Page 23 of Reaper

A moment later, his phone rings and I turn back toward him. My stomach sinks as I watch his face fall and then darken with anger. That gut feeling I had earlier that this was no accident damn near solidifies as I watch his face harden.

“Put the call in to the surrounding departments since that was our last unit you dispatched. Alpha team is on its way there as we speak. Bravo team is staying here for now until we can fully contain the fire. Then we’ll head to the next one. Keep me posted.”

He hangs up and curses as he stares at the smoke still drifting from the store before turning to me. Somehow I know this is my friend Riggs and not Fire Chief Riggs.

“Keep an eye out, Reaper. I think we have an arsonist on our hands. Four more fires were reported besides this one and the two at the Thompsons’.”

My stomach sinks at the realization that it isn’t one fire out at Lark’s place, buttwo. I clench my hands into fists as I force my feet to stay firmly in place. Devil’s right. I need to finish here so I can go to Lark.

I exhale slowly as I refocus back on Riggs’ words. I’m almost positive he wouldn’t be telling me all of this in a normal setting, but he and my dad are close friends. Fuck, Riggs has known me my whole life.

“Where?”

“The Dive bar, and three other residential properties—the Millers’, the Adairs’ and the Sharpes’.”

The hair on the back of my neck rises. If the rumors are to be believed, those are all properties the Cox Real Estate company has been trying to buy up.

“You don’t think...”

“The Coxes?” he finishes for me and then shrugs slightly. “I’ve heard the rumors, but I also know they were supposed to attend some big shindig tonight, so who knows? It’ll go in my report,that’s for damn sure,” he growls, and I’m interrupted again by the sound of more sirens approaching.

Looking over my shoulder, I realize the cops have shown up. I turn once again in the direction of Lark’s house and pray Erik can get to her in time. That and that they’ll all come out of this safely. Exhaling heavily, I walk toward the sheriff. The sooner I’m done here, the sooner I can leave and check on Lark and Erik.

Chapter 10

Lark

Puttingmybookfacedown on my bed, I reach up and flick on the overhead fan in my room.

“Why is it so hot in here?” I mutter to my cat, Void. He looks up at me in annoyance since I had shifted to reach the switch and disrupted his sleep. He’s currently nestled into the spot between my legs, which are crossed under him.

Glancing at my book, which is about the history of taverns here in Wisconsin, I chew on my lip as my mind wanders back to conversations I’ve had with Ma, Pappy, and Granny for the last few months. My chest tightens as I think about Pappy. A few months ago, at the end of June, he died unexpectedly from a heart attack. He had supported my ideas, but after he died, Granny seemed to close down and wouldn’t hear of any changes to the supper club.

Leaning back, I rest my head against my headboard and close my eyes as my fingers stroke Void’s fur. I’ve been trying to convince Ma and Granny that we should shift our focus slightlyand become more of a tavern than a supper club. Or to keep the supper club but also branch out and build a tavern. To be open for more than just supper and evening entertainment.

There are only a few bars here in Junction Creek, and I know from several of my friends, both young and old, that they wish they had a better place to go without having to drive out of town. They also want more than what we offer here at the supper club, as we are among the few that still offer dancing on certain nights during the week. However, it’s not the dancing most would think—we aren’t a club. Both Granny and Ma have been insistent that we continue our family’s trend in that aspect, but I’ve been looking at the books a lot lately and something needs to change.

Not even a month after breaking up with Aiden, our numbers started to drop a bit and then it plateaued. It’s not that we’re in danger of going bankrupt—far from it, it’s just, I think we need to diversify and branch out some. I see a need in the community that I think we can fill. I just have to convince them that my ideas will be profitable. I scowl as a thought I’ve had a lot these past few months pops back into my head. I’m almost positive the Coxes are behind our drop in revenue and our increased costs.

Shaking off my frustrations, I wipe my forehead, frowning as sweat leaves a wet spot on my thin, long-sleeve shirt.

“Why is it so damn bloody hot in here?” I curse again and then freeze as Void suddenly leaps up from between my legs onto all four paws, his back arched, and he hisses in the direction of my door.

“What’s gotten into you?” I reach out to him, trying to pet him to calm him down, but quickly redraw my hand as he swipes at it, his claws visible. Then he hops down off the bed and starts scratching at my door.

“What is going on with you? You’ve never been like this before,” I muse as I uncross my legs, stretching to get the pinsand needles feeling to fade. I hadn’t realized I’d been sitting in that position for so long that my foot almost fell asleep.

Then I smell it.

Smoke.

Turning back toward the door, I look closer and can see thin little whiffs of smoke starting to drift into my room through the doorframe.

My eyes widen in alarm. If I canseethe smoke, why haven’t our fire alarms gone off yet? I know they have fresh batteries. I just replaced them a couple of days ago. Every month on the first, I check to make sure they are still good with a voltmeter and replace those that need to be.

Jumping off the bed, I put my hand carefully on the door, but it only feels slightly warmer than usual. Reaching my trembling hand out, I lightly touch the door handle a few times. Again, it feels a little warm, but not enough to burn me. I’m about to open the door when I spy my lightweight jacket hanging off my desk chair, and I grab it, balling it up and placing it in over my nose and mouth. Once again, I carefully touch the door handle and open the door.

I stumble back slightly as a wall of heat and smoke instantly hit me.