Shit, this wasn’t good. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. There were a lot of messages from Gideon but when I tried to respond the message wouldn’t go through. No bars.Fuck. Gideon’s messages solidified what I’d assumed.
Get out of there.
Bainer is dead.
The commissioner is on site, move out.
I called my lawyer, he’s in court.
Answer me, Penn!
No matter which way I angled my phone, my message wouldn’t go through.
The sound of the door opening had me slipping my phone into my pocket. I didn’t wait for the detective to talk. “I think it’s really shitty that I come here to report not only that I saw the person setting a house ablaze with kids in it, but that the same person is trying to kill me and this is how I’m treated.”
Behind Tolland was a different man, older. He was wearing a dark-blue suit, had black hair with white streaked throughout. His beady eyes, hawk nose, and smarmy smile proved this was not someone on my side.
“Good…” He looked at his watch. “Still morning, but barely. Mr. Garrand, is that right?”
“Yeah, who are you?”
“Commissioner Shaw.”
Of course he was. Since I’d gotten up to get my message out, I returned to my chair and sat. “And why does my statement warrant your arrival?”
“Mr. Garrand, Detective Tolland here feels that you’re placing blame on the fire to cover your tracks because you’ve been made aware that you were identified at the house fire.”
“Of course I was at the house, I ran in and rescuedchildren. There were camera phones everywhere, did you look at any of those?” Things weren’t going to plan, and if I got out of this, I was going to get a very long “I told you so” conversation from Gideon.
“Hmm.” He pulled a file folder from under his arm, opened it, and dropped a photo onto the table. “What we see is a person running in there, no clear identity.” He plopped another down. “This one has the same person jumping out the window, on fire. Do you have any burns on you, Mr. Garrand?”
My burns had, in fact, healed. One of the things about my mutation was that I healed faster than most. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t some redness. “I’m a fast healer, but if you check my neck and?—”
“You’re grasping at straws, Mr. Garrand,” the commissioner interrupted.
“So when my answers don’t fit your narrative, you’re going to twist them?” I huffed out a laugh. “Tell me something,Commissioner, how much is Anders paying you to be his lackey?”
His eyes flashed and nostrils flared. “Pardon?”
“You heard me. Or maybe he doesn’t pay you in cash, perhaps you have other arrangements?” I waggled my brows.
“You’re out of line, Mr. Garrand.”
“Am I? See, I don’t think I am. I came here as a scared citizen and have been treated like a criminal. I think I’ll be leaving. You can expect to hear from my attorney.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Garrand, but you’re not going anywhere.”
“Is that so?”
“We’re holding you on suspicion to commit arson, and the attempted murders of Dean, Rita, Matteo, Owen, and Olivia Hendrix.”
I snorted. “That’s never gonna fly.”
“Detective, read Mr. Garrand his rights, and…oh damn, our holding cells are quite full. We’ll be transferring you to a different station.”
I glared at the commissioner. “How convenient for you.”
His malicious grin was all the response I received. He pivoted and left the room. Tolland came up to my side of the table.
