Page 95 of Smoke and Fire
While Katrina said something to the growing mass, my phone continued to chime with more alerts from the social media groups. Had Katrina noticed my phone getting blown up earlier? She’d looked at it suspiciously enough. Next thing I knew, she'd thinkIwas Jess. The thought made me giggle.
A familiar head of red hair surfed through the crowd as I turned my phone to silent. Seconds later, Lizbeth stepped inside, her eyes wide. She pressed her back against the door and muttered, "Shut. Up. This. Is. Insane."
My throat tightened. Here came the reckoning. She darted toward me, moving deftly despite her belly.
"How are you here?" I asked, startled.
"Adventura evacuated last night because the firefighters were going to do a controlled burn to prevent the fire from crossing the highway."
A grim expression showed on her face.
"JJ and I drove to Adventura yesterday to help Mark and Stella clear out and prepare the camp just in case. Plus, I didn't want to be blocked from my family, so we're staying with them until the canyon opens back up."
"Scary."
"Very." She gulped. "It was a mess. Mark had to let the horses out of their pen and hope they find a safe place."
"But what if the horses get caught by the fire?" I squeaked.
She shrugged. "They'll run away. With any luck, they’ll come back after things have settled down and not get hurt.”
“What if they don’t?”
She frowned. “Then,” she murmured, “they don’t.”
"Macabre," I muttered.
"Very. We didn't have time to get a trailer and get them all out. For the record," she added with an upheld finger, "all of us told Marknotto get horses, but he had to follow through—"
"Lizbeth—"
"Back to the point." She nodded once. "I'm also here in Pineville to make sure Bethany and Mav are safe, because the fire could push close to their house up on the mountain. They're already ready to go in case they need to. And this?" Her finger twirled in a circle. "Is bananas."
"Right?" I croaked, brought back to the moment with a dose of reality. We had several things we needed to figure out.
"What is going on?"
She slipped behind the counter, but her gaze traveled wordlessly outside again. The fact that she didn't immediately drill me for answers or accuse me of harboring secrets calmed my nerves. All she knew about this situation came from social media.
Good enough.
For several long moments, we stared at the parking lot together. Women milled around, talking to each other after Katrina finished. Some of them kept an eye on the horizon. Others laughed, joining circles. Wind twisted by outside and ruffled their hair.
"Well," Lizbeth murmured, "they are calm."
"At least that," I sighed.
"So spill,” she demanded. “What’s going on?”
Lizbeth deserved as much of the truth as was mine to give. I wouldn't lie to her, but I also wouldn't betray Bastian either. I drew in a deep breath.
"Katrina, the girl that had been speaking out there, tracked Jess to the Frolicking Moose."
"Here?" she screeched.
I nodded. "Says she tracked Jess’s IP."
Lizbeth's eyes narrowed to slashes. "Interesting," she murmured. "I never thought about that, to be honest. Bit . . . weird and maybe creepy and desperate at the same time. Is she stable?"
