Page 7

Seven

“We’re still pretty smelly, aren’t we?” Cadee and Vince sat in the back of a rusty pickup truck, grateful to the driver who’d been kind enough to stop and pick them up.

“Yeah. If we’d ridden in Ingriq’s bus or in Nick’s sedan, we would’ve been in dishonor.”

She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Or disrepute.”

They fist-bumped. Instead of arguing. At least for now.

Cadee leaned back against the side panel of the truck bed, closed her eyes. Firefighting was a joy but an energy zap, until time to rest showed up. This mission had been crazy though. Salmon die-off, gunshots.

And they’d seen Vince’s partner. Her ex. Yeah. Crazy.

But also, they’d found Emma and Ava. Saved Ingriq people.

She smiled, elbowed Vince. “This is why we’re firefighters, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “This is it. For sure.” But his laugh lines were tight, his shoulders mostly up by his ears.

“What’s wrong, Vince?”

“The DEA.”

“Really? You mean Nick?”

Vince just sat there, his toes almost bouncing as he stared into space. “They have an arrest warrant for me.”

She snorted. “You are so funny.”

“No. It’s real. Tucker messaged me from the office.”

“What on earth do they want to arrest you for? Especially when you were in the DEA. And you’re a firefighter now. What?—”

“I don’t know, something about drugs. It’s the DEA,” he snapped. Then he closed his eyes. “Sorry. It is nuts, but I don’t know what it’s about.”

“Tucker’s got you. Jade’s got you. We all know it’s insane.”

“How do you know it’s insane?”

“Because we know you .” She put her hand on his shoulder. “We’ve all got you, Vince. Promise.”

He tipped his chin, but he stared out into space.

The truck stopped at the intersection of the paved highway and the dirt road that led onto Midnight Sun jump base.

They hopped out of the bed of the truck and grabbed their fire packs. “Thanks, Henry!” Vince called, and the man gave a bit of a horn beep and drove off.

Vince put on a smile as they headed up the dirt road. “So, anyway,” he said, “Ingriq was amazing. Do you wish you lived there instead of here?”

“Nope. I mean, I loved it there—still do—but…” She swirled around, flourishing her hands in the air. As if there was anywhere in the world she’d rather be than here, even if it made her turn into a character in The Sound of Music . “Look at that. There is beauty in Ingriq and in our base. How could I not love both places?”

“True. It’s all beautiful, even in winter, you know?”

She smiled. “I do.”

They walked quietly in the silence of the sun-bright evening for a few minutes.

“What’s also cool about Midnight Sun firefighting,” she said, “is that it’s not just a place where you go to work, put in the hours, then go home.”

He looked over at her, smiling. “That’s why I’m glad I came here.”

“I’m glad you came to Alaska too.” She had to admit that.

Logan and Jamie sat outside at the firepit in the confluence of the men’s, women’s and married couples’ dorms.

“You two survived each other, huh?” Logan called out.

“Of course we did, Logan.” Vince laughed. “Hey, Jamie. How come you’re still hanging around?” he teased back.

Cadee shoved his shoulder. “Seriously, how is everyone?”

Logan stood, coming over to shake Vince’s hand, which turned into a bro hug. “The hotshots got the fire knocked down, and the bus driver is already picking up a few residents who don’t have transportation. Hammer got Tristan to the hospital, but he’s already out.”

So Vince had seen Tristan in the village.

“Everyone else is safe except for Tori and Orion. Tucker is formulating a plan to go out and look for them.”

“You’re back!” JoJo came running out of the women’s dorm and threw her arms around Cadee.

Skye followed at a more sedate pace, waving her hand in front of her nose. “You two stink!”

JoJo stepped back from Cadee. “You really do.”

Jade came walking over from the married couples’ cabin. “Until your text, I’d never heard of smokejumpers throwing themselves into a salmon die-off.”

Cadee said, “I’m more concerned with why the fish were dead in the first place. It’s the wrong time of year.”

Jade nodded. “I’m glad you’re back, you two. Gunshots and all. I expect a debrief later.” She started walking toward the office building, turned back around. “Did the two of you work out everything?”

“Yes,” said Vince.

“No,” Cadee said at the same time.

Like they hadn’t finally talked about Cap’s death, about his DEA past?

Like they hadn’t almost kissed?

Yeah, things weren’t resolved between them.

Jade lasered them with her eyes. “Well, you’re still partners. Get it together, you two.” She gave them the you-better-behave mom stare until Cadee wanted to squirm. Jade finally relaxed. “Go grab some grub before the mess hall closes.”

