Light spilled around the edges of the brown paper we’d tacked to the windows, shining through with a soft glow in places where the paper fibers were thin.
“Are there any tears in this stuff?” Ozzie asked, his voice low.
Mouth flattening into a flat line, I scanned it. We hadn’t been super careful about putting it up, but we hadn’t been reckless, either. It was meant to, one, keep the interior a surprise to Mina’s customers, and two, protect the building from theft. People couldn’t see in to tell what materials and tools were inside.
I pointed to a spot on the far side of the front windows, where more light spilled out than anywhere else. “Over there, maybe?”
On quiet feet, we moved. Ozzie crouched in front of a small gap in the paper and looked in. “The angle is wrong,” he hissed. “All I see is the far wall. Where the stairs are.”
That gave me an idea.
I tapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go around back.” Turning away, I headed for the corner.
“Is it any easier to see in back there?”
“No, but we might be able to get inside without being seen.” Our dumpster guy had put the roll-off close to the building so we could chuck things into it from the windows and doors. We might be able to climb on top and get in through an upstairs window. They weren’t locked.
As we reached the corner, a cruiser rolled up.
We paused as the window went down in the SUV. As the man inside shifted to lean through the opening, the streetlight glinted off the nametag pinned to his chest. This was Chief Riggs.
“Sit rep, Quartermaine.”
“We can’t see in the front windows, but Luke says he thinks he might know a way in through the back.”
“Okay. Put your radio on channel six.” He gestured to the radio in Ozzie’s hand. “I’ll watch the front.”
Tossing him a thumbs-up, Ozzie nudged me, and we took off around the corner to go up the alley.
“Shit. Ozzie. Is that smoke?” The light illuminating the rear parking area had a hazy appearance.
“Yeah. I smell it.”
A door slammed, and through the shadows, we saw two figures running away.
“Hey! Stop! Police!” Ozzie picked up the pace.
When we reached the back doors to the coffeeshop and café, smoke billowed through cracks around the café’s door.
I skidded to a halt. “Go! Catch them. I’ll check the building.”
“I’ll radio it in!”
Turning, I ran to the door and twisted the knob, praying it was unlocked. The steel door would be much harder to break down than the cabin’s wooden door.
The knob turned under my hand.
Yes!
Pushing inside, a thick, gray blanket of smoke billowed around me. I couldn’t see a damn thing through it except the orange glow of fire from the front of the building. A low roar filled the space.
“Claire! Ellis!” Hooking my shirt over my nose, I ran deeper into the interior.
“Help!” Ellis and Claire’s voices penetrated the smoky space.
“Keep yelling so I can find you.” Coughing, I held my shirt tighter to my face. Tears streamed down my cheeks now, partially blinding me as my eyes fully protested the acrid smoke.
I followed the sounds of their voices and quickly found them in the back corner of the main room on the floor, back-to-back, their hands tied to the other’s behind them, and their feet bound.
