Carly Phillips: Lucky Charm

“Richard is the first viable candidate running against her in years. She got scared,” Gabrielle mused.

“And scared people get sloppy,” Richard confirmed. “According to my source who spoke directly with the cop in question, she wanted that photograph desperately.”

“Enough to show up herself to get the information?” Derek asked.

“Apparently, she was beyond reason,” Richard said. “She wanted insurance and that photograph was it.”

Gabrielle let out a low whistle. “Wow. What do you plan to do with the information?” she asked Richard.

Suddenly, people came screaming toward the front of the bar.

“Fire!” someone yelled, barreling past them and rushing out the front door.

Chaos ensued.

Derek thought only to grab Gabrielle’s hand as he jerked his head toward the back of the restaurant and saw flames licking around the curtains and traveling toward them.

“Oh, my God!” Gabrielle screamed.

“Let’s go,” Derek said.

“Follow me.” Richard headed out first.

Derek pulled Gabrielle, and along with the rest of the crowd, they bolted outside. The Wave had been more crowded than Derek had realized and someone pushed between him and Gabrielle, breaking their hands apart. He turned to call her, but the people behind him shoved him forward in their rush to escape.

Once they were outside, the firemen had already arrived and began directing people far from the burning building. Derek turned to look for Gabrielle, but he didn’t see her in the crush of the crowd directly behind him.

He was forced onto the far grass by a fireman. Others began cordoning off the area and prohibiting people getting anywhere near the Wave.

“Derek!”

He heard his name being called and he whipped around at the sound of his father’s voice. “Dad! Over here!” Derek waved so his father could see him.

“Thank God!” Hank said, hugging him until he couldn’t breathe.

“You weren’t inside, were you?” Derek asked. He’d thought his father had left once his interview ended.

Hank shook his head. “I was outside when I heard someone screaming about the fire. I looked up and saw the flames. I just wanted to find you.” Hank wiped the sweat from his brow. “I couldn’t bear to lose my son,” he said, his voice cracking.

“I’m fine,” Derek assured him, emotion and so much more clogging his throat. “Have you seen Gabrielle? We got separated trying to get out of the building.”

Hank shook his head.

Derek glanced back again, but there were too many people crowding around to see everyone.

It had been too long since he’d made it out and he still hadn’t seen her. Panic nearly suffocated him. “I’ve got to find her.”

He started for the building, only to be stopped by his one-hundred-ninety-pound father jumping onto his back.

“You aren’t going near that fire,” Hank said in Derek’s ear.

“At least let me tell the fireman she’s missing.”

Hank released himself and rushed with Derek toward the nearest firefighter. His father never released his grip on Derek’s collar. Derek was choking on the material pulling against his neck but figured it was his father’s way of keeping him safe.

“I’m looking for a woman. Reddish hair, about five foot five. Last time I saw her was inside the building,” Derek said to the fireman.

“I’ll relay the information,” the man in uniform promised.

As he waited, Derek clenched his hands into fists, his nails digging into his skin.

“She’ll be fine,” Hank said, placing an arm around Derek’s shoulders.

“Because our good luck says so?” Derek asked his father.

The older man looked at him with wise eyes but said nothing. How could he, Derek thought, when he’d lived through his share of pain and tragedy, too?

“Don’t hold it against me for not letting you run back into that building, son. You wouldn’t want Holly to be fatherless, now, would you?”

Derek shook his head, unable to speak as he waited for news on Gabrielle.

DEREK COULD BARELY BREATHEas he watched the burning building. Finally, he caught sight of Gabrielle along with Kayla being helped out of the bar by a fireman.

Coughing, she made her way toward him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh, my God! You’re okay, too.”

He shut his eyes and squeezed her to him, all the while, thanking God that she was safe. Everyone he loved was safe. Now he just had to keep them that way.

“What happened?” he asked.

She dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged on the grass.

He and Hank knelt beside her.

“After we got separated, I was heading out when I heard Kayla scream. I turned and saw a beam had hit her. The fire wasn’t surrounding her, so I ran to get her. It just got harder to get out.” She shook her head, obviously still overwhelmed. “I have to check on Kayla.”

Derek glanced over at the waiting ambulance. “She’s with the paramedics. She’s awake and talking, so you can relax here for a few minutes first.” He stroked her hair as she breathed in and out, pulling herself together.

“My bar!”

They turned at the sound.

George was pacing right beside them, clearly distraught.

Gabrielle eased herself to her feet, her legs trembling as she stood. Derek kept his arm around her shoulder as she walked up to the older man.

“George? It’ll be okay.” She offered lame words of support. There was nothing else she could do for him.

He turned to her, looking older than he had just half an hour before as his beloved bar burned behind him.

“You mean, my family bar.” Elizabeth Perkins appeared, as if out of the blue. She had a dazed look in her eyes and a red gasoline can in her hands.

Gabrielle blinked, certain she was imagining the image, but the woman and the red can in her hands remained.

George narrowed his gaze. “What are you talking about?” he asked, staring at the mayor’s granddaughter in disbelief.

“You mean, Seth never told you he couldn’t get the financing to turn your old bar into a nightclub?” Elizabeth asked.

George shook his head.

“He told me. In bed. I knew Seth would come in handy one day. He knows everyone and everything that’s going on. I didn’t think his pillow talk would be so helpful, but it was. Of course, I suggested to my grandmother that we lend him the money. Owning this bar was an important step in cementing power in this town.”

Elizabeth’s tone indicated her plan had been long-standing and well-thought-out even if the blank expression in her eyes showed everyone that something inside her had snapped.

“My son wouldn’t touch your family’s dirty money,” George spat.

“Why not? He touched me.” Elizabeth laughed. She’d obviously intended her words to be sultry, but the sound came out high-pitched and deranged.

Gabrielle winced while George glanced around, desperately looking for his son. Gabrielle caught sight of Seth beneath a tree, staring at the burning building with utter shock and pain on his face.

Gabrielle had no doubt Elizabeth was telling the truth.

George turned back to face her. “Let’s say he did borrow money from you. That would explain all the times he defended your grandmother and let her hold her holiday party at the Wave. That doesn’t make it your bar.”

A satisfied expression eased her lips upward in a nasty smile. Gone were all vestiges of amiability covering her true personality. Gone was any trace of sanity. “It does if the payments haven’t been made. And they haven’t.”

“He wouldn’t let me see the books.” Tears filled George’s eyes.

Gabrielle couldn’t watch his pain. She strode closer to George, intending to walk him away.