Page 206 of Smoke and Fire
Didnone of these women care about the billowing inferno north of here? Granted, there was more than one way out of town, with a main exit opposite the fire, and several others around the other side of the reservoir.
Still, none of this felt very safe.
"Make this right!" I snapped.
"I don't know how!" she wailed.
I jabbed a hand to the porch. "Tell them the truth. Not that Jess is here, but that you were mistaken and you don't know where or who she is. All of that is true. Whatever you do, don't lead them to believe sheishere."
"How do I do that?" she cried.
I stalked behind the counter again, shoving a chair under a table as I went. "I don't know! Get creative, but figure it out. They love Jess just like you, maybe you can send them somewhere else.” I paused to glance outside. More women had appeared. Several of them chatted brightly. “Where did they come from?" I asked in growing astonishment.
Meanwhile, my phone vibrated again and again and again.
"Everywhere."
"When did you tell them?" I asked as another car stopped in the parking lot and dumped three more women.
The group had grown to barely surpassed thirty at the most. They must be coming from places other than Jackson City, because that highway had closed last night because of the fire.
"I told them to come today in the early morning and have a sit-in outside." Katrina's lower lip blanched beneath her upper teeth bruising it. "I thought we could sit here all day and see if Jess would come! In the meantime, we'd be able to talk about all her books and I could get some filming done for the documentary I’m producing that covers this story. So many women are curious about her, it wasn't that hard!"
"And you planned to film the whole time?" I asked, livid. “To take advantage of Jess’s obligation to show herself and spring a camera on her so you can get some accolades?”
Her expression dropped. "No," she snapped. "I might be a documentary filmmaker, but I wasn't using my love for Brooke as a career pedestal, thank you very much."
The coldness in her tone convinced me.
"Tell them," I muttered and grabbed my phone as it vibrated again.
Messages from the social media groups clogged my screen. Text messages from Lizbeth poured in after. I opened Lizbeth's message thread and scrolled to the first unread text at the top.
Lizbeth:Just saw a post in one of Jess's groups that she's been found! There's a group of women that took red-eyes and flew out last night to get her to reveal herself. Can you believe that?
"Can believe," I muttered.
Five minutes later, she'd sent another text.
Lizbeth:Shut up. A comment down the post says it's in Pineville. They're recruiting more people to come. As in PINEVILLE. Our Pineville.
My stomach started to hurt as I kept scrolling to the last message received less than one minute ago.
Lizbeth:WHAT. IS. HAPPENING. The comments said they're meeting at the Frolicking Moose. ARE PEOPLE THERE?
My phone began to ring. Lizbeth’s name flashed across the screen. While Katrina stared outside, chewing a nail, I answered with a distracted, "Hello?"
"What's going on?" Lizbeth cried.
"It's . . . a long story."
"Does Jess live here? Are there people at the shop? Fill me in on everything. What is happening?"
"I can't explain right now. There are thirty people outside and more coming."
"I'm on my way!"
She hung up before I could ask how she'd get here. Lizbeth and JJ lived in Jackson City and the highway was closed. Katrina finally stepped outside and called out in a shaky voice, Hello, ladies. Thank you all for coming. I . . . I can't believe we were actually able to rally together in person to meet Jess."
