Dink looked up in surprise when Tucker moseyed into Pine Tree Tavern. “You’re here early. I suppose you want a beer.”
“I wouldn’t turn one down.”
Dink chuckled and set a glass on the bar. “I thought you were out for the day?”
“Just got back. I had to pick a couple of fishermen off Crowley Lake before the fire trapped them.”
“Fire? What fire?”
“The fire.”
Dink frowned. “No one told me about a fire.”
“Lightning. They think it was smoldering for a few days. Not a lot of rain lately so it finally flared up.” He tipped back the glass and took a healthy swig.
“Did you say Crowley Lake?”
“And then some, it was pushing eighty acres last I heard. Building fast.”
“Shit, Charley and Drake are up hiking Eagle Point.”
Tucker shoved his beer away. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I packed their lunches myself before they left today.”
“They’re right on the edge of it and the winds are pushing it right at them.”
“Can you get me up there?”
“We can check it out but if it’s too hot or they aren’t near the water there’s not much I’ll be able to do to help them.”
“Let’s go.” Dink yanked his apron off and yelled to the back. “Abby, I’m going out.”
• • •
Drake couldn’t breathe as he stood riveted, watching Charley flounder in slow motion in front of him. She was too high, still too far up but that didn’t stop her bruised fingers from being pulled free one at a time while her hair — that glorious hair — rippled like a flag in the wind. Should witnessing someone’s imminent death be such a beautiful thing?
Charley knew she was going to fall and it amazed her how every crack and blemish, every subtle change of light and color on the rock face was suddenly so incredibly detailed. As her last two fingers pulled away, a shrill scream echoed in her head and it took her half a second to realize it was coming from her.
Drake stared in horror as Charley lost her grip. She hung there, suspended in time and space for an instant before everything accelerated at a fantastic rate and she plummeted toward him. A fraction of a second was all he had to brace himself before she dropped heavily into his arms. Her sudden weight and pure instinct drove Drake forward and he slammed them both against the stone wall and away from the edge. He rode Charley’s body down to the narrow floor and she came to rest pinned beneath him.
“Oh shit,” he groaned. Trembling with adrenaline and shock, Drake tightened his grip around Charley and stroked her hair, reassuring them both that she was safe.
Charley shifted and Drake eased up just enough to allow her to turn but not enough that she could escape his protective embrace.
Looking for distance was the last thing on Charley’s mind. She slipped her left arm around him and held on tight, shaking violently herself.
“You caught me,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from smoke and screaming.
“I told you I would.”
“I knew you’d try but I wasn’t sure you’d succeed.”
She shuddered and he hugged her tighter. Then Charley turned her head and he noticed the bleeding scuff on her cheek. He gently cupped it with his palm.
“Sorry about that.”
She gripped the back of his shirt and shook her head. “You caught me,” she repeated. “I know this sounds kind of wimpy but would you just hold me a little longer, until I stop shaking?”
She didn’t have to ask twice. Drake pulled her in close, his leg going over her as well. It gave them both a chance to catch their breath.
“I was so scared up there,” she whispered against his shirt.
Drake was shocked to find she was crying. He rubbed her back and ran his other hand over her hair while she hid her face against him. It wasn’t exactly his sex fantasy but it didn’t suck having her clinging to him either. When she finally composed herself and pulled away, his shirt was damp but he didn’t care.
“Don’t tell anyone I did that okay?”
He gave her an understanding smile. “What, cry? You’ve just been through hell. Anyone else would have shit themselves.”
“Please?” she insisted. “I’m better at hiding my emotions than expressing them.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” he teased.
“Well … the gentler emotions,” she conceded.
“But they look good on you.”
She snorted. “You’re the strangest person I’ve ever met.”
He just smiled at that.
“Thanks for saving my life,” she said awkwardly.
“It’s not over yet.”
They looked up, realizing they still had to get moving but the climb from here would be a lot less risky.
They sat up and Charley rubbed her shoulder.
“How is it?” he asked.
