Page 15 of Burning Hearts (Chasing Fire: Alaska #1)

“We’ve got it from here.”

Logan said “She can’t see” for like the fifth time since they’d pulled into the hospital under sheriff’s office escort and he’d carried Jamie through the emergency room doors.

The nurse nodded. She and two others, one of whom was a doctor, wheeled Jamie away down the hall. Tristan had insisted on walking under his own steam, though Hammer went with him.

Deputy Mills clapped him on the shoulder. “I gotta go call Sheriff Starr. I’ll be back, so don’t go anywhere.”

Logan nodded absently. Jamie was going to be fine, right? He half expected Bryce to call and ask if everything was all right. Logan figured he’d head it off and sent his brother a text that they were at the hospital and to keep praying that Jamie would be all right.

Hammer strode around the corner at the end of the hall.

When he was close enough, Logan held his hand out.

Hammer grabbed it, then pulled him in and clapped him on the back.

“Thank you for being there.” Logan cleared his throat.

His fellow firefighter had probably saved all their lives by helping him take down the three men. Tristan had been a great distraction. Logan had jumped on one. That Hammer had taken out the other two and no one was shot in the process was pretty amazing.

“I’m glad I was.” Hammer squeezed Logan’s hand, then let go. “Any news on the others?”

Logan shook his head.

Hammer’s attention snagged on something over Logan’s shoulder. “Looks like we might find out something.”

The doors swished open. Skye and a big guy in a suit came in, Jade between them. The smokejumper boss hopped with one foot in the air. She spotted them, and her expression immediately changed, pain switching to relief. “Is anyone else here?”

Logan and Hammer met them halfway. “You’re the first we’ve seen. What happened?”

Skye said, “She turned her ankle when we hit the ground.”

A guy in red scrubs came over with a wheelchair, and Jade sat. He wheeled her away, and she leaned over the arm of the chair to call back to them, “No one leaves without checking in with me first.”

He was glad they were all right. But what about the rest of their team? Leaving them hadn’t felt good, even though he’d had no idea how to round up a group that had scattered in all directions.

“Guys,” Skye said. “Rio is here.”

The FBI agent.

“Babe, you remember Logan and Hammer.”

“Good to see you guys again.” Rio shook their hands. “I saw Deputy Mills outside. That’s how you got here?”

Logan said, “We figured we could use some help, so as soon as we were within cell range, we called for a ride.”

Rio grinned. “I bet he loved that.”

“He did mumble something about Uber when he showed up.” Logan didn’t understand it, but Jamie evidently thought it was funny. “You and Jade found Rio?”

Skye said, “We did the same as you, only I called the Feds, not the sheriff.” She winked and Hammer chuckled. “Jade spent the whole ride over on the phone with Tucker. He’s got the retardant plane in the air, and Mark went up as their spotter. The two helos are out as well. If our people are in the open, they should be able to find them.”

“I hope so.” Hammer was about to continue, but his phone rang. “Sorry.” He dug it out of his pocket, and Logan got a look at how grimy he was.

Pretty much the same as Logan, covered in sweat and dirt.

Hammer frowned at the screen. He put it to his ear. “Sax?”

Logan’s brows rose.

“Yeah. You’re good?” Relief washed over Hammer’s face. “That’s good news. Yeah, I’ll tell them. Call Tucker for a pickup. Keep your heads down.” He hung up and said, “Saxon got himself and Neil out. Neil is in bad shape, but he’s alive. Saxon will get him here.”

Skye leaned against her husband’s arm, clasping his hand.

“That’s good news,” Logan said. He squeezed Hammer’s shoulder. The guy looked a little shell-shocked. “Great news.”

Hammer nodded. “I need to call Mack.”

Logan trudged to the nearest chair and sat. All his energy soaked into the floor under his feet. He ran his hands down his face. “It feels like it should be over because we’re here, but half the team is still out there.”

Skye sat across from him. “Rio was already heading to my last location. That’s how he found us so fast.”

Her husband settled beside her. “I got intel this morning from a contact of mine that the militia had put out a hit on all the smokejumpers. When I couldn’t contact Skye, I headed for her location.” He reached over and took her hand. Partners. A couple who showed up for each other the way Jamie did for her family. The way Logan had for her.

The way he wanted to keep doing.

But with the team out there, he couldn’t relax. He had to keep praying. “The helos and the plane will find them, right?”

Skye nodded. “That’s what I’m asking God for.”

He looked at Rio. “Your contact…was it Tristan Winters?”

Rio looked confused.

“He said he’s an informant for the DEA. That’s why he was up here with the militia.”

“Any idea what they’re up to?” The way Rio said it made it sound like a loaded question.

“We have copies of their files, but even Tristan didn’t know.”

Rio scratched his jaw. “Can I get copies of that stuff?”

Logan said, “Soon as Jamie lets me know what happened to the laptop.” He wasn’t sure she wanted Rio to know she had given the militia money, even if it was just to see what they did with it.

He should call Samuel.

And his family in Last Chance County.

Her mom too, maybe. If he could find the number for the place where she was in treatment.

