Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
"Get the extinguisher and the fire blanket," he yells, shoving the door open. The heat from the fire can already be felt in the air around the office and the smoke is acrid with chemicals from man-made furniture and flooring.
Thomas throws the bucket of water, dampening the inside of the office, but it’s not enough to put out the flames. Dawn gasps, her hand clasped over her mouth, shock widening her pretty eyes.
Logan uses his phone to call the emergency services. Bryce has woken Kyla, and Bradley steers Dawn away from the danger and to a group of chairs on the far side of the outdoor area. She pulls Lachlan along, tugging at his shirt until it’s over his head and she can wrap his bleeding hand in it.
I run around the side of the bar, eyes frantically searching for anything out of place, the person who most likely did this, or worse, a fire in another area of our business. Jared follows me, and we weave back and forth, scouring for anything that’s not right. There’s so much to burn at Cloud 9. The wooden bar, the wicker chairs, the hammocks and cotton weave cushions, and bamboo decorative paneling. Everything is made of natural materials. It could incinerate in a flash.
All our dreams and the discussions we had when we were putting together an idea of our business, flash through my mind.
It could all go up in smoke so quickly.
"I don’t see anything," Jared yells from over by the bar.
"I don’t see anything either."
"Keep looking." He disappears through to where the toilets are, and reappears, as I head around the other side of the bar, to the separate access to the hostel rooms. It’s clear. No one lurking. No fire burning.
If the only damage there is tonight is to the office, we’re lucky.
Jeffrey Barrow is still looking to scare us, not to burn us to the ground.
"It’s all clear," I yell as we make it back round to the office. Bracing my hands on my knees, I pull in deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
"The fire’s out," Thomas says. He has a smudge of ash across his face and he’s kicking a sooty brick across the floor.
"Another brick?" Jared asks as a siren pierces the quiet of the night, getting ever closer.
"Another fucking brick." Thomas shakes his head, staring at the charred remains of the brick with so much hatred I fear it could explode. He bends, touching it with his finger. Then, he uses a piece of paper to protect his hands from the latent heat, picking it up and staring at it. When he sniffs, he wrinkles his nose in disgust. "This time it was wrapped, doused with accelerant and lit."
"Did you see anyone?" Cooper asks.
"No. By the time Dawn and I made it out of the hammock, whoever started it was long gone."
"You were in a hammock with Dawn?" Logan eyes Thomas with a raised brow.
"We were sleeping," Thomas says. "She didn’t tell me anything new."
Although we’re all focused on the fire, the news that Thomas took no forward steps with Dawn when he had a chance is disheartening.
As the siren reaches almost deafening volume, it’s flicked off and the rumbling of the firetruck's large engine disrupts the conversation. Firemen run forward, eyes scanning for the fire. "It’s out," Thomas says. "It started with this." He hands the brick over to a stocky fireman, who’s weighted down with his sturdy uniform and helmet.
"You found it inside?"
"Yeah." Thomas leads the fireman into the still smoldering office; Cooper and Mitchell follow. The police aren’t far behind, their investigations lasting for an hour while we sit around, waiting.
Bradley ushers Kyla back to Dawn's room, agreeing to wake her if anything else happens. Dawn finds the first aid box and deals with Lachlan’s rage wounds again. She’s so calm with him, and so accepting, as though his actions don’t bother her at all. It pains me to see him hurt, but it also enrages me. A man should be able to control his temper. If we can’t control ourselves and hold on to our inner peace when everything around us is turning into shit, what hope do we have?
When she’s done, I follow Dawn to the door of her room, and lightly touch her on the back. "I’m worried about what’s going to happen," she says, rubbing her palm over her face, sighing, and resting her hands on her hips. "He’s going to do something stupid. I can feel it."
"Don’t worry about Lachlan. We’ll keep it together. There are nine of us. We’ve built something great and kept it together. We know what to do."
She nods, her eyes searching mine. "You did build something great," she says. Then she rests her hand on my shoulder and leans up to kiss me on the corner of my mouth. Every part of me wants to fall into her, to scoop her close and keep her safe. I want to wrap her inside this thing I’ve built with my friends so that she’s a part of it, a brick in our wall. Joined and impenetrable to the outside world.