Page 12

Twelve

“Don’t move, Cadee. Don’t move !” Vince yelled. “Be back. Give me a minute.”

She could breathe. Vince had found her.

Then his footsteps faded.

Cadee sat up…carefully. She was on a ledge below the bridge anchorage. Not like she could reach the bridgework from here. Or even the anchorage.

That awkward, confused moose calf chasing after the rest of its group had managed to knock her down here. She was fine. Fine. She just did not want to fall three hundred feet into Hurricane Creek. She wiped the sweat from the side of her head.

Wait. She looked down at her hand. That was blood. She wiped again. Whatever. She hadn’t gone unconscious or anything. She needed to get out of here, help her team. This was a crown fire, and she wanted to be part of the fight against it.

She stood and tried to reach up to the bridge. She could pull herself up like she had on the tree she’d parachuted into after the plane crash. She reached for it, but it was absolutely too far.

The ledge she’d landed on wasn’t too far down from the top, but it was scary high. Thanks for not letting me dive into Hurricane Creek, God.

She twisted and looked for fingerholds and toeholds in the rock wall. Yeah, she could do this.

Carefully.

Her head spun and she sank back down. She wrapped her hands around her head. This was all she could handle in prayer right now.

Suddenly, she heard several footsteps running to the bridge.

“Took a few to get a rope and a harness.”

She looked up into Vince’s face, and her head suddenly wasn’t spinning.

Then Jade popped her head over. “Sorry it took so long. They got the rope harness set up while I called for a slurry drop. The hero we call Vince refused to wait for all of us to come get you.”

“Sorry, Chief,” Vince said. “This is Cadee we’re talking about, and I just…”

She heard Vince but couldn’t make out the rest of the sentence because her thoughts were bubbling. Vince had come to find her .

The plane flew over, this time dropping red fire-retardant slurry over where she had seen the start of the crown flames.

Meanwhile, the team dropped the halter at the end of the rope down to her.

Vince leaned over the bridge. “We got you.” His voice sounded as worried as the deep frown on his face made him look.

She chuckled and slowly, carefully put on the halter. “I’m ready.”

“Let’s pull her up,” Jade called.

“We’ve got you, Cadee!” Skye yelled.

She started to rise alongside the rock wall in the diamond shadows of the bridge’s girders. The sound of the fire was the background to the grunts and groans. Logan’s hands pulled her over the lip and plopped her onto the ground. He plopped next to her…and the rest of the team.

Cadee couldn’t help but chuckle. “Panting? Really? All those grunts, those groans? You guys better get yourselves into the gym from now on.”

Logan started to say something. Vince threw dirt at him. “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”

“I said nothing.” Logan lifted both hands.

Vince laughed. “Hey, Skye, you need to look at this girl’s head.”

“Got my Kestrel?” Jade asked.

Cadee’s face heated up as she stood up and took off the halter set-up. “No, it dropped into the creek. I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “Just put the halter back on. We’ll get a longer rope—much longer—and lower you down to the creek to get it for me.”

“Really?” Cadee said, then realized her boss was teasing her. Jade grinned at her, gently pushed her—like she pushed her to be a better firefighter. Every day.

Skye nudged her. “Sit down. Let me look at that head cut.”

She eased down onto a boulder.

Jade said, “Okay. We got Cadee back, and she’s on break now.” She looked at Logan’s arm with a scowl.

“Skye wrapped it up, see?” He held up the arm with a frown. “Wasn’t much of a burn anyway.”

“Okay, fine. Logan and Vince, we’re going to go finish that fire line. Even if I don’t know the weather stats.”

“What happened?” Skye touched Cadee’s cheeks, focused on the wound.

“I think the moose’s antler caught me. He was a mess. Seemed lost.”

Skye chuckled, looked in her eyes for a concussion. “That moose calf didn’t end up lost though. She was chasing after the rest of the group when we saw them.” Then she poured some water on a gauze square and pressed it against Cadee’s wound.

“Did you see what Jade found while clearing the fire line?”

“No.”

“A flame thrower.”

“Wow. That’s how this fire started?”

“I know, right?” Skye’s fingers probed the wound. “All right. Looks like it’s just a bit of a deep cut.” She took a thick gauze square from her first aid kit and taped it in place.

“Yeah. Thanks, Skye.”

“No problem. Let’s go fight that fire, girl. Just no crazy for you, okay? Stay hydrated, of course.”

If that’s what it took to join the fire fight. “I promise.”

They stood up, but that’s when the other three came jogging back.

“Kestrel or no, one thing is obvious,” Jade announced. “The wind shifted and drove the fire into our line, so it’s only a matter of time before it burns itself out. Good work everyone. The chopper is ready to pick us up whenever we’re done doing mop-up. Meanwhile, let’s take a break.” She brought out granola bars from the toolbox.

Vince sat down beside Cadee, and she leaned against his shoulder.

Jade came up to him with a granola bar. He reached out, but she kept hold of it.

Vince knew what that meant. “Waiting to work together to get Cadee out of this mess is what I should’ve done. Sorry, Chief. In the future…”

“Hmmm,” Jade rumbled. She looked back and forth between Vince and Cadee. “Okay. This time.”

“It won’t happen again, Chief.”

She passed over both granola bars in her hand and walked over to where Logan had finally given in to Skye’s demand to take a rest, considering he was technically still recovering from the hit on the head.

Cadee stepped into Vince’s arms, leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for coming after me.”

“You should know by now I always will.”

Of course she knew he always would. She shifted, looked up into those rich, dark eyes of his.

