Firestorm

Chapter Twenty

A hazy glow in the sky over the mountain peaks ahead told Jac she was getting close to the rendezvous point. She gently shook Mallory’s shoulder.

“Mal, we’re here.”

Mallory jerked, mumbled “okay,” and released her seat belt. After she straightened her seat back, she ran both hands through her hair, managing to somehow toss the thick brown waves into sexy swirls that clung to her neck and made Jac itch to catch them on her fingertips.

“What?” Mallory muttered, peering at her suspiciously.

Jac stifled the urge to rub her mouth, hoping she wasn’t drooling. “Nothing.” She paused. “You look beautiful.”

Mallory’s lips parted as if she was about to speak, then her eyes narrowed. “Stuff it, Russo.”

“Roger that,” Jac said with a grin. Mallory had almost smiled, and her husky tone belied the brusque words. That almost-smile settled in the pit of her stomach like a warm, comforting caress.

“And eyes front.”

“On it, Boss,” Jac said, the warmth kindling to heat when Mallory muttered, “Smart-ass.”

The fire trail emerged from the woods into a clearing that bordered a small lake, and Jac parked behind a line of other emergency vehicles and turned off the engine. An hour before dawn, mist hung over the water in tense, gray layers. Three dozen people milled about a bunch of picnic tables pushed together in front of a semicircle of parked 4x4s, a pair of EMT trucks, and one van with a canine unit logo. “Looks like the place. Pretty big crowd already.”

“David said he expected another two dozen to show up later this morning if we haven’t found them by then.” Mallory looked into the backseat where Sarah and Ray were stirring. “Both of you have your radios?”

“It’s been digging into my ass all night,” Sarah complained.

Laughing, Ray held his up.

“We’ll use channel three between us,” Mallory instructed. “David will let us know what channel to use to contact the search base.”

“How will we be searching?” Jac asked. “Pairs?”

“Probably,” Mallory said. “That will be up to David. Depending on how he has assessed the terrain, the risk factors for the rescue teams, the incoming weather—the usual parameters.” She looked from Jac to the others. “Remember, we don’t want any more victims out there today. Stick with your partners. Be careful.”

“Roger that,” Ray said.

“Always,” Sarah said.

Jac pocketed the keys, climbed out, and grabbed her equipment from the back. Mallory led the way down to the staging area, wending through the crowd of men and women, most of whom were drinking coffee from steaming paper cups. She stopped beside a man who looked to be about forty with collar-length jet-black hair, deep-set dark eyes, and a broad, handsome Native American face.

“Mallory,” he said, pleasure in his voice. “Great to see you. Sorry it has to be this way. Thanks for getting up here so fast.”

“Hi, David.” Mallory hugged him and gestured behind her. “My crew.”

He held out his hand, and Jac introduced herself before he moved on to Sarah and Ray.

“What do you have?” Mallory asked, turning to the picnic table where a large topographical map was held down with battery-powered flashlights at each corner.

Jac leaned close to see, her shoulder brushing Mallory’s. The air vibrated with the excitement of the search, fed by the low buzz of charged-up rescuers and the familiar stirring in her blood that came with the call to duty. But not even the thrill of personal challenge struck as deep as the excitement of being anywhere near Mallory. Her skin practically hummed when she so much as looked at her, as if she were walking through a force field. Until Mallory, the only time she’d ever felt so alive was when she was disarming an IED. Sometimes she thought Mallory might be just as dangerous, at least to her sanity. Sucking in a breath, Jac ordered herself not to think about Mallory and concentrated on what David Longbow was saying.

“They left from the ranger’s station here,” he tapped a spot on the map, “Thursday morning to climb Granite Peak. They were carrying the usual gear—tents, water, food. They had cell phones and planned to check in twice a day when they could get a signal, which they did—until last night. They were due to descend this morning, but they haven’t been heard from.”

“You have their route?” Mallory asked.

David frowned. “We have the course they planned, but I’m not entirely sure that’s where they actually were.” He traced a line with his finger up the elevation of Granite Peak. “This should have been their path up the southern face.” He circled an area. “We had heavy snowfall all winter, as you know. Part of the trail here is in the path of some recent slides, and the warmer days may have softened it up enough to make crossing the snowpack hard work. They might have tried to go around and gotten farther astray than they realized.”

“Makes it difficult to determine the search area,” Jac muttered.

Mallory nodded and David said, “Exactly. We can’t put a plane up. The cloud cover’s already too thick. It’s going to snow, on top of everything else.”

