I nodded. “This was no ordinary blaze. It would have burned high and hot, with zero chance of being extinguished without outside help. Someone knew about it.”

That swirling feeling in my gut was growing harder and harder to ignore, and as I walked farther into the room, the scent of old ash filling my nose, I stopped trying to calm the swirls. My gut was telling me something.

Allowing my senses to roam free, I paused at the point where I scented smoke the strongest. Staring up, I noticed there were a few chains hanging from the very high ceiling, but no platform to go with them.

“You think the fire started here?” Sam asked from close by, half-scaring me to death. I’d been so focused, I hadn’t even heard her approach.

“Yeah, I think so,” I muttered, still trying to see into the dark ceiling. “Those are scorch marks up there, and the damage here looks worse than anywhere else.”

When no new evidence from above appeared, I focused on the ground, leaning down to run my hand across the cement. I expected to pick up black residue, but my fingers came away squeaky clean. The dark smudges were just the burn marks that had remained once the ash had been cleaned away.

“What are you going to do with this information?” Sam asked.

I straightened and faced her. “I’m going to follow my gut.”

She had no idea what that meant, but she got onboard anyway. “Can I tag along? It’s been a long time since I’ve had an adventure.”

“I’d love that,” I said, linking our arms again and dragging her back the way we’d just come. “You’re the first new friend I’ve made in a long time. Apologies in advance for the full force of my personality, but if you think you can handle it, you’ll never have to question my loyalty.”

“I could really use a friend,” she said matter-of-factly. “Let’s do it.”

Sure, we’d just made friends like toddlers in the park, but why did adults have to complicate everything? If you click with someone, be their friend. If they prove they’re not worthy of your friendship, bury their body and start again.

It’s simple, really.

I had a good feeling that Sam wouldn’t betray my instant friendship. Like with Simone, sometimes you just knew.

When we left the school, the swirling feeling in my stomach disappeared, as if it had never been there. There was something really off in that room, and I wasn’t going to stop now until I figured out what it was. I’d have to come back tonight when the school was empty so I could really bash around in there, delve into what had happened, and sniff—

“Shit. We should have shifted.”

Sam stared at me. “You think we missed something the wolf might have picked up?”