Thought I'd give a bit of insight to Agent Sanders.  From the WIP:

                                                                   "JUSTICE"
 

     He sat in his darkened office staring at the container sitting on the desk and honestly couldn’t remember when he last had a meal that wasn’t packaged in styrofoam or plastic.  His coffee was cold, which made it taste even more like something drained from his old Toyota.

       Joseph Sanders was a very unhappy man.

       The docs gave him their professional guess and it only made things worse. They doubted the bag of shit in the hospital would ever wake up, so he’d never be able to wring answers out of O’Connor and as bad as that was, Sanders hated it even more knowing if he could get them, they wouldn’t change what really mattered.  Janice Sanders was five years dead and O’Connor could never pay him a high enough price for being responsible for his daughter's death. 
                                                        ~~~~~

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More from WIP:

                                                            "JUSTICE"

“Am I under arrest?”

The question seemed to surprise Sanders a bit and he sat back and stared at me with enough disgust that I swear to God the temperature of the room dropped.

 

“No,” he said through clenched teeth, “not at the moment.”

I got up without another word and left the room but the agent’s venomous outrage followed me all the way home where no amount of crying completely washed away the image of the bombed out building or the doubt against the man I thought I knew.

Could I really have been that wrong about Justice?  Was everything about my entire life always going to end in a lie?

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Marnie feels lost. Agent Sanders believes she  knows more than she's telling and he's not going to let up until he finds what he's looking for.  From the WIP....

                                                                 JUSTICE

The room Sanders escorted me to was drab, uncomfortably hot and as tiny as a postage stamp...making it perfect for his interrogation.

He sat across the table from me, pulled open his briefcase, extracted a file, leaned forward and shoved it at me.

“The bomb that destroyed this building, and others before it, was planted by a well-trained, mercenary for hire. A person who masquerades as a good citizen, a pillar of the community, while putting innocent lives at risk and had everything gone as planned, all evidence of his involvement, just as in his prior crimes, would have been erased completely by the blast. His true identity would again be safely buried under  rubble, and that,” he pounded his finger on the picture of what was left of the building,  “that is the man you slept with night after night and thought loved you, Mrs. Johnson.  That is the real Justice O’Connor and trust me when I tell you, he’s not worth even a fraction of an ounce of anybody’s love or compassion.” 

                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 Her lover is in a coma, his sister taken away in cuffs by the FBI and Marnie is confronted by a nightmare of accusations she never could have imagined: from the WIP, 

                                JUSTICE

      “Liar!”

   “But why would I lie to you, Mrs. Johnson?” asked Special Agent Sanders. “Could it be your lack of belief is more because you don’t want to admit  you were duped by a monster you never really knew?”

     “What I know, Agent Sanders is that the last time I saw the man I love... the dear sweet man who loves me...  he was fighting for his life and thanks to you, I don’t even know if he’s still alive or not.”

    “Oh, I can assure you he’s alive, Mrs. Johnson, and if there is truly a God looking down on him,  I hope he is giving him all the pains hell can offer.  Furthermore, I have instructed the doctors to do everything medically possible to make sure he stays among the living because I will not allow that murderer to slither away from me this time.”

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Something has gone terribly wrong.  Marnie's world is exploding and the hits keep coming .... latest 6 from WIP:

                                "JUSTICE"

     I was shoved aside by another man in a dark suit with some kind of badge clipped to his belt and the definite silhouette of a gun under his jacket, bulldozing his way out of Justice’s room, and roughly dragging a disheveled, handcuffed woman with him.

     Justice’s sister slowly lifted her head and looked back at me with eyes that were as bloodshot as a man on a month-long, bourbon bender and as blank as death.

     “Oh, my God, Emma? What’s happening?” I said reaching out to her, but she shook her head.

     “She isn’t any of your business,” the man barked, "so just back off."

     “Like fucking hell she isn’t!” I said and tried to get to her but felt the gargoyles pulling me back, putting more distance between me and Justice's room.

                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                     

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Marnie gets to the hospital and her life takes yet another header off a cliff...

                                                            "JUSTICE"

   

     I stepped off the elevator and was immediately given a wide berth by scurrying nurses who acted like I was a plague carrier and they were all determined to steer from me as far as possible to prevent being infected.

     No one, it seemed, even wanted to chance eye contact.

     On autopilot, I headed down the hall toward Justice's room but when I neared the door, I was confronted by two men in dark suits, hands crossed in front of them, like guardian gargoyles ready to pounce on command.

     “Sorry, ma’am,”  said the taller of the two in the voice level of a restrained threat, holding his arm out to stop me as I reached for the door, “but we can't let you in there.”

     

     “Just who the hell are you?”

     “FBI, ma'am."
                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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More of Marnie coping with the cards fate handed her....  From WIP...

                       
                                                      "JUSTICE"

     His scent was strongest wafting up from his pillow and the tee shirt underneath it, but how long could I count on that to last?   I ripped the bedclothes free; stripping the sheets and pillowcase and stuffing them into the heavy zip-bag my winter comforter usually occupied, hoping to preserve his sweet, earthy smell.  I pulled his tee shirt over my head, breathed him in  and pretended it was his gentle, knowing touch playing along the surface of my body as the fabric fell into place. 

