Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 117

Summary for Chapter 117: Ride With Me (Paige and Jace)

Ride With Me novel Paige and Jace by Kylie K Chapter 117

CHAPTER 73

The smell woke me before the alarm did and at first I thought I was dreaming.

The scent drifted faintly through the apartment and my half asleep brain struggled to identify it. Then Diesel started barking.

Not the warning bark from the night before. This bark was louder and more urgent and more

aggressive.

My eyes snapped open and the smell hit me again.

Smoke.

I sat upright so fast that the blankets tangled around my legs.

Beside me, Jace was already moving and his eyes opened immediately.

“You smell that?” Jace asked.

“Yeah.” I said.

Diesel barked again from the living room and a second later, both of us were out of bed.

I grabbed the first pair of jeans I could find while Jace pulled on his boots. Neither of us wasted

time.

The moment I opened the apartment door, the smell became stronger and my stomach dropped.

“Garage.” I said and Jace’s expression darkened.

We raced downstairs and Diesel charged ahead of us. The workshop itself looked normal. No

smoke and no flames. But the moment we reached the rear exit and pushed the door open, I saw

Fire.

Bright orange flames danced behind the garage near the storage area.

“Shit.” I yelled.

The words escaped before I could stop them.

The fire wasn’t huge. Not yet but it was growing and several wooden pallets stacked near the rear fence had already caught.

Flames crawled along the dry material while thick smoke rose into the morning air and Jace was

already moving.

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“Get the hose.” Jace yelled.

Nran as adrenaline erased every trace of sleep and within seconds I had dragged the heavy hose

across the yard.

Jace turned the water on while I aimed the nozzle and the powerful stream slammed into the

flames.

Steam exploded upward and the fire hissed angrily.

“Hit the left side.” Jace said so I adjusted immediately.

Water soaked the burning pallets and more steam rose.

The flames fought stubbornly for several minutes before finally beginning to shrink.

By then several club members were arriving and the sound of motorcycles echoed through the early morning darkness and Derek jumped off his bike first.

“What happened?” Derek asked.

“Fire.” I said and he looked past me.

“Damn.” Derek said.

Hunter and Roman immediately grabbed additional hoses.

Within minutes everyone was working together and the combined effort finally overwhelmed the remaining flames.

The last burning section collapsed inward and died beneath a flood of water.

Silence slowly returned as smoke drifted upward. Water pooled across the ground and my heart

hammered inside my chest as Jace stepped beside me.

“You okay?” He asked and I nodded.

“Yeah.” I said.

The truth was that I wasn’t entirely okay. I was angry, exhausted and frustrated because this wasn’t

random. This wasn’t bad luck. Someone had done this.

Someone had looked at everything we’d rebuilt and decided to try destroying it again.

The sound of approaching sirens filled the air and a fire truck turned into the lot moments later.

Several firefighters quickly began inspecting the area and a second vehicle arrived shortly after.

Detective Sarah Collins climbed out and I sighed.

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“Morning, Sarah.” I said and she looked around.

“I’ve had better mornings.” She said.

“Same.” I said.

Sarah approached the burned area while firefighters continued examining the damage.

Fortunately the fire hadn’t spread beyond the storage area and the garage itself remained

untouched.

The workshop remained safe and the apartment remained safe.

Whoever had started it hadn’t achieved much and that realization improved my mood slightly.

Cla

The next hour disappeared into statements, questions and inspections and Sarah spoke with me

first.

“Tell me exactly what happened.” She said.

I explained everything. The smell, Diesel barking, finding the flames and putting the fire out.

She listened carefully while taking notes and when I finished, she nodded.

“You got lucky.” She said.

“I know.” I said.

“If you’d discovered it thirty minutes later, we’d be having a very different conversation.” She said.

I didn’t like that thought. Not at all and Sarah seemed to recognize that and her expression softened slightly.

“Nobody was hurt.” She said

“That’s the important part.” I said.

“Exactly.” She said.

Nearby, firefighters continued searching through the damaged area. One of them eventually

approached the lead investigator and they spoke quietly for several moments.

The investigator frowned and then he looked directly toward Sarah. That immediately caught my

attention and Sarah walked over.

The two of them spoke briefly and when she returned, her expression had changed.

“What?” I asked and she hesitated.

“I don’t know yet.” She said.

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“What do you know?” I asked.

“The fire didn’t start naturally.” She said and I laughed without humor.

“No shit.” I said but Sarah ignored the comment.

“The investigator found something suspicious.” She said and my stomach tightened.

“What kind of suspicious?” I asked.

“We’re still checking.” She said.

Jace stepped closer beside me and his hand settled gently against my back. The simple touch

helped steady me. Not because I was afraid but because I was furious.

Every time we moved forward, someone tried dragging us backward.

Every time Lawson Customs gained momentum, another problem appeared. But this time felt

different because I wasn’t scared anymore. I was tired of being scared. I looked toward the

damaged area.

Cla

The destruction wasn’t impressive. Blackened pallets, burned debris and some damaged fencing. Nothing else.

Certainly not enough to stop us and Jace seemed to read my thoughts.

“We’ll replace it.” Jace said and I glanced at him.

“Yeah.” I said.

“We’ll clean everything up.” He said.

“Yeah.” I said and his fingers brushed lightly against my side.

“And whoever did this is probably disappointed right now.” He said.

That actually made me smile because he was right. Whoever had started the fire had expected more damage. More chaos and more fear.

Instead they got wet pallets and a very annoyed mechanic. Several club members gathered nearby and Derek looked toward the burned area.

“They failed.” Derek said.

“Yep.” I said and Hunter grinned.