Tell me you’re at home or at your dad’s…
“Fire? What fire?” I gasp.
Hayley’s brow lines. “Is everything okay?” She moves beside me to read the text, her wide-eyed gaze flying back to mine. “What’s on fire?”
My heart jumps into my throat, and I can barely get the words out. Because there can be only one thing Nate’s talking about.
“The store.”
* * *
Hayley’s carscreeches down Summercrest, neither of us saying anything as my heart thumps out of my chest. The choking smell of smoke filters into the car despite the windows being shut, and the moment Hayley makes a left on Main, an impossible scene appears like something out of my worst nightmares.
A giant fire engine sits behind four police cars with their blue and red lights flashing. Firefighters in coats and helmets scurry around, some pointing thick fire hoses at the building engulfed in flames. A building that’s…Oh god. Furious flames lash through the windows of the Quinn Brothers store, the glass blown out and shattered all over the sidewalk. The red front door is completely gone, like it’s been eaten by the blaze. Frightening pops and cracks explode from the half-collapsed roof. There’s smoke everywhere, and the sky is painted black.
The second Hayley pulls over, I throw open the car door and jump out. Intense heat slaps my cheeks, and the ashy taste of smoke coats my tongue.
“Jade!” Hayley shouts from behind me, but I barely hear her as I rush past a gathering of locals toward the inferno.
“No…” My eyes fill up, creating a blurred image of orange and black; flames fighting smoke. A nearby firefighter turns and flings out a gloved hand, waving at me to stay back because the revving of the fire engine hose is so loud that we can’t speak.
“No, no,no!” I think I scream before dropping to my knees beside the cordoned-off area, clutching my head. Flurries of ash flakes fly past my shoulders, chased by sparks of orange embers.
Hayley runs up beside me and crouches, stretching an arm around my back. “I’m so sorry,” she says over and over as I stare at my entire world being swallowed alive by a burning monster.
Dylan…My pulse spikes as I search the building next to the store. It doesn’t look like the fire has spread to it, and a firefighter is pointing a hose at his apartment to keep it soaking wet.
Still, I scramble to my feet. “Dylan!” I cry up at his window like a madwoman, my thighs hitting police tape.
Hayley’s palm lands on my back. “He’s okay; he’s at Iris’s. He stayed there last night because Ella wanted a sleepover. I already sent him a message.”
The closest firefighter takes a few steps over to me. “It’s okay, ma’am. The whole street’s already been evacuated,” she reassures, her cheeks blackened from soot. “No one’s been hurt.”
“That’s my store,” I gasp, pointing at Quinn Brothers.
“It is?” Her helmet swings toward a handful of police officers who I don’t recognize, then back to me. “I’m very sorry to hear it, lovey. Those officers will wanna talk to you; I’ll bring ‘em over.”
“What happened?” I ask in a desperate tone. “What caused this?”
Her thick, gloved hand curls around my shoulder. “We don’t know yet. Are you all right, lovey?”
I shake my head, fighting for breath, but I can’t find any. My legs buckle again, and I sink to the pavement. I need to call Dad. And Ruby. And Dylan.
Above my head, I hear the firefighter and Hayley talking about me, exchanging the word “shock” several times, but I can’t piece together what they’re saying. I can’t piece together any of this. Maybe it’s not my store and I’m mixed up. Maybe it’s a dream. Maybe the fire isn’t that bad, and we’ll only lose the front door. Maybe…
“Jade, we should go,” Hayley suggests somberly, dropping onto her butt beside me. “Maybe you shouldn’t watch this.”
I shake my head. “I need to call my dad.”
“Your dad knows,” cuts in a familiar voice, and I glance up to find Nate staring down at me in his police uniform. Despite the radio crackling loudly from his shoulder, he must’ve heard what I just said.
“Dad knows?” I reply in a confused breath.
Nate nods, turning down the volume on his radio. “He’s registered as the owner of the business, so when we got the call at the station, I phoned him right away. He said he didn’t have any way of getting here because he’s unwell, but he was going to call you.”
“Shit, I haven’t looked at my phone since I got your message.”
Hayley hands me my phone, and I glance at the handset, finding multiple missed calls from Dad, Ruby, and Dylan. Tears swim in my eyes.
