Page 3 of Burning Hearts (Chasing Fire: Alaska #1)

THREE

She didn’t take his hand. And after he had hit that guy over the head? Total hero stuff—and she just stood there staring at him like he was the last person she’d expected to see in Alaska.

Logan figured they didn’t have more than a couple of seconds to get out of here. The minute the guys out front had mentioned Jamie, he’d covered his reaction with some inane conversation. Talked to them about evacuating and even made it all the way to a meeting in the boss’s office. Brian Howards dressed like all the rest, he was just thirty years older.

Decades of experience surviving apparently didn’t mean he would listen to reason.

Logan doubted these guys would even evacuate if the state police and local federal law enforcement showed up with riot gear and ordered them out. If that happened, it would likely only end with a standoff, Waco style.

All because these guys didn’t want to leave their stuff.

You think we don’t know about wildfires? We’ve done what we need to. Even if the fire gets close, we’ll be fine.

Or so the guy thought.

Logan had tried to explain about the dangers of smoke inhalation, but apparently, all the possessions they intended to protect were more valuable than people to this guy. Brian Howards probably figured he’d just go to town and recruit some more guys for his militia if he lost anyone.

That had to be what this place was. A shared compound of guys who all wanted the same thing—to live under their own rules and not the law of the land. Armed and looking for freedom in all the wrong places.

Jamie lowered her hands from her mouth. She’d been stunned into inactivity for a second, but now she said, “You seriously think I’m going to leave Tristan?”

He looked down at the man on the floor, then said to her, “Come on.”

He grasped her hand and tugged her from the room, down the hall. She was really here. Thank You. Because it seemed like God had brought him here right when she needed him. The perfect timing that could only be His.

Now they just had to get out of here.

Logan heard voices behind them.

Jamie whispered, “Someone is coming.”

And they would find an unconscious man in the hallway.

He grabbed the nearest handle, prayed there was no one on the other side of the door, and rushed in. An empty room with long metal tables against one wall. Stacked chairs. Maps all along another wall. A briefing room?

He turned to close the door, catching it before it clicked shut. In the gap between the door and the frame, he watched two men walk into the hall, saw the moment they realized their colleague was down. One crouched by him, saying something to the other, younger man before he nodded and left.

The guy by the door looked into the room where Jamie had been. Logan prayed they figured she had hit that guy herself and made a run for it. He eased the door shut as quietly as he could and went to her. Jamie stood in front of the wall of maps, looking at the markings. On the right side, down the margin, someone had written a long string of numbers.

“We should be okay here for now. But it won’t be long before they search every inch of this place for us.” He touched her shoulder.

The sweat-wicking shirt she wore stretched across her back. Cargo pants and hiking boots completed the outfit. She looked rumpled and tired, strands of hair now coming out of her braids, and it made him want to tug her to him for a hug.

Affection had never been the problem between them. The problem had always been other people. The fact that she’d drop everything to help her family, spend thousands of dollars she probably didn’t have on rehab for her mom and—case in point—put herself in danger to help Tristan.

“You’re sorry?” She stared at him, tears gathering in her eyes. “I feel sorry for you. I guess your family is so perfect that no one needs anyone. Must be hard, living up to the Crawford standard.”

“As soon as the coast is clear, we need to run.”

She turned to him, a frown creasing her brows. “I want to get out of here now. Just say when.” She sighed. “I can’t believe Tristan wants to stay.”

“He’s here? I figured you were looking for him and these guys grabbed you.” He’d thought he was her hero, rescuing her from men who had abducted her. Dangerous men who probably cooked meth in one of those outbuildings. Who had a cache of weapons and a plan to destabilize…something on that map she’d been looking at.

He didn’t plan to stick around long enough to find out all of it.

“He said he can’t leave yet.”

Logan put his hand on her shoulder. “But you can.”

And she should . Who knew what that guy would’ve done to her if Logan hadn’t intervened? She didn’t need to waste any more time trying to rescue her brother when Tristan seemed bent on ruining his own life.

“The second you saw this place, you should’ve turned right around and left.”

She brushed his hand off her shoulder. “They’d already spotted me. You think I came in the front gate by choice? How did you get in here? Are you following me?” She shook her head. “Why are you even in Alaska?”

