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Faulkner. Hannah’s father.
Gabriel didn’t know what to say to him.
Marshal Faulkner leaned back in his chair and took a sip of coffee. “Been waiting long?”
The way he said it implied he knew exactly how long Gabriel had been waiting.
Maybe this was why he’d been left in handcuffs. So when someone deliberately acted like a tool, he couldn’t punch the guy in the face.
“Is my brother coming?” he asked. His mouth was dry, and his voice sounded rough.
“Your brother?”
“You can’t question me without a legal guardian or something, right?”
Marshal Faulkner leaned forward and lifted the cover of a manila folder. “You’re seventeen?”
“Yeah.”
The cover fell closed. “You’re charged with first-degree arson.
Right now, it’s one count, but it’ll likely be more, given the events of the past week. That’s a felony, which means you’re automatically charged as an adult. That’s why you’re here and not at the juvenile facility.”
Gabriel couldn’t move. The room suddenly felt smaller.
“You’re allowed to have an attorney present.” Marshal Faulkner clicked his pen. “Do you have an attorney?”
Gabriel shook his head. One of those other cops had read him his rights, something about an attorney being provided, but he had no idea how that worked. If he asked for a lawyer, that sounded like he was guilty.
“I didn’t start those fires,” he said.
Raised eyebrows. “You want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I didn’t start them.”
Except maybe that one. The one in the woods. But if he admitted he’d lied about that, it would make everything else sound like a lie. Gabriel looked away.
After a moment of silence, the marshal leaned forward in his chair. “Would you like me to remove the handcuffs?”
Gabriel’s eyes flicked up. “Yes.”
When he unlocked them, Gabriel rolled his shoulders to get the stiffness out, then wiped his palms on his jeans.
He hated that he felt like he owed this guy a thank-you or something.
Especially when Marshal Faulkner hesitated before sitting down and said, “How about some food?”
Gabriel would kill for some food, but he shook his head.
“You sure? If you’re stuck here overnight, we have to feed you. Might as well be in here, where no one’s going to take it away from you.”
There were too many shocks in that sentence to process them all. Overnight. Gabriel thought of that pale freak in the holding cell and completely lost any appetite he might have had.
He shook his head again. “What time is it?”
“Just after six.”
Six! Somehow it felt both earlier and later than he’d thought.