“Hurts like a son of a bitch.”
“You wrenched it good up there.”
“Or bad.”
“Or bad,” he agreed. “Come on, we have to get going.”
He stood and reached down, hauling her to her feet.
“I’m still leader here,” he reminded her, peering over the side to map their next path.
“Fine by me. The job’s yours.”
He turned and smiled at her. “I know why you don’t want it. It’s a lot more fun knowing you’re right and proving it after I make a mistake.”
She grinned. “Exactly.”
“Come on.”
• • •
Dink and Tucker could smell smoke all the way over at Fisher Lake, miles from where the blaze was burning out of control. They picked up the fire fighters on their radio but so far, the guys on the ground were still mobilizing and they didn’t have any air support yet but it was on its way.
They needed to get in and get out fast or they could wind up getting in the way of aircraft dipping the lakes.
Tucker left the dock behind and pointed the nose at the far shore. They bounced across the water before finally lifting off, easily clearing the trees.
“Holy fuck!” said Dink in horror.
That pretty much summed up what they were looking at. A wall of smoke blocked out the sun as they headed west, so high already it looked like massive thunderheads. It got even more unsettling the closer west they flew. Now they could see intense red, orange, and yellow flames licking up from the ground in undulating streaks and dangerous eddies. A long dead white pine towering over the canopy suddenly flared sending off sparks like a bottle rocket.
“Shit, did you just see that?” Tucker asked.
Dink’s face was white. “Oh yeah.”
“No way am I leaving my plane on Fisher. When we get back, would you drive my truck down to Perch? I’ll land it there.”
“Done.”
They banked right and headed straight into hell.
• • •
Sweat ran down Charley’s grimy body. It was nearly as uncomfortable as her pulled shoulder but she knew better than to complain. She was lucky to still be moving. She could easily have wrenched her knee or twisted an ankle. Or, she shuddered to think about this, she might have killed them both.
She watched Drake with a growing sense of wonder as he led her down. It was obvious he was picking the easiest route but that didn’t make it entirely challenge free. The largest drop so far had been over six feet. He turned onto his stomach and dropped off backwards to the level below, then held up his arms.
“What?” she asked looking down on him.
“Sit down and slide off. I’ll catch you.”
“I don’t think so.”
Drake put his hands on his hips and glared impatiently. “What are you going to do, try to manage by yourself? You’ll fall on your face and probably end up doing even more damage to your shoulder. Screw that. Sit your ass down and slide off.”
To his amazement, Charley sat.
“Watch my right arm.”
“I’ve got it.”
Charley kicked off and he set her on her feet.
“There, was that so hard?” he asked.
“No,” she admitted grudgingly. She pulled her collar up, hooking the top button over her nose and used the flap of her collar to wipe her tearing eyes.
From this point, the ground began to slope more and there was a layer of dry loose soil spread treacherously over the top of the solid rock underneath. They both slipped a few times on their way down and twice Drake caught Charley even as he was still sliding himself, and kept her from falling on her injured shoulder.
They were still relatively sheltered from the wild winds above them. The peak kept them blind to what was happening to the north but there was no question the smoke was heavier now. They tried not to think about the distant roar as they held their shirts over their faces as filters.
Trees and vegetation grew progressively thicker as they moved steadily downhill but it slowed them. Drake used his body to break trail, turning constantly to make sure Charley was clear before he let go of springing branches. Even here, he didn’t hesitate to help her over rough spots. Several times, he lifted her right over downed trees without any sign of strain and without hurting her sore arm and shoulder. She didn’t know how he did it. There was seriously more to the man than she thought and realizing it only made her sweat more.
Whenever Drake reached for her hand to assist, it was unconsciously done and Charley liked him even more for that.
She always believed she had a knack for sizing people up but she’d blown it with Drake. Who knew he’d be more than a gorgeous brain with a killer body? He had strength, inside and out, and she admired strength, provided it wasn’t turned against her. Drake made her feel safe even with a fire bearing down on them. There was no doubt in her mind he’d do everything in his power to protect her. Not that she needed his help, she thought, carefully avoiding the evidence to the contrary, but it certainly said something about him.
