Firestorm

Chapter Nineteen

Sully walked into the ops office while Mallory was running checks on the radio transmitters the team would need for the search. Even though he must have been asleep when the call for backup came in from the ranger station in Granite Peak Park, his face was unlined, his shirt unrumpled, and his khaki trousers sharply creased. Mallory had had one leg in her sleeping bag when he’d called her. The adrenaline rush had roused her, but her eyes felt gritty, and her jeans and chambray shirt, though clean, had just come out of her laundry bag, and they looked it.

“I’ve got this, Sully,” she said. “No need for you to stay up.”

“Uh-huh.” Sully leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his legs at the ankle. “Who are you taking?”

“Sarah and Russo. Everybody else is still off base.”

“You want me to set up the field camp tomorrow when the rest of them get back?”

“That works, thanks. I don’t want boot camp to carry over into June.” Mallory stacked the radios next to a pile of topographical maps. While she worshipped order, if she got bent out of shape every time her schedule got torpedoed by an act of nature, she’d have been committed by now. “Hopefully we’ll find these kids in the morning and be back by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Who’s the lead on the search?”

“David Longbow. He’s sending four teams out at dawn. We should have plenty of time to get there.”

Sully crossed the room and craned his neck to see out the high horizontal window. “Lotta cloud cover coming in. I doubt you’ll be able to get any planes up.”

“I know. I just checked the forecast. A cold front coming down from Canada might bring snow in the high country by tomorrow midday. We really need to find them before that.”

“It’s too early in the season for a climb that high,” Sully said, shaking his head.

“David says the rangers tried to talk them out of it, but”—Mallory shrugged—“it’s still a free country.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sully grinned wryly. “And I recall not listening to anyone when I was their age either.”

Mallory chuckled. “Sully—I’m not so sure you’d listen now.”

“Be careful out there, okay?”

Mallory nodded. “You got it, Chief.”

She grabbed the gear and headed into the yard to load the Jeep. Ground searches this time of year were always frustratingly slow and dangerous, as the snow covering the slopes in the high country started to melt underneath the crusted surface. Slides and mini-avalanches were common. She hoped to hell those kids hadn’t been caught in one. If they had, the SAR teams might not find them until July. She hoped she wasn’t making a mistake bringing Jac along, but she could use the manpower. Jac might be a rookie in terms of smokejumping, but she did have experience on the line, and many search and rescue volunteers had even less experience than Jac. She couldn’t explain the anxiety gnawing at her insides, but trying to puzzle out that strange sensation was a lot more comfortable than dealing with the surge of pleasure and relief she’d experienced when Sarah had told her Jac was on her way back with her.

Jac wasn’t spending the night with Chantal, and Mallory had absolutely no reason to be happy about that. Not just happy, practically jubilant. Ridiculous. She wasn’t about to start keeping tabs on Jac’s love life. She didn’t even want to think about Jac’s love life. She especially didn’t want to think about Chantal and her perky breasts and her pouty lips and her hands that were all over Jac every time Mallory looked in their direction. God, Chantal had looked ready for Jac to fuck her right there in the middle of Tommy’s.

Mercifully, the sound of an engine dissolved those particular images, and she spun around to watch Sarah’s Mustang pull in behind the Jeep. She resolutely did not look at Jac when Jac climbed out of the passenger side and joined Sarah.

“Hey,” Sarah called.

“Good to see you.” Mallory grabbed her go bag and stashed it in the rear compartment. The gravel crunched under their approaching footsteps, but she kept working. Her pulse tripped when the barest hint of pine wafted to her. The tangy scent made her stomach quiver absurdly, as if she’d never smelled the forest before. She lived in it, for God’s sake.

“What do you need us to do?” Sarah asked.

Drawing in a slow breath, Mallory straightened and turned. Sarah and Jac stood a few feet away in a pool of moonlight. She’d just seen Jac a few hours before, and there was no reason for her heart to race, but it did. The tightness in her stomach, the anticipation in her thighs, annoyed her almost as much as it amazed her. Jac hooked her thumbs in the sides of her pockets, rocking ever so slightly on her heels, her gaze steady on Mallory, as if to say, Here I am. What do you plan to do about it?

