Page 28 of Timeless Pages
Instead, I resisted and ushered her toward the elevator. Technically, we could skip it, but we were going more for her than anyone. She should have been attending these meetings all along.
“You’ll need this,” Nate said as we rode the elevator down. He reached into his pocket and handed her a cell phone. “I’ve kept it charged for you.”
“Thank you,” Isa said, accepting the phone. She clicked on the screen and scrolled through notifications before dismissing them all and handing the phone back to him. “I don’t have pockets,” she explained. “Now, where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” I replied.
The drive to the community center where the meetings were held was short. Nate guided her to the door while Dom ran ahead to hold it open.
“What is this?” Isa asked when we stepped inside, and she saw all of the people.
“This is a business association meeting,” I explained. “It’s where Sunflower Falls business owners meet once a quarter to discuss any town business we have going on or need to be addressed. A good way for us to network and get to know each other better while finding ways to make the town better as well.”
“You’re a business owner, Isa,” Nate said. “You belong at these meetings.”
A screech filled the room, making Isa freeze as she tried to assess the danger. Nova pushed through the crowd and ran toward Isa with Linc, Grant, and Ben trailing behind her with puppy dog eyes. I had never seen them this happy until they met Nova. She changed their world for the better, and having met Isa, I understood the feeling.
“You’re actually here!” Nova gushed. “Thank God! We need more women to attend these meetings. Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.” She took Isa’s hand and dragged her into the small crowd mingling over the punch bowl and finger sandwiches.
“Three million,” Nate said as we shook hands with the other three men.
“Do you know you raise your offering price by half a million dollars every time we see each other? Grant asked.
“I figure one day I’ll hit a number you can’t say no to,” Nate replied.
“We heard what happened,” Linc said, nodding toward our girls. “How is she?”
“She’s healing,” I replied. “Once her father is behind bars, where he belongs, she’ll be even better.”
“Well, if there is anything we can do to help, just let us know,” Ben replied.
When we left the meeting two hours later, Isa was glowing. She was immediately accepted into the group and had plenty of ideas to help the town, and people listened. Some of us lingered outside the community center, still chatting, when sirens filled the night air. Fire trucks roared by us, headed toward a pillar of smoke.
“That’s where the bookstore is!” Isa exclaimed.
Fuck. She was right.
“Let’s go!” Dom said. We ran to the car and ordered the driver to take us to the bookstore. We entered an all-too-familiar scene when we turned onto Isa’s street. Police cars and fire trucks blocked the road, and immense flames shot out of the windows and roof of the bookstore.
“Dave!” Isa screamed as she jumped from the car and ran toward the burning store.
“Isa! Wait!” we yelled after her as we ran to catch up.
A police officer stopped her before she could get too close.
“That’s my store!” Isa yelled. “Someone might be inside!”
“The fire department is handling it, ma’am. I can’t let you get any closer. It isn’t safe,” he told her apologetically.
I wrapped my arms around Isa as we watched them fight the blaze. I had no doubt who set the fire or why. “Detective Greene must have told Morris about the cameras,” I told Nate and Dom.
“Dumb fucker,” Nate growled. “Won’t he be surprised when he finds out the feed isn’t stored in the shop?” While Isa mingled at the meeting, I told them what happened with Detective Greene. They weren’t too happy with me because I hadn’t called them when the detective arrived.
“The cameras!” Isa yelled. She pulled out of my arms and plunged her hand into Nate’s pocket to retrieve her phone. Isa tapped on the screen several times, and we huddled around her. She skipped to the end of the file and then started to rewind it. I was impressed by how long the building burned until the heat was too much for the cameras.
She kept rewinding until we saw a figure appear in the store. There was no doubt it was Morris, and if there had been any, he was kind enough to find one of the cameras to grin into as he flipped it off. After that, he doused the store in gasoline and tossed a lit matchbook behind him on his way out the door. The store never stood a chance. Not with all of those books inside.
Once we finished watching that part, Isa continued to rewind the feed past when Morris arrived.
