We jump off the bike, leaving our helmets behind and rush up the sidewalk to the storefront. It’s just like Mac said on the phone, half of the front has collapsed into a blackened opening. The firefighters are shooting water at the thickest of the flames and smoke is still pouring out in steady waves. Mygrandfather’s shop sign is hanging sideways, nothing more than a blackened ruin.
A firefighter steps in front of me. “Ma’am, you can’t go past this point. It’s too dangerous. We need you on the other side of the sidewalk.”
“This is my shop,” I tell him, sounding worlds more confident than I feel right now. “My grandfather built it.”
The firefighter’s expression softens. “I understand but the structure’s unstable right now. We need everyone, including you to stay back.”
Mica moves up beside me. “We understand. Do you mind if I ask how long the fire has been burning?”
“The call came in about twenty minutes before we arrived,” the firefighter says. “By then the flames were spreading so fast it made it hard to contain.”
“Do you have any idea what caused the fire?” I ask. “Do you think it’s accidental or arson?”
The man’s expression shuts down. “I wouldn’t want to hazard a guess at this point, ma’am. The fire marshal will be here shortly and I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you. Right now, I need you to step back.”
“What about the buildings on either side?” Mica asks. “Did it spread?”
“Negative. We got containment lines up before it could jump. Your neighbors got lucky.”
“Thank you for talking to us,” I say as I stare at the slowly diminishing flames. My stomach churns at the sight of yetanother piece of my grandfather’s legacy burning to the ground. If my grandfather could see the mess I’m making of his legacy, he’d be sadly disappointed in me. He taught me to be strong, but it seems like fate is out to kick my ass.
Mac slips through the crowd and walks up to us with his phone in his hand. He looks as dispirited as I feel. Before I realize it, he’s got his arms around me, giving me a brief hug.
“Are you okay, girl?” He asks in a shaky voice.
I give his arm a squeeze. “I’m trying to be,” I tell him, fighting back tears.
He nods. “It was already going strong by the time I got here. My gut told me they weren’t gonna be able to save any of the building, much less the custom choppers on the sales floor.”
“How did you even know about it?” I ask, remembering him saying something on the phone about hearing it on a CB.
“I keep my CB on at night when I can’t sleep. I recognized the address right away. I damn near fell flat on my face trying to get out the damn door.” He runs one hand through his graying hair. “I called Hawk and Buck and told them to go to Mica’s business and protect the trucks in the back parking lot. I don’t know if this is someone fuckin’ with us again but after losing over a hundred grand in chopper stock, we sure as hell can’t afford to lose those delivery trucks.”
Mac isn’t wrong about that. The trucking company office is gone. It’s looking like the chopper shop is a total loss as well. I hadn’t even stopped to consider how far this puts us in the hole. All the stock, the builds in progress, the parts they’d been waiting on for months, along with every tool my grandfatherever bought, are all gone. My heart aches when I piece it all together in my mind.
“That was fuckin’ good thinking,” Mica says.
“Vulture taught me that when your enemy starts destroying your shit, they won’t stop until they’ve destroyed it all.”
A short silence spins out between the three of us. That’s when a familiar scent fills my nostrils. That sick feeling in my stomach flares. “Do you smell that?” I ask.
“Fuck yeah,” Mac answers. “It’s fuckin’ gasoline.”
“Two businesses destroyed exactly the same way,” Mica points out, “one after another. That can’t be a fuckin’ coincidence.”
I glance over at him, “It looks like maybe whoever this is wants to take everything I’ve got.”
“Somebody wants to trigger the reversion clause in your grandfather’s will,” Mica states quietly. “Or somebody is harboring a huge grudge against you personally.”
Mica steps away, making his way to the fire marshal. Although I can’t hear what he’s saying, I can see how receptive they are to talking to him. He’s gesturing with his hands, causing the fire marshal to nod. When he taps his nose, I think he’s asking about the scent we picked up. I’m proud to be married to Mica. He’s just the man I needed in my life. He comes back a few minutes later.
“From what they can tell, the fire started in the rear of the building and spread forward. They think someone hookeda fifty-gallon barrel up to the fire suppressant system and triggered it.”
“Oh fuck,” I gasp. “That means it sprayed gasoline down instead of water. No wonder the fire spread so quickly.”
“Yeah, that’s their best guess at this point.”
“Why now?” Mac asks. “Why this close together?”
