Nothing To Lose: Morecambe Bay Trilogy 3 (Book 2) (The Morecambe Bay Trilogies 8) by Paul J. Teague

Author:Paul J. Teague [Teague, Paul J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clixeo Publishing LTD
Published: 2021-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Five

‘Call the fire brigade,’ Kate instructed.

‘They’ll take some time to get out here,’ Mike replied. He was already dialling the number on his mobile phone.

‘Don’t they have a fire tender in one of the warehouses around here?’ Charlotte asked.

‘They deploy from Lancaster,’ Mike answered. Somebody had picked up at the other end. He started working through the questions that the operator was asking him.

‘We’ve got to help him,’ Charlotte said, ‘we can’t hang around waiting for the fire service.’

‘Are you up for this?’ Kate checked.

They were already moving towards the houseboats that were moored on the far side of the car park.

‘I can think of better cases to work on than one which centres around a pyromaniac,’ Charlotte said as she set off at a run, ‘but we’re not leaving Larry to fend for himself, no way. If my childhood experience taught me anything, it’s that you do not want to die in a fire. It’s a horrible way to go.’

As they neared the end of the car park, they could see it was Larry’s barge that was in flames.

‘What is it with this guy and his love of fire?’ Kate puffed.

When they reached the houseboat, Charlotte heard a dog barking.

‘Larry must be in there; his dog is barking. I’ll take the far end; you take this end.’

The roof of the houseboat was well set alight already. The paint had blistered, though the burning was still on the surface; it hadn’t yet got a firm hold of the wood. The words Marie-Rose had almost been scorched from the side of the vessel.

‘The door’s been blocked at this end!’ Kate shouted across the length of the boat. The flames were blowing in the breeze; it was difficult for Charlotte to hear her properly.

She stepped onto the foredeck to try the small, wooden door at that end.

‘It’s been nailed shut!’ she shouted across to Kate.

The smell of fuel and fumes filled the air. Charlotte looked to the side of the boat. Whoever had set fire to it had used the fuel cans that she’d seen on her previous visit. Two of them had been thrown into the water; they were floating at the side of the boat. That was a lot of fuel to use if they had been both full.

Kate rushed up to the top of the boat to join Charlotte.

‘My end is nailed shut, is yours?’

‘Yes,’ Charlotte replied. She smelled fuel; liquid fuel. She looked to her feet. There was a puddle of liquid pooled at one side.

‘Oh, Jesus!’ she yelled, as a small strip of burning wood trim dropped off the end of the roof, onto the foredeck. She leapt onto the gangplank, watching the flame-engulfed wood fragment falling to the wooden floor from the corner of her eye. The foredeck burst into a ball of flames as her foot struck the gangplank. Kate leaned forward to grasp her hand and pull her away from the wall of heat. They stumbled onto the strip of grass at the side of the boat.

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