Page 22 of Burning Justice (Chasing Fire: Alaska #6)

Half the smokejumpers and everyone who’d been in the mess hall stood watching.

“Wanna tell me the truth?” Kane pinned Raine with a stare.

“It’s just what Tristan said.” She shrugged, not looking at him or anyone else. Suddenly finding the grass on the mountain behind the hangar extremely interesting.

“Right. You think I’m gonna believe that?”

Mitch strode over from the group by the mess hall door—a group that included Maria. But aside from a general assessing glance, Kane wasn’t going to get distracted by her right now. This could be a serious situation.

Mitch said, “People on my team are people I trust. That means you tell me the truth.”

Raine pushed off the side of the hangar where Tristan had pinned her.

“Is this your gun?” Kane asked. “Or your grandpa’s?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

She really thought that? Kane wanted an answer as to what had just happened between Raine and Tristan. He hadn’t seen them interact before, but maybe there had been something going on this entire summer.

“Tell us what that was.” Kane had to bank on the relationship the hotshots had built. Otherwise, what else did they have? He didn’t know much about this woman and her personal life, but he respected her. She was an amazing firefighter, someone who didn’t give up.

The kind of woman who kept going through any situation.

Never quit.

She was cut from the same cloth as Maria.

“You can trust us, Raine.” He studied her, praying she would open up.

Maria came over, close enough she held on to his side with her good hand. Kane resisted the urge to put his arm around her. Everyone already knew the deal—he and Maria had simply been the last ones to get on board with what was going on. At least, he figured that was what’d happened.

Maria leaned against him. “Does this have to do with your father?”

Kane frowned. He needed to be caught up with what they were saying.

Before he could ask, Maria said, “He’s the one who fired the shot that killed your dad, but that doesn’t mean it was murder.”

Raine’s expression twisted with a mix of grief and anger. “He killed Brian.”

“Tristan?” Kane looked over his shoulder and found Crispin. The other man nodded. “We know Tris. He isn’t a murderer. He’s Jamie’s brother. If no one intervened, would you have killed him?”

Raine stared at the roof of the mess hall, determinedly not looking at any of them.

“Would you have ended his life?” Maria asked. “For the sake of a bad guy who wasn’t even in your life all that much, right? I’m sorry, but it’s true, isn’t it?”

Raine said, “He was my father.”

“I know what it’s like to want something you don’t have.”

Kane shifted so he could put his arm around Maria.

She continued, “I know what it’s like to want to have your father in your life but he can’t be there, or he chooses not to be.”

Kane said, “You can trust us. We understand more than you think.”

His father had tried his best but had worked all the time so they’d have enough money. It had meant he did every scrap of overtime he could get his hands on for the paycheck. It was always about the paycheck. Gramps was the one who’d taught Kane how to be a man, until he died in that crash.

Raine said, “Yeah? You understand that Robert is dying? That he has cancer and there’s nothing anyone can do? When he’s gone, I won’t have a single relative worth anything still alive. I’ll be alone.” Her voice broke on the last word, and she cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry.” Maria shifted, hugging her injured hand to her front. “I know what that feels like. But you and I have talked about this place. About finding a family here with the team. Let us help you.”

Kane figured Raine had been bottling it up for a while, keeping to herself, given she’d chosen to try and shoot Tristan instead of coming to someone with her concerns.

Did she really think they were harboring a murderer?

Raine couldn’t believe Tristan had killed her father for any other reason than self-defense.

“We can’t all have a team of guys watching out for us,” Raine said. “Some of us are actually alone, not whatever it is you’re pretending to be.”

Maria flinched.

Kane said, “Raine, that was uncalled for. You know Maria’s situation as well as anyone.”

“I guess it’s just me that can’t do the super-secret stuff and get away with whatever I want.” Raine looked away, effectively dismissing them.

Mitch strode over to their huddle. “Okay, smokejumpers, back to training. Hotshots, with me.”

