anyway. I can imagine she’s made some enemies, but to burn her in a fire?”

“I don’t know as if it had anything to do with her.”

“Seb and Declan have a theory it has something to do with the child trafficking ring Thomas and Rayna busted up.”

Macy’s eyes grew larger. “No way. She wouldn’t be involved with something like that.”

“That’s what I said. But maybe she knew something? Have you talked to her lately? Or know where she was living?”

“Not in a couple years. She was in Denver then. She called me one night, drunk, rambling about how she was sorry. I managed to figure out what city she was in, but not much else before she apologized for disturbing my evening and hung up.”

Declan frowned. “Why didn’t you say something to me?”

“Because I knew it would just upset you. There was no point when I knew any effort to help her would just turn out like the last time.”

“Last time? What do you mean?” They tried talking to her when they were teenagers to get her to quit and stay sober, but she always promised she would, then never did. They’d never done more than that.

“While you were in the military, before she left town for good, she went through a long dry spell. Even went to AA meetings regularly and had a job. I thought she was finally clean. I went over to pick her up for a lunch date, and she was stoned out of her mind. She offered me her drugs, telling me I should try it because it felt so good. I asked her if she was sorry for relapsing. She smiled and said no. That she was tired of fighting it and just wanted the high. That it was better than the misery of real life.” She shook her head. “After what I went through to get her clean, I left and vowed not to go back. That’s when I went to California. She moved away not long after I did.”

Declan stared at his sister in shock. “Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?”

“You were deployed, and I didn’t want to distract you with the troubles here at home.”

“Yeah, but she was sober for a while. Why did you keep that secret?”

“It wasn’t exactly a secret. She just asked me not to. Said she wanted to tell you herself when you came back. Except she didn’t make it to that point.”

“Geez.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “So, you didn’t hear from her after that until a couple years ago?”

She nodded.

“What about Dad?”

“That asshole could be rotting in a ditch for all I care.”

Declan agreed. “Did she ever mention him? When she was sober or when she called you?”

“No. Not that I remember. I think she hated him as much as we did.”

He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache starting. “Why was she back here?”

“Maybe she was sober and looking to make amends,” Maggie suggested.

“But why?” Macy asked. “It’s been years, and we didn’t part on good terms.”

“Maybe she was sick and wanted to mend fences.”

“If that’s the case, we might never know. I doubt Alex could tell much about her overall health from his exam. She was in bad shape.” He tried not to think about what she looked like when he found her. Now that he knew who it was under all that rubble, the image was even more horrific. He inhaled through his nose, trying to bring his mind back to the present.

---