Page 114 of The Gift
“No.” Everett’s voice went serious in an instant. “He got called out. Is there a problem? Call dispatch and they can get youthrough.”
“It’s not an emergency,” I said. “Sam Henderson ran away from home and I have an idea where she mightbe.”
“Oh, that’s great! Si and I saw her at the diner this morning, and later her dad called Mitch to see if the police could help find her. I guess the poor guy’s a wreck. The guys were looking into it, but then O’Leary Fire called and asked for help working crowd control at a scene, so Mitch, Si, Carmen, and Con all got calledin.”
“Well, Daniel and I are on our way to check it out. I’ll be intouch.”
“If you could find her, that’d be really helpful,” Ev said. I swear I could hear the clanking of dishes in the background. “Looks like the firefighters are having a bitch of a time getting the fire under control in this weather, so who knows how long it’ll be before Si and the others can look for Sam again. I’m bringing them thermoses ofsoup.”
I chuckled. “Best boyfriendever?”
“You know it,” Ev said. “More like buying their goodwill since I plan to take Si on a nice long vacation next month. Somewherewarm.”
“Damn, doesn’t that sound nice? Listen, if you see him, just mention we’re heading toHoff’s.”
There was a loud, metallic clang, like Ev had dropped his soup pot. “Shit.Wait,what?”
“Hoff’s bar,” I repeated. “That’s where I think Sam might be. Upstairs in the newapartment.”
“But Jules,” Ev said slowly. “Hoff’s is where the fireis.”
I didn’t even have to ask if Daniel had heard. His eyes met mine across the darkness of the car and he began to drivefaster.
We ended up parking a fair distance down the street, since most of Weaver was blocked off by barricades, and running the rest of the way on foot. Smoke filled the air, even blocks away, and reflected the glow of the fire, so the entire town was glowed an eerie orange-gold.
There was a crowd of people standing in front of the bar—dozens and dozens of O’Learians, some in coats and hats, others with nothing but t-shirts and jeans like they’d rushed from the bar without their belongings—staring at the fire with horrified, shell-shockedexpressions.
“It just happened so fast,” someonesaid.
“There wasn’t even an alarm,” someone else was saying. “Everything was fine, and then suddenly there was smoke, like something was burning in the kitchen, and the next thing youknow…”
We pushed our way to the front of the crowd, which was pressing against the blue barrier that blocked off the street just before the bar. “You guys’ve gotta step back,” Constantine called from the other side of the barricade. “Let the firefighters do their jobs.” But the man directly in front of the barrier, Parker Hoffstraeder, stared at the building with a terrible grief written all over his face, and seemed not even to hear Conspeaking.
Beyond him, a group of firefighters in their gear were talking with Mitch and Si, shaking their heads worriedly. Beyond that, more firefighters were up on a ladder, uselessly spraying water from a hose in an attempt to battle theflames.
“Con,” I said, jostling my way over to him. “Listen—”
“Jules! Stay back, man. This is the worst fire I’ve everseen.”
“Con, we think there may be someoneinside.”
Con shook his head. “Nah. One good thing is that Parker saw the smoke coming from the basement and got everyone out before it really started going. Place is gonna be a total loss though. Wouldn’t surprise me if it burns to theground.”
With a sickeningpop, one of the windows on the first floor shattered and fire began to lick up the outside of thebuilding.
“Doesn’t help that it’s so fucking cold and windy. The second the guys spray water, it basically turns toice.”
“Constantine, listen. Sam Henderson might be upstairs in thatbuilding.”
Con frowned at me and then at the building. “Impossible. What the fuck would she be doingthere?”
“Hiding. In one of the unfinished units upstairs. She was avoiding her dad and it’spossibleshe might have gone there to get out of the cold. Rae might have helped her getin.”
“Silas! Gideon!” Con called over his shoulder. “Com’ere.”
Silas jogged over settling his knit hat on his head, and Gideon Mason in his yellow protective gear followed more slowly behind. “What’sup?”
“Jules says Sam Henderson wasupstairs.”