“The north trail intersects here,” Mallory said, pointing to an area east of the large snowpack. “They might have come across this trying to get around the snow and thought they’d found the trail again.”

“More than likely,” David said. “That’s what I’m going to assume.” He overlaid a clear plastic sheet onto the map where grid sections had been drawn with Magic Markers. The areas had been denoted with numbers and letters. He pointed to one section marked C10. “You’ve been up this sector a couple of times, Mallory. I thought we’d put your crew here.”

“Good enough.” Mallory looked at the sky. “It’s going to take a good hour and a half to get there, but we can drive partway. You need me here for anything?”

“No—go ahead and get started. Eat first.” David pointed to a woman in a USFS uniform working at a table in front of a nearby tent. “Susan has GPS units for you, as well as the rest of the communication information.”

Sarah pointed to the canine van. “Are you sending dogs out?”

“Not yet. If it looks like you’re gonna have to dig for them, we’ll bring the dogs. I want to save them for that.”

“Good idea,” Sarah murmured. “I hope we don’t need them.”

Jac studied the van, then looked at Mallory. “Cadaver dogs?”

She nodded.

“If you haven’t crossed their trail by midday,” David said to Mallory, “make sure everybody gets a break.”

“Roger,” Mallory said.

Jac followed Mallory’s lead, collecting another radio and a GPS tracker, then moving on to the food tent. Civilian volunteers handed out coffee, egg and bagel sandwiches, PowerBars, and packets of trail mix. She filled her pockets with the snacks and grabbed two of the egg sandwiches. The four of them sat at a table out of the way, drinking their coffee and downing their breakfast.

“Anybody have any concerns, questions?” Mallory asked.

Ray shook his head.

Sarah sipped her coffee and folded her sandwich wrapper neatly into a small square. “How do you want to break up the sector?”

Mallory spread out her map and marked the grid section they were to search with a red Sharpie she pulled from her pack. Within that section, she marked four quadrants. “You and Ray will start here”—she made a mark in the lower right-hand corner, then arrowed upward—“and climb here. Jac and I will mirror you and move up parallel.”

Jac traced an irregular pale blue line. “Is this a stream?”

“Yes,” Mallory replied. “And we’ll need to be sure we don’t diverge when we hit it or we’ll leave an area uncovered. We’ll check GPS coordinates every fifteen minutes. Anything I missed?”

No one said anything.

“Everyone feel all right?” Mallory checked each of the team. “Got enough rest? Fuel?”

“I’m good to go,” Jac said.

“Me too,” Sarah said.

“Yep.” Ray stood. “Let’s go find these kids.”

*

Jac hiked her ass up onto a boulder, pulled a PowerBar from her pocket, and held it out. “Here.”

Mallory regarded the offering as if it were an exotic animal, her dark brows drawing down. “I’m not hungry.”

“Yes, you are, you just don’t know it.”

“You know, Russo,” Mallory said, jamming her hands onto her hips, “I think I ought to know what I need.”

“I don’t think you do. Eat the damn chocolate bar.”

“How is it you’re an expert on me all of a sudden,” Mallory griped, swiping the bar from Jac’s hand and peeling back one end of the wrapper. She bit off a piece and chewed vigorously, regarding Jac with a belligerent expression.

“I’ve been watching you. You don’t eat regularly, you don’t sleep enough, you drive yourself into the ground in the gym. You need looking after.”

“Ditto, ditto, and ditto.” Mallory poked herself in the chest. “But you don’t see me bugging you about what you ought to be doing, do you?”

“Not yet. I thought I’d give you time.”

“Unbelievable.” Mallory finished the PowerBar in three bites and stuffed the wrapper into the outside pocket of her cargo pants. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” The rock was dry but cold under Jac’s butt, and she tried to imagine what those kids must be feeling if they were stuck somewhere in ice and snow. “You think one of them is hurt?”

“Hopefully that’s all they are,” Mallory said, dropping down beside Jac on the huge stone slab and leaning back on her hands. “I can’t think of any other reason why we haven’t heard from them unless they’ve lost their equipment and are just trying to get down the mountain the best they can.”

“Without a plane in the air, I guess it’s possible they’re on their way down, and we just can’t see them.”

“I hope.”

Jac scanned the mountain looming over them—steep rock faces, patches of dense forest, acres of thick ice and snowpack. Climbing was difficult in daylight even with all the equipment they needed. Winter rescues were tricky—rescuers died every year attempting them. “With this terrain, if we’ve got injured, it’s gonna be tough getting them out. Especially after dark.”

