Page 120 of Loyal
Happy turns the phone.
Blooms on Main Ave. has gone up in flames.
“Fuck,Mami,you need to get up.”
She jumps up, turning to look at me.
“Happy, we need to go. Now,” I tell him.
That shakes him out of his stupor. He’s on his feet and gone in seconds. I’m right behind him.
“I’ll be back,” I call to Sami, hoping like hell she hears me.
We tear out of the clubhouse parking lot, almost clipping the gate as the prospect opens it. I hear other bikes behind us, but I can’t look. I have to keep up with Happy.
It takes us half the time to get to the area of the flower shop, but traffic is backed up. Happy jumps on the sidewalk, making me curse as I follow him. Once we are at the scene, he drops his bike and runs to the caution tape. I get off my own before making my way over to him.
A firefighter stops Happy as I jog to his side. “You can’t come in here, sir.”
“Fuck you, I can’t. Where is she?” Happy demands.
“Who?”
“Penelope Ward. She owns the shop.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t release any information.”
“Fuck that. I’m going to punch you out, you motherfucker. You tell me where she is right now, or I will rip your throat from your head. Do you hear me? I will rip it right out of your neck and feed it to the rats. I swear it,” Happy rants.
Cops come running over. It takes three to subdue Happy. I can do nothing but watch. This isn’t the brother I know. He is angry. A demon even. This is the face most men see before they die.
“Loyal. Find her. You have to find her,” he calls out to me.
I nod, slipping past the distracted firefighter and running toward the building.
It’s no use. The entire thing is engulfed in flames. There’s no way anyone inside of it would have survived.
“Sir, you shouldn’t be here,” a different firefighter calls.
I turn to him. “Someone very important owns that business. I know you aren’t supposed to say, but I need to know. Was anyone taken out of there?”
He looks unsure before he finally answers. “It was already blazing when we got here. We won’t know if there are any bodies until we put it out.”
My heart sinks.
If Penelope is in there, she is long gone now.
Fuck.
“Thanks. What’s your name?” I ask.
He hesitates. “Joel Bachman.”
“If you find anything out, please call me. Right away.” I hand him a card with my number on it.
“I will. I hope whoever you are looking for isn’t in there.”
Me too.
