Page 11 of Take a Hike
“This one too?” Lou asked, her attention on her phone.
“Looks like,” Fifi said grimly. “Are you calling 911?”
Lou shook her head, her fingers flying over her phone screen. “Texting Callum. He has tools in his truck, a radio, and a quicker response time.”
A familiar smell drifted to Charlie. “Tell him to hurry—and to give his firefighter buddies a shout.”
“Is this really the time to finagle another meeting with your crush?” Fifi asked, obviously trying to keep her voice calm and light. As soon as the words were out, she paled, and Charlie knew her sister had caught a whiff of what Charlie had just smelled. “Oh no.”
“Is that…?” Lou inhaled. “Yep, that’s smoke.”
Even as she spoke, the air around them got hazy, and Charlie felt heat radiating from the outside wall. Reaching out, she touched it and then immediately pulled her hand back, shaking away the sting. “The wall’s hot.”
Fifi reached toward the painted surface, stopping a footaway, and gave her a scolding look. “Why would you touch that? I can feel the heat radiating from here.”
She shrugged, turning to head back to the front of the coffee shop. “I’ve always had to touch the hot stove, just to see for myself. Any openable windows?” The last question was directed at Lou, who shook her head.
“I mean, there are, but the one behind the counter isn’t big enough for any of us to fit through, and the big picture window is basically unbreakable.”
“How do you know that?” Charlie asked curiously as she stepped into the area behind the counter. “Have you tried to break it?”
“The owner got a little freaked out after everything with the headless dead guy a few years ago, and she had this monster installed.” Lou coughed, and Charlie felt her heart rate speed up. The smoke was thickening, and it looked like they were trapped in the burning building. She still managed to make a mental note to ask Lou about theheadless dead guyonce things were a little less life-threatening. “That’s why the doors are reinforced.” Lou’s tone was apologetic as she looked at Bennett.
“Okay, doors are blocked,” Fifi said in her too-reasonable voice that she only used when she was three seconds away from freaking out. “Windows are out. Any suggestions?”
Bennett reached into his pocket. “See if I can take the door off the hinges.” He pulled out his multi-tool.
“Figured you’d start with a grenade or something,” Charlie joked, but she could hear the underlying hint of panic in hervoice. “Blast us out of here.”
“Plan B.” He headed over to the door.
“Stay low!” Fifi called after him and then began coughing. Taking her own advice, she crouched. Charlie followed her lead, and Lou did as well.
“Any word from Callum?” Charlie asked.
Lou checked her phone. “He’s on his way, and Fire’s right behind him.”
“ETA?” Fifi’s voice was tight.
“Seventeen minutes.”
The women studied each other as the simmering dread low in Charlie’s belly grew even heavier. “Why so long?”
“Well, it’s Simpson,” Lou said huskily, her words ending in a cough. A rasp built in Charlie’s throat, but she ignored it, knowing that if she started coughing, it’d just make her throat feel worse. “Everything’s pretty spread out up here, so response times can be long. Plus, there was a rockslide blocking Highway 34. They have to go around.”
Losing the battle to hold in her cough, Charlie hacked for an endless moment as her brain spun, trying to come up with solutions. “Can we go through the ceiling?” she asked once she’d stopped coughing and caught her breath.
Lou and Fifi looked up doubtfully. “Maybe, but how would that help us get out?”
“Through an air intake?” Charlie raised her hands in a shrug. Her knowledge of commercial HVAC systems was pretty much nil, but she hated her current helplessness. At least Bennett was doing something to possibly get them out. She didn’t want tosit around doing nothing while the smoke thickened and the flames blazed around them. “You have a flathead screwdriver around here?”
Staying low, Lou shuffled closer to the counter and rummaged in a compact tool kit. The screwdriver she handed Charlie was small, but it’d have to do.
“Thanks,” Charlie said, waving toward the hallway. “I’m going to work on the back door’s hinges.”
“Be careful,” Fifi warned before turning to Lou. “Got a hammer in that kit?”
When Lou held up the tool, Fifi offered her a shaky smile.
