Page 24 of For Mercy

The strength was rapidly draining from her body.Michelle's arms, toned from countless hours at the gym, felt alien to her now – heavy, sluggish, as if they belonged to someone else.She tried to raise them, to claw at her attacker's face, but they barely twitched.

Her knees buckled, no longer able to support her weight.As Michelle felt herself falling, she made one last, desperate attempt to fight.Her fingers, still clutching her car keys, loosened their grip.

The metallic clatter of keys hitting concrete echoed in her fading consciousness.It was such a small sound, yet to Michelle, it felt like the tolling of a bell – marking the moment her world changed forever.

As darkness engulfed her, Michelle's last coherent thought was a mixture of disbelief and anger:How dare they.How dare they think they can take me.

Then, there was nothing but silence and the cold embrace of oblivion.

CHAPTER NINE

Morgan leaned back in her chair, her eyes burning from hours of staring at case files.The briefing room felt like a tomb, silent except for the low hum of computer monitors.

She rubbed her temples, willing away the headache that threatened to consume her.The wall of evidence before her was a twisted tapestry of death and deceit.Somewhere in this web of information was the key to unlocking the truth behind Judge Hawthorne's murder.

Morgan's gaze fell to the file open on the desk before her.Sarah Reeves.Former law clerk to the murdered judge.Sarah had died by suicide a year ago, according to the file, which didn’t seem relevant, at first glance, but then again, Morgan didn’t have much else to go off.She found herself curious to know more.

"What's your story, Sarah?"Morgan murmured, her fingers tracing the edge of the file."What secrets did you take to the grave?"

She flipped through the pages, searching for anything that might connect Reeves to Hawthorne's murder.But the more she read, the more questions arose.Reeves had been found in her bathtub, wrists slit, a half-empty bottle of pills on the counter.A note, tearstained and crumpled, lay nearby.

"I can't go on like this," Morgan read aloud, her voice barely above a whisper."The pain is too much.I'm sorry."

Something nagged at her.A gut feeling she couldn't shake.

"Why now?"she asked the empty room."Why, after all this time, am I looking at your case, Sarah?"

Morgan's gaze drifted to Judge Hawthorne's photo.His stern face stared back at her, offering no answers.Maybe it was just a coincidence that a year before his own brutal murder, his law clerk died by suicide, someone very close to him.But something about it nagged at her.

The door creaked open behind her, and Morgan spun around, instinctively reaching for her weapon.She relaxed when she saw Derik's familiar face, his green eyes tired but alert as he balanced two steaming cups of coffee.

"Thought you could use a pick-me-up," he said, setting one of the cups in front of her.

Morgan nodded gratefully, wrapping her hands around the warm mug."Thanks, Derik.I was just thinking—"

"That there's more to this case than meets the eye?"Derik finished, a wry smile playing on his lips."I could hear the gears turning from down the hall."

She took a sip of coffee, savoring the bitter taste."I can't shake the feeling that we're missing something crucial.I was just looking into this—Sarah Reeves, Hawthorne’s law clerk, died by suicide about a year ago.”

Derik leaned against the desk, his brow furrowed."You think there's a connection between the two deaths?"

"I think it's worth exploring," Morgan replied, her voice firm."We need to dig deeper into Hawthorne's rulings, see if there's any case that stands out.Someone who might have had a grudge against both Hawthorne and Reeves.I don’t know, maybe Reeves’s death wasn’t a suicide at all.”

She turned back to the board, her eyes scanning the information for the hundredth time.The weight of the case pressed down on her, mingling with the ever-present tension of her own unresolved past.

"Whoever did this," Morgan said softly, "they went to a lot of trouble to make a point.The question is, what were they trying to say?And to whom?"

Derik's eyes softened as he watched Morgan, her intense focus etched into every line of her face.He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Morgan, you need to take a break," he said, his voice laced with concern."Step away for a few hours, maybe get some sleep.You've been at this forever.”

Morgan scoffed, but didn't shrug off his hand."I'm fine, Derik.We're close to something, I can feel it."

"You always say that," he replied, a hint of exasperation creeping into his tone."But you're not a machine.You need rest to function properly."

She turned to face him, her dark eyes burning with a mix of determination and something deeper, more vulnerable."I can't stop now.Not when we're this close."

Derik sighed, recognizing the stubbornness in her stance."It's not just about Hawthorne's murder, is it?"he asked softly.

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