“I’m a smokejumper up here.” As if he was going to tell her that he’d only come up to the Midnight Sun crew because he’d heard she was up here looking for her brother. “There’s a fire to the west, and it’s headed this way.” Logan glanced at his watch, then touched the radio clipped to his belt. “I came here to warn these guys they need to evacuate. Then I need to catch up with my team.”

Her gaze moved from his radio and swept up his uniform. A slight pink blush touched her cheeks.

Yeah, attraction had never been their problem. Like what you see?

“Look,” Logan said, “if Tristan doesn’t want to go, then you can’t exactly make him. It’s time to go back to town and get yourself safe. Otherwise he’ll drag you into something you can’t get out of.”

Her gaze hardened. “So that’s your deal, Mr. Smokejumper Hero? You get to swoop in and rescue me, tell me how to live my life, and then walk off into the sunset? Hmm. Seems like we’ve had this discussion before.”

And he knew exactly where it’d happened.

In the Backdraft Bar and Grill in Last Chance County. Seemed like forever ago, and at the same time, not that long.

“I guess we’re done, then.” He took a step back. “For good this time.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.”

After that, he’d tried to forget all about her.

Hadn’t worked.

“You’re right.” He folded his arms across his chest. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you here to face whatever these guys want to do to you alone. And it won’t change the fact I came up here to find you…so that we could see if there’s still a chance. For us.”

She stared at him.

“I need to know.”

“You came all this way to find out?”

Logan’s chest tightened. Did he want to be the guy who had to admit he couldn’t let go?

“Look, I appreciate that you care enough to make sure I’m safe, but?—”

He could hear the “thanks but no thanks” coming a mile off. Since he didn’t want to actually hear it, he cut her off. “So, where is Tristan? Is he helping you get out?”

“As a matter of fact?—”

Over by the door, a man cleared his throat.

Logan spun around, berating himself for being unaware someone had come into the room. Tristan stood there, a blank look on his face. Probably because he knew exactly what Logan thought of him. Before the holidays last year, a buddy had told Logan that Tristan had been involved in an incident with Benson PD at their community college. Now he was wanted for questioning by more than one agency.

Tristan looked at Jamie and held out a backpack and a busted satellite phone. “I found these. Figured you’d want to take them with you.”

She rushed over. “Oh, they totally smashed it. I guess that’s no surprise.”

“They went through your stuff as well, but unless you had cash in your wallet, they didn’t take anything.”

Logan glanced at Tristan. “You mean they have her name and they know who she is now?”

Tristan shrugged. “So we get her out of here and somewhere safe.”

At least they were in agreement about that.

Logan moved to see the damage to her satellite phone, but she turned and used the edge of a metal table to break the unit even more. She drew something out with two fingers—a SIM card. She slipped it into her pocket but left the phone on the table.

“Let’s go.” She took the pack and touched her brother’s arm. “Please come with us.”

Tristan’s expression then was a lot like hers. Impassive. Unshakeable. “I can’t. And I don’t have enough information to explain it, but I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

Logan wanted to roll his eyes. “She came all the way to Alaska to save your hide.”

They both looked at him.

Logan lifted his hands and backed off. He went to the door and peeked out through the crack but didn’t see anyone. Maybe his trip up here had been pointless, same as Jamie’s.

While the siblings whispered to each other behind him, he couldn’t help wondering if this was God’s way of finally getting him to let her go. Without all the hassle of rehashing everything they’d had and dragging all their mess out into the open once again. Added bonus—he hadn’t quit his job to do this, so he could forget the personal disaster he had and just worry about wildfires.

The idea that he’d wasted his time was like a niggle of doubt against what he’d hoped by taking this job. But was it God’s leading or a nudge from elsewhere? Hope for a fresh start without her, or despair and condemnation because she didn’t want him in her life?

Maybe he really had come all this way simply so he could see it with his own eyes, be reminded that Tristan and Jamie would always choose each other—even if it hurt them both. Logan could never compete with the bond the siblings had. It could be that God wanted him to consider that part of his past—the Jamie part—as dead. Like his old life.

After all, what had really changed between them since their last conversation?

