Firestorm

Chapter Thirty

The hangar was tomb-like. Even the ever-present drip of oil from machine parts and the whine of wind sluicing over the metal roof were absent. The silence Mallory ordinarily found peaceful only made the ache inside harder to bear. She was off call, with a sunny day for the first time in a week ahead of her, and everything was wrong. Jac should be here and she wasn’t. They should still be wrapped up in each other, wakening to the sound of each other’s breathing, touching and making love. Jac should not have left her. Jac should not have broken her heart. She’d let Jac touch her—let her into her body and her damn heart. Didn’t Jac know she didn’t need to fight alone, that Mallory would have stood by her? Mallory wanted to kick the joined sleeping bags over the edge of the loft into the mocking emptiness below. Real mature. What did you expect? You slept together one night. Hardly grounds for an engagement.

When Mallory hurt, she worked. She straightened up the loft, squared the cots, placed a rolled sleeping bag at the end of each one. Then she headed to the standby shack to sort and clean the gear she and Jac had used on the SAR. The quiet in the cavernous hangar followed her out into the yard, beating at her like so many silent wings, making the air heavy and hard to pull into her lungs. Her limbs were sluggish, her mind vaguely empty. And the ache deep in her core throbbed with every step. The harsh lights in the locker room made her eyes water. She swiped at the moisture on her face and tried not to see Jac leaning against the wall of lockers, naked, water glistening on her smooth, tanned skin. She tried not to feel the heat of Jac’s flesh beneath her fingers. Tried not to see the wounded desolation in Jac’s eyes when Fleming had handed her that photograph.

Mallory stiffened. The photograph. A tiny click in the back of her brain cleared some of the fog. The click got louder, steadier, and disparate pieces of a fragmented picture started to fit together. How convenient that Fleming had a copy of the photograph—just in time for Franklin Russo’s candidacy announcement. Just the kind of ammunition Jac couldn’t fight. And then using it to threaten Mallory’s job? Maybe the whole station? Fleming knew Jac’s history. She had to know what Jac would do—Jac was programmed to put herself in the path of destruction for the sake of those she loved. Mallory paced around the bench between the lockers. Maybe Jac didn’t believe she wasn’t alone anymore, but that was no reason to let her go on believing it. Mallory considered her options. She might not be able to take on a powerful presidential candidate who chose to use his family as props and sent his rabid watchdog to make threats, but she wasn’t helpless, and she wasn’t giving up on Jac. The photograph was a place to start.

Energized, she spun around, checked her jacket pockets for the keys to the rented Jeep, and sprinted out to the yard. She tore out onto the highway and headed south. An hour later she drove through a still-sleeping Bear Creek and pulled up in front of Emily’s house. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to say or do, but she knew she had to start here. She checked her watch. Eight a.m. Emily might still be asleep. Maybe she should drive around town until she found an open coffee shop. She ought to at least bring pastries as a peace offering. As she reached to key the ignition, the front door of Emily’s small wood-framed house opened, and Emily stepped out onto the porch in a pale blue robe cinched at the waist. Looking perplexed, Emily waved and motioned for Mallory to come in. Mallory pocketed her keys, got out, and strode up the sidewalk. Emily stepped back inside and Mallory followed.

“Hi.” Emily stood on tiptoe and kissed Mallory lightly on the lips. “What are you doing here? Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry. I know it’s early. My clock is all turned around.”

“You’ve been out on a call?”

“Yes. And then some things—came up.”

Emily linked her arm through Mallory’s. “Come back to the kitchen. I was just about to make coffee. Are you hungry?”

“No,” Mallory said, although her stomach rumbled in contradiction.

“We’ll see about that. Take off your coat and tell me what’s going on.”

Mallory hesitated in the doorway to the cheery kitchen. Emily looked beautiful in the bright morning sun, her hair glowing, her skin fresh, her expression vibrant. She looked happy, and Mallory suddenly felt out of place and guilty for bringing discord into the tranquility.

“You’ve got something on your mind,” Emily said.

“I don’t know how to say this,” Mallory said abruptly.

Emily finished filling the coffeemaker with water, set the kettle down, and turned to study Mallory. “Come to tell me things have changed?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised after the last time you were here. Change was in the air.” Emily smiled faintly. “I’m disappointed, of course. But I’m not going to lose your friendship, am I?”

“Of course not. I—”

“You needn’t tell me how fond you are of me. I know.” Emily rested her hands on Mallory’s shoulders and kissed her again, not a sisterly kiss, but one with no expectations. A gentle, tender, caring kiss. “You’ve met someone. Someone who’s shaking you up. I think that’s a good thing.”

“There are some problems.”

“Of course there are. No one ever comes to a relationship without a past. Can you tell me about it?”

Mallory sighed. “I’ll try. You’re sure it’s all right?”

“Very sure.”

They sat at the table, and when the coffee was done, Emily poured two cups. Mallory told Emily about her relationship with Jac and the photograph in Jac’s locker. She left out Fleming’s visit and Jac’s family issues. She wouldn’t violate Jac’s privacy.