Kane turned and spotted Jade talking quietly with Crispin. The smokejumper team leader kissed him on the cheek and headed away from the group.

Maria touched Kane’s arm.

He glanced at her. “Are you going to be okay?”

Maria said, “We’ll figure it out.”

Kane kissed her on the cheek. “Gotta go to work. Tucker just told us there’s a flare-up happening about a hundred miles northwest of here. Sounds like a nasty fire, and it’s headed toward a small community.”

“Be careful.”

He jogged away, and Saxon caught up as he rounded the corner. Saxon said, “I knew she had it in her, but that was unexpected.”

Kane said, “Raine?” He had to pray that Maria and the rest of them were safe. That nothing else happened while he was gone.

“Some people…you can see it in them.”

“The potential for murder?”

Saxon shook his head. “Just a darkness. Unresolved feelings. Shadows. They’ve been abandoned too many times. They keep to themselves.”

“So now every introvert is a murderer.”

Saxon shoved his shoulder. “They’ll both be fine.”

“Only because I know those shadows. I was there. Maria with a gun? I have no problem. Someone like Raine? She needs a Bible study, not a weapon.”

Saxon chuckled. “Guess we gotta go be smokejumpers.”

Yeah, that was the problem, wasn’t it? “She said she was fine with it. No problems. Come back to me, I’ll see you later. Stay safe.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“She didn’t have to be so…fine with it.”

Saxon burst out laughing. “You want your woman to beg you to stay?”

“Shut up.” He shoved his buddy in return.

They caught up with Jade at the plane.

“Ready to go, boss.” Kane was happy to make this as quick as they could so he’d be back here watching out for Maria as soon as possible.

“Right. You know the drill,” Jade said. “I’ve explained it.”

Saxon said, “We’ve lived it.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Blah blah, you’ve both jumped more times than the rest of us put together. War zones. Insurgents. Etcetera. This is fire.”

“We know how to fight a fire. We’ve been doing that for two seasons now,” Kane pointed out.

“That’s the only reason I’m okay with this.” Jade glanced in the direction of the group they’d left behind. “I’m less okay with the rest of them working the whole terrorism thing while we’re gone, but Crispin doesn’t usually need my help with that stuff.”

Kane frowned. “What do you mean?”

Jade shrugged. “The best way to resolve this is to call Rio, then have Sanchez contact Elias. Tell him she’ll give him the code if he leaves all the hotshots and smokejumpers and her father alone.

She goes in because she insists he meet her in person, and they draw out Elias.

Rio snaps the trap shut. Crispin and I figured it all out. ”

Kane turned back to the group so he could march over and tell Maria in no uncertain terms to not do that. At least, not while he wasn’t there to make sure she was in no danger.

Or not much danger, anyway.

Saxon grabbed Kane’s jumpsuit and dragged him back toward the plane. “Ready to deploy, boss.”

“That’s what I thought.” Jade backed up and hopped on the plane, where everyone was already loaded and ready to go.

Lord…

He didn’t even know what to pray for.

“She’ll be fine. You think Crispin or Rio are going to let anything happen to her?”

Kane said, “I hate everything about this situation.”

Saxon clapped a hand on Kane’s shoulder. “Soon as we’re back, you can pitch in.”

Kane didn’t want to, but he settled into a seat on the plane. They had to get through this jump to get qualified as smokejumpers so they could do their jobs. No one was going to leave the crew high and dry without enough people to fill the teams.

Orion looked over from the seat in front. “You good, Kane? You look kinda nervous.”

“I’m not the one I’m worried about.”

Through the window, he saw Maria out in front of the mess hall. She lifted her good hand and waved. He lifted his and pressed his palm to the window. He had to trust God, that He had Maria in His hands. There was no other option.

He’d stuck close, believing God had put him there beside her to make sure she was safe.

Now he had to trust God for real in a way he realized he didn’t like.

Because he wouldn’t be there.