Skye and JoJo followed Jamie and Logan across the runway to dinner.

Once they were alone again, Vince spun around to her. “How could you say no after all we did together, Cadee?”

She tipped up her chin. “How could you say yes? Apparently you think it’s all hunky-dory when we still have a lot of things to work through.”

“Like what?” His hands hung in the air in innocence.

Her stomach grumbled, but she badly wanted a shower—so much more than yet another argument with Vince. Besides, wide-leg sweats and her Midnight Sun sweatshirt sounded comfortable after this intense day.

“We’ll talk after I shower.”

Vince stood there, slack-jawed.

But she needed a shower. Cadee spun, grabbing her flight bag from the porch and heading to the women’s cabin.

The shower at the Midnight Sun jump base only halfway spat out lukewarm water. But it felt good after the three-hour walk from Ingriq.

And the hour rushing around the village to help evacuees.

And the fight with Landon.

And seeing her ex.

And the dip in the slimy, stinky salmon die-off river.

She shuddered.

Yeah, what a crazy long day. No need for a fight with Vince.

But they’d helped the evacuees at Ingriq together.

They’d taken down Landon together.

She’d saved him from the river, and he’d saved her from it. The slime and stink had actually, somehow, made them laugh together.

Her phone buzzed as she stepped out of the shower. It was a text from Emma.

Emma: Surprise! Jade said Ava and I could come here to spend time with you. I’m having coffee in the mess hall. Jade just told me you arrived. Wanna join me?

Her sister was here? Cadee typed out a reply.

Cadee: I’ll be there in five minutes. Maybe get me a hamburger and fries with the coffee?

Emma: You got it.

Cadee hurried into the charcoal sweats and the deep-blue Midnight Sun sweatshirt. She ran a brush through her hair and stood in front of the bathroom mirror, reached up to do her usual ponytail.

Stared at herself in the mirror and, for a second, saw Vince.

The look in his eyes back in the forest when he’d touched her face.

Nearly kissed her. Really?

Yes, definitely unfinished business.

She left the bathroom, sat on her cot, and slid on her tennis shoes as fast as she could. She needed to talk to Emma.

Her broken heart wasn’t going to be able to stand much more of this, and Jade had flat out said she and Vince were still partners.

She wasn’t going to get rid of him. Not without losing a big part of herself—again.

Cadee jogged across the runway and into the mess hall. Emma, her bright blonde hair in perfect braids, waved at her. She was sitting at the long pine table next to a cheeseburger and steamy coffee on the white tabletop covered with glass.

Hotshots and smokejumpers were scattered around the room. Except Orion and Tori, which made their absence all the more noticeable. In one corner, Jade sat at a table with Tucker, their commander, talking intently. Figuring out a plan to find their friends?

Cadee gave her sister a side hug, slid onto the bench, and took a huge bite of cheeseburger.

“Vince and I almost kissed today.”

Emma’s face scrunched up. “What?”

“Just a second.” She took another sip of coffee, set down the smokejumper coffee mug, ate another bite of the really great cheeseburger. “Okay, more than a second. Where’s Ava?”

Emma flipped her hand in the air. “Coloring with Raine. The bus driver had to drive up here to take some hotshots back to Copper Mountain early tomorrow morning so they can head up to the fire. He offered me a ride. I called over and Jade said there were two extra cots in the women’s cabin, so he brought us here, and we get to spend time with you. Now, quit changing the subject. You almost kissed? Spill, sis.”

Cadee shook her head, her cheeks heating. “I saved Vince out of the gross river filled with dead salmon. Then I slipped in, and he got me out. It was really kind of funny. Maybe that’s what we needed. We headed to Ingriq and, I don’t know, I finally felt like I should tell him what happened to his father.”

“Wait.” Emma’s coffee splashed a little as she put it down. She put her hand on Cadee’s arm. “You told me the whole story, but you never told him?”

Cadee dropped her head. “Logan gave him the basics, told him to ask me.”

“He didn’t?”

“Not until today.” And she was pretty sure that’s why he’d been picking fights with her since he joined Midnight Sun.

“But you didn’t tell him before now?”

She shook her head. “It never seemed like the right time, and the words always got stuck in my throat.” She shoved the cheeseburger into her mouth, took a huge bite. Couldn’t Emma just listen?

Stop it, Cadee . Emma was listening.

She took a drink of coffee. They both had their hands around their coffee mugs like they used to when Mom would make them hot chocolate on a bad day. God, help me here .

