Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I breathed in deeply through my nose. “Smoke?”
“Yeah…I smell smoke.”
Suddenly, the sounds of sirens went off. There was a fire station just around the corner.
“Must be a fire somewhere,” I said. “Maybe that’s why the guys ran to their cars.”
Cadie walked into the street and looked around—then put a hand to her throat. “Oh my God. It’s black smoke billowing into the air.”
“What?” I jogged out to the road…and the moment I saw the smoke, I nearly fell to my knees. “Is that near Liam and Hope’s house?”
Cadie gasped.
“What’s going on?” Aurora asked, joining us in the middle of the road. “Is that smoke?”
I grabbed Aurora’s arm. “We need to call Liam and make sure they’re okay.”
Her face went white.
“Do you have your phone?”
“I’ve got mine,” Cadie said, holding up her cell, “but I only have Hope’s number.”
Seeming to snap out of it, Aurora pulled out her phone. She put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
“Liam, this is Aurora. Are you guys okay? We smell smoke, and it looks like it’s coming from your neighborhood.”
“What? I’m not home. Hope is home sleeping while Brystol took Winnie for a walk.”
I grabbed Cadie’s arm. “Don’t worry, Liam, we’re heading there now. I just saw Brystol not that long ago.”
“I’m…I’m on my way home from The Muddled Moose.”
Cadie and I took off running down Main Street as Aurora continued talking to Liam while trying to keep up with us.
“Someone call Brystol!” I cried out.
“On it!” Cadie said, stopping to look up her number. I stopped, as well, and leaned my hands on my knees.
Aurora gasped as she did the same. “Holy. Crap. I’m out of shape.”
“Brystol, thank God! Where are you?”
Cadie looked at us—and relief washed over her face. “You’re with Hope at her house? Everything is okay? Great!”
Aurora instantly called Liam back to let him know.
“There’s a fire somewhere, and we thought it was coming from that way. You do? Can you see what’s on fire?”
“Liam says it’s Oak Street,” Aurora interjected. “That’s all he knows.”
I racked my brain trying to figure out what was on Oak Street. “There’s the Methodist church, the Wash and Go, some restaurants…and houses.”
“Isn’t there a school, also?” Aurora asked. She must have hung up with Liam since her cell was no longer in her hand.
“A school? But no one should be there, school hasn’t started yet, right?” Cadie asked, a look of shock back on her face.
“Come on! We’re just two blocks away,” I said, and the three of us started running again.
When we turned the corner, I stopped abruptly, only to have Cadie and Aurora run into me.
“Oh my God,” Cadie whispered. “It’s the preschool next to the elementary school.”
Firetrucks and police cars were surrounding the area. Declan, Gavin, and James were somewhere over there.
“Oh no,” I said, taking off running again.
“Harper! What are you doing?” Cadie shouted from behind me.
When I got to the edge of the sidewalk in front of the preschool, I was met by people blocking the way.
“Declan!” I cried.
“Ma’am, do you have a child in the preschool?” a woman asked. Turning to look at her, confused, I was taken aback by how kind her soft brown eyes were. She was calm, and in turn, that instantly calmed me.
“Um, no, I’m sorry. My boyfriend is a police officer. He, um, he ran this way when they saw the smoke.”
Her understanding smile put me at ease. “I can’t let anyone over by the barricades, but let me ask my boss about you looking for your guy. Stay here.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Thank you!”
“Of course.”
Watching her walk away, I felt Cadie come up on my left and Aurora on my right.
“You don’t think they’d go in there?” Aurora asked. “I mean, they’re cops, not firefighters.”
My hand was rubbing at my chest, and I had an uneasy feeling. “I don’t think they would.”
I didn’t honestly believe my words, but I couldn’t think about Declan running into a burning building. The woman walked back over. “Are you Harper Browning?”
“Yes! That’s me!” Had Declan seen me and asked for them to let me in? An instant wave of relief swept over me. “I’m Harper Browning.”
She lifted the tape that was stretched across the road. “Your father is over there talking to Chief Watson. He said to head over that way.”
Reaching for Cadie and Aurora’s hands, I tugged them under the tape, and the three of us walked as calmly as we could toward my father. Once I was there, I could feel the heat coming from the fire. It was a three-story building and the third floor was on fire.
My hand flew up to my mouth. “Holy shit.”
“What happened?” Cadie asked.
“We’re not sure yet,” my father said. “But they’re trying to get some kids out who are still in the building. The top floor was being used for a summer school camp, and the fire started up there. Not sure how, though.”