Gabriel lifted his head. “The what?”

“Is it a cult thing? Some kind of initiation?”

Now a chill had hold of his heart. “What pentagrams?”

“Don’t play stupid, kid. The pentagrams drawn in lighter fluid.”

The door cracked open, and a uniformed officer stuck his head in. “Jack. Can you step out a sec?”

Gabriel glanced between them. “What pentagrams?”

The marshal was picking up his folder and his coffee mug.

“What pentagrams?” cried Gabriel.

But Marshal Faulkner was already stepping through the door, leaving Gabriel with all the questions.

CHAPTER 36

Gabriel wanted to pound on the door and demand answers.

Unfortunately, that uniformed officer was standing there, obviously guarding him until the fire marshal returned.

Funny how being under guard made him feel more dangerous instead of less.

Gabriel chewed at his lip and stared at the floor, trying to reason it out. Pentagrams usually meant someone had called the Guides, had reported that Elementals were living in a specific house. Pentagrams were a target and a warning. Had there been pentagrams painted on the doors of the burned houses? He’d never gone in the front, so he had no idea. He and his brothers were the only full Elementals in town well, until Hunter and Becca had shown up.

Right?

No, they had to be. Becca’s father would have known about others.

Hell, Seth and Tyler would have known about others.

But why else would there be pentagrams?

The door opened, and he jerked his head up. Marshal Faulkner was in the doorway. He didn’t look happy. “Someone is here to see you.”

Gabriel straightened. Relief almost knocked him out of the chair. Michael had come. He’d figure out what to do.

He cleared his throat. “My brother?”

“I wish I were that lucky, kid.”

“What does that mean?”

But the marshal was ignoring him, gesturing to the officer on guard. “Come on, Joe. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”

Then they were filing through the narrow doorway, the steel door falling closed behind them.

Only to be caught by a strong hand.

Belonging to Layne’s father.

Gabriel stared up at him as he came through the doorway.

The man had to be coming from work or maybe he just wore a suit all the time. Even though it was after six on a Friday, his shirt looked pressed, his tie straight and tightly knotted.

His expression was all business. Gabriel had no idea how to take that.

He also had no idea what he was doing here.

Mr. Forrest set a briefcase on the table and unlocked the clasps. “You know,” he said by way of greeting, “the night I caught you with Layne, I called you a future felon. I didn’t realize you’d make good on that prediction so quickly.”

“The night you dragged Layne out of my driveway, I called you an ass**le. Guess we were both right.”

A smile, but it looked a little vicious. “Normally I’d tell you to call me David, but given the circumstances, I think we can stick with Mr. Forrest.”

“Don’t tell me. You’re the lawyer for the other side.”

“That’s not quite how this works.”

Then Gabriel remembered her father’s original threat from that first night, and realized this guy might be here to add more fuel to the fire. He shoved out of his chair. “Hey, I never did anything to Layne! If you told them I ”

“I’m glad to hear it. That’s not why I’m here.” Mr. Forrest eased into the opposite chair and pulled a legal pad out of his briefcase.

Gabriel watched him, perplexed. “Then what are you doing?”

A silver-plated pen came out of the briefcase next. “What have you told them so far? Please tell me you haven’t signed anything.”

“Wait.” After the news about the pentagrams, Gabriel’s brain couldn’t wrap itself around this. “What?”

An eyebrow rose. “What. Have. You. Told. Them ”

“Shut up. What are you really doing here?” Gabriel hesitated. “Did my brother hire you?”

“No. He didn’t. He and I have spoken, however.”

“So, what, you’re just going to make sure I get locked up? I didn’t start those fires.”

That vicious smile again. “It doesn’t really matter if you did or not.”

“It sure seems to matter to everyone else.”

“Not to me. I help people who ‘didn’t do it’ all the time.”

Wait a minute. “Are you saying you’re here to help me?”

“I’m going to try.”

Gabriel didn’t trust him. “Maybe I don’t want your help.”

“They have several fires, a dead firefighter, and an eyewitness.

Not to mention motive, a prior record, and a bedroom full of lighters. You want my help.”

Gabriel frowned and looked away.

Mr. Forrest leaned back in his chair, spinning the pen between his fingers. “Did you really help Simon get a starting position on the basketball team?”

Gabriel couldn’t get the fire marshal’s threats out of his head, to say nothing of this mystery with the pentagrams, and Layne’s dad wanted to talk basketball? “You want to talk about this now? Seriously?”

“If you want my help, yes. I want to talk about this now.”

Gabriel glanced at the door. “Don’t we have a time limit or something?”