“I’m sorry, Emma,” she said. “Your house might have burned down today, and now you’re staying here with Ava. It can’t be easy facing living in temporary housing with a daughter.” Cadee could at least act like she wanted her sister here. “I’m glad I found you today.”

“Me too.” Emma smiled. “Now keep talking.”

Another drink of coffee. “The day Cap died, I just couldn’t tell Vince what’d happened. Not even at the funeral.”

Emma put her hand back on Cadee’s arm. “You were scared Vince would hate you.”

“But mostly, my voice simply wouldn’t work. I was just…”

“Grieving.”

Cadee swallowed. “But he was so angry when I…couldn’t…talk to him that he broke up with me. Now that we’re both here on the Midnight Sun crew, we can’t seem to get along. I’m sure everyone is sick of the constant bickering and arguing, which is why Jade forced us to be partners at this wildfire.”

“And how has that gone?”

“Actually, we work really well together. When I told Vince the whole story, we talked. It was like old times. And we almost kissed.” Cadee took another huge bite of her burger so she didn’t have to say more.

Would he really have kissed her back? Their relationship was strained, but maybe their feelings that started back in Ember hadn’t changed as much as she’d thought.

Emma chuckled. “You can’t tell where things are going just from that.” She squeezed Cadee’s arm and took her cup of coffee into both hands. “You need to talk to him. Figure out between you where it’s going so you don’t get your heart broken all over again.”

Cadee took a drink of coffee too. “Vince told me something else.” She wrapped both hands back around her coffee mug, hardly able to say the words aloud. And yet she could jump out of a plane into a fire, no problem.

Emma duck-faced her lips, waiting. “So, tell me already.”

“He told me the DEA has a warrant out for his arrest.”

Emma’s coffee cup clumped down on the table. “What for?”

“Not for sure, but it is the DEA. Something about drugs, most likely.”

Emma’s shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry, Cadee.”

The knots holding Cadee’s heart hostage tightened. But she wouldn’t let them. Cadee blew out a breath. “No. It’s crazy. He’s a good guy, even if we don’t get along. And he’s been out of the DEA for, well, a few years.” She shrugged. “At least since Ember. Why would they come after him now?”

“Remember that idiot, Phil, back in high school?”

She glared at Emma. “Yeah. Vince is not Phil. I trust Vince.” Her shoulders dropped. “But, yeah, the DEA thing has snuck in that one percent of doubt.”

Emma pointed at her. “Let me get this straight. Vince trusts you, opens up. I know things were, I don’t know, craggy between you. Trust has to be rebuilt, of course.” Emma sighed. “You’re so busy trying to keep from being hurt again—even a little one percent.”

Cadee stared at her sister. Then she slumped over her plate and reached for her cheeseburger, but she let it go when Jamie came over and plopped down at the table.

“Am I interrupting something?” Jamie glanced between them.

Emma opened her mouth to answer, so Cadee cut her off. “No, nothing important.”

“Can I pick your brains since you’re locals?” Jamie took a long sip of her coffee. When they both nodded, she continued. “While I was here, I thought I’d look into how to donate to the Midnight Sun crew, and it looks like you guys pull from the Northern Lights Higher Education Foundation for your recruits. So I nosed around, and when I dug below the surface, the organization seemed a bit sketchy.”

Emma frowned. “Do you donate to it, Cadee?”

“I do.” This was the first she’d heard about it not being legit.

“I mean, on the surface, eighty percent of the donations goes to scholarships, and twenty percent builds your retirement,” Jamie said. “But I don’t see any scholarships being given, nor can I tell where the twenty percent has gone.”

Cadee frowned. “I have statements showing what I put into it. Are you saying we should quit donating to the program?”

“No. Hang loose. I tend to be a skeptic on charities, so I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Helping Alaskan students is a positive thing.” Jamie thought for a moment. “I’m going to reach out to Skye though. She told me about it.”

Cadee stared into her mug as she swished her coffee around. “Vince donates to it as well. We all do. If he trusts it, then I’m not worried at all.”

Her sister tapped her fingers on the table.

Cadee glanced over and saw Emma’s grin. She shook her head. “Yes, I trust him.”

She wondered if they would’ve kissed on the trail if militia guy hadn’t interrupted them with a gunshot.

But the biggest question was why she missed the long conversations with Vince and the warmth of his shoulder next to hers.

Emma took her hand across the table. “Let’s go enjoy the firepit. You’ll be up and out fighting fires again first thing in the morning, so we might not get much chance to hang out for a while. I’ll text Raine to join us or at least to bring out Ava. That kid might have asthma, but she loves firepits.”

