Page 4 of Burning Hearts (Chasing Fire: Alaska #1)

FOUR

Logan stomped his feet on the concrete floor, waiting for the right moment.

Checking the time on his watch.

He’d found the equipment shed that he’d told Tristan was the best spot for an impromptu blaze. He would hole up in a closet at the back of what was more like a building than a shed, if anyone was going to ask his opinion. But that’s what Tristan had called it.

Five minutes to go on the time they’d agreed on, coordinating everything to kick off at the same time so they could run for it in the confusion—which unfortunately wasn’t going to be under the cover of darkness.

Since the sun set at midnight and came up again at four a.m., there was zero point in waiting for night that was more like evening dim just so they could make a run for it. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

His crew would be hard at work cutting the line.

He was here.

Lord, I want to believe this is the right thing. Guide my steps.

Faith didn’t mean he had no worries. But he could draw from strength outside himself and pray the three of them would be protected until they got to safety.

He wanted to rush and get them running from here as fast as possible. But haste wasn’t always the best way. Sometimes that resulted in more trouble.

Logan checked one more time that the equipment shed was free of anyone nosing around and ducked into the storage closet at the back. Checked his watch again.

Three minutes to go time.

It was the perfect place to set his distraction. At the far end of the compound, the huge equipment building was full of construction machinery, motorcycles in pieces on one side, and small-scale diggers. Even a riding mower and two cordless push mowers. Every kind of tool imaginable was scattered on a workbench cluttered with wrenches, hammers, even a circular saw—and empty beer cans on every spare inch of space.

One wall had two cardboard boxes of newspaper and junk mailers beside at least a cord of wood, in rows and stacked almost all the way to the ceiling, probably for the firepit outside. Perfect. There was a roof vent on one side of the apex roof that would allow the smoke to escape and bring in more oxygen for the fire. He would also leave the window open.

He was ready to go. Just one more thing and he’d switch this plan into gear. Logan twisted the dial on his radio and listened to chatter as he turned up the volume.

“Copy that. When you’re done, head back.” That was Jade.

“Got it, boss.” JoJo.

Logan waited for a break in conversation and said, “This is Logan. Does anyone read me?”

“Logan! This is Jade. Where are you?”

Uh-oh. “Still at the camp.”

“When are you heading out?”

He said, “I instructed the compound residents to evacuate, but they don’t want to listen because the boss won’t order it. I’m helping those that do wish to get out of here, but it’s taking longer than I thought.”

He didn’t want to give away everything to anyone who might be listening, but he also wasn’t going to lie. The men who’d gone after Jamie, according to Tristan’s supposed sighting of her running over the hill, would be back soon enough. If this went to plan, they would rush to this building as soon as they came back into the compound, drawn by the flames from the fire he was about to start.

When he got back to base, he would give Jade and their commander, Tucker Newman, a full briefing so they would know exactly what had happened.

The fact he’d have both Tristan and Jamie to confirm what he told them would help.

Logan said, “I’ll be there soon. I’ll catch up.”

“We’re about done with the line,” Jade said. “Then we will be heading north to deal with a section of fire that Tucker says looks like it might sweep down and join this one. We’ll eat dinner up there tonight. If all is well by evening and the fire is dying down, we’ll hike out.”

And he was set to go south to Jamie’s car while his team headed in the other direction.

Doubling back and going north would take him past the compound again. Logan winced. Would it be better for him to just ride out with Jamie and her brother? “I’ll try and get there before dinner. Might take a while though. I have to go back for my gear.”

Jade said, “Why’s that?”

Of course she asked. “I spotted her car.”

They would all know who he was talking about. Each of them had heard the sob story of how he’d walked away from the woman he loved—loved her then and every day since, if he was honest—and regretted it enough to switch to the Midnight Sun crew when he heard she’d come up here looking for her brother. All for a shot at finding her and convincing her to take a chance on him.

Didn’t look like that would happen now, but he’d have to fill everyone in on that as well—the fact that finding her had led to the realization he needed to let her go.

“She’s there?” Skye asked, apparently as curious as everyone else. “You found her?”

“I’m helping her, and then I’ll hike up. Tell you everything.”

His friend said, “Be careful.”

Then Jade said, “Keep us posted.”

“Thanks. Out.” Logan toggled the switch off and left the closet.

A few of the men who occupied this compound had come back. He saw a couple of shadows pass the cloudy glass on the window. The rest were pursuing Jamie, or so they thought, hopefully going far enough up the hill that it would take time to come all the way back. She was safe and sound, tucked away in a closet and working on their computer network. Tristan was…wherever Tristan was.

In the meantime, Logan planned to thoroughly distract them.

