Chapter Twenty
Cam
Cam placed the last bottle of liquor in the cardboard box and taped it up. Hugo, Kit, and Zeke would be here tomorrow to pick up all the boxes.
The sun was starting to set, and a stream of light from the window highlighted the dust particles in the air. The real estate agent would be putting the ‘for sale’ sign on the front window tomorrow. She could have waited until the day the bar sold to shut everything down, but there was no reason to stay open. As Kit said, this bar had taken everything from her and gave nothing back in return.
She ran a hand over the bar top, feeling the smooth wood under her palm. This had been her life for the last few years. The place where she built a relationship with her father. The place where she cried and screamed and met her best friend.
Amire wasn’t surprised that she was closing down. He found another job at Helen’s the same day. She’d been scared to tell Jen because Jen had been pushing so hard for her to sell the bar anyways. Cam thought she might pull an ‘I told you so,’ but Jen was happy for her. A tear slid down Cam’s cheek as she walked towards the big, old wooden door that she had walked through nearly every day for years.
There was so much waiting for her on the other side of this door. She could finish her degree and finally have the time to think about what she wanted to do with it. She could focus on her relationship with Kit and Jen and her new family. At least, that’s what Kit told her.
He said she was now a part of the Savage Spades. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but it was comforting to know she had so many people cheering her on. Taking a deep breath, she pushed on the door to walk outside. It didn’t budge. That’s weird. She tried again this time harder. Nothing.
“What the--”
That’s when she smelled it. The overwhelming scene of burning wood. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
She rammed her shoulder into the door over and over again. This couldn’t be happening. It’s over. She turned around to see smoke coming from the kitchen. This was a setup. Venom. She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that someone could hear her. But her screams turned into coughs as the smoke got stronger.
If the liquor caught fire, she would be done in minutes. Her body weakened, but she used the last of her strength to walk over to the window and hit it as hard as she could. Her arms felt like jelly as she slammed her fist against the glass. And then everything went black.