Just because he was a new man thanks to Jesus, it didn’t solve any of the issues he and Jamie might’ve had before. She would always be determined to save her family whether they appreciated it or not. He would never be able to convince her to let them go.

They needed to get out of here.

Logan would get her to safety, and then he would go back to his team. Do what he’d come up here to do.

Be a smokejumper.

* * *

Jamie tried to focus on her brother, but anytime Logan was around, it was like all sense of reason went out the window. She could hardly believe he’d shown up here just in time to rescue her, or that he’d hit that guy over the head.

My hero.

Until he wasn’t willing to rescue her anymore because he thought her family wasn’t worth saving. Just her. But how could she live with the fact he was willing to help her and not them? As if she were any more valuable than her brother or her mother, or any more deserving of a future.

What they’d had between them might’ve been great—amazing even. But their problems had no answers, and they’d just gone around and around, unable to reconcile the difference in how they saw things.

She couldn’t get sucked into his orbit. Not again.

Even if he was here and had practically straight up told her he wanted another shot, she needed to try and ignore how handsome he still was even years after she’d met him. The guy was going to age well. In thirty years, he’d be a silver-haired fox, and her heart would probably still flutter around him. All that dark hair, and those smoldering eyes trying to trap her. Which was precisely why she needed to focus on her brother and this situation they were in.

Hello, danger. Like, real danger. Not just hot-guy trouble.

This wasn’t the time to be distracted. She should be persuading Tristan that staying was a terrible idea so they could go.

She turned to her brother. “You could spend months trying to work out what they’re doing, T. In the end, you’ll probably wind up getting arrested as an accomplice.”

It wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Her brother was a good guy with a nasty habit of making poor choices—and the criminal record to prove it. None of it had been in the last few years, except for a few rumors she’d heard about something that’d happened in Benson over the winter. But he was apparently determined to break that streak of being a free man living on the right side of the law.

“I know what I’m doing.”

She wanted to believe that. “You should come with us. You don’t get points with the law for having nothing to tell them, and that’s all you’ve got so far.”

Tristan didn’t like hearing that.

“Please, I want to know you’re safe.” Then she would head back to the Lower 48 and get on with her life—with Tristan there. Safe.

“Logan is here. He will get you out.” Her brother walked to the door. “I’ll make sure your path is clear, and then I’ll be back when it’s time for you to leave.”

Logan said nothing, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Jamie turned back to the map. There was always a simplicity in numbers. This string of digits on the side of the map begged her attention, like a puzzle waiting to be solved.

More often than not, she wished people were more like numbers. That the sequence of events or a pattern of behavior made rational sense according to some kind of pre-established equation. But it never worked like that.

Least of all with Logan.

Until things came to a head and he took off. That part was always the same. They reached a stalemate, both realized nothing would ever change, and he left to go fight fires somewhere else.

First Australia.

Now Alaska.

She couldn’t believe they’d actually bumped into each other up here.

“Why don’t we just make a run for it?” Logan asked. “We don’t need to wait for your brother if he isn’t coming.”

She shook her head, part of her mind puzzling over these numbers.

“Jamie.” He touched her shoulder.

“Listen, Logan, I got up here on my own. I’ll get back home on my own. I never asked you for help, and you obviously need to get back to your job.”

What was the point dragging this out? They weren’t supposed to be together, and she had been doing just fine without him. Focusing on work. Helping her mom when she needed it. Going to church and…When was the last time she’d attended Sunday service?

She’d been watching it at her desk most Sundays for a while now.

She should go back to in-person. Get some fellowship. That would help her nurse her again-always-never-healed broken heart once she was back home and trying to forget about Logan.

She should ask Kelsey if she wanted to go out for lunch.

Logan didn’t argue with what she’d said, which meant he really did need to get to work.

He said, “I’ll make sure you’re safely out of here. I left my gear by your car. When we get there, we can go our separate ways.”

“Better than rehashing it all and realizing we have no more answers than we did two years ago.”

If she’d needed help, she would’ve hired a whole team of protection specialists like Samuel had suggested. She wanted to explain that to Logan, but she tried not to use her wealth like that in arguments. Her mom and brother sort of knew how much money she made with the company, but aside from her colleagues, not many other people knew who she was at work.