Emily’s brows drew down. “You’re sure the photo was taken here in town?”

“It had to be. It’s the only place we—” Mallory felt her face growing warm. Could she really be blushing at the mention of sex? Unbelievable. “We didn’t…we weren’t…last night was the first time we were together. The photograph was taken before that.”

“Where is she now?”

Mallory’s stomach tightened. “Something came up with her family. She had to leave.”

Emily didn’t look like she believed that was the whole story, but she didn’t question. “Well, if the photo was taken at the bar, there are limited options as to who was responsible. After all, who around here would care about you and Jac being together?”

“Motive,” Mallory murmured. “That’s it, isn’t it?” Really, who would care? No one she worked with. She had no exes, no one with a grudge or a score to settle. Not unless… The queasy feeling in her stomach sharpened into an agonizing blade to her heart. “Maybe a friend of Phil or Danny? Someone who blames me for their deaths?”

“Oh, honey, I can’t believe anyone who worked on the line, or loved anyone who did, would do something like this. What happened last year wasn’t your fault, and the only one who blames you is you.”

Mallory heard the words, and for the first time, started to believe them. “Why else would someone try to make it look like we were intimate?”

“Maybe the message wasn’t for you. Maybe this is about Jac.”

“I suppose there are a lot more possibilities there,” Mallory said. An old girlfriend? A jealous husband? A political rival of her father? God, anything was possible. “But it still leaves the how.”

“Well, that probably could be anyone. The bar is always crowded, and no one is really paying much attention to what’s going on outside their own circles. I wouldn’t think a stranger would go unnoticed, though.” Emily traced a pattern on the cotton tablecloth with her fingertip. “But I can’t imagine why a local would do this.”

Mallory thought back to that night, of the guys from the station who were there. Then she pictured the room, and the locals, and her jaw tightened. “I think I might have an idea about that. I’ll need to ask a few questions.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“No.” Mallory leaned over and kissed Emily. “Thank you. Can I take you to dinner sometime real soon?”

Emily smiled. “No. But you can come here for a good meal. Bring Jac too.”

The pain raced higher in Mallory’s chest. Would she even have a chance to see Jac again?

*

The next morning at dawn, Mallory roared into the field camp set up in a clearing beyond the end of the access road. Campfires smoldered in rock-ringed pits in front of a cluster of tents. She pulled her Jeep in beside the work trucks, jumped out, and pushed through the brush into camp. She smelled coffee but didn’t see anyone around. She dumped her gear by the central fire pit and debated announcing her arrival loud enough to wake everyone else up. She recognized Sully’s tent, but she didn’t want to face him yet. He wasn’t responsible for what she suspected, but he’d take responsibility anyhow. Not knowing what to do with herself, she found the coffeepot sitting on one of the boulders facing the fire and felt the side. Still hot. She dug her camp cup out of her gear bag and poured herself a cup of coffee so dark and so strong her eyes watered. The sound of a zipper sliding down on a tent flap brought her twisting around.

Sarah emerged in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, yawning and brushing hair from her eyes. “Hey. I didn’t expect you until later.”

“Had some things to take care of. Where’s Hooker?” Mallory said abruptly.

Sarah frowned, the sleep leaving her eyes and her face tensing. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Long story. Where is he?”

“You sound like you want to chew him a new one,” Sarah said, reaching back into her tent and coming out with her own tin cup. She joined Mallory by the fire and poured coffee. “I don’t know where he is. He told Sully early yesterday he had an emergency and needed the day off. He’s not back yet as far as I know. What’s going on, Mallory?”

Fury hazed Mallory’s vision. “The cowardly bastard is running away.”

“Excuse me?”

“He’s not coming back. He’s a stalker. Or a goddamn spy.”

“Spy? For who?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but I think he’s been watching me and Jac.” Mallory ground her back teeth. “The bastard had Chantal taking pictures of us.”

“Us who?”

“Me and Jac. I think he left one in Jac’s locker.”

“Chantal told you that?” Sarah sounded incredulous.

“Yep. She couldn’t believe I was upset.” Mallory snorted, half-angry and half-disbelieving. “Hooker told her the pictures were for a work party—a joke. All in fun.”

“What kind of pictures?”

“Fortunately nothing too revealing, since we didn’t do anything then.” Mallory looked away.

“Wait a minute. Intimate photos of the two of you?”

Mallory flushed. “We were only dancing that night we all went out to Tommy’s. The shot made it look like more.”

Sarah grasped Mallory’s arm. “My God, Mallory—that’s awful. Why?”

“I’m not sure. To harass us maybe—maybe it’s just an anti-gay thing.” That would make sense if it hadn’t been for Fleming. Why send photos to Fleming if blackmail wasn’t the object, and it didn’t seem to be. Mallory kicked a rock into the fire pit. “He’s been a little bit belligerent since he arrived, but I thought it was just the typical macho reaction to a woman in charge. Now I’m not so sure. I think maybe he was here to watch Jac.”

“You said nothing had been going on between you and Jac when the photograph was taken. Is there more now?” Sarah asked gently. “Between the two of you?”

“I thought so.”

