“A fire?” she repeated tonelessly, her stomach clenching.
“Yeah. Everything inside the place was destroyed,” Warrick added and pulled out the chair next to her to sit down.
“Oh my God…” She shook her head as her mind spun. How had it happened? When? Just after they’d all left?
“So tell us, darlin’,” another of the agents, stocky and blond, drawled. “Have you been playing with matches?”
Sienna blinked, then stared at him. Did he think this was some kind of joke? Had she been playing with matches? Her brows drew together and she glared at him.
“This isn’t funny.”
Stocky guy sighed and cracked his knuckles. “Guess it depends on your sense of humor.”
“Rafferty, back off.” Larson cast him a warning glance before turning his attention back to Sienna. “Ms. Peters, nobody’s trying to make light of this situation, but we need you to be up front with us if you know anything about the fire.”
Her stomach sank and she pushed away the coffee. They thought she was involved with the fire? “You can’t be serious.” She shook her head and pushed the coffee away. “You can’t possibly think I had something to do with it.”
“No, we don’t.” Warrick sent a hard glare in the agent’s direction. “You were in our custody long before that fire started. We’re trying to figure out if you might have an idea of who would be behind it.”
“How could I?” she cried, tears of frustration burning her eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
No one said anything, there was just the steady drip-drip from the kitchen faucet that wasn’t quite turned off.
“Sienna, someone was found dead inside the building.”
Her heart squeezed, almost seemed to stop at Warrick’s bald statement. Who? The lab had been empty. Only her and the shifters until the P.I.A. had arrived. Was there someone else in there? Someone who’d gotten trapped in the fire?
“D-did they say who?”
“No.” Larson shook his head. “All they’re saying is the victim was an employee of Feloray Laboratories. They’ll probably wait to release his name until the next of kin can be notified.”
Her gut clenched and a premonition stabbed sharply. Sienna shoved back from the table and came unsteadily to her feet. Oh God. The lab had burned down and now someone was dead. She moved past the men and out of the kitchen.
Warrick tried to grab her arm, but she brushed him off and wandered into the living room where she found the television on. She stared at the screen and the image being displayed.
And there it was. The lab she’d snuck into last night, only it was a shell of itself. The red brick building was now black from soot, with smoke still pouring out of it. Firemen wandered in the background, as the reporter who stood in front spoke to the camera.
But she didn’t hear his words and it took her a few minutes to realize the volume had been muted.
A hand curled around her shoulder. Warrick.
“It’s been all over the news, Sienna. The local media’s been covering the fire all night long apparently. I only learned about it when I came out here this morning and the guys filled me in.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. Are they sure it wasn’t an accident?” Her voice rose with the hope in her tone.
“They’ve already said it’s likely arson. Look, maybe you’d better not watch this right now,” Warrick’s voice sharpened and he tried to turn her away from the screen, but she resisted as the image changed.
Sienna struggled to breathe as she stared at the photo on the screen and the words Wanted for Questioning just below it.
The image was her latest employee head-shot.
Chapter Six
Sienna’s vision narrowed and her world seemed to shrink as the air she desperately needed refused to enter her lungs.
“Christ, somebody get her some water.”
Warrick’s words barely registered. She couldn’t look away from the television, and her shock increased as the footage switched to a body being wheeled out on a gurney.
Her heart pounded faster and she wheezed in the smallest breath.
“Come on, Sienna, you’re fine.” Warrick’s arm slipped around her, offering the strength she didn’t have right now.
He jerked her away from the television, snapping her direct line of vision to the chaos and horror that now surrounded her life. The cushions of the couch pressed into the backs of her knees before she sank down.
Warrick’s fingers brushed against her cheek as he turned her face toward him. His gaze locked on hers, intent and calming.
“Let yourself breathe, Sienna. Can you do that?”