They stumbled into a small clearing and Drake stopped. “Let’s rest a minute.”
“Do you think we should?”
He nodded wearily. “Don’t pretend you’re not tired. You have to take two steps for every one of mine and this isn’t exactly a walk in the park.”
“Fine, I’m tired but a fire can move a hell of a lot faster than we can.”
Accurately reading her fatigue he said, “You’re right, but you have to let me know when you need to stop, okay? I can’t have you collapsing on me either.” He tried to orient himself. “Do you know where we are from here?”
She looked past him and pointed. “Just keep heading east. Eventually we’ll punch through a mess of alders. From there it’s about ten more yards to shore.” She took a couple of deep breaths. “I wish I had my machete with me.”
“From there? That helps,” he said dryly. “How about from here?” Then Drake turned back with raised eyebrows. “Did you just say you have a machete?”
She shrugged. “I did but it’s back there in my truck.”
He grinned. “Incredible.”
Charley’s eyes narrowed as a thought struck her. “Hey — you’re pretty sneaky.”
He looked at her innocently. “Sneaky?”
“You made me take a break by sidetracking me with questions.”
He snorted dismissively. “You give me too much credit.” He turned away with a smile.
Mmm hmm. “I will from now on,” she murmured, following after him.
• • •
All the blood in Tucker’s body suddenly whooshed into his shoes when he saw Eagle Point. “That … is not a good sight.”
The entire mountain was backlit by an ominous glow and the trees growing up the north slope were already flickering like candles as the plane circled the lake.
“Where the hell are you, Charley?” Dink asked softly, his binoculars sweeping over everything very carefully.
“Anything?”
“No.”
“Keep looking.”
“Can you get over to the pond?”
“No. I can’t land us there and the smoke will be too intense.” Tucker patted his friend’s shoulder. “She’ll know that. They’ll head for the lake.”
Dink nodded, studying Eagle Point in the distance once again. “How could they get down off that thing?”
“I don’t even want to think about that. Turn up the radio, let’s see where the fire crews are now.”
Flying around from the other side of the mountain, they saw the wall of advancing flame and banked hard away from it.
“They better haul ass,” said Tucker.
Dink’s heart sank. “I sure hope Charley didn’t try to get back to her truck. If she did, they’re already lost.”
“You know she didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Dink said quietly, his eyes fixed on the dangerously steep face of the mountain. Some of it was sheer vertical. What was worse, breaking your body into a million pieces at the bottom or being swallowed up by a heat storm at your back?
They circled, slowly keeping an eye out for any sign of movement. The heat was palpable even from a distance, the waves rippling on the air. Visibility was deteriorating rapidly as the winds pushed the smoke right at them. Unfortunately, the terrain and irregular canopy prevented Tucker from flying safely under it.
“Anything?” he asked hopefully.
Dink lowered the binoculars and shook his head. “They’re down there somewhere. I know it.”
“Well, we can’t stay up here. I can’t see a goddamned thing.”
“Fuck! Think I don’t know that?” Dink frowned. “They wouldn’t try to reach Mink Lake would they?”
Tucker thought about it and answered slowly, “Maybe.”
“I think we should check it out.”
“It’s better than putting down here and completely missing them.”
Dink rubbed his face with a heavy hand. “But what if we miss them here?”
“We’ll be back, but in case this is where they’re heading, they’re still going to need to get out on the water. Let’s leave them my inflatable raft. It’s in the back.”
“Good idea.” Dink climbed between the seats and found it.
“I’ll circle the lake. You pick the most likely spot where they’ll find it.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Dink muttered, taking his seat again and picking up the binoculars. “Over there,” he said pointing to a peninsula of rock jutting into the water from shore. “Get me over there.”
“Think you can pitch it from the plane?”
“I have to, don’t I? Otherwise I’ve signed my sister’s death sentence.”