Page 93 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“Come on, girls.” Mr. Carver is waving at us to come. “Mrs. Carver’s comin’ up the steps now. She’ll stay with the other girls here, and I’ll drive y’all to the property. Leave Hercules here with her too.”
He doesn’t say home, or to Thane’s house. He says back to the property, and the contents of my stomach curdle as I set a whining Hercules on the floor.
No one says another word. When Kara reaches me, she wraps her arms around my waist, and I guide her out of the building and into the back of Mr. Carver’s minivan.
A mile down the road, we’re able to see the thick, black smoke billowing into the air.
“Oh my God.” Kara’s hyperventilating beside me.
I take her hand in mine and squeeze.
“It’ll be okay. He’s okay. Everyone’s okay.”
Lies. Lies. Lies.
A barricade stops us a hundred yards away from Matchmaker Lane. Kara jumps out before I can stop her, but I can’t allow her to get hurt.
I might be all she has left.
I don’t remember exiting the car or shoving past Officer Gentry. I don’t remember reaching Kara, but I have her in my arms as our bodies are blasted by the scalding heat of flames down the road.
“Where is he?” Her voice trembles.
I don’t have an answer for her.
Sharky takes hold of my arm, and now I’m holding up two people. If I buckle under their weight, we’ll all fall, so I lock my knees and squint, begging the smoke to clear a path to him.
“You girls have to back up.” The fire chief has soot all over his face and clothes, but we don’t move. Even when a large piece of ash falls at our feet, we’re all mesmerized by the way it burns.
“Where is he?” Kara asks again, more loudly and a little untethered this time.
I can’t answer. My throat tastes like ash as I search the crowd.
The fire chief physically tugs us farther away. There are firefighters on the property between our two homes—too many. The siding of mine is completely black, and Thane’s lies in a pile of burning timber.
“Chief?” My voice cracks as salty emotion clings to the word. “Where are Thane and Boone?”
“I’m sorry, Lottie.”
What? What? No. That’s not… I won’t accept that.
“What do you mean, you’re sorry?” Sharky shouts.
Kara falls to her knees, taking me with her. My hands scrape the rough gravel. I can’t breathe.
“I haven’t seen them. I’m sorry, but I have to get back to my men.”
Sharky steps forward as if she’s going to fight the fire chief, but I reach for her leg, and she sinks down beside me.
We sit in a triangle of pain, staring at flames that refuse to be tamed for what feels like a lifetime, but my mind is blank. I don’t know what to do or where to go. So we sit, and we wait.
“There,” Kara shouts, tearing free from my numb grasp and jumping to her feet. She sprints past firefighters, over debris, and straight for the lake that’s only now coming into view because the fire is mostly contained.
Sharky takes off next, refusing to be stopped by the firefighters.
Thane and Boone walk side by side. Their clothes are in tatters, and every inch of their skin is coated in a thick, black film.
Kara barrels into Thane, nearly knocking over both men. They work together to hold themselves upright, then Thane hugs Kara tightly while Boone advances on Sharky.
