Seth hefted up another box and carried it into the storeroom attached to the kitchen. He knew the shelter’s operations had expanded since Meg had reopened, including feeding most of the neighborhood in a social and fund-raising event once a month, but the amount of supplies they went through each week still surprised him. Liam walked past him, going back to the truck for another box of his own. Seth continued into the house and put his box down in the stack, waiting for Liam to catch up. He needed to ask him a few things, out of earshot of Maya. He didn’t want to be responsible for hurting her any more than he already had. He was still cursing himself for the idiotic things he’d said back at the judge’s house that morning. “So tell me,” he said. “This morning, you said there was something weird about the fire. Was the position of the bodies all it was?”

Liam put down his box and then walked into the kitchen, leaning up against the large work bench that sat in the center of the room. “No. Well, not just where the bodies were found. The accelerant also bothered me. There were pour patterns down the steps, all the way to the front door. Why would he lay down a trail all the way to the front door and then not just leave?”

“Did you find anything upstairs to explain it?”

Liam shook his head. “Nope, but then maybe I’m wrong on the accelerant. Pour patterns can be wrong, and I never got to test it. The FBI took over the investigation before I could even get samples off to the lab.”

Seth crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed. “They were there that quickly?”

Liam nodded. “The cops on the scene said the SAC showed up that morning. He was in town, maybe Maya’s brother wasn’t working solo, who knows.” Liam spread his arms, shrugging. “Federal judge, federal agent . . . that was it. I was shut down.”

He didn’t like it, any of it. Seth wasn’t an expert like Liam, but he knew enough. Multiple points of origin, accelerant, the fire would have certainly burned hot enough to destroy any evidence. That didn’t mean that you could just assume there had been some. Still, the bodies had been burned badly, charred beyond recognition. It had taken dental records to identify them both, he’d read in the newspaper. It was an easy point to argue that anything proving why Jesse had returned upstairs had been burned away with his body. The body. “What about the bodies? Was any accelerant found on Jesse’s remains?”

Liam lifted an eyebrow. “On a first-name basis with the deceased now, are you?”

Seth frowned. “It’s not like that. It’s just . . . Maya. She paints a very convincing case.” He looked over at Liam. “You should have heard her, Man. She’s hurting, but she’s absolutely convinced that her brother didn’t do it. There is no doubt in her mind. None.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s right. We all want to believe the best of our loved ones.”

Seth could understand that, too. But then he thought of Meg, and of how Liam had believed her when all evidence pointed to the contrary. He said he’d just known. Did Maya, too? “What about Meg? Sometimes it isn’t as straightforward as people want us to believe. You know that, Liam.”

Liam nodded, his mouth thinning into a line. He likely didn’t like being reminded of that time any more than Maya had liked visiting the house that morning. “I’m sorry,” Seth said. “But she could be right.”

“She could,” he said. “But she’s going to have a hell of a time proving any of it.”

Seth’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“I was tossed off the case quicker than you could blink. That’s not normal. I only got a copy of the official results months later, too, and I had to get HQ to make an official request. That’s not normal, either.” He looked at Seth. “Someone is very territorial about this case. Maybe they knew the judge, maybe it’s more, but if Maya hasn’t already been told to steer clear, then I’d be very surprised. It’ll happen as soon as she starts digging around in the FBI’s business.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s already happened. Hasn’t stopped her.”

Liam shifted, glancing at the kitchen door. It stayed closed, the women still busy at the front of the house. “I already told you something about this case is off. I get that Maya wants to clear her brother’s name . . .” Seth opened his mouth, but Liam kept talking. “Trust me, I really do understand. But I’m worried, too. I don’t want what happened to Meg to even be remotely possible here.”

“But that was her ex, one crazy guy. Liam, we’re talking about the FBI here.”

Liam nodded. “A whole bunch of type-A personalities with guns. And apparently a reason to keep as much of this case to themselves as they can. I have to ask why, and what’s going to happen to someone who wants to force their hand.”

Seth flinched, his hand jerking backward and knocking a tea cup and saucer off the bench. It hit the floor and shattered, the spoon that had been inside the cup tinkering on the floor seconds after. He looked at Liam, eyes wide. “You think someone could come after Maya if she pursues this?”

Before Liam could answer, Meg pushed through the door. “There you boys are!” She smiled, gesturing behind her, and a few seconds later Maya followed her. “Liam, you can help Maya with a few questions, right? I already told her you’d help. She needs someone in her corner if she’s going to make this stick.”