Haley didn’t respond. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead. The only movement on her face was the slight quiver of her lower lip. But she kept her chin up as the deputy clipped the cuffs on one wrist and then the other.

The deputy took Haley away.

Eliza stifled a sob. Sharp’s face tightened.

Morgan turned to Eliza. “We need to talk. I need information to prepare for the arraignment tomorrow.”

Eliza nodded, her eyes filling with moisture as she watched Haley and the deputy exit the ER.

“We’ll go to the office,” Sharp said.

“She has to spend the night in jail?” Eliza asked.

“Yes.” Morgan took her phone from her tote. “But I’ll see if I can get Haley assigned to the medical ward for the night.”

“Let’s get you out of here,” Sharp said to Eliza.

Eliza looked lost.

“We’ll meet at the office and review the case details,” Morgan assured her.

Eliza nodded, then she and Sharp turned and walked away.

After they had disappeared down the hallway, Morgan said, “They found no evidence of sexual assault or drugs. I should have known too much time had passed to get positive results. The sheriff’s department held on to her for too long. Club drugs are hard enough to nail with toxicology screening if the testing is done promptly. Now the prosecutor will use the lack of sexual assault evidence to thwart any self-defense case I present. All I’ve done is strengthen his case.”

Chapter Eight

Morgan walked toward the hospital exit for the second time that day. Lance opened the door, and she phoned the sheriff’s office as they crossed the parking lot. She climbed into the passenger seat as the line rang. To her surprise, the sheriff took her call.

“Your deputy just took my client to jail,” she said.

“Yes. The warrant came down from the DA’s office.” To his credit, there was no arrogance or satisfaction in the sheriff’s voice. Colgate was all business.

“My client has a serious medical condition,” Morgan said. “She requires medication several times a day and has special dietary needs that must be met, or she will become very ill. When she arrived at the ER, her blood pressure was dangerously low. She was dehydrated and hypoglycemic. That’s why she was so confused when she was in your custody.”

“I cannot change the fact that she is under arrest for the most serious of charges. Noah Carter’s murder was a heinous crime.”

“One that Haley is innocent of until proven guilty,” Morgan argued.

“The expedited DNA results came in,” the sheriff continued. “The DNA taken from the condom contained both the victim’s and Haley’s DNA, and the blood on Haley’s body and under her fingernails was Noah Carter’s. In addition, the preliminary autopsy cited his stab wounds and resulting exsanguination as the main cause of death. The case is solid.”

Disappointment twisted in Morgan’s belly. If the evidence kept piling up, soon it would be so far over Haley’s head, she wouldn’t be able to see daylight.

“But you can put her in the medical wing, where her vital signs can be monitored. An Addison’s disease crisis can be fatal.” Morgan paused. “I’m not exaggerating, Sheriff. She could die.”

Colgate’s sigh was long and brimming with the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that took decades to accumulate. “I’ll have her put in the medical wing tonight. But no promises on where she’ll end up after that.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

“You are welcome.” The sheriff ended the call.

Morgan lowered her phone to her lap, but the wave of relief was short-lived. “What is Haley going to do if the judge doesn’t grant bail? Jail is tough enough without a difficult medical condition to manage.”

“You can only handle one thing at a time,” Lance said. “Focus on the hearing tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” Morgan rubbed her non-swollen temple and willed the pain relievers to kick in. She needed a clear head. She needed to think. She gazed through the windshield, surprised that they’d left the parking lot already.

Morgan’s phone vibrated. “It’s my sister.” Morgan’s sister Stella was a detective with the Scarlet Falls PD.

She answered the call.

“How are you?” Stella asked. “I heard about what happened at the courthouse.”

“I’m OK.” Morgan closed her eyes.

“It’s all over the news,” Stella said. “Someone caught it on video on their cell phone and posted it everywhere. Esposito gave an interview outside the courthouse. He was puffed up like a male gorilla.”

“I’ll bet.” Discouraged and frustrated, Morgan rested her elbow on an armrest and dropped her head into her hand.

“You’re really OK?” Stella didn’t sound convinced. “It looked like he really tagged you.”

“Well, I’ve had better days, but other than the Rocky Balboa black eye, I’m fine.” Morgan opened her eyes and raised her head. They were almost at the office. “I have to meet with a client. Can you call Grandpa and let him know I’m OK? If you saw it on the news, then he probably did too.”

“Will do,” Stella said. “I have a call coming in. Gotta go. Call me if you need anything,” Stella said, and the line went dead.

Morgan lowered her phone and opened a local news media feed. She cringed as she read the headlines aloud to Lance. “‘Female attorney punched in face.’ ‘ADA Esposito saves female attorney from own client.’”

“Why does he get a mention and you only get referred to as female?” Lance’s tone was annoyed.

“Because damsels in distress are clickbait.”

“You are hardly a helpless female.”

“Drama sells.”

“McFarland sucker punched you,” Lance said. “No one would have seen that coming. I’ve seen you handle tougher situations, including saving my butt a time or two. You are a total badass.”

She couldn’t hold back the short snort of laughter. Her headache was making her punchy. There was nothing funny about the situation.

“Thank you.” She scrolled through the articles. “I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime. Unless you have a crystal ball, there will always be things you cannot predict.”

“I know.” She clicked through a link. A short article accompanied a video on the main page of the local news. “It seems the original video was taken on the cell phone of a reporter who was in the courthouse corridor when McFarland attacked me.”

“And chose to film it rather than help you,” Lance said in a harsh voice.

“To be fair, the only person close enough to help me in time was Esposito.” She turned up the volume and watched the ADA give his interview.

“I only did what any man would do,” Esposito said. “Being a defense attorney is a dangerous job. I don’t know why anyone is surprised this happened. Ms. Dane represents criminals.” His tone and expression implied When you lie down with dogs, what do you expect?

Someone called him a hero. Esposito denied it, but he preened like a rooster.

Morgan wanted to crawl under the vehicle seat.

“Turn that off,” Lance said. “He’s just being a jerk.”

“Everything he’s saying is true. He really did save me from my own client.”

Lance scowled. “The deputies were on McFarland in seconds.”

“His boot was one second away from my head.” Morgan gingerly touched her face. Pain swelled from the point of contact. If one punch had done this much damage, she couldn’t imagine what a full kick to the face from a man the size of McFarland would have done to her. “Is it shallow of me that I don’t want to be in debt to Esposito?”

“Not at all. He will likely lord it over you every chance he gets.” Lance reached over and turned the phone away. “There wasn’t anything you could have done to prevent what happened.”

“You’re right.” All Morgan could do was move forward and help Haley.

Lance parked at the curb in front of the office, and they went inside. Sharp and Eliza arrived right behind them. Sharp settled Eliza in his office.