“Where’s Jac?” Sarah frowned. “I thought she was coming up with you.”

“She’s not. I’m not sure she’ll be back at all.”

Sarah’s breath burst out. “Oh, I’m really sorry, Mallory. What a mess.”

“I don’t care about the photos, but Jac does.” Mallory sat down on the boulder. “It’s a lot more complicated than a little bit of work harassment.”

“After all that nastiness with the tabloid photos, I imagine Jac is really gun-shy,” Sarah said. “Will you be able to prove Hooker was behind it?”

Mallory laughed bitterly. “I doubt it. Chantal doesn’t have the camera card. It’s just a he said/she said thing with her claiming he asked her to take some racy candids. If he denies it, there’s not much to do.”

“Wait a minute,” Sarah said. “If you think Hooker was a plant, how the hell did they get him into our station?”

“I pulled his personnel files last night. He was a last-minute applicant when another guy got injured. He was qualified, Sully passed him on to me as a probable accept, and I agreed when I reviewed the applicants.” Mallory shook her head. She should have caught that something was out of whack. “He looked really good on paper. Now that I think of it, maybe too good.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Sarah sat on the boulder next to Mallory and wrapped her arm around her. “So what are you going to do now, Ice?”

Mallory stood and tossed the dregs of her coffee into the smoldering ashes. “I’m going to finish up boot camp and see if Hooker comes back and proves me wrong.”

“And what about Jac?”

Mallory looked away, afraid if she saw the sympathy in Sarah’s eyes she’d embarrass herself. She’d walk through fire for Jac if Jac were hurt, but Jac had left by choice. If they hadn’t slept together, she might have gone after her all the same, but they’d blurred their boundaries now. That one night changed everything. Especially for her. “I’m kind of hoping she comes back too.”

“If she doesn’t?”

“I guess that’s the really big question, isn’t it. I wish to hell I knew the right answer.”

*

Three days later, Mallory still had no answers, but she was more certain of a few things. Hooker had not come back, and when she and Sully tried to track him down through the regional office, no one seemed to know where he was. When she wasn’t supervising the rookies while they climbed trees, cut lines, or assessed and laid out safety zones, she was digging into Hooker’s background. She didn’t come up with anything except that the paper trail stopped abruptly with the application that Sully had received early in the season. Hooker was a plant, and that had to have been arranged well before Jac was inserted into the team. No doubt, Fleming was a long-range planner.

She got up before the sun and didn’t crawl into her tent until she couldn’t stand up any longer. Exhaustion allowed her to sleep, but it didn’t stop her from dreaming. She could keep Jac out of her thoughts during the day by focusing on the firefighters she needed to train, but she couldn’t prevent Jac from invading her thoughts when she lay down to sleep. She saw her quick smile, heard her easy laugh, felt the gentle touch of her fingers on her face. She saw her eyes darken with desire, heard her moans of passion, felt the immeasurable pleasure of Jac filling her, taking her, surrendering to her. She ached for her with every bit of the soul-lacerating pain she’d lived with since she’d lost her men. If she hadn’t had her crew counting on her, she might have broken.

“On my mark,” she called to the three men set to scale the test trees. She stood at the base of one with her stopwatch. Sully and Sarah were timing the climbs at the others. “Go.”

She stepped back, craned her neck, and clicked off the watch when Anderson reached the preset target high up in the air. She took note of his technique as he descended. The other men reached the ground nearly simultaneously. “Nice job.”

“Thanks.” Anderson released his harness from around the base of the tree, hesitated, and said, “Have you heard anything from Jac?”

Mallory’s jaw tensed. “No. Not yet.”

“But if she comes back, she can make up what she missed, right?”

“She gets points for the fieldwork during the search and rescue mission we did.” Mallory slid her stopwatch into her pocket and sighed. “But she has to make the last jump on Saturday.”

Anderson pushed his hard hat back off his forehead, appearing to be fascinated by something in the trees beyond Mallory. Then he dropped his gaze to hers. “Sometimes a person goes AWOL because they don’t quite have their head on straight. That’s when someone in the squad needs to go get them and drag their ass back to base before they really get themselves into trouble.”

“This isn’t the Army, Anderson,” Mallory said. If Jac had just been one of her crew, she would have gone after her already. But Jac hadn’t wanted her along. Maybe didn’t want her at all. Jac’s choice, not hers.

“Close enough,” Anderson said. “If you tell me where she is, me and Ray will go collect her.”

Mallory studied him. “You know who she is, right?”

“Oh yeah, I know. She’s one hell of a wildland firefighter.”

“Yes, she is.” Mallory tried to set aside her personal feelings, ignore the hurt. Anderson was right—Jac was crew. You didn’t abandon crew, ever. Her heart said something even more important, something she couldn’t deny. Jac was hers. “I’m the boss. I’ll go get her.”

He grinned. “Good idea, Boss.”

Mallory tucked her clipboard under her arm and motioned Sarah to follow her as she walked away from the group.

“What’s up?” Sarah asked.

“I need you to cover for me for a while.”

“About time.”

“Yes,” Mallory said. “It really is.”