“Sure.” And Cadee absolutely would not look for Vince.

Not at all.

Yeah, they’d said they would talk later. And this was later.

But she was suddenly afraid of the answer to the question—where did they go from here?

“Hey, Tucker,” Vince said as he walked into the commander’s office in the admin building. “Logan kind of followed me in, if that’s okay.”

Tucker smiled. “If it’s okay with you, it’s okay with me.”

He bobbed his head. Yeah. Tucker almost certainly wanted to talk about the warrant. But Logan was a friend.

Logan shook Tucker’s hand, and they all sat down. “Do we know anything about Orion and Tori yet?”

“Nothing yet,” Tucker answered. “Jade saw them land together, so I’m certain they’re on their way to the base. We just haven’t been able to get ahold of them. Maybe their radio got damaged.”

Logan nodded. “Maybe we could reach out to the National Forest Service.”

“And to our contacts at the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection,” Vince added.

Tucker typed into his phone. “Yes. That’s perfect. I’ll call and ask them to keep eyes out for them.”

Tucker tapped his fingers on his desk, put his phone in his pocket, looked over at Logan, then back at Vince. “We need to talk about the warrant the DEA has out for you.”

“I figured that’s why you called me in. I know you need to report my whereabouts. Not going to blame you at all.”

“No. I know you, Vince. I’m not calling anyone. I haven’t officially been made aware of the warrant. DEA can show up and cuff you if they want you in custody.”

Another person who believed in him. Vince didn’t even ask how Tucker had found out. Best not to know. Then Tucker wouldn’t end up in the DEA doghouse.

Logan tipped his head Vince’s direction. “You didn’t tell me why you left the DEA.”

Tucker just nodded, waiting for his answer.

“Okay. My time in the agency isn’t a secret. I just don’t like talking about it. The thing is that they wanted to charge me with money laundering. But their evidence was wrong, and I was totally cleared. I quit because, despite the correct facts, I still got those cynical looks from the other agents. They didn’t stop. I finally quit the DEA to clear my name for good. It was, um, difficult. My mentor and partner, Nick Atwood, didn’t doubt my innocence for one moment. He reminded me of Dad being up here, fighting fires, saving lives and property. So I knew my new calling. I hit the Ember training program?—”

“Met Cadee,” Logan teased.

Yeah. Cadee.

Vince nodded. “Then I ended up here.”

Tucker blew out a breath. “Wish you’d been up here earlier. Your dad would have loved working with you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat.

Logan thumped his shoulder.

“Okay, Vince,” Tucker said. “You’re going to go out with the team tomorrow if that fire spurs off toward Rough Campground. I’ll talk to Rio at the FBI and clear this up. Don’t worry about it. Sooner or later, they’ll realize you have no part in whatever this is.”

“I’d really like to get a forty-eight-hour leave and solve it, Tucker.”

Tucker leaned back in his chair. “I’ll think about it.”

“Thanks.”

Maybe.

Because Cadee had been terrorized enough. He wouldn’t drag her into more trouble.

This wasn’t like simply waiting for a storm to end. He needed to fix it himself.

He stood and shook hands with Tucker. Logan did as well.

“Pray for Tori and Orion, please.”

“Of course,” Logan said.

Vince didn’t say anything.

He and Logan silently walked down the stairs.

Vince hit the push bar at the bottom, and they went out into the Alaskan air, which had a light, crisp, wintergreen smell of birch, and headed across the parking lot to the men’s cabin.

“I keep praying for Tori and Orion,” Logan said. “‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’”

Vince looked at Logan. They’d fought fires together in Montana. Become real friends, talked like real friends. But he couldn’t talk to him about faith. Or his lack of it.

He grunted.

Logan frowned. “What’s going on?”

Vince just shrugged. “Don’t want to talk about it. I want to get out of here, solve the DEA thing. Tucker didn’t give me the days off to do so, wants me to just wait on him to decide sometime.”

“‘The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.’ Exodus. Tucker’s a good guy.”

“Yeah. Prayer. Who’s solving the DEA issue? Who’s out looking for Tori and Orion?”

Logan crossed his arms. “Praying for Tori and Orion isn’t a doable thing for you?”

Vince scratched at his shoulder.

Logan gently put his hand on Vince’s arm, stopped him.

He tried to ignore the topic Logan wanted to delve into, but his friend was waiting for an answer. And Vince couldn’t honestly just say something positive. “God. Doesn’t. Answer.”

“You hate God?”

