Good morning and Happy Hump Day ! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
The Hamilton Arms is on fire? What's going on? See what's happening with Vinnie and Ethan and Uncle Benny in this week's chapter of Rose and Thorne 6. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what they're up to. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
The staff and guests of the Hamilton Arms milled
about outside of the hotel, congregating in groups as they speculated as to
what was going on inside. A light drizzle had begun to fall, which only added
to everyone’s discomfort at being unceremoniously rousted in the middle of the
night. Emergency vehicles were already onsite, their flashing lights adding an
eerie glow to the scene.
As late as it was, most businesses had closed for
the night. Passing traffic was sparse. Even so, vehicles slowed to gawk before
moving on.
“Think we could get an umbrella?” I muttered to
Ethan. He and Benny and I stood together on the sidewalk. Benny didn’t seem
unduly inconvenienced by the weather. He seemed to welcome the wetness, his
face upturned to the sky, appearing quite content to be out in the fresh air.
Maybe he was.
“I don’t think so,” Ethan said. “Here, get under
here.” He opened up his coat and beckoned me to huddle inside. Who was I to
argue? Any excuse to get closer to my Ethan. I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Taking advantage of our proximity to enjoy his warmth, I closed my eyes and
released a contented sigh. Much better. I relaxed for a moment before belatedly
remembering we were on a case and I should probably be more aware of my
surroundings, I reluctantly opened my eyes again, only to find Ethan’s uncle
regarding us with a very fond smile.
“You two are cute,” was all he said. He glanced back
toward the hotel. “I don’t see any smoke or flames or anything. Think it might
have been a false alarm?”
That thought hadn’t occurred to me, to be honest, and
I had to admit I didn’t like it. The very notion that there was no fire to
begin with, and we were all standing out here getting wet for no reason, was definitely
rubbing me the wrong way. Not just for what we were having to go through but
because the alarm had interrupted a very intimate moment between Ethan and
myself, one we would probably find difficult to get back considering the
lateness of the hour. Never mind that we would have plenty of time for all of
that later, and in a more comfortable location, I just wasn’t in a mood to be
reasonable at the moment.
A rather bedraggled looking man in a suit caught my
attention. He was talking to some of the hotel employees, huddled together not
far from where we stood, and he looked far from happy. He must be someone, I surmised.
Someone other than a guest. It was far too soon for this guy to be an insurance
adjuster. I supposed he could be from the arson squad, but I dismissed that
idea as there was no visible sign of fire, much less one that reeked of
deliberation. My best guess was this was the hotel’s general manager, dragged
out of bed to deal with the situation. Maybe we could get some answers from
him.
I straightened up with the intent of confronting the
man. Ethan caught my eye, glancing between me and the man in my line of sight.
He latched onto my arm before I could stalk off in that direction. But before
he could say anything, Benny spoke up.
“Looks like he might be the guy in charge,” he
commented. Great minds think alike.
“Why don’t I go ask for an update?” Ethan injected
smoothly. “Keep an eye on Benny, will you? Just be a minute.”
If I’d had any objections to make, those were
forgotten the next moment when he kissed me lightly and gave me his best I’m counting on you look. I knew he was
probably right to do this himself as I was feeling rather irascible and might
not be very polite in my approach. Note that I said might. I could play nice when I had a mind to. Ethan, on the other
hand, was always very diplomatic and knew just what to say under most
circumstances.
“You know, I really would like to meet little
Benny,” Benny was saying, probably to distract me from my impending anger. You
could see where Ethan acquired his charm. It ran in the family. Even his father
was full of it… and yes, pun intended.
I released a long breath before turning to Benny. “I
know he would love—”
I quickly lost my train of thought at the sight of a
red dot bouncing across Benny. No time for a warning. I flung myself at him,
catching him off guard as I tackled him to the ground. Just seconds later, a
shot rang out.
to be continued
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