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“This woman,” he says, tapping the corner of the photo. “We believe she may have been at the scene of the motel fire earlier this week.”

I keep my expression neutral. “And you are?”

“Just following up on behalf of a concerned party,” he replies. His smile is polite. “They want to ensure she’s safe.”

I don’t blink. “Was there reason to believe she wasn’t?”

The man doesn’t answer that. “Were there any witnesses who saw where she went after the fire?”

“No one stuck around once they were cleared to leave,” I say.

He nods, then looks through the folder, obviously looking for something else.

I lean back slowly. “You said you’re following up for a concerned party. You want to give me the person’s name?”

He offers that same thin smile again. “I can’t divulge that information, Mr. Caldwell.”

My hands fold on top of the desk. Every inch of me is screaming to throw this man out, but I don’t move. Not yet.

There’s a beat of silence. Then he opens the folder again and slides out another page. It looks like a report, but it’s not one I’veseen in regards to this case. I press my lips together and open my hands, wordless, making it clear I’ve got nothing for him.

“This woman,” he taps Ani’s picture like I haven’t already stared a hole through the image, “was last seen near the motel prior to the fire.”

“And?” I tilt my head, keeping my tone even. “There were several people who checked in only hours before the place went up. You going to track all of them down, too?”

“She checked in under a false name. Paid cash.”

I narrow my eyes. “And you think that means what, exactly?”

“There’s mounting evidence she may have been behind the fire. We’re not accusing anyone. Just gathering information. It’s possible she panicked. People make irrational decisions under pressure.”

“I don’t see how that could be,” I say, my jaw tight. “The fire inspector already ruled it was faulty wiring.”

“That was an early assessment.”

“No. That was the report. Final and filed. I saw it myself.”

His expression doesn’t change. Just a slight purse of the lips, like he’s testing how far I’ll push back. “These things have a way of evolving,” he says.

“They don’t, actually. They’re usually pretty cut and dry.”

The flicker of calm behind his eyes hardens, but only for a second. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

I lean back just enough to feel the wood press between my shoulder blades. “I don’t have anything else to tell you.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then he closes the folder, taps it twice with his fingers, and slides it back into the crook of his arm.

“Well. If anything comes to mind, here’s my card.”

He hands me a card which only has a phone number on it and lets himself out. The door shuts with a click.

The second he’s gone, I let the panic emerge.

It’s not fear for Ani.

It’s Mae I’m thinking about. I’ve worked too damn hard to keep her world stable, to make her life safe.

And now there’s a man with a leather folder and a government voice suggesting we might’ve let danger walk through our front door.