He returned to staring through his windshield at the inky sky as the high beams swept the dark asphalt. Hard, frozen beads rained down, slicking the truck and road with an icy sheen. Though he was exhausted,he couldn’t keep his thumb from tapping against his leg in a frenzied tempo. Behind the wheel sat Leo Cantrell, who maneuvered the truck with an ease Noah was incapable of calling up.
After ending the call with Reece, Noah had bent to his brother’s pressure and had rousted Leo. The man hadn’t wasted a minute jumping into action. Not only had he insisted on driving Noah to Fall River himself, but he’d enlisted an employee to follow behind in his vehicle so he could return to Silver Summit. “You’re in no mental condition,” Cantrell had asserted. “Your woman needs you firing on all cylinders, and this will be one less worry renting space in your head.”
Noah had swallowed his pride and accepted … for Hailey’s sake.
Emotions warred inside him, one massive, seething collection of terror, pain, and rage. And so many questions. Was she all right? Was Chance alive? Who had done this?
A mantra was on a steady loop in his head.She’s okay, she’s okay, she’s okay.He closed his eyes and imagined her soft weight cradled in his arms beneath the covers. She fit him perfectly—in body and spirit. He’d never known anyone like her. Kind, bright, and bursting with optimism. Beautiful inside and out. And what he loved best: what you saw was what you got. She didn’t play mind games—she didn’t even know how.
No, they hadn’t known one another long, but did time really matter? Heknewher like he’d never known anyone in his twenty-eight years, and he couldn’t imagine meeting anyone like her again in his next twenty-eight years. Or the twenty-eight beyond those. How long you knew someone was less important than howwellyou knew them. In one short month, she’d become part of him, and losing her would be like hacking off a huge chunk of himself.
Don’t go there,he told himself. Instead, he stared at his phone, waiting for a text from Reece telling him they’d found Hailey and that she was fine. That text didn’t come.
As they rolled onto Bowen Street, vehicles clogged the road. Bright blue and red lights pulsed, casting eerie shadows on the brick façade of the Miners Tavern.
Cantrell parked the truck and killed the engine. “You let me know if you need anything, and that’s not just some platitude. I mean it.”
“Thanks, man. I get that.”
Noah reminded himself to breathe as Cantrell deposited the key in his open palm and got out of the vehicle. Sucking in a lungful of air, Noah braced himself and followed him outside.
Chapter 34
Search and Rescue
As soon as Noahlaid eyes on his older brother in the tavern’s parking lot, he marched toward him and barked his name. Reece’s head was bent as he listened to a woman in search-and-rescue gear, and he held up his finger, indicating Noah needed to hang tight. But he didn’t want to hang tight. His body vibrated with the need to push his way through his back door and search for his woman and his dog. Instead, he hovered impatiently behind Reece and let his eyes roam over the damage.
Bright lights bathed the back of the building, and Noah’s eyes recorded soot smudging the red brick. The door itself appeared charred and ragged along its bottom, as if an animal had gnawed the wood. What was left of the threshold was a blackened mess. Other than this bit of visual evidence and the noxious smell of smoke hanging in the air, the bar appeared untouched. Inside, shadows moved in and through the back hallway, the reflectors on their gear occasionally illuminated by the light.
Meanwhile, the woman talking to Reece appeared to be giving him orders. When she finished, Reece gave her a bob of his head. “Understood.”
As the woman walked away, Noah stepped beside his brother. “Who’s that?”
“The incident commander. Her name’s Chelsea.”
“She’s not with San Juan.”
“Nope. She volunteered to take over.”
Noah’s raucous alarms bells clanged louder. “I thoughtyouwere the incident commander.”
“Not for every mission, and especially not this one.” Noah’s eyebrows flew to his hairline, and Reece laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. “I’m too close to the situation. Despite the size of this town, we have protocols, and even I wouldn’t put me in charge. Look, I know what you’re thinking, but she’s really good at what she does, and she’s got this under control.”
“So what’s she done to find Hailey and Chance?”
“We’re working on that. We’re a little shorthanded.”
“Then I’m going inside to take a look.”
Reece tightened his grip. “No, you’re not, and I’ll give you three reasons why. First, priority one was looking for civilians, and we found none. I was in there, and I checked every nook and cranny. The place is empty. Second, we must be a hundred percent sure it’s safe before non-emergency personnel can enter. Third, we’ve called in an arson investigator, and we need to preserve the scene so he can do his job.”
The word “arson” shouldn’t have stunned Noah, yet it did. He’d considered it fleetingly, along with other potential causes for the fire, but its impact hadn’t slammed into him until just now. The reality conjured an evil he couldn’t begin to fathom.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “You really think it’s arson?”
“I’m no expert, but it’s pretty clear someone set this fire deliberately. The good news is they weren’t successful. There’s smoke damage, but otherwise the place looks intact. The only physical damage is what you see right here.” He pointed toward the back door.
“Did anyone notice Hailey’s phone? I’ve been trying to call—”