“I’m sure you don’t need to worry about Tristan. He’s made it this far, and he always seems to land on his feet.” His tone was infused with sarcasm. “Even if he’s risking getting killed or put in jail every second of the day. How is your mom, by the way? Is she on the wagon, or did she fall off?”

She stared at the map with her teeth clenched. “It wasn’t your business before. You didn’t care. So why would I tell you now?” She looked at the locations indicated by an X and said, “And if it was Bryce, or your sister Andi who needed your help?”

She was pretty sure they had and that he’d come running. It seemed like the twins always showed up for each other. When she and Logan had been dating, she’d appreciated that about their relationship.

How many times had she wished someone would show up for her?

But her family? Apparently they didn’t measure up to being worthy of aid.

Logan huffed. “If Bryce kept making bad decisions, there would come a point he’d have to get himself out of the mess. I wouldn’t keep bailing him out if it didn’t help him. I’d only be prolonging him hitting rock bottom. And that might be exactly what he needed.”

That’s what he thought this was?

Logan had spoken. He’d proclaimed judgment on what her mom and her brother “needed,” and his word was law. Just because he believed it, that meant it was true.

Meanwhile, Jamie had fallen into the role of showing up for her family the same way the Crawfords did for each other. They’d all pitched in to help his dad, who’d suffered a TBI after a car accident years ago.

She wanted to be that for her brother and her mom. And what was so wrong with that if she had the resources to do it?

Logan thought she should ditch them and let them fend for themselves. The only reasoning she’d ever figured out for why he believed it was that he thought her family didn’t live up to the Crawford standard. Their mom was a high-profile lawyer with big-name clients. Bryce was a lieutenant in the fire department. Andi had married an ATF agent and was working toward being a nurse. They worked hard, held each other to high standards, and always pushed to achieve bigger and better things.

They seemed to forget that other people weren’t the same. Some chose to be content where they were rather than push for more or better all the time.

“Someone is outside.” Logan turned to put himself between her and the door.

But it was only Tristan.

Jamie moved around her ex and went to her brother, still not willing to let go of the need to bring Tristan out of this with her. Otherwise, what did she have to show for coming up here? “What will it take for you to come with us? What would you need?”

It probably sounded like a business transaction, but she was good at business.

And when all else failed, Jamie fell back on what she knew.

“I told them all I saw you run into the woods,” Tristan said. “Everyone tore out after you. ATVs and on foot. They probably took the dogs too.”

Jamie shivered. “Then we have time while they’re gone. We just need to leave before they return, right?” It was that or draw them away somewhere else.

Logan brushed past them and headed to the door. “Figure it out fast. The guy in the hall is gone.”

Tristan said, “They hauled him out.”

Jamie needed this conversation back on track. “Tristan, what do you need?”

He scratched a finger on his jaw. “Can you copy all the files on their system?”

“Of course.” She could do more than that if she had thirty seconds and internet access.

Logan glanced over at her. Unlike her brother, he probably had no idea what she could do. But then, sharing her work life with him wouldn’t have made a difference. Their jobs hadn’t been the problem.

Logan said, “What are you, some kind of secret agent now?” He huffed a laugh. “You know they don’t hire people with criminal records.”

A muscle in Tristan’s jaw flexed.

“We need to keep focused, not argue.” Jamie could knock their heads together right now. But she’d have to knock hers and Logan’s together at the same time. After all, they’d spent some of the last half hour in each other’s faces rehashing the past. If they stayed together any longer, the spiral would only continue.

Then they’d both hit rock bottom.

“We need to visit the office on the way out.” Tristan winced. “But they’ll be back soon, and we’ll still need some kind of distraction to get away. I can’t do that if I’m with you. It’s why I’d rather stay here. Play it off like you guys subdued me and ran for it.”

She didn’t like the sound of that, but at least he was open to coming with them. “We can fake some kind of distraction, right? Get what we need. Meet up and run for it.” Sounded easy when she put it like that, but it would likely be far more complicated.

If they worked together, it would be a whole lot easier.

She turned to him. “Logan?”

“I can make a distraction.” He looked at Tristan. “I just need some gasoline and a lighter.”