Payback Time.
“What the hell does that mean?” Travis asked, fear tightening his voice.
Allie? Where was Allie?
Turning, Jenna noticed the smoke. Thick and black, it curled in the hallway from the kitchen. “Fire!” she yelled. “Allie! Dani!” Oh, God, where were they? Frantically she ran to the front hall. They had to be safe. Had to. “Allie!” she yelled again. “Oh, God, where are they?”
In the distance, sirens screamed.
Travis grabbed a cloth arm protector from a side chair, held it over his mouth and nose and jogged toward the smoke. “Dani! For God’s sake, are you here? Dani!”
Carter was already racing up the stairs. “Get out of the house, Jenna. Now!”
“No way.”
“They’re probably already outside!”
If only she dared believe it. Screaming her daughter’s name, she threw open the door to the coat closet. Empty. She rushed into the living room. The dining room and butler’s pantry. Nothing! She heard the crackle of flames and Carter’s boots ringing overhead.
Travis, backing out of the kitchen, a fire extinguisher spraying, called over his shoulder, “No one in the kitchen. Just a grease fire.”
The house was empty.
As the police and fire crews arrived, a crowd gathered, and Shane shepherded Jenna outside to the Jeep. The cell phone! She climbed into the rig, found her phone and was about to dial when she noticed that she had two new messages. Both from Allie.
Insides churning, she listened and tears of relief flowed from her eyes at the sound of her daughter’s voice. She blinked and swiped at her nose as she said to Travis, “She’s at the school waiting for us there. Dani told her she’d gotten a call from Blanche. Piano lessons had been cancelled.”
“So they’re all right,” Travis said, relief evident in the lines of his face. He pulled out his phone and dialed. Waited and frowned, then said, “Dani, this is Dad. Call me back.” He clicked the phone shut. Stared at Shane. “She’s not answering.”
Jenna was already calling Allie and her daughter picked up immediately. “Hello?”
“Hi, honey.” Relief flooded through her.
“Where are you?” Allie was angry. “I’ve been waiting forever!”
“I’m at Mrs. Johnson’s. We must’ve gotten our wires crossed. I thought you were at your lesson, but stay put, I’m on my way to pick you up right now. I’ll be there in five minutes. Is Dani with you?”
“No.”
“No?” Jenna froze. Dread crystalized through her brain. Her eyes met Travis’s. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Allie grumbled. “She ditched me out.”
“Ditched you out?” Jenna repeated. “That doesn’t sound like Dani. What happened?”
“I said ‘I don’t know.’ At lunch she told me that the piano lessons had been cancelled and that she’d meet me after last period and she’s not here. No one’s here.” Jenna’s heart nose-dived. “Are you coming?”
“On my way. Wait near the office. Don’t go anywhere. Do you hear me?”
“Yes! Geez.”
A newfound worry clutching at her, Jenna looked into Travis Settler’s eyes. “Dani’s not with her,” she said as the fire trucks, sirens screaming, rolled onto the street. Two police cruisers slid to a stop, spraying gravel. “I’m going to get Allie,” she said to Shane. “We’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come with you,” Shane said.
“Don’t you think you should tell them what’s going on?” She hitched her chin toward the cops getting out of their cars. “I’ll come back. With Allie.”
Impatiently, Travis said, “Let’s go. I’m right behind you.”