“I appreciate it,” Rio said. “I’ve been looking at these people for a long while, and none of it makes sense. We need a break in this case. And by ‘we,’ I mean me.” He pointed at himself, giving them both a look.

Logan lifted his hands. “I already have a job. I don’t want to help with yours.”

“Good. I’m glad we’re clear about that.”

Skye’s lips curled up at the corners. “I’ll reiterate that with the others the first chance I get—when everyone is back at the jump base and we can have a boring briefing like it’s any other day and nothing crazy happens.”

“I’m going back to the office.” Rio kissed the back of Skye’s hand, still clasped in his. “If I can get your friends’ cell providers to give us access to their phones, we can run the GPS. Skye, you get to a computer and look up their tracker rings. Try and find them that way if the plane and the helos have no luck.”

He wandered out, and Deputy Mills came back in. “Logan?”

He nodded.

“The man with you and Ms. Winters…can you tell me who that was?”

“The one with the beard or the injured guy?” He had no idea if Mills was asking about Hammer or Tristan.

“I guess I’ll go find out.” Mills headed down the hall, away from them.

Skye said, “I wonder what that was about.”

Logan had no idea and no energy to do more than shake his head. Maybe the sheriff’s office had a reason to talk to Tristan. Something Logan knew about—or something he didn’t. Who knew? There would be a whole lot of paperwork after today. Probably a few reprimands from Tucker, though that guy of all people knew you put it all on the line for the woman you loved. He’d faced his share of gunmen protecting his.

Skye said, “You did good today.”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“Kept it tight,” she said. “You’ll make a great jump boss. Probably sooner rather than later.”

“You think I had it together? I led us into a trap and nearly got us all killed. Someone might be dead because of me.”

“You were solid. You held on.” She nodded. “That’s all it takes.”

Maybe what she’d seen on the exterior had painted a different picture than what had been going on in his heart and mind.

“When she wakes up, you can ask her to marry you.” Skye grinned as if she felt the need to laugh at her own joke. “You’ll wanna keep that woman around.”

“That, you didn’t need to tell me. I already knew.”

“Smart man.” Skye stood. “I’ll be back with coffee, and hopefully there will be news about the others.”

* * *

Jamie blinked, her vision blurry, but the fact she could see anything right now was a blessing. “Logan?”

The man eased against the side of her hospital bed. “Sorry, just me.”

“Tristan.” Jamie held out her hand. “You’re okay?”

“No, but I will be.” He squeezed her fingers. “I got checked out. Kind of. There was a cop asking for me, so I ditched and came in here.”

“You’re leaving?” She heard the intent in his tone.

“Not without saying goodbye this time.”

The tightness in her chest eased. Her head still seriously pounded, but she could at least manage the pain with the help of the meds a nice doctor with a gentle voice had given her. If he came back in, she wouldn’t even recognize him, given she hadn’t seen his face. He had told her that she would get her vision back soon enough but to be patient and let her body heal.

Tristan cleared his throat. “Thanks for coming to find me, to make sure I was all right.”

“But…”

He chuckled. “But you’re off duty as of now. And that lasts forever. If Logan gets in trouble, feel free to go after him. But I’m good, okay?”

Jamie didn’t like the sound of that, but she would be trusting God every day for her brother’s protection.

“You don’t agree.”

Jamie said, “Maybe if at some point you need something that requires my particular skills…”

“Being annoying and relentless?”

She smiled. “That isn’t what I was talking about.”

He squeezed her hand. “Yeah, sis. I’ll call you.”

“Thank you.”

“I appreciate it,” he said. “Everything, I mean. I know what you did for me. I know what you sacrificed.”

She didn’t need him to finish. Not when tears were already rolling down her cheeks. This sounded way too much like goodbye. “You are going to come back. Or I will hunt you down.”

Tristan said, “Fine. I’ll call or send a text or something.”

She figured he could do better than that if he wanted her to know he was all right. Still, she said, “I’d appreciate it. I worry about you.”

“Like I said, you’re off duty.”

She smiled. In her mind, she saw him at eight years old, stomping his foot and demanding another cookie when she’d told him he could only have one.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

“I think so.” She bit her lip. Everything was changing. She could tell.

It wasn’t all bad, but she had never dealt well with shifts. Samuel could attest to that. But when the evidence was clear that things needed to change, she could accept that it was for the better. Like Tristan. She wanted to pray that he would find something “better.” Even if he was doing something good, she wanted more for him.

“Let Logan take care of you.”

Jamie nodded, swiping at the tears. Her brother handed her a tissue. He really was leaving. “Where are you going to go?”

“I can’t get ahold of my DEA contact, the special agent who is my handler or whatever they call it. I should probably find out if he’s okay, see if something happened.”

“I hope he’s all right.” Earlier today, she hadn’t even known her brother had anything to do with a federal agent. If she had, she’d have assumed he was being investigated by one.

Now it was like she’d never met this man sitting with her.

The boy she’d raised.

Take care of him, Lord.

Tristan said, “Me too.” Then leaned down and kissed her forehead. “See you soon, sis.” He stopped at the door. “Logan is here.”

