Try to put out the fire and save Noah’s building? Risk an exploding can? Or run blindly after Chance on a prayer she could find him in the dark?
A fraction of a second, and her choice snapped into place.
Noah woke up witha start. Where the hell was he? He looked around, not recognizing the dark room. On the nightstand, his phone buzzed like a riled-up bunch of bees. He snatched it up, registering two things at the same time: It was 2:00 a.m., and Reece was calling. The combination set alarm bells clanging inside his head, and his heart kicked into overdrive.
“Hey,” he answered, his tongue thick and pasty from the many whiskeys he’d thrown back with Leo Cantrell and his partners.
“Is Hailey with you?”
“Hail …? What?”
“I need to confirm Hailey’s whereabouts. Is she with you right now? Is she in your apartment? Is she at the Loose Moose?”
The urgency in Reece’s voice caused Noah’s foggy brain to stir. “She’s in the apartment. Taking a bath. With Chance.”
Reece yelled to someone. “She’s upstairs!” Shouts reported back.
Noah startled fully awake. “What the fuck’s going on?”
“We have a situation.”
“A …situation? What the hell does that mean?” A siren wailed in the background. Panic rose from Noah’s gut and grabbed him by the throat.
Reece’s voice was calm, but an undercurrent of fear threaded through it. “Someone tried to light the tavern on fire. It’s out, but there’s a lot of smoke and—”
Noah leaped from the bed. “What the fuck? What do you mean someone tried to light it on fire?”
Reece puffed out a breath. “It looks that way, but right now we need to focus on—”
“Where’s Hailey? Where’s Chance?” Noah only gave his brother a moment to hesitate before he yelled, “Tell me, Reece!”
“I don’t know.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “Somebody needs to get the fuck inside and look for them!”
“We’re doing everything we can.”
“It’s not enough if no one knows where they are!” What little patience Noah had evaporated, and he began pulling on his clothes one-handed. “Fuck this shit!I’llgo in.”
“You can’t.”
“The hell I can’t!”
Reece’s voice took on a big brother tone that infuriated Noah. “You’re not here, dude. You work on getting your ass home while we do our job. Should I find someone to come get you?”
“Get me? Why?” Noah flipped on the light and switched his phone to speaker.
“I’m not sure you’re in any condition to drive, and I don’t want to risk you too.”
“Not here!” a voice that sounded like Shane’s yelled in the background.
“Reece, shit! What do we do? I can’t lose her! I can’t lose either of them!” Noah’s voice cracked.
“We’ll find them, Noah. Listen, I know it’s hard, but try to stay calm and find someone to drive you. You’re not thinking straight, and the roads are icy.”
“Right,” Noah choked. No more words would come out. Steel bands cinched around his chest. Tears ran unchecked into his beard as his heart shattered into a million irretrievable pieces.
Noah sat on thepassenger side of his truck, checking his phone for any message from Hailey. He’d called so many times he’d filled up her inbox. If texts had a limited capacity, he’d have maxed that out too for all the times he’d tried to reach her. Not even one little word back made his heart sit like a brick in his chest. He wasn’t sure the organ could still beat.