 

      Sleep finally enrobed me and brought the chance to be with him in my dreams... until the phone jerked me back into the emptiness around me.

      “It’s time, Marnie,” said Emma, her voice raw from crying, flat from resignation and void of hope. “Come and say goodbye.”

                                                               ~~~~~~~~~

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Since everyone wanted more of Marnie and her fireman, I think I've decided which way I want this story to go but if you have followed my writing, you probably know it may not be an easy road for Marnie.  From the WIP:

                                                                              "Justice"

Only the most destructive shards of the doctor’s words were able to slice through the fog surrounding me.  

“Burns over 45% of his body, massive head trauma from the falling debris, oxygen deprivation, uncontrolled swelling, respirator …coma…” 

When I try to sleep, the emptiness inside me is magnified  by seeing the side of the bed where Justice used to be because I know the final decision will be discussed and made without my input. Simply put, I'm not family… and lovers, no matter how deeply they love, have no rights in these matters.

 “He’s my brother,” Emma told me through her own veil of tears,  “and I know that he wouldn’t want to lay there, day after day, with machines keeping him alive.”

A stab of guilt jabbed in deep because like so many in this position, the realization hit that I didn’t give a damn if it took every machine in the hospital, I just wanted Justice to stay alive.

                                                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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You thought Marnie's life was getting back on track didn't you?  Well, as a writer...I just couldn't let that happen, could I?  Here's one of the last tastes of Marnie and Justice for a while - until I figure out which way I want this to go! Get out the tissues and enjoy.  From the WIP:

                                                                                

                                                          "JUSTICE"

"There's been an accident."

 

Those four words romped endlessly in my head, as if repeating them would somehow lessen their meaning because my heart couldn't hold their weight.

It was the secondary, larger explosion that had trapped him.

When his brothers realized Justice was still in the building, the fire had morphed into a beast that threatened to consume all of them, yet they risked their lives to get him out. 

Helplessness is a terrible feeling but there I stood, not able to do anything but stare down at the life and soul of the man I love, tethered to the small white bed only by tubes and machines, while doctors and nurses tried desperately to hold him to this earth. 

“Please God, don’t take him from me.”

                                                                                                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Things are heating up.  More about Marnie and her firefighter....  From the WIP 

                                                                        JUSTICE

“Just how many times you gonna make me say it, Jackie?”

“Until, dear sister, you take back all the crazy things you’ve ever thought of me and my choice of friends, and admit that I did you a humongous favor and you’ll never doubt me again...oh,  and let borrow that cute little red dress anytime I want.” Her grin was a mile wide and although I didn’t ever think I would be in the position to do so, after dating Justice for three wonderful months, I couldn’t ignore that fact she was right. 

“Alright, alright, alright, but this is the very last time.”

I raised my right hand and repeated the words with the true sincerity of a prized witness in a capital offense trial.  

  

“I, Marnie Johnson, am extremely glad my terrific and beautiful sister, Jackie, played matchmaker by introducing me to the gorgeous firefighter, Justice O’Conner and I’ll be forever in her debt.”

                                                                                                                      ~~~~~~~~

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 Continuing from last week with Marnie and her new friend, the firefighter named Justice.

From the WIP,                                       
                                "JUSTICE"

Damn, I mean, did he have to be so freaking perfect?  The more we talked, the more I found myself being pulled to this caring, intelligent, wise-cracking man, even though my mind was laughing at my lack of control.   

We were interrupted by the buzz of his pager.

“I really would love to stay longer and trade family meltdown stories with you,” he said looking at the number on the screen, “but I promised one of the guys I’d cover his shift today since his daughter’s having her tonsils out and he wanted to be at the hospital with her.”

“Hey, a fireman’s gotta do what a fireman’s gotta do and far be it from me to stop you from rescuing some little kitty up a tree,” I said, but when he smiled back at me, I just wanted to grab on to this sexy guy and never let go.

”I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how it went with the pussy... cat,” and then he was out the door.

                                                                                                ~~~~~~~~

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 I'm Back!
I've really missed participating in SixSunday! I'm starting right where I left off with  more of Marnie’s life from the WIP:
                     

                                                “JUSTICE”

“I’m really not a crazy person, but I’m not sure I have any right for you to believe me after my meltdown last night.”

            Justice carefully placed the steaming latte in front of me and took a big gulp of his before sitting down across the table. There was no doubt the guy was a hunk and I was still wondering how I got up the nerve to actually see him again, but a girl has to have her purse back. Right?

            “In my experience," he said, licking the foam off is upper lip,  "life is full of meltdowns where family is concerned and since I survived our first meeting without permanent facial damage… no harm, no foul. Anyway, what if I said I thought a little crazy like your meltdown was justified, considering the circumstances?”

                                                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~

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Sure is GOOD to get my six back on.