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was beginning to think it was Lucas’s favorite word.
    Declan left Lucas’s room and took the elevator back down to the main floor. He stepped outside into the sunlight. He recognized Mack right away, sitting in his cruiser, talking on the phone. Declan walked over to him and leaned in the passenger’s side window.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “I wasn’t going to let you take a cab home. It would have been way too expensive. I know for a fact that your boss doesn’t pay you enough for that,” Mack said with a little wink.
    Declan grinned and climbed in the car. “Thanks for coming,” he said.
    “What are friends for?” Mack replied, putting the car in gear and steering it out of the parking lot.
     
     
    T HE DRIVE back to the small town seemed much shorter than it had in the back of the ambulance. Declan and Mack chatted amicably about work, Oliver, and Oliver’s new business partner, Haydn. It seemed like things were going really well for the new couple.
    They had almost reached the station when Mack finally asked the question Declan had been waiting to hear since they left the hospital.
    “So you wanna tell me what’s going on with this guy?”
    “There’s nothing going on.”
    “I’ve never seen you so spooked before. Granted, we don’t deal with a lot of heavy crime in Hope Cove, but as green as you are, you were never one to lose your head over any situation. What’s different this time?”
    “I didn’t lose my head,” Declan protested.
    “I thought you were going to have a full-blown panic attack if you hadn’t been able to ride in that fucking ambulance, Dec. You wanna try again?”
    “I dunno, Mack. This call was just different. It just got to me. I don’t know how to describe it. You’re right. I lost my head a little. I’m still trying to figure out why. Your guess is as good as mine, though.”
    “Well, you’re lead on this case, but I want you to tell me if you don’t think you’re up to the job. No one’s going to think any less of you for passing it off or asking for help if you have to.”
    “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I just need some sleep and a cup of real coffee, and I’ll be good to go. I swear.”
    They were pulling up to the station parking lot. Declan’s cruiser was parked in its usual spot.
    “You going to head straight home?”
    “No. There are a couple of things I want to look into first, but then I could use a shower and a nap.”
    “Okay, well, don’t work too hard. And remember what I said. If you need help, just ask.”
    “Thanks, Mack.”
    Declan got out of the car and headed into the station, pausing to say hello to Lisa as he entered. He hadn’t been there nearly long enough to have his own office, but his desk was tucked in the corner next to a window. He liked his space, and it was tidy and organized just as he’d left it.
    He booted up his computer and read the case file that Mack’s other deputy, Scott, had put together for him after he’d left for the hospital. There were crime scene photos and a written description. There hadn’t been a weapon found near the victim; it had likely been taken with the perpetrator or thrown into the water. The inventory of injuries seemed much more severe written on the page in black and white, each one punctuated by a bullet point. Declan breathed in and out, trying to tamp down the adrenaline that was at risk of bursting through and setting off another roll of his temper. He needed to keep a clear head if he had any hope of figuring out who had hurt Lucas.
    Without a weapon, there would be no fingerprints, and although they weren’t yet finished combing through everything, it didn’t seem that the CSU team from Ellsworth had found anything else at the scene. Jake was a nice guy and a good cop, but Hope Cove just didn’t have the technology or resources for a proper analysis. Declan had faith in his abilities, though, and knew that he would be able to track down the asshole that had hurt his