“What? No,” she replied quickly. “It’s because I didn’t do anything.”
“Right,” the woman muttered.
She rolled her eyes, then left the room without saying anything further. Maya supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised that the agent didn’t believe her. She probably dealt with criminals every day who said they were innocent of whatever crime they had been arrested for. Why shouldshehave been any different? Except that shewasdifferent, and shewasinnocent.
The problem, however, was that Maya wasn’t innocent in the eyes of the law. Because when you witnessed a crime taking place, but didn’t report it, you were almost as guilty as the people whohadcommitted the offence. Sure, Maya had been trying to talk her brother and his friends into setting the man free, but she hadn’t been successful in convincing them, and she hadn’t gone to the police, either. In the state of Florida, that meant she was guilty of a misdemeanor which carried a prison sentence—if she was convicted. A shiver ran through her. Shereallyhoped she wouldn’t be convicted. She should have known better than to get anywhere near Noah’s crazy scheme, even if she was trying to save his ass.
She wasn’t sure how long she had waited in the room before someone came in to question her, but it had to have been over an hour. She’d been hoping to catch a glimpse of Gray, and she couldn’t explain the disappointment that lanced through her when the door opened and one of the other SWAT team members who had been at the warehouse entered the room.
The man was huge, easily the tallest and bulkiest on his team of six by far. He was handsome, too, but not as handsome as Gray. Maya doubted there was anyone who could have bested Gray in the looks department. There had been something truly special about him. She had wanted to run her fingers through his thick dark hair, and his bright blue eyes had reminded her of the ocean on a clear day. His cheekbones were high and his jaw square. Then, there was his body…
“I’m Special Agent Carson,” the man introduced himself, drawing Maya back to the present. “And I’m going to be asking you a few questions.”
He took a seat opposite her, then placed a folder and a dictation machine on the table before opening the folder and glancing briefly at the contents.
“Just to let you know, I’m recording this interview. You’ve already been read your rights, but I want to remind you that anything you say here can be used against you in a court of law.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
“Can you state your name for the record, please?”
“Yes, it’s Maya Danvers.”
“Miss Danvers, can you tell me why you and your friends kidnapped Nicholas Arnell?”
“I didn’t!” she said defensively.
Special Agent Carson sighed. “You know this will go a lot quicker if you just tell the truth.”
“Iamtelling you the truth.”
And she hated herself for it, and for everything else she was going to have to tell them—whether Noah wanted her to, or not. Telling the truth meant implicating him and his friends. Even if it was evident that they were guilty, saying it out loud to this agent felt all kinds of wrong.
“Youdidn’tkidnap Mr. Arnell?”
Maya shook her head. “No.”
“Then what were you doing at the warehouse?”
A bead of sweat made its way down Maya’s forehead. She’d been freezing before the agent came into the room, but now she felt as if she was burning up. Fear had never made her this hot before, though granted she’d never been quite this afraid before, either, except for the moment the SWAT team had burst into the warehouse and pointed guns at her brother and her. But it was more than that, as if she could feel the heat that poured out of the agent in waves. Like he was his own personal sun.
She shook her head. So much for keeping the crazy under control. It was hot in here because she was terrified, and right now, she had bigger things to worry about.
“Miss Danvers?” the agent prompted when she didn’t say anything.
Maya opened her mouth to reply when there was a knock on the door. A moment later, it opened, and Gray stuck his head into the room. Maya gasped and when both men turned to look at her, she felt a blush spread across her cheeks.
“Flint, can I have a word?” Gray asked.
“Of course.”
The huge agent got to his feet. He switched off the dictation machine then went to talk to his colleague, but before they closed the door behind them, Gray stuck his head inside the room again.
“My name’s Cole, by the way.”
He winked at her before slipping back out of the room and closing the door behind him. Maya’s jaw fell open and when she lifted her hand to fan her face, she realized that she was feeling hot for an entirely different reason than before.