Nothing. She planned to do absolutely nothing about Jac beyond treating her precisely as what she was—a rookie member of the team. Racing heart and sweating palms be damned. Biology—that’s all it was—reflex, too long without a little human contact. Like she could have had with Emily if she’d been able to get Jac out of her mind.

“Change if you need to, and then grab your go bags,” Mallory snapped. “You’ll need ice gear. Everything else is loaded. We’ve got about a three-hour drive. No reason to have Benny fly with weather moving in.”

Sarah glanced up at the sky. Thick swaths of blue-black cloud swirled rapidly across the sky, obscuring the moon and blanketing the stars. “It was clear when we left Bear Creek.”

“A heavy front is coming down from the north.”

Jac said, “How many are out there?”

“Three,” Mallory said. “Two boys and a girl. College kids. They decided to get in a climb before they left for summer break. Only they forgot it’s not summer up here yet.”

“Experienced climbers?” Jac asked, her tone hopeful.

Mallory shook her head. “One of the boys is. The girl has a little experience. The other guy, none.”

“Man,” Jac muttered. “We better find them fast, then.”

“Roger that,” Mallory said. “Hopefully we’ll be back here tomorrow.”

Sarah headed off to the barracks, stopping in the middle of the yard to talk to Sully.

“I’ve got EMT experience,” Jac said. “Ski patrol.”

“Good, I can always use backup.” Mallory leaned against the Jeep. “I’m surprised you weren’t a corpsman in the Guard, then.”

Jac rubbed the back of her neck, her expression distant, as if remembering. “I had that choice, but I wanted to stop troopers from getting blown up, not piece them back together afterward.”

Mallory’s throat tightened at the image of how close Jac must have come to death so many times. Even though she knew Jac had been trained for the work, the idea of her defusing one of those monsters, alone and vulnerable, scared her in a way she hadn’t been scared since the flames roared down on her team a year ago. She shuddered. She couldn’t go there again, and to remind herself, she said out loud, “You an adrenaline junkie, Russo?”

“Not so much. Steady hands, remember?”

Mallory said nothing.

“Mallory,” Jac said, the levity gone from her voice. “You can count on me. I promise.”

Mallory didn’t want to. She didn’t want to count on anyone, didn’t want to need anyone, didn’t want to fear losing anyone. “Just do your job, and we’ll be fine.”

“Just so you know, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be tonight than right here.”

What was Jac saying? She had to be talking about the job. She couldn’t be talking about Chantal. Could she? Could she really be that brave? Mallory knew she wouldn’t have been. Wasn’t. “Get your gear, Russo. We need to move out.”

Jac held her gaze as if waiting for her to say more, and when she didn’t, Jac strode away. Mallory ached to call her back—wanted to say she understood. That this was where she wanted to be too—not anywhere else, not with anyone else. She kept her silence. Better that way. Safer. Yes. Yes. Then why the hollow ache in her chest? Mallory gritted her teeth and double-checked the equipment she’d stored in the back of the Jeep. The sound of another vehicle pulling into the yard put thoughts of Jac and the fleeting pain in her eyes out of Mallory’s mind.

Kingston, Anderson, and Cooper climbed out of Cooper’s battered Ford 450.

“What’s going on?” Cooper called as the men hurried over.

“Missing hikers,” Mallory said. “Who’s the designated driver?”

“Me,” Ray said.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Ray said. “Need another man?”

“Could use one. Grab your stuff. We’re ready to leave.”

“Give me a minute,” he said, and he hurried away.

“Cooper—you’ll be with Sully setting up field camp.”

“Sounds good.”

Sully ambled over. “All set?”

“Yes,” Mallory said. “Good luck up at River Rock.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep them busy until you show up.”

Mallory grinned. “No doubt.”

“Keep me updated, and be careful out there.”

“Will do.” Mallory handed radios to Sarah, Jac, and Ray as they returned. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“I’ve got shotgun,” Jac said and pulled open the passenger side door.

