“What the hell?” Kendra asked dazedly as she pushed herself to a sitting position and gazed in confusion around the circle of men and women who were shouting and crowding around them. “What happened?”
Jessie gave a relieved sigh. “Thank God. Yeah, you’re just stunned. I was worried. You hit your head on the edge of one of the booth counters when you went down. I thought maybe the blast took you out.”
“Blast?” Then her eyes widened as she remembered the explosion that must have taken her down. Her gaze flew to the crowd, which had seemed to grow with every passing second.
Panic. Confusion. Terror.
She could hear the wailing of the police sirens down the block.
And now she could smell the smoke and see a glimpse of leaping flames up ahead in the screaming crowd! She got to herknees. “This is all wrong. We’ve got to get over to that Porter woman’s booth and make sure she’s all right . . .”
“Then let’s go.” Jessie was helping her to her feet. “Though that explosion has nothing to do with your postcard lady. We don’t know what happened here.”
“Nothing good. Coincidence? Neither one of us believes very much in that,” Kendra said as she started to push through the crowd. Now she was hearing not only the police sirens but also the blaring sound of what must be fire engines. Then she heard the screams as she finally broke through the crowd to the blazing inferno that yesterday had been Elizabeth Porter’s bookstore. Now it was nothing but smoke and fire, and the flames had already spread to the booth next to it; the owner was cursing even as two other men were struggling to drag him away from the burning shop he was trying to save. “Too late,” one of them muttered. “It would be suicide to go in there after her. We just have to hope Elizabeth got out. Has anyone seen her this morning? Did anyone see her go into her booth?”
No answer.
Kendra felt a chill as she looked back at the burning bonfire before them. She didn’t want to believe Porter’s neighbors had been right, but she couldn’t see how anyone could survive that inferno. But the woman Kendra had met here yesterday evening had been sharp, full of life, and vibrantly set in her ways. Surely, she would have found a way out . . .
“We have to leave,” Jessie murmured as she pressed Kendra’s arm. “Those police will be here any minute asking questions. Not only do we not know the answers, but you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. That’s not why we came here to London.”
“I have to know if she’s safe,” Kendra said fiercely as she jerked her arm away. “I talked to her last night and all of a sudden her store blows up and no one has seen her? Was it somehow my fault?” She waved her hand dismissively. “Never mind. We’ll find out.” She grabbed Jessie’s wrist and was dragging her to the rear of the crowd as she saw the first of the uniformed police elbowing their way through the mob so that the firemen could set up their hoses near the booths. “I can’t leave here until I know for sure what happened to Elizabeth Porter. As far as the police are concerned, we’re just tourists who saw the fire while we were shopping and stopped to watch the action.”
“Then you’d better hide a little bit better behind this mob of booksellers,” Jessie said dryly. “Your attitude is much too intense at the moment. Right now they’re only interested in possible terrorists, but that may change.” She took out her telephone. “In the meantime, I’ll do a little preparation work in case we need backup later.”
“Fitz?” Kendra asked.
“He’s a good start. Okay with you?”
Kendra nodded, her gaze still on the fire. “Whatever is necessary. And you might drift around and keep an eye out for anyone who appears to be particularly intrigued by our presence here. If this horror turns out to be all about my connection to Porter, then they might want to see if the result is of interest to anyone at the scene.”
“Good thought. All the more reason to get backup.” Jessie was already on the phone as she moved through the crowd.
Kendra soon lost sight of her, because her gaze was held in helpless fascination on the blazing crackling flames that thefiremen were attempting so desperately to put out so they could force their way into the booth to check for any survivors.
The smells of oil and smoke were almost overpowering now, and she was so close it was hard to breathe and made her feel a little sick.
She suddenly stiffened. Good God. Oil and smoke and something else was burning with an even more basic and ghastly stench . . .
Fifty minutes later, the firemen had found a way into the Porter booth.
Kendra’s hands clenched as she watched them work, instinctively taking a step forward as if to help them. The thick smoke prevented her from actually seeing what was going on. The firemen were just shadows against the flames. Now she could see that the interior of the booth was wet from the hoses, and she could still smell that hideous odor.
“Come on.” Jessie was suddenly beside her. Kendra had seen her only fleetingly moving around the huge crowd in the past hour; this was the first time she had made contact. “Let’s get you the hell out of here.”
“Soon.” Kendra didn’t take her gaze from the fire. “They’re almost finished.”
“And you’re numb from watching it. You look practically dazed,” Jessie said as she pulled Kendra behind her through the mob. “And it is finished as far as you’re concerned. The fire brigade unit working on the fire from the backside broke through the wall and is inside. They think they’ve found a body.”
That shocked Kendra out of any possible stupor. “Not a survivor?”
“I think you knew that wasn’t going to happen. But we should know more by now about what they found inside. I told Fitz to see what he could find out from the police and firemen who went in to check it out and then be ready to report back to us.” She was frowning. “I think we should leave now, but I know you won’t do it until we know about Porter.”
“You bet I won’t.” They were around at the back of the inferno now, and she could see Fitz standing on the steps of a booth selling educational magazines and tea, talking to a brawny fireman a few steps away. As she watched, the fireman nodded at Fitz and then moved over to an ambulance on the far side of the bookseller area. Fitz turned and gestured when he saw Kendra coming toward him. “Come in and have a cup of tea. You look like you could use it.” He turned to Jessie. “They just removed a body and will be taking it to the morgue to examine.” He handed Kendra her tea. “It was a female but it was too destroyed to determine her age or identity. It may be some time before they’ll know if it was Elizabeth Porter.”
“Who else could it be?” Kendra asked bitterly. “It was her bookstore that was blown up.”
Fitz nodded. “And the way the body was found appeared suspicious to the fire crew.”
