Page 8 of Rescuing Alix

Several hours and a good portion of daylight had passed as they’d worked their way back toward the shop, and Kody’s cell rang, the tone letting him know it was the fire station. Just as he answered, the station siren sounded, drowning out who was on the line.

“Hold on a second” he literally screamed into the phone.

They knew it was his night off so why the hell would they be calling him? They gathered their shoes and headed right to the station when they noticed discolored smoke coming from the same direction.

“Kody look!” Alix pointed in the direction of the station but the closer they got the worse it looked.

“Chief, what’s going on up there?” Kody was talking really fast in between the siren blasts. He was concerned; they didn’t usually call him for a fire on his off hours unless it was a big one and they needed all their manpower.

“Shit, you’re kidding, right? We’ll be right there.” Kody slammed his phone shut and stuffed it in his front pocket then grabbed Alix’s hand and started to run.

“We need to hurry, now!”

Chapter Seven

“What in the world is going on?” Alix tripped and stumbled trying to keep up with Kody’s long strides as he ran, pulling her along behind.

“I can’t keep up with you, will you slow down?” His grip tightened on her hand but if anything, he ran faster.

“No time Alix, we need to get to the station fast.”

“Why, what did your chief say?” Kody didn’t need to answer because as they rounded the causeway beside the station, one of the engines sat in the middle of the intersection. Two guys were hooking up a hose to the hydrant but there was no way to see around.

“Tell me it’s not my place on fire?” Alix could feel herself starting to panic. She wanted to run to the intersection, but Kody grabbed ahold of her hand, halting her progress.

“Alix, we have to go slow. Don’t panic, please? We are going to calmly walk over there and talk to the chief; I see him now.” He led her in the direction of the fire chief who she could only assume was the one that had called his cell while they were on the beach.

“Kody I’ve never really been one for patience.”

He smiled sympathetically but he kept a grasp on her hand and led the way. The closer to the intersection they got, the more her hands trembled. Once around the fire engine, her suspicions were confirmed. Itwasher café the smoke was coming from.

“Oh no!” Alix wanted to run but Kody kept a firm grasp, holding her at his side as a man in uniform approached them.

“Kody. Thanks for coming so quick. This must be Alix?”

She shook her head but couldn’t make her mouth move.

“I’m Tom Parker, Kody’s chief.” He extended a hand to shake hers.

“Looks as if there’s been a small fire in the kitchen; the men have it contained now but there’s definitely some smoke and water damage. I can’t let you in just yet, safety reasons. We’ll need to do an investigation, find out how it started.”

“Is that all really necessary?” The chief spoke up before Kody could get a chance.

“Absolutely necessary; I can’t go into much detail but unless you spread cooking oil or gas all over the kitchen floor, then we need to find out more details.”

“Are you kidding?” Alix couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Who would do that to her sandwich shop?

“I wish Iwerekidding. The odd thing is we didn’t see any signs of a forced entry. Are you sure you locked up before you left today?”

“Positive. I took the trash out the back door, came back in and locked the screen door then the solid door. Then I went out the front.”

“I was behind her on the sidewalk, so I know she locked the front door.”

“Well, the inspector is going to want to talk to you tomorrow I’m sure and Kody, you should probably be with her when he does. He’s really had a grudge against women since his wife left him last year.”

“Will do chief, thanks for calling us.” Kody shook the man’s hand and he disappeared into the chaos of directing the firefighters and their clean-up.

“Kody, tell me this isn’t happening. Who would want to burn my shop?”

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