Page 3 of Frostbite & Mistletoe
Kymberlie sprinted out of the storeroom and leaped up on the low stage. She faced the dance floor.
“Hey, everyone, we’re having a minor issue in our storeroom. I want everyone to exit calmly,” she ordered, her voice sounding weirdly calm despite her inner turmoil.“Staff, open all the doors. Now!”
They moved fast. As her employees opened the main doors and shoved open the fire exit next to the stage, Kymberlie grabbed her phone from her jeans pocket and punched in 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?” Kymberlie recognized the voice. It was the county’s newest dispatcher, Emily Clarke-Swanson.
“Hey, Em, this is Kymberlie Tringstad over at The Hair of the Dog,” Kymberlie replied, watching as her customers flowed out of the club and into the parking lot. Maggie and Cade were helping her staff direct traffic and maintain order among her departing guests.“I’ve got an electrical fire in my storeroom, back wall, and it’s spreading fast. We’re evacuating the club now.” She rattled off her address.
“Any injuries?” Emily asked.
“No, thank God,” Kymberlie replied.“And the building’s almost empty now.”
“Good. Fire department’s on the way,” Emily said.
“Thanks!” Kymberlie disconnected the call.
She saw Maggie and Cade herding the last of the customers through the front doors, followed by Micah, Karl, Zoey, and the kitchen staff.
She raced back to the storeroom and froze in the doorway. A sick feeling raced through her gut.
In the brief time it had taken her to start evacuation and contact 911, the fire had already chewed its way up the wall and was hungrily licking across the ceiling. Heat blasted her face, sweat beading instantly.
Smoke clawed at her throat, thick and choking.
She yanked the hallway fire extinguisher from its mount and aimed at the base of the fire, sweeping the nozzle side to side. The chemical spray hissed, but the flames barely slowed. The old wooden building was too dry, and the fire had already dug its claws in deep.
“Kymber!” Maggie’s voice, urgent and close. Kymberlie turned her head and saw her friend standing next to Cade at the edge of the hallway.“You need to get out!Now!”
And simply abandon her club to the fire’s voracious appetite?Hell no.
Bearpaw Ridge had an all-volunteer fire department, its firefighters scattered throughout the town and its outlying farms and ranches.
It would take precious time for them to get to The Hair of the Dog, located just off the highway ten minutes north of town.
“But I can still—” Kymberlie started, never letting up on the fire extinguisher.
Maggie and Cade moved as one, fast as a pair of striking snakes, each grabbing one of her arms.“Not worth your life. C’mon,” growled Cade.
“We’ll do what we can before the others arrive,” Maggie assured her. Like Cade, Maggie was a volunteer firefighter, though the two of them wouldn’t be able to do much without hoses or other equipment to fight the fire.
Knowing that even her enhanced wolf shifter strength was no match for one bear shifter, let alone two, Kymberlie let herself be dragged toward the exit. She was still clutching the useless extinguisher.
Her eyes stung, not only from the smoke. Years of work, everything she cared about, all burning in front of her. And there was nothing she could do.
I’m not going to cry, dammit!
As they passed through the bar and dining room area, the overhead sprinklers finally kicked on, spattering her with foul-smelling water.
As she, Maggie, and Cade emerged from the now-empty club, the frosty night air slapped her face and bare arms. She instantly regretted not grabbing her coat and purse from her tiny office next to the storeroom.
People clustered together on the wide gravel parking lot that surrounded the club, staring at the dancing orange light in the windows as the fire spread.
Kymberlie stared at the destruction, her body shaking. She wanted to throw up.
Maggie left her side and sprinted over to a big white pickup truck with the Grizzly Creek Ranch logo on the doors. Kymberlie knew that the volunteer firefighters always kept their helmets and turnouts in their vehicles.
“The rest of the fire department will be here any second,” Cade said, patting Kymberlie on her shoulder.“We’ll do what we can.”