He needed to draw the militia guys away from the entrance to the compound so he, Jamie, and Tristan could escape in the direction of Jamie’s car. Tristan had suggested they grab guns to protect themselves, but the look on Jamie’s face had shut that down quick. She didn’t want to be in a fight with deadly weapons.

He stacked kindling and wood in a pile in the center of the room, close to the lawnmower side. He opened the gas caps so the fumes floated out. Same with the only intact motorcycle, whether it had gas in it or not. Didn’t look like it had worked for a while.

With any luck—or rather, the hand of Providence—he would be able to get a sizeable blaze going in this building.

Logan poured at least a quart from a gas can over the wood and kindling. He flicked on the lighter and fixed it so the flame didn’t go out when he let go. Then he tossed it at the blaze and stepped back at the same time.

The gasoline ignited and flames whooshed up toward the ceiling.

Heat filled the room along with the scent of burning fuel. The wood crackled and snapped.

Logan raced over and dragged up a window on the side of the building, then climbed out, praying no one would be hurt by the fire. He left the window open so the fire had access to oxygen that would help it keep burning. He prayed the safeguards these guys had in place—Brian Howards had been right that they were prepared—would keep the fire from spreading to the neighboring building. No one would be injured by the flames.

He also prayed they would be able to do what they needed to do and get out of here.

He ran to the back corner of the building and looked around, toward that cold firepit in the center of the gravel between the structures.

Someone, a male, yelled, “Fire!”

A second later, a guy sprinted toward the front of the equipment shed.

Two guys raced after him. One shoved the other away from him. “Go find Tristan! He’s gonna answer for this.”

The one ordered to go stumbled but caught himself before he went down. Turned and headed off in the other direction.

Logan waited a second, praying no one would see him race to the office.

Then he sprinted as fast as he could in his boots on the gravel. He skidded to the back door of the office building, a prefab structure that had clearly been trucked up here and then pieced together like a puzzle. He ran in while more shouting erupted outside.

The door clicked shut behind him, and the sound echoed down the empty hall.

Tristan had told him where to find them.

Logan headed for the second door on the right and opened it to a room with metal desks and old computers that should’ve been upgraded decades ago. A phone sat on a desk, not plugged into anything. Two windows gave him a view of outside through broken blinds. He’d have to be careful not to be seen.

But no Jamie.

Where are you?

Had she and Tristan been forced to hide? Or even to make a run for it without him?

In that moment Logan, was twelve years old again. Sitting on the curb in the dark outside the middle school, waiting to be picked up.

Forgotten.

* * *

Jamie shifted in her seat on the floor, aware her legs were going numb. Tristan had told her to hide in the closet. She didn’t much care where she was. After all, she’d stayed safe in here long enough to use this laptop he’d found to access the network that connected each computer in this compound via their satellite internet connection.

Logan would be back soon.

She could barely believe he’d found her here in Alaska. But it wasn’t like things would be different this time. All she had to do was focus on getting what Tristan needed so he would leave with her. But the fact she might never let go of what she’d felt for Logan seemed like an old wound that had never healed.

So she pushed aside the hurt and focused on the job.

Jamie had already transferred a hundred thousand dollars from a cryptocurrency account. One that couldn’t be traced back to her. It would look like an anonymous donation to this group.

What she couldn’t figure out was what they were into. She’d thought drugs at first, or domestic terrorism. A training camp for guys who didn’t want to live under federal law. Not unheard of.

But this setup they had in their system connected to…something else. She was a finance expert, not a hacker, so she couldn’t get past security or firewalls. But money could.

After she’d transferred the money, she started copying all the files to a flash drive she kept in her pack—the backup copy of her files.

As she waited for the transfer to complete, watching that bar slide over to one hundred percent, she went back and checked their account where she’d deposited the money.

She hit enter and refreshed the page.

Frowned.

“Where’s the money?” She navigated through pages and found it had been transferred out moments after she’d deposited it. “Not by anyone here. They’re all trying to find me.” She was careful to keep her voice low just in case someone came into the room. “Who moved my money?”

Someone with access to the bank account on this computer had transferred her hundred thousand dollars out in smaller increments, breaking it up and moving it to other accounts.

Dust tickled her nose, and she scratched it.

With more time, she might be able to follow that money, but the second it was transferred beyond her reach, it would be gone. There was definitely something more happening here. It almost seemed like these people were funded by someone else.

Made to look like an average militia compound in the Alaska backcountry.

Until an investigation dug below the surface.

Jamie sneezed.

She froze, staring at the door. Someone could’ve heard that. Would it be that guy, Snatch, back with his evil intentions? She shivered.

