“There was a fire on the grill.” He bent over, hacking loudly. “No idea how it happened. We’re always careful.” He coughed again.
Enzo and Everett jogged over. As a woman stumbled out of the restaurant, Everett caught her.
“Paramedics and firefighters are on the way,” Enzo said.
Piper appeared. “Jesus, what’s going on?”
“Tessa had a fire extinguisher,” the chef added. “She was trying to put the fire out.”
I froze solid. “Tessa’s in there?”
The chef nodded. “She was getting people out and spraying down the fire.”
Without hesitation, I charged into the restaurant and into the kitchen.
Smoke hung thick and heavy. “Tessa!”
There were no flames. Caden moved to the left and I went right around the workbenches. I pressed a hand to my mouth. The smoke was still dense.
“Where is she?” Enzo stepped into the kitchen.
“Tessa?” I spotted the blackened stove. The fire was out, but the alarm was still blaring. A fire extinguisher lay discarded on the floor. “Caden!”
He and Enzo got close.
Then I saw something else on the tiles.
One of Tessa’s shoes.
I picked it up and scanned around. “Tessa!”Where the hell was she?“She isn’t here.”
“Let’s check the CCTV,” Enzo said.
“I’ve added a few extra cameras in the restaurant,” Caden added. “I’ll pull up the feed.”
We hurried out. Hotel staff in the lobby were keeping guests calm as they evacuated them outside.
“Everett, the fire is out.” I saw the firefighters coming in, wearing all their gear. “Show them to the kitchen.”
The man nodded, his face serious. “Tessa?”
I shook my head. “We’re going to find her.”
I followed Caden and Enzo to the security room tucked behind the concierge desk. As we entered, I saw there were lots of screens, although the space was small and cramped, and the tech looked old. I already knew that Caden had a new security room designed with a fully updated system containing the latest technology.
He dropped into a chair, his fingers flying over a keyboard.
I stared at the screens. Images emerged and I spotted Tessa running toward the restaurant. The image changed. It showed her running through the restaurant to the kitchen.
Of course, she had. There was no hesitation in her steps. Tense, I watched for her to come back out of the kitchen. “Have you got cameras in the kitchen?”
Caden shook his head.
Come on, fairy queen. Where are you?
“There,” Caden clipped.
Every muscle in my body locked and rage welled up in my chest.
