Page 1 of Burning Justice (Chasing Fire: Alaska #6)

One

Almost a decade as a spy for the CIA hadn’t prepared Maria Sanchez one bit for this life. Fighting wildfires in the Alaskan backcountry. Trying to stop a dangerous militia group from deploying a biological weapon on US soil.

Okay, so that last one was a bit more her speed.

Still, talk about being unprepared.

Kind of like the way she felt every time he looked at her. Kane Foster. Broody. Quiet. A former soldier, a guy who put loyalty above everything.

Cue heart fluttering.

Until the rumble of thunder split the sky, growing like a wave until it crested right on top of them.

It sounded so close that Maria ducked, tucking her knees up to her chest and holding on tight.

The way her father had always told her to.

She tipped her head back against the mossy tree to watch the sky light up over Denali Mountain.

“There you are.”

She flinched and turned to look over her shoulder but didn’t uncurl her limbs. The night air had a chill.

“Need my sweater?” Kane reached for his zipper. Dark-blond hair, short on the sides but with the top sticking out all over because he didn’t care to fix it. Stubble across his chin because he didn’t care about that either. But the man cleaned up good on a Friday night, that was for sure.

She shook her head. The point was to not need anything, because needing things from people never ended well.

He settled beside her on the ground, close enough that she could feel his warmth. “Impressive storm.”

She turned back to the sky stretched out in front of them. Above them. “This was a good place to stop for the night.”

Kane nudged her elbow. “That means you’re supposed to be getting some sleep, like everyone else.”

“I signed up to take watch. Keep an eye on the fire.”

“Right.” His low chuckle drifted over. “That’s why you’re hiding over here, pretending you’re alone in the dark.”

“It’s not as impressive if you feel safe. Storms are supposed to be dangerous and out of control. You’re supposed to be a little afraid.”

“Don’t worry, I am.”

Maria didn’t think he was talking about the weather—or wildland firefighting. They’d been doing that for two seasons now. Laying low. Pretending they were regular folks who wanted a career change. Anything other than what they actually were.

Or why they were out here.

“Fear is a tool.” Lightning cracked across the sky, making her pause before she continued. “It keeps you sharp. If you don’t learn how to control it, you’ll get swallowed up.”

The storm whipped up some wind, blowing through the valley below and ruffling her hair across her face.

The ever-present tang of burnt wood hung on the breeze.

An odd, discordant presence that reminded her every second that the fire on the horizon was destroying property and vegetation, growing.

Moving. Flames that seemed to flicker with life, trying to devour everything in its path.

She slid the dark strands that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear. How well she knew fire, and the knowledge she had should be an asset and not a liability here.

After everything she’d been through, there had to be good. All the team members who studied the Bible now, talking about God working all things for good.

Whatever Kane thought about what she’d said about fear, he didn’t share with her. He sat quietly, hopefully enjoying the night now that the sun had finally set. In three or four hours, it would rise again.

Of course she was going to sit out here trying to figure out how to solve all this.

“I thought about giving up, you know.” Talk about fear. She barely even wanted to admit it. “He’s been gone nearly fifteen years. I wondered if he wanted to be gone. If he chose to stay away.”

“Now you know that was never true.”

“But I believed it.” She winced. “I would’ve quit because I lost the faith that I would ever find him. That I would get my father back.”

A couple of weeks ago, a reporter had seen her father being held at gunpoint. Maria was closer to finding her father now than she’d been in fifteen years.

“I feel like every time we get somewhere with the search, we immediately get knocked back three steps.” She ducked her head, ashamed to say she was losing the strength to fight. “We can’t keep chasing him forever and live our lives. By the time we find him, he’s gone. Moved on.”

Kane nudged her elbow with his. “We didn’t get this close only to lose him now.”

“You said that in Montana, and he was gone before we found where they were keeping him.” Maria turned to look at him and realized his face was closer than she’d thought. In the dark, she could barely make out his features.

But she didn’t need the light to know what he looked like.

She’d spent nearly two years with this man.