She glanced at the door and only saw a dark figure. She followed him around the end of the bed, tracking him with her gaze, and he sat beside her hip. Dark clothes. He smelled faintly of smoke and sweat, the quintessential Logan scent under it all.

“You can see me.”

She smiled. “I like the sound of your voice.”

He said, “You get your sight back and that’s what you say?”

Her cheeks heated. Maybe they shouldn’t have this conversation now. “I can’t see you. Just a shape, like I have super bad eyesight.”

He leaned in, close enough that his nose almost touched hers. “How about now?”

She tried not to laugh. “I don’t think it works like that.”

She’d been so scared before. Now she was finding the humor, because of Logan.

He shifted on the side of the bed as if he really was settling in for the long haul. “I’ll stick around. The doctor can fill me in.”

“What about the other smokejumpers? Is everyone okay?”

Logan said, “Jade and Skye, Hammer, me and you, and Tristan have made it back so far. Saxon and Neil survived, which was probably a total miracle. I’m sure Saxon will have to tell the story several times around the fire.”

“And the others?”

“Orion and Tori and Vince and Cadee are missing still.” He held her hand. “But we have people out looking for them.”

“We should pray.”

“You care about them.”

“Of course,” Jamie said. “They’re the best kind of people.”

“They go all out to have each others’ backs. Just like you,” Logan said. “They aren’t perfect. In fact, some of them don’t get along well at all. But I know they’ll be okay out there. They have God watching out for them, and they have each other.”

Jamie told him what Tristan had said about going to find out if his handler was all right. “I have no idea if he’ll be okay or even much of what this was all about.”

“I know. We still have no idea what those people were up to. But their leader is dead, and Snatch took over to fill the void. Now he’s dead, thanks to Hammer’s quick reflexes.”

“He’s dead?”

Logan said, “Yes. You don’t have to worry about him.”

A shudder that was a whole lot of relief rolled through her.

“Whoever takes over won’t have any idea who you are.” Logan rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “You won’t be in danger, but…do you want to stick around the base for a while?”

“I hadn’t even thought about how long I’ll be here.”

“You probably want to get back to Last Chance County.”

She shook her head. “I meant in the hospital. The doctor said I should stay at least overnight, just under observation. Since I hit my head and blacked out.”

“Ah, I see.”

“After that, I think the girls will let me stay. I’d like to be here to find out when the others are located. And I want to spend time with you.”

Logan let out a breath—an audible exhale. “I’m glad to hear it.” He laughed for a second, and it sounded almost nervous. “I wasn’t sure.”

“If you aren’t going anywhere, then neither am I. Besides, the girls invited me to the Bible study they do on Sundays, and I want to be here for it.” She could work from anywhere.

Thinking about it in terms of her being mobile with her job didn’t sound super romantic, but she and Logan fitted together the way her job fitted who she was. It was as simple and as profound as that.

She’d loved him forever.

Her heart had never let go of the fire that had burned for him.

Rather than overcoming the obstacles between them, she was a different person now in a way that seemed to have resolved their issues. “I once was blind, but now I see.”

“Fits, doesn’t it?” he said. “I was thinking about the same hymn the day I found you. How sweet the sound .”

“It is sweet, isn’t it?”

“All of it. You, me. The grace of God. I wouldn’t have said I was the kind of guy who was looking for sweet like that, but I certainly found it.”

“Or it found you.”

Logan leaned down slowly. She touched his face, able to make out the line of his jaw. She traced the warmth of his skin. Then he touched his lips to hers, and the fire in her flared to life again, the same way it did whenever he was near.

Being here with him, sharing this moment, felt familiar in a comforting way and new at the same time. As if she was rediscovering something. And opening a gift she’d never been given before.

Jamie let it sweep over her, the first of many moments between them.

Ones that felt like they could last a lifetime.

Because God, in His grace, had chosen to take a wretch like her and lift her up. He’d invited her into His family and given her more than she’d ever believed she deserved.

And when she’d thought she had everything? He’d given her this wonderful man as well.

Thank You.

* * *

Gear up for the next Chasing Fire: Alaska romantic suspense thriller, Burning Rivals by Lisa Phillips and Voni Harris.

RESCUE. DANGER. DEVOTION.

THIS TIME, THEIR HEARTS ARE ON THE LINE.

He lost the one person who meant the most to him—and she let it happen.

Vince hasn’t forgiven Cadee for abandoning his father in the fire that took his life, but he’s going to find out why. When he discovers the Feds have a warrant out for his arrest, he knows he’s being framed for crimes he didn’t commit. And Cadee might be the only one he can rely on to clear his name. Vince will have to confront his bitter past and put his unwavering trust in the woman who once shattered his heart.

And Cadee… well, she knows better than to open up her heart—and trust—to the man who hates her. But she needs him if she hopes to stay alive, so…

Oh, it’s going to be a long, hot summer.

Grab this sizzling but clean romantic adventure through the fiery forest of Alaska in this latest installment of the Chasing Fire: Alaska series.

Keep reading for a sneak peek…