“Not bad, no, but Drea is really upset. Most of the damage on our side was in her room and the kitchen.”
“Okay, pick up whatever stuff you can salvage, start on that. I’ll call in the cavalry.” He was already getting dressed.
“Thanks, boss, so much.”
“Anytime, honey, you know that.”
He got dressed and went downstairs and out to the parking lot. He had an old sedan that sometimes didn’t want to start, so he kept his fingers crossed as he sat behind the wheel.
The engine coughed a few times, then rolled and sputtered before evening out.
“Yes!” He called Denny and put the phone on speaker.
“Jo?” Denny had been awake, which sped things up for sure.
“Hey, the twins called. They got home to a fire. Old Guy’s gone.”
“Oh hell,” Denny said, a rustling sound following his words. “I’ll start driving now.”
“Good man. See you there.”
Denny lived closer to the twins than Josiah, but also on the Chicago side, which meant traffic could be a problem, although maybe not as much at this hour.
Next, he called Nelson, who had clearly been asleep. “Boss?”
“Sorry to wake you up, Nelson, but the twins need us.”
Sounding alert immediately, Nelson asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Fire at theirs. Old Guy is gone and some of their stuff, too.”
“Okay, I’ll head over. See you there.”
“Drive safely.”
“I will.”
Boy, did Josiah hope Nelson would drive safely. He was bound to be terrified for various reasons, and his feelings for Drea weren’t the only issue.
Josiah concentrated on the rest of his journey, deciding that going through countless ideas before he knew the extent of the damage and how the twins were doing wouldn’t be useful to anyone. He just hoped his family was okay.