His green eyes. His furrowed brow and crossed arms when he needed to think in silence.

The two-day stubble across his jaw. His broad shoulders that made her want to curl up in his arms and let him impart some of that strength to her.

“I have to find him,” Maria said. “Before it costs me the rest of my life.”

Kane cleared his throat. “None of us is going to quit. You’re not fighting alone. We all agreed to do this together.”

“Right.” The team.

The Trouble Boys. Hammer, Saxon, and Kane. Members of the same Delta Force unit. Brothers who had fought and bled—and been declared dead—side by side. And Hammer’s little brother, Mack. The kid no one wanted to leave behind.

Her protectors. Her family.

Kane tossed a small stone a few feet away. “You should get some sleep. I’ll take watch. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow if we’re gonna quash this fire before it can jump the highway.”

“You’re right.”

He stood and held out his hand. She reached up and grabbed his wrist where he had the tattoo of his unit under a leather cuff.

Let him pull her to her feet. They both let go like a spark of static electricity had hit them.

But it never did—because they didn’t allow it to go that far.

Hammer had made it clear that getting distracted and exposing themselves could cost them all a future.

Fighting wildfires was a great way to stay off the grid while they continued their search for Doctor Cortez and the man who’d betrayed them.

First following leads in Montana.

Now up here in Alaska.

Since their team had been declared killed in action on the same day they’d rescued Maria from captivity in Syria, they’d been trying to get their lives back.

It hadn’t taken long to realize doing so wouldn’t be all that easy—namely because they’d been attacked almost immediately after leaving and Kane had been captured.

They’d barely made it out of Syria alive, but they’d learned something important.

Someone powerful didn’t want them to see the light of day.

At that point, they hadn’t even known about the plan in the works, the threat to the country that they knew now they had to stop. All they’d known was that they had to lay low long enough to figure out what had happened.

Back then it had been about finding the man who’d betrayed them. Who’d held Maria, and then Kane, and cost them all their lives.

After they’d gone looking for answers and discovered her father’s name on a stolen report, they’d quickly realized it was also about finding Doctor Cortez.

The fact she and Kane had been nursing these feelings for each other had nothing to do with the mission parameters.

Giving in was a temptation that didn’t help them reach their goals—a distraction that could cost them the future.

Now that they knew it was all connected, the guys were as invested in this plan to set everything back to rights as she was. Joining forces with them meant she had to not jeopardize their chance to restore their reputations and get their lives back.

She walked by him. “Good night, Kane.”

“Good night, Sanchez.”

Another peal of thunder rumbled across the sky.

As much as she wanted to pretend she was alone, just her and nature in all its destructive power, she hadn’t been alone for a while now.

She might have lost a lot, but what she’d gained were men who would risk everything to help her.

Who believed as she did that the world was worth saving and that good people should be able to live in peace and safety.

Maria picked her way between the trees, over to the spot where the rest of the hotshots had chosen to make camp for the night.

Basic bedrolls had been laid out, packs for pillows.

She spotted the outlines of her boys and the empty spot for Kane.

Hammer lifted his head as she passed, so Maria signaled with a handwave that everything was fine.

She passed the spots where Mitch—their hotshot crew chief—and Grizz lay a few feet from each other. Grizz had an e-reader out, the backlight shining on his face. Apparently, whatever he was reading was hilarious.

At the far end, the only other woman, Raine Josephs, snored quietly. Maria lay down on her bedroll and looked at the hazy sky, the stars obscured by smoke from the wildfire that had flared to life the day before.

Somewhere out there, her father was being held captive.

Years in the CIA hadn’t given her a lead as to who was responsible.

The men who had shot her mother in front of her and then taken her father from her went unpunished because she hadn’t ever managed to find their identities.

Only evidence that her father had been used for his skills and then sold to someone else.

The first transaction in a chain she’d been able to track.

Always one step behind actually finding him.

This personal mission had driven her ever since. It had led to her capture in Syria, where she’d come face-to-face with the enemy. At the time, she hadn’t known who he was—outside of her personal connection to him. Her asset.