“I know. Let’s find them before sundown, then we’ll figure out how to evacuate them.” Mallory checked her watch. “Five minutes. You okay?”

Mallory rested lightly against Jac’s shoulder, and Jac wasn’t cold any longer. They were in the middle of a dangerous rescue, as dangerous as plenty of the missions she’d been on overseas. She wasn’t frightened of injury or even death, but she was terrified of losing the first connection she’d ever found that made her feel as if she wasn’t alone. And she was plenty tired of pretending she couldn’t feel the heat that sparked between them. She slid her arm around Mallory’s waist.

Mallory shifted on the rock and stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What the hell are you doing, Russo?”

“Sorry, I just—” Jac blew out a breath and inched closer, nuzzling Mallory’s hair. “You smell so damned good.”

“Are you out of your—”

“Hell with it,” Jac muttered, and framed Mallory’s face. When Mallory didn’t pull away, Jac eased forward and kissed her. Mallory’s skin was cool under her fingers, but her lips were soft and warm. Jac carefully traced the surface of Mallory’s lower lip with the tip of her tongue, and Mallory made a tiny sound of surprise in the back of her throat that whispered off into a moan. Jac’s chest seized and she couldn’t breathe, but she’d rather die than stop. Mallory’s mouth moved against hers and heat flooded her. For an instant, Jac glimpsed flames flickering in a hearth on a snowy winter afternoon. The feeling of home, of safety, of contentment wafted over her until the blaze caught and flames shot high and excitement scorched her skin. She groaned softly and slid her hand into the thick hair at the base of Mallory’s neck.

Mallory’s palm slapped against her chest, and Mallory jerked back. “Stop that.”

“Sorry,” Jac said, but she didn’t mean it. Her breath was coming fast, and all she could see was the hazy reflection of her own desire in Mallory’s green eyes. Mallory’s mouth said no, but her eyes said something completely different. “I’ve been wanting to do that since the muffin morning.”

Mallory caught her breath, half laughing, half choking. “Since the muffin morning? The muffin morning?”

Jac grinned. “That’s how I think of that morning when I saw you lying on your cot, your face so soft and sleepy and beautiful. I wanted to kiss you then. And just about every second I’ve been near you since. The muffin—I get a little excited every time I see one now.”

Mallory’s mouth curved into a smile, and her face flushed as if she were suddenly very warm. Her tongue flicked out and moistened the surface of her lower lip. She lightly traced the arch of Jac’s cheek with her knuckles and then trailed her fingertips along the edge of her jaw. “Russo, you’re crazy.”

“Not so much right now.”

Mallory shook her head. “Wrong place, wrong time—wrong person.”

“You said five minutes, so I’ve still got time,” Jac said softly. “And you look just right to me.”

“Your judgment is suspect.”

“Sometimes,” Jac agreed. “But not this time, Mallory. Not this time.”

“We’ve got a big job ahead of us.”

“I know,” Jac said, her fingers still threaded through Mallory’s hair. “That’s why I’m not going to kiss you again until later. Until after we find them.”

“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“No, not always. But I’m certain about kissing you again.”

Mallory jumped down from the boulder as if it had suddenly come to life and growled at her. “You’re nuts. We are not doing this.”

Jac jumped down beside her and shouldered her pack. “Why not?”

“For about a million reasons, starting with the fact that—well—how do you even know I want to kiss you?”

“You do. You brought me a muffin.”

“Enough with the muffins,” Mallory snapped. She stared at Jac, her eyes bright, nearly feverish. “Damn it.”

Mallory grabbed Jac by the shoulders and jerked her forward, her mouth coming down hard over Jac’s. The kiss was hard and demanding and hot and so powerful Jac’s legs shook. As quickly as it began, Mallory pulled away. Gasping, dizzy, Jac reached out to steady herself on the rock. “Jesus, Mallory.”

“Now we’re done. I mean it.” Mallory grabbed her gear and stormed away.

Jac pressed her hand to her chest as her heart skittered around like a marble in a bowl. She never got this hyped even after she’d neutered a bomb, and she was always pretty damn high then. Maybe she was having a heart attack. She wasn’t certain her legs would hold her up, let alone carry her up the mountain, but she forced herself forward in Mallory’s tracks. She wasn’t foolish enough to hope Mallory wouldn’t regret what she’d just done, but Mallory’s kiss proved she wasn’t alone in her desire, and that was enough. At least she could tell herself that for now.