Mallory got behind the wheel, and Sarah and Ray piled into the rear. She pulled out of the yard, her mind on the upcoming mission, but her senses flooded with Jac. She could still smell her, damn it. She tightened her grip on the wheel and kept her gaze forward. If she didn’t look at her, maybe it would be easier to ignore her. “Everyone should try to catch a little sleep.”

“I can spell you driving in a little while,” Jac murmured, “so you can catch an hour or so.”

“I’m fine,” Mallory said.

“No doubt. But even superheroes sleep sometimes.”

“Anyone ever tell you you were a smart-ass, Russo?” Mallory muttered.

“Not that I can recall.”

“Smart-ass with a bad memory.”

Jac laughed softly. “Thanks for taking me along tonight.”

“I needed a warm body.” The instant she said it, Mallory recognized her mistake. Thankfully, the dark hid the blush she felt heating her cheeks.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Jac said too quietly for Sarah or Ray to pick up above the sound of the engine revving, “until you really mean it.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Mallory said.

“You never know,” Jac said as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “There’s always Bear Creek.”

*

The murmurs of conversation from the backseat faded away, and Jac figured Sarah and Ray were sleeping. She’d catnapped for a while until the Jeep bumped off the highway and onto a fire trail.

“Must be getting close,” she said.

“Another hour or so,” Mallory murmured.

“Ready to surrender your cape, Wonder Woman, and grab some sleep?” Jac knew she was taking a chance baiting Mallory, teasing her, but she didn’t know any other way to get through to her. When she’d realized Mallory was back at camp and not somewhere with Emily, the flood of relief was so strong she couldn’t pretend she didn’t care. She cared, and the knowledge slammed through her with equal parts terror and wonder. The last time she’d really cared about a woman she’d been in college, young and naïve and impressionable. Cynthia had been a graduate student, a classic California blonde exiled to Idaho because the college offered a hotel management program that was the best in the West. Cynthia had been a sorority girl, vivacious and sexy and fickle. She’d run so hot and cold Jac never knew whether a dinner date would end up with them in bed or her heading back to her dorm room alone and frustrated. When she’d begun to realize that Cynthia only wanted to spend time with her when she was attending obligatory family affairs with the power people who surrounded her father, she called it quits. Cynthia wasn’t interested in her company, but only in the company she kept. Why did she keep forgetting that lesson?

“All right.” Mallory pulled over. “You win this one.”

From the backseat, Sarah murmured thickly, “We there?”

“Not yet. Go back to sleep.” Mallory put the Jeep in Park and got out.

Jac opened her door and crossed in front of the Jeep, slowing as Mallory’s figure skirted the cone of light thrown off by the headlights. She waited just at the edge of the shadows for her. “Thanks.”

Mallory’s face was half in shadow, half illuminated by the slanting light. A furrow creased her brow. “For what?”

“For trusting me. To drive.”

“You know,” Mallory said softly, “you’ve never given me any reason not to trust you. It just doesn’t come easy for me.”

“I know. Me neither.” Jac wanted to touch her so badly. Just to graze her fingertips over the top of her hand. As if the slight physical connection would somehow cement the fragile, elusive bond that flickered between them like firelight.

“And, Jac?”

“Yeah?” Jac’s chest was so tight she could hardly get words out.

“Wonder Woman had magical bracelets, not a cape.”

“I never could keep my superheroes straight.”

Mallory brushed by her in the darkness, leaving the lingering hint of honeysuckle behind. When Jac climbed behind the wheel, Mallory had already tilted the seat back and curled on her side facing Jac. Her eyes were closed, one hand beneath her cheek. Strands of dark hair layered across her face. Jac carefully reached across the space between them and brushed the hair away from Mallory’s eyes with her fingertips. Mallory’s eyelids fluttered open, and her gaze caught Jac’s and held.

“Drive,” Mallory whispered, tilting her head so her cheek brushed against Jac’s fingers.

“Yeah.” Jac eased the Jeep back onto the fire road, her hand tingling from the fleeting touch. That soft caress excited her more than Chantal or any woman before her ever had.