Maggie Box Set by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Author:Pamela Fagan Hutchins [Hutchins, Pamela Fagan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SkipJack Publishing
Published: 2019-06-04T04:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

It’s a miracle Maggie makes it to Flown the Coop alive after the call from Junior.

Her shop is on fire. Completely ablaze. Her barn is burning, too. The house is safe at this point, but that’s small consolation. According to Junior, firefighters are on scene, trying to salvage something, anything, but there are no guarantees.

Her entire livelihood is burning to the ground. Her entire identity, since she gave up the music world.

She smells smoke and hears sirens and the roar of the fire beast before she clears the last corner to the house. Turning into her parking lot, she drives helter-skelter through a barricade, jerking Bess to a stop beside Junior. She jumps out, but forgets to take the truck out of gear. Bess lurches and jerks to a halt, then stalls bare inches short of a big red fire truck with an enormous hose snaking from it. Two firefighters in full battle gear wrestle the hose like an anaconda as it spits a thick spray of hissing water at the shop. Junior leaps into Bess and sets the brake.

“Ring of Fire” loops in Maggie’s head as she runs toward her Coop. Her heart seizes. Her father—she doesn’t remember him fondly most of the time, but does now. Overspray and ash rain down on her. Visions of the burning woman return to her. Her eyes comb the windows, afraid of what they’ll find there.

Strong arms arrest her flight. “Ma’am. No.”

She struggles to break free. “My store. My stuff. All of it.”

“I understand.”

She continues fighting. “You don’t.”

Junior arrives and helps restrain her. “Maggie. Listen to me. Stop it. You can’t do anything but hurt yourself. Let them do their job.”

Maggie’s knees buckle. Only Junior’s grip on her arms keeps her from puddling on the ground.

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand. I don’t understand. Two times in three days. I don’t understand.”

Junior hauls her up and shakes her gently. “Come on. Let’s go talk.”

Somewhere in the back of her brain she knows she should resist. Michele would tell her this conversation should wait for her to get there. And she’ll be here soon, Maggie knows. Michele ran fast as a NASCAR pit crew to get Rashidi after Maggie repeated Junior’s horrible news. They can’t be far behind her.

But Maggie follows Junior anyway. She’s too defeated to resist. He leads her to his Tahoe, parked perpendicular to the yellow tape barrier she’d run over with Bess. They pass county employees restringing the tape from sawhorses.

“Sit inside.” He opens the back door of the Tahoe.

She crosses her arms, cradling herself. “N-no. Outside. I need to see. I need to hear.”

“I think you’ll be happier inside.”

She shivers. “I’m c-c-cold.”

“Shit. Okay, yeah, shock. Let’s get you to the EMTs.”

At the ambulance, they take Maggie through the familiar drill. Shock blanket. Loosening her clothes. Getting her to lie down. Junior keeps stealing glances at an unmarked vehicle next to the fire truck. It’s an SUV with a light on top. Maggie follows Junior’s gaze to Karen, the fire marshal, and the tall Fayette County sheriff.

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