The handle turned, and a tall man filled the doorway. It took a second for his outfit to register. “Logan.”

He held his hand out. “What are you doing in here?”

Jamie let him help her stand, juggling the laptop with her other hand to hug it against her side. “This is where Tristan said to wait for him.”

He seemed relieved but also like something else might be bothering him.

She said, “Did the fire go okay?”

He nodded. “Time to go.”

“As soon as Tristan gets here.”

“How about the files?” He motioned to the computer.

“It’s about halfway done copying everything. And get this,” she said. “I transferred money into their account, and someone already moved it out.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know yet.” She frowned at the screen. “I need more time to look through all this.” Except the minute she left the area, she would lose the connection. Could she find her money later?

It was possible.

With the tracker ring she’d given Tristan, she’d be able to find him too.

The door handle eased down. Jamie touched Logan’s sleeve, looking for just a little bit of solidarity. Standing together, side by side, facing what was ahead. Together, the way she’d have said, just a few years ago, that they would be forever.

Right up until the reality of their differences had set in.

Tristan came in. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” Logan said.

Jamie looked at the screen. “I’m done here.” She ejected the flash drive and pocketed it, because it was faster than removing her pack and stowing it inside.

The quicker they could get out of here, the faster she’d be able to leave Logan behind as well. Get back to her life in Last Chance County. Her company. Her friends. Things had been going just fine, but this was a good reminder not to hope in things that had no substance.

Too many of her mother’s boyfriends had taught her that relationships weren’t worth it. She would only get hurt like her mom had over and over again. Jamie had thought Logan might’ve been different, but this was just more proof that she didn’t need to put her heart in danger.

It would only get broken.

“Good. Let’s go.” Tristan turned to the door…and immediately backed up two steps.

A man strode in—an older guy with gray hair and scruff on his face. Jeans and a denim shirt, scuffed boots. He lifted a gun. “Boy, I’m gonna kill?—”

Tristan whipped a pistol from his belt and squeezed off a shot.

Blood bloomed on the man’s chest, and he fell like a giant tree cut down. He hit the ground with a thud.

Tristan jumped over him. “Come on. Someone will have heard that shot.”

Logan tugged Jamie in front of him and didn’t let go of her hand. She raced after her brother, still holding the laptop tight to her chest with one arm.

She held on tight to Logan’s grip, knowing he would make sure she was safe no matter what happened after they got to her car.

Tristan ran from the back door, across an open space to the fence. “Come on!”

She didn’t see a way out. “There’s no gate!”

Logan sped up, pulling her along.

Tristan hit the fence, then pulled back a section of the chain link. It bent back, wide enough for her to crawl through on her hands and knees. “Go.”

She scrambled up, focusing on that single word. Her brother, with her and not in danger. Safe because she’d come up here to help him.

Go . Jamie glanced back to see men running toward them.

One pointed a pistol, firing wildly.

She gasped. “Watch out!”

Logan was already through. He tugged her arm. “Come on. We need to get to those trees.”

She didn’t know what they were, all clustered together. Almost like skinny Christmas trees. It would probably be dark at ground level, or close to it. A great place to hide—or run as fast and as far as they could. “Come on, T!”

Jamie didn’t have the words to say a prayer. She would rather drag her brother along the way Logan was doing with her.

But Tristan caught up to her side, and it seemed like her aerobic ability—or lack thereof—might be slowing them down.

If she didn’t pick up some speed, they might all get shot.

Logan headed between two trees ahead of them, Tristan behind Jamie. She stumbled on an uneven patch of ground and went down. She managed to hold on to the laptop and planted her other hand in pine needles. Logan wound an arm around her, but she got her feet under her, and he didn’t need to carry her. She wasn’t going to slow them down.

“I’m okay,” Jamie said.

But Logan wasn’t looking at her.

A gunshot cracked behind them. He dived at her, and her back hit the ground as Logan landed on top of her, shielding her with his body, smelling like sweat and…man. Maybe the scent was just inherently Logan, because she’d never been attracted to a guy’s smell before.

Tristan crouched by a tree. “I’ll hold them off.”

Her brother turned and fired at the gunmen. Risking his own life to protect theirs.

Logan hauled her up for a second time. “Come on.” Before she could argue, Logan added, “Tristan, you’d better be behind us.”

Her brother only said, “Go!”

Jamie grabbed the laptop, and Logan pulled her deeper into the forest. She ran until her legs screamed and her chest hurt. When she glanced back to see if Tristan or either of the gunmen were on their tails, she spotted a dark, wet stain on the side of Logan’s shirt.

Jamie gasped. “You’ve been shot!”