One hand resting on her neck, Vince drew her to himself, pressed his lips against hers.

He tilted his head, grinning. “I’ve so missed?—”

Cadee moved close to him again, lifted her face to his, her arms resting around his broad shoulders. His arms found the perfect spot around her waist.

And they kissed. Again.

Then there was the clapping.

Oh yeah. Everyone could see them. Laughing, she buried her head in Vince’s shoulder.

But man, that was a kiss that would keep her warm in an Alaskan winter.

Back at the jump base, Vince hoped he and Cadee could take a separate table in the mess hall. They needed to talk.

Except she said, “See ya. Need a shower.” And walked toward the women’s cabin.

After that kiss?

She stopped, looked back. “I mean, we do need to talk.” She shifted from foot to foot. Almost took a step forward. “But I also need to figure out how to get a shower and some aspirin.”

He nodded. She waved and headed into her cabin.

Well, that was that. He did need to think about something other than Cadee and the kiss and the hand holding.

Besides, the granola bar had barely been a tide-over snack.

He went into the mess hall, dropping his flight bag with the others in the entryway. The rest of the team sat at a table, drinking coffee and sharing a tray heavily loaded with crackers, cheese, meat, nuts, and veggies.

He walked up to the coffee station to the side of the group and filled his mug.

“…the cigarette pack minus a cigarette in his bag—that matched the butt from the cabin,” Logan said. He threw a slice of cucumber into his mouth. “And there were chem processing ingredients under his cot.”

Some coffee spilled over Vince’s mug, nearly burning his fingers. They were talking about his bag.

Jade cleared her throat loudly, jerking her head toward Vince.

Red flamed up Logan’s neck. “Um, sorry, Vince. I was just filling them in. I didn’t mean…”

Vince worked his jaw, dumped some of the coffee out of the mug so it wasn’t overfilled, screwed on the lid, and left it sitting at the coffee station. He stepped up to Logan. “As an FBI agent, Rio is a very competent man focused on truth. Unlike those two DEA agents. When Rio and I were talking, he mentioned how all those things from my space were—and I quote—‘all kinds of coincidental.’”

Logan kept talking. “It’s just that the DEA agents aren’t incompetent or anything?—”

Vince took another step toward Logan.

Jade’s chair scraped as she stood, glaring at Logan and ready to move between them.

Then Logan’s chin dipped.

Vince could’ve counted twenty heartbeats in the tense silence.

“I wasn’t thinking…coincidental is right. You don’t smoke. Not even an idiot would hide anhydrous ammonia and a case of cough syrup under a cot in a firefighter dorm. Sorry.” He held out a hand with a grin. “Besides, Rio clearly got you let loose from that arrest.”

Vince took a deep breath to let it all go, and they shook hands. To be fair, the whole thing was weird.

Logan pulled up a chair for him. Vince smiled a thank-you and joined the group.

Skye was tapping her hand on the table while she took a sip of coffee. “Of course, Rio’s right. Coincidental. Problem is that bankbook and those property papers. They seem real even if the accounts aren’t.” She grimaced. “Sorry, Vince. Didn’t mean anything.”

Vince grabbed some crackers and some of each kind of cheese. “I know. No offense taken. Thing is, those wire transfers and my signature on the real-estate papers will be harder to disprove. It looks like I’m affiliated with the militia when I own property where they operate. No wonder the DEA jerks were digging into me. And…” His stomach twisted, but he ordered it to get in line. He looked around the group. “That’s why they so easily added attempted murder charges. Or will add them soon.”

Skye’s jaw dropped.

Jade’s face furrowed into a frown.

Logan shook his head slowly back and forth.

Were any of them going to talk?

Vince said, “When the cops ask you guys about my whereabouts the other night, just tell them what you know.”

Logan got a look of certainty on his face. “You’re not a murderer.”

“Tell the truth, bro.”

“Right.” Jade clapped her hands in front of her. “This is going to sound random, but I’m hoping it isn’t. I looked in our supplies and saw that flame thrower I found at the wildfire was missing from our equipment. I loaded it into the box and now it’s gone.”

“That’s weird all right,” Skye muttered.

Logan clicked his tongue. “How could you have tried to kill Nick when you were here with us? That is what you’re talking about, isn’t it?”

“They figure you guys are covering my backside. So said Davis.” He shuddered. “Guy just doesn’t sit right with me.”

Furrows took over Jade’s face again. “Of course we would cover your backside. But not in a criminal protection kind of way.”

“Of course. Which is why we are covering your back.” Logan play-punched Vince’s shoulder.

“Thanks, everyone.”

Skye held up one finger after another. “Bankbook, property purchase paperwork, chem processing stuff, cigarette pack. The question is, how did those things get in Vince’s stuff?”

Vince had never heard this high-energy, high-tease group quiet for more than two seconds at a time.

Nick had been in Ingriq during the evacuation. It was totally possible that he’d been here on the base for some reason when Cadee left for Copper Mountain. Vince would like to hear exactly what she and Nick had talked about on that ride.

He sprang out of his seat. “Hey, Logan, would you ask Jamie to look into that bankbook? And the property purchase.” Then he headed out to find Cadee.

Vince arrived at the women’s cabin just as Raine was walking out. “Cadee in there?” he asked.

“Nope. She was headed out to have dinner and watch a movie at Emma’s, in celebration of the end of the Ingriq fire. Wish I could have homemade chicken noodle soup.”

“Thanks.” He’d grab her first thing at breakfast.

He wanted to know more of what she and Nick had talked about.