Chapter 32
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I tried to hurry; I really did. But honestly, I didn’t have a clue what I should wear to go ride around in Boone Thrasher’s badass car. It brings a smile to my face to know that it wouldn’t be nearly so badass if my man hadn’t made it that way.
And we already took it to Brown Town . . .
Flashes of what it was like to be bent over the hood of the car while Logan powered into me from behind flip through my brain. Damn, that was hot.
If I’m not careful, I might throw myself at Logan as soon as I see him, and I know with the new paint job, there won’t be any more action happening on the 442. It’s a sad fact, but one I’ll find a way to live with.
I stop at the back door to slide on my boots and complete what I’ve come to think of as my Gold Haven uniform—skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and a black top. I stood in the closet forever debating between this and my super-short skirt I wore the other night. Should I have gone with the skirt? Maybe, but I’ve wasted enough time as it is, and Logan has to be chomping at the bit to take this car for a spin.
The clock on the dash of my rental car tells me I’m running further behind than I should be. I told him a few minutes, but it’s been closer to an hour. Maybe I should offer up some road head to apologize for my tardiness so he won’t hold it against me.
Then I’d have two things to tell Boone Thrasher about his precious new car. Hmm, I consider that a point in favor of road head.
I flip the radio station to the local country channel, a new taste I’ve acquired, and as though destined, one of Boone’s songs is playing.
He’s got this gravelly voice that instantly conjures thoughts of driving down backcountry roads in a pickup truck. All the things he describes were completely foreign to me only two months ago, and now they’ve become part of my everyday life. Life in a small country town is a completely different proposition than living in New York.
Boone delivers one hell of a performance, and Logan doesn’t know it yet, but I’m already planning on being a stowaway when he goes to deliver the car tomorrow so I can meet this guy in person.
I slow at the stop sign about two hundred feet before the blinking light at the Four Corners, and a blast drowns out the song. My car is at a complete stop, but it shakes anyway.
The percussion seems to echo, and I freeze. Did the whole town just explode?
Jarring myself out of my momentary paralysis, I scan the buildings in front of me. From behind a stand of huge oak trees, a raging fire meets a cloud of black smoke forming in the sky.
Logan’s shop is on the other side of those trees.
I floor my accelerator until the source of the smoke comes into view. Flames lick into the sky from the garage.
Where I’m meeting Logan.
Oh my God. His truck is parked near the Dumpsters, but there’s no sign of him, or of Boone’s car.
“No!” I scream, my voice shaking as I jerk my wheel to the side. My tire collides with the curb, but I don’t care as I slam it into park.
I jump out of the car and run toward the inferno, heat already warming my face.
“Stop! Don’t!”
A man reaches out and grabs me around the waist, dragging me back when my heels connect with the pavement to keep moving forward.
“No!” My voice doesn’t sound like me. It’s ragged. Desperate. Terrified.
“Get back. Everyone, get back! The gas tanks are gonna blow!” the man yells as he pulls me around the side of the post office. “Take cover!”
I don’t know who he’s yelling at, but all I want is to free myself from his iron grip.
“Let me go! I have to get to him! Logan’s in there.” I whip my head around to fight against the man, but he’s too strong.
“You wanna get killed? We gotta get back.” He stops once we’re safe behind the post office, and the percussion of another explosion rocks the ground.
“Get down!” He pushes me to my knees and covers me with his body.
Screams split the air, and sirens wail in the distance.
It’s chaos. Complete and utter chaos. And only one thought is running through my head on repeat: I have to get to Logan.
I crawl out from under the man to stand, but freeze when I see the blaze reaching higher into the sky. My eyes burn, and tears stream down my face.
A door slams beside me, startling me and dragging me out of my disjointed thoughts.
“Oh my fucking God! What the hell just happened?” Julianne’s voice cuts through the static in my head as she shuts the back door of Cut a Bitch. “I was in the basement. My front window is blown out. Logan’s shop is . . . rubble.” She whispers the last word as I run toward her.
“Where is he?” I demand. “Did you see him?”
I run to the corner of the building with Julianne on my heels. The fire is so intense, it heats my face as soon as I step beyond the protection of the concrete walls.
“I . . . I just talked to him about twenty minutes ago. He was waiting for you in the garage.” Her voice trembles as if she wishes she was saying anything but the words coming out of her mouth.
“No!”
Sheer agony rips through me. I slap a hand over my chest, trying to stop the pain, and wonder why there isn’t a gaping hole in my chest where my heart was ripped out.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers.
“He couldn’t have been—” I choke on the words and start again. “He wasn’t—”
“I’m so sorry,” Julianne repeats, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry.”
Wailing sirens come closer and pierce the buzzing in my ears.
