Natalie called Dispatch as she hurried back to her car. “We’ve got an underage party going on. Fifty or so minors. Drinking, possible drug usage.” She gave Dennis the address, then got in her car and headed for the lake, flying past all-night gas stations and convenience stores. She took the curving two-lane road that led to Abby’s Hex Peninsula and swerved into the near-empty parking area, braking hard, gravel kicking into her wheel wells.
India’s Lexus was parked close to the trailhead. Natalie grabbed her flashlight out of the glove compartment and stepped out of the car. She could smell a faint trace of marijuana in the air. Above her head, a canopy of leaves sparkled in the moonlight.
She took the trail into the woods, and for several heart-pounding minutes all she could hear were old leaves crinkling underfoot. Something darted in front of her, two devilish eyes caught in the flashlight’s glare. She froze while the raccoon lumbered into the thickets, leaving a rustle of air behind.
She hurried along the trail, her flashlight probing the underbrush. She could hear several girls talking in the distance, their voices high and burbling. Clouds drifted overhead and darkness enveloped her for a moment. The lake beyond the trees was a yawning hole, without any reflection.
Soon, the voices grew louder. The girls were having an argument.
A scream.
Fear ripped through her.
Natalie broke into a run, all self-control gone. Wild-eyed. Do something. She raced through the thinning woods, swatting the branches aside and bounding toward the end of the peninsula, where she could see the three girls through the trees. Ellie was struggling to free herself from India and Berkley, her shrieks carrying across the lake.
What happened next felt like slow motion. India and Berkley shoved Ellie into the fire pit, squirted lighter fluid on her, and tossed in a lit match.
Whoosh. Ellie went up in a ball of flames.
“Get down!” Natalie screamed, punching her way out of the brush and stumbling into the clearing. “Get down on the ground!”
Ellie was flailing around in the fire pit, screaming, while India and Berkley stood transfixed, their eyes sparkling with malevolence, their mouths twisted with insane glee.
“Help!” Ellie shrieked—her jacket on fire. Hair on fire.
“Drop and roll!” Natalie barreled toward the fire pit and tackled her niece around the middle, knocking them both to the ground. She ate a mouthful of dirt and banged her head against one of the blackened stones. She flung herself on top of Ellie and rolled her around in the dirt. She didn’t stop until she’d beaten every last flickering flame out with her fists.
Ellie lay dazed, in shock. Smoke wafting up from her jacket.
Filled with incoherent rage, Natalie stood up and drew her weapon. “You’re under arrest. Both of you. Don’t move!”
India dropped the lighter fluid on the ground. Berkley dropped the matches.
“Put your hands up where I can see them.”
They raised their shaky, skinny arms.
“Please don’t hurt us!” India begged.
“Get down on the ground. Now!”
They looked at each other feverishly before finally complying.
Natalie got on her radio and called for backup and an ambulance. Then she tucked her weapon into its holster and knelt on the ground next to Ellie, who was moaning and rocking her head back and forth. There were pine needles in her hair.
“Don’t leave me…” she said, gasping in agonizing pain.
“It’s okay,” Natalie whispered, terrified for her. “You’re going to be okay.”
Ellie’s pupils were dilated. She was panting rapidly.
Natalie allowed herself to take a sharp breath, and the smell of burnt flesh scorched her nose. “Stay awake, Ellie. Come on.” Clammy skin. Shallow breathing. Going into shock. Oh God, please be okay.
Ellie struggled to sit up, but it hurt so much to move that she grimaced.
“It’s okay. Lie still. Help is on the way,” Natalie promised.
There was a shuffling sound behind her as India and Berkley got to their feet. Instinctively sensing Natalie wouldn’t chase them, not while Ellie’s life was in danger, the girls fled into the woods, shrills of drunken laughter trailing after them.
Natalie leapt to her feet, reaching for her gun, a stark fury animating her limbs. “Come back!” she shouted, but it was pointless. What was she going to do—shoot them? Her father used to take her down to the firing range and teach her how to cock the hammer and pull the trigger. They’d spent many afternoons together, taking out targets. Bam. Rule number one—never fire your weapon unless your life is in danger. Restraint was necessary. Never use brute force. Don’t make it harder for the next man in blue. So far, Natalie had been lucky. She hadn’t fired a single shot in the field—not even the time she had caught a bullet in her vest during a SWAT response to a botched robbery. She’d always managed to deescalate the situation through dialogue but, realistically, at some point it would become necessary. She secretly dreaded that moment.
Now she holstered her weapon and put out a BOLO with a description of the two girls, then attended to Ellie. “It’s okay. You’re safe now,” she promised.
The girl burst into tears. “Why did they do this to me?” she sobbed.
Natalie hated to see her niece cry. It broke her heart. “Shh. It’s okay,” she said. “I’m right here.”
Ellie groaned in pain. Part of her jacket had melted into her flesh, revealing patches of charred and smoking skin on her injured arm. “Aunt Natalie, don’t leave me,” she pleaded through gritted teeth.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I can’t stop shivering.”
Natalie could feel her own heartbeat at the base of her throat. Wind in the trees. Sirens across the lake. “Hang in there, sweetie. The ambulance is on the way.”
“I was trying to make things better between us,” Ellie said with slowly unwinding focus. “I was trying to do the right thing.…”
“Everything’s going to be okay, I promise,” Natalie assured her, letting the sadness wash over her.