“Neutral. Nothing more or less.”

“Ah. I get it, my friend. If you want to be neutral toward God because your dad died, you can be. God’s eyes are on you though. Because He loves you. Like Cap taught you, demonstrated to you.”

“Logan, we’re friends. I trust you. I don’t need this.”

Logan dipped his head, then his gentle gaze met Vince’s. His voice was soft. “We all take time to grieve. God understands your grief. He’s waiting on you.”

Vince’s mouth opened.

Logan patted Vince’s shoulder, then strode out of the cabin.

God was waiting on him to work through his grief.

His breath suddenly whooshed out of him.

Logan was a hundred percent accurate. We all take time to grieve. He certainly did. And would continue to. It was his dad who’d died, his grief that he’d been concerned with. Everything he had lost.

But had he given Cadee time to grieve? He was like a father to me.

His stomach twisted.

He accepted that she’d finally shared the story with him this morning.

But he owed her an apology.

Vince headed toward the mess hall—he didn’t want to wait until the morning.

Soon as he stepped off the porch, he spotted her.

There she was with Emma and Ava at the firepit. It was encircled by a stack of stones, the fire bright and inviting, even in the semi-light of the civil twilight of the evening.

He paused, looking at the fire warming Cadee’s face, the three of them giggling, Ava dancing around. He wanted a future with Cadee so badly he felt it deep in his heart. But he wasn’t going to ask her to give up this and face the mess of his life.

Cadee looked over and waved. “Hey, Vince.”

“Uncle Vince!” Ava yelled, throwing herself into his arms as he walked up to the fire.

He spun her around till she giggled, then lowered her to the ground, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Hey, kiddo. Hey, Emma. Didn’t know you two were coming to base camp.”

Emma looked back and forth between him and Cadee. “Um, hi, Vince. Yeah, we’ve had a great talk. Love the bonfire.” She clapped her hands together with a smile. “Come on, Ava, it’s time for a bedtime story.”

“Yay.” Ava’s reddish-blonde ponytail swung back and forth as she made ballerina spins all the way to her mom and took her hand.

Yeah, they’d been talking about him.

This was embarrassing.

Emma ran off, hand in hand with her daughter, and Vince sat on the log next to Cadee.

“Ahem. Sorry about that.” She smiled.

“So Emma knows?—”

“That we almost kissed? She does.”

His eyes darted around to see if anyone was near enough to hear. “Yeah. So I owe you an apology.”

“An apology because you didn’t mean to almost kiss me?”

“Yeah. No.” Was his head spinning? He wished that kiss had happened. Things had felt so right back in Ember. He wanted that back. But he didn’t need to drag her into his problems. She’d had enough terror.

He needed to figure out some way to clear his name.

He had a DEA arrest over his head.

He had jail over his head.

“I’m sorry I blamed you for Dad’s death. Of course you tried to save him. You’re Cadee Moore.”

She gulped hard, her hand on her chest.

He looked down at his feet, then up into her eyes. “You lost him too. I’m sorry for your loss, Cadee.”

Her breath hitched. “No one ever…” She scooched a little closer to him, looked deep into his eyes. “Thank you, Vince.”

An eagle flew overhead, piping high notes. The fire in the firepit was crackling gently, filling the air with the scent of the birch. The birch leaves rustled in the breeze.

Cadee smiled, her eyes closed. Then she grinned, opened her eyes. “We should talk about that almost kiss.”

But he couldn’t. “Cadee…we’re not ready for this.”

“Actually, I get it. You may not be ready— we may not be ready—for a kiss. But we are definitely out of the enemy zone.” She smiled up at him. “Solidly into friendship.”

He looked into the fire. “Look, I’m glad we did move out of that twenty-four-seven quarreling?—”

Cadee snorted.

“—bickering, arguing, driving Jade and the crew crazy.”

Were they holding hands? He pulled his hand out of hers.

Her grin faded.

“Cadee. We did move beyond all that. Finally. But I need to straighten out the junk with the DEA.”

She leaned forward, close, her elbows resting on her knees. “Yeah. And I have your back.”

“You can’t.”

“I can. I will.”

“Cadee. It’s…” He rubbed his eyes. “ Somebody is after me. I don’t want them after you. I need to figure it all out, put a stop to it, if we’re going to be free to have a future together.”

“I have your back, Vince.”

He continued. “I could end up in prison. For a federal crime. You don’t need that.”

He stood, walked back to the men’s cabin. He hated it. But he had to.

First thing tomorrow, he needed to talk to Nick.