“Oh my God. I’m going to be sick.” I jerk away from Julianne, pressing a hand to the wall of the building as I empty my stomach on the pitted asphalt before falling backward onto my ass.
Julianne joins me on the ground and wraps her arms around me, and together we rock back and forth. I don’t know how long we stay like that before someone comes around the building and starts barking out orders.
“You need to get back. We need everyone at least two hundred feet away. This isn’t safe.”
“Jesus, Cody,” Julianne says. “What the fuck just happened?”
Through the tears blurring my eyes, I see the man issuing orders. The cop. He knows Logan.
“Where’s Logan?” I demand. “Is he out there? Please tell me you saw him.”
The cop’s expression is grim. “I haven’t seen him. That’s not to say he’s not out here somewhere. It’s a fucking madhouse, but I need you both to go back behind the post office and stay out of harm’s way. We’re not taking any chances with this shit.”
I’m on my knees, my hand on his jeans, as I beg him, “Please. Find him. I can’t lose him. Please.”
The cop crouches down to wrap an arm around me, and helps me to my feet. “Look, I know we haven’t been formally introduced, but I’m Cody, ma’am, and I need you to come on around the back of the building so I can make sure you’re safe.”
I slap a hand to his chest. “Why are you worried about us? Logan—” My voice breaks again as he half carries me around the back of the building where the man who pulled me back from the fire is still standing.
“Did you see that shit?” the man asks.
Cody releases me, and Julianne glues herself to my side.
“No,” Cody says, “but I heard it. Did you see it? We’re gonna need witnesses so I can figure out what happened.”
“I saw part of it,” the man said. “I was in my car, getting ready to leave. I thought I smelled something funny, and then I heard the explosion and saw the flames.”
“I didn’t see it,” Julianne says, snuffling back her tears. “I just felt it. Thought the entire building was going to come down on my head.”
“I saw the fire,” I say. “Felt the blast. I tried to get closer, but he—” I point to the guy standing a few feet away. “He stopped me.”
Cody nods, and the man who grabbed me speaks again. “I saw her start running, so I jumped out of my car and pulled her back. I knew the service station tanks were gonna blow. Didn’t want anyone else gettin’ hurt, Cody.”
At the words anyone else, a sob escapes my throat, and my body shakes uncontrollably.
“It’s okay, Lonnie. You did what you needed to do.” Cody’s gaze lands on me again. “Shit. You going into shock? Ambulance is already on its way.”
“Logan,” I whisper, my voice destroyed.
Julianne knows what I’m trying to say, and finishes my thought. “He was inside.”
Cody’s face falls. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
Julianne shakes her head. “Inside. Waiting—” She cuts off her word as she looks at me.
Cody rubs a hand down his face. “Well, there’s nothing you can do here right now. We need everyone to stay back so the firefighters can do their job. The gas pumps made this a hell of a lot worse.” More sirens approach, and this time they’re coming from the ambulance. “Let’s get you checked out, ma’am,” he says to me.
I wrap both arms around my chest, rocking on my heels as I shake my head. “No. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here.” If he tries to move me, I’ll scream.
“I’m real sorry, ma’am. But Logan would want me to make sure—”
“Shut up! Don’t talk about him!” I’m nearly hysterical, but I don’t care. If a doctor were to tell me I’m dying right now, I’d believe him. I’ve never felt this kind of pain crushing down on me.
“I gotta go make sure the perimeter is solid. Julianne, can you make sure she stays back?”
I hate that he’s talking about me like I’m not here, but I don’t have the energy to argue.
“Of course. I got her.”
“Lonnie, if you could write down everything you remember right now to give me as an official statement, I’d appreciate it.”
The man nods. “I can do that. No problem.”
An unwelcome voice joins the conversation.
“Oh my word, Officer. What in the world just happened?” Emmy Harris rushes over to join our small group. “I was taking inventory in the back when I heard it all. Do we need to evacuate? Was it some kind of chemical explosion? Is it even safe to be here?”
“You should go back to the restaurant, Emmy. Make sure everyone stays inside. Maybe get some coffee going for the firefighters. It’s gonna be a few hours before this thing is under control.”
“Of course. Anything I can do to help. Do we know if anyone was hurt?” she asks, sending another slice of pain ripping through my body.
“Logan was inside,” Julianne whispers.
Emmy’s hand flies to her face, and her eyes immediately fill with tears. “No. That’s not possible. He couldn’t have been—”
“We’re not going to be able to tell for sure until the fire is out and the chief can walk through the structure,” Cody says.
We all know what he’s not saying. That the fire chief, Logan’s friend, has to look for a body to be sure.
My chest feels like it’s collapsing under a thousand-pound weight, and sobs rack my body.