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The fire chief stops her before she can get any closer. “Hey, Everleigh.”
“Chief Porter. What happened?”
“First of all, I just wanna say I’m really sorry. Looks like the fire started in the backroom. They’ve already got most of it contained, hopefully without too much damage.”
I place my hand on the small of her back and wait with her.
“Thank you. I appreciate y’all getting here so quickly. Can’t imagine what it would look like if you hadn’t,” she tells him. The fire department is mostly made up of local volunteers, so when something like this happens, they rush together to help.
The crackling and popping in the distance gets louder. We stand in silence, watching the flames dance.
“We’re gonna need some more water,” one guy says. “Afraid the embers are gonna erupt again because the wood is so dry and hot.”
The blue and red flashing lights reflect off the surrounding buildings. I can’t begin to describe the horror on Everleigh’s face when she notices the dark smoke lingering in the front windows. She lets out a wail of a cry as I pet her hair and kiss her head.
Thankfully, they contained the fire before it spread too far, which means the structure may be fine, but the smoke damage is a major concern. Everleigh wanders over, and when she gets to the side of the shop and notices the back is still smoldering, she grows more emotional.
“You can’t go back there,” the fire chief tells her as several men drag the fire hose closer to the area.
Everleigh moves to a safe distance, but one with a better view. After five minutes of staring at the guys spraying water and seeing how charred the building is, she turns around. “I can’t watch this anymore.”
“I know, baby. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.”
Everleigh narrows her eyes, then walks away and tugs me with her. That’s when I see Dana standing on the sidewalk, watching the disaster unfold.
“What’re you doing here?” Everleigh asks, shocked to see her.
“Oh hey. You know I live just right down the street. Wanted to see what all the commotion was about. I can’t believe this, Everleigh.”
Her face softens, but I can tell her guard is still up. “Me neither. It sucks more than I can even say.”
While I find it odd that Dana’s here, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, considering how small this town is. News travels fast, and she’s not the only person out here watching. A small crowd has gathered outside.
Though I’ve been here for seven months now, it’s not something I’m used to, and I’m not sure I ever will be. By tomorrow morning, everyone will know what happened.
Once more people arrive, the police tell people to leave, but no one listens. They’re on public property, so it’s their right to stand there.
After another hour, the fire is finally out, and everyone disperses.
“Show’s over, folks,” one of the firemen says.
A man approaches and flashes his badge, introducing himself as the detective who’ll be overseeing this case. “Do you know what started the fire?” she asks.
“Without a proper investigation, I can only speculate from what we’ve observed so far. It looked like the back door was broken into, and the fire was started there. Typically, windows will break from the high heat, but the door was wide open, feeding the fire. Since it’s past closing hours, I thought it was odd.”
“That is strange. My closer said she locked up before leaving.”
“You have cameras inside the shop, but do you have any in the back rooms?”
“Not where the door is shown. Just where my inventory is stored. There’s a major blind spot for the security camera back there.” I can see the wheels spinning in Everleigh’s mind, and different scenarios flood through mine too.
“Does anyone else know that?” he asks.
Now that Natasha has been arrested, I can’t think of anyone who would want to harm her other than Krystal. The thought makes me sick to my fucking stomach. But I find it almost impossible that she’d know something like that about Everleigh’s shop.
“The only people who would know that are my employees, if they were paying attention,” Everleigh states.
“We’ll be getting all the security footage from the company, but if you think of any other information that could help, here’s my number.” He hands her a business card. “And here’s the case number for the incident report. You’ll need to give it to your insurance company. If we find out anything else, I’ll reach out to you.” Everleigh gives him her number, and we thank him before he leaves.
