Page 6 of Frostbite & Mistletoe
“Shit. Evan, get me the thermal camera,” he ordered.“I want to check every wall in this place.”
As he grimly moved through his preliminary inspection, he caught glimpses through the windows of Maggie and Cade still managing the situation outside.
They’d set up a clear perimeter, and were doing a great job keeping people back from the building and maintaining order.
No hysteria, no chaos, just calm efficiency and lots of excited people filming the scene on their phones.
By the looks of the electrical nightmare Ward had uncovered, Gabriel was going to be delivering a whole raft of bad news to the club’s owner.
He caught sight of her waiting outside with the expression of someone calculating the cost of the damages and not liking the answers she was coming up with.
He’d seen that look too many times during his career as a professional firefighter and fire marshal back in Granite Gap. It was the mental arithmetic of disaster.
What she couldn’t know—what he’d have to tell her later—was that the fire was only the beginning of her troubles. The fire code violations he was seeing on just his quick, preliminary inspection by flashlight twisted his gut.
He’d come to Bearpaw Ridge for a fresh start, not to find a mate. And now he was going to be the bearer of bad news to the woman his cat desperately wanted to court.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.He’d be lucky if she even said hello to him after this.
So be it,he told himself and his cat. Better to be the bad guy with a clipboard than the one who had to explain to families why their loved ones weren’t coming home tonight… or any other night.
Working together, he, Ward, and Evan methodically isolated the dangerous circuits and used the thermal camera to root out the remaining hot spots behind the walls in the hallway and office.
Given the age of this wooden building, it was a miracle the fire hadn’t spread beyond the utility hallway, storeroom, and the small back office. The main bar area and dining room had sustained only smoke and water damage, which would still require major renovations, though.
As they worked, Gabriel was taking mental notes for his official report. The violations here weren’t just numerous, they were the kind that could get this place shut down permanently.
∞∞∞
“Crew, you’re clear to stand down. I’m releasing the engines to return to station,” Gabriel announced to the crowd of volunteer firefighters an hour later.“Good work tonight.”
He’d just finished his inspection, verified that all the utilities had been shut off, that no rekindle potential remained, and the structure was now safe enough to hand over to the property owner.
Then he made the official radio call to Dispatch, reporting that the fire was under control and to mark the incident contained at 22:41 hours.
Evan and the others were now busily rolling up the hoses and stowing all their equipment.
The frigid night air tasted clean after the smoky interior, though the scent of burned wood and charred plastic still clung to Gabriel’s gear in an astringent cloud.
“Looks like we got lucky tonight,” Maggie said, removing her helmet.
“Luck had nothing to do with it,” Gabriel replied, more curtly than he intended.“If the wiring in this place had been up to code, there wouldn’t have been a fire at all.”
Maggie glanced toward Kymberlie, who was now speaking to a cluster of her employees.“Poor Kymber. The Hair of the Dog is everything to her.”
“You two are friends?” Gabriel asked, keeping his tone professionally neutral despite his gathering dismay.
“Yeah. I mean, everyone knows everyone in these parts,” Maggie replied.“Her younger sister, Violet, works for me at Cinnamon + Sugar. And The Hair of the Dog is one of the few places folks can go for live music and dancing.”
The unspoken message was clear:Don’t be too hard on her.
Figured as much. In a small town like Bearpaw Ridge, Maggie would know all the other business owners here.
Gabriel felt a twinge of guilt mixed with irritation. This was exactly how things had started back in Granite Gap… the not-so-subtle pressure to look the other way because a business was“important to the town.”
“I don’t shut places down for fun,” he said, more sharply than intended. He turned to tape a bright-orangeUnsafe to Occupynotice to the front door.“I do it so we don’t have to carry people out in body bags.”
“Good,” Maggie said, surprising him.“You’re exactly the kind of fire marshal we need.”
