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Chapter 5: Sugar

Sugar listened to the excited chatter of the customers, all comparing notes on the Event of the Year. Someone had set the old Horvath mill on fire, and that "somebody" appeared to be the mayor's son. Sugar rolled her eyes as she listened to the gossip swirling around the little bakery.

"Angus was probably out smokin' with his buddies," Mr. Stultz said firmly, with a nod of his head, as if agreeing with himself.

Sugar wiped down the counter and then the coffee dispenser as she listened. All of the customers seemed to be highly caffeinated and sugared up, and weren't in need of her services, at least for the moment. They were all too busy trying to one-up each other with "insider knowledge."

"What's the mayor gonna say about that?" Mrs. Hoffmeister asked, taking a swig of her coffee. "Do you think he's actually gonna rein in his son for once?"

"Not damn likely," Mr. Stultz grumbled. "I think it's more likely that a unicorn appears in town square tomorrow, or the Shop 'N Go starts charging decent prices for their groceries, than it is that the mayor actually puts a check on his son."

Murmurs of agreement drifted up at that one. Sugar had to say he was right. It was well-known that the mayor let his son get away with murder, turning a blind eye to it all. Angus wasn't above taking advantage of that fact, not one little bit.

"Well, I think the new chief set the building on fire," said Spittin' Fred. A few of the customers within range covered the tops of their cups with their hands to protect them from the spray. "He wanted to prove to everyone that we actually need to pay more in taxes for his worthless ass to sit down at the station. Probably realized that if he don't put out a fire real soon, we might realize that we can fire him. I betcha "

"The building is starting to go!" Peter Cowell yelled, busting in through the front door of the bakery. "Shit's flyin' everywhere!"

The stampede of customers for the front door almost caused a natural disaster of its own, but Sugar found herself right in there with them. It wasn't often that a building caught on fire, especially not an old historical building like the Horvath Mill.

She stood on the sidewalk with the rest of the gawkers, shivering in the cold wintry air. The sky was a leaden gray - dark and oppressive - and the wind whipped along Main Street, biting and needling her bare skin.

And also whipping the flames higher. They were shooting out of the windows of the mill, reaching into the sky, brilliant red and orange against the grays. Despite Peter's warning, it didn't look like the building was in any danger of collapsing, although at this rate, it might get there soon.

She looked around for the new fire chief. Why wasn't he spraying the building? She didn't know much about firefighting, but it seemed like spraying the fire with water was a pretty good place to start.

The murmurs around her grew louder as people began to ask each other the same thing. Sugar finally spotted him. He was just standing there, watching the fire burn, as the new fire truck idled beside him. A few firefighters milled around, talking to each other, but no one seemed to be much focused on actually fighting the fire.

Sugar spun around and headed back inside. Her thin t-shirt and jeans were fine for standing behind the counter in the bakery; not so fine for standing out in the street in the first week of January. The angry shouts of the crowd swelled up behind her.

Chief Anderson's head was gonna be on a platter by the end of the day, and with that, he'd head back to wherever he came from.

Sugar allowed herself only a small sigh of regret. He was never going to be anything more than eye-candy for her anyway; although she had to admit, if only to herself, that he was damn fine eye-candy.

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