Chapter Thirty-One
“On march the banners of the King of Hell.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
“Maxine, it’s so good to see you. How are you feeling?” Emma squealed as I walked into the office a couple of days later. I smiled, kind of glad that she was still with us. I heard that she wanted to visit me so many times, but Ricky didn’t want her to see me in the state that I was in. We both needed to spare her any further stress.
“Fine, I’m good, healed and ready to rock the next case,” I said, sending a wink to Ricky, who was talking to a mongrel in his room. Emma came from behind her working station and hugged me. I was still stunned with her sudden affection.
“I’m so glad. Ricky kept saying that you needed time to recover,” she mumbled. “My daughter and I made you biscuits. We were both re
