“What do you make of it?” I asked Savage as we stood on the St. Regis Hotel’s roof and glassed the high road leading up to the Skientia property. I had a pair of fifteen-power Swarovski binoculars that had been, ahem, “liberated” from one of the local sporting goods stores by the “Raven & Swink Midnight Requisition” team.
A line of fire trucks with flashing lights, a half dozen sheriff’s cars with strobing light bars, a couple of ambulances, and a slew of other vehicles blocked the road below the great white gate.
Just above it, to the right and below the house, a thick black column of smoke rose. Through my binoculars, I could see conifers igniting in streaks of yellow flame as the fire grew.
“Skientia isn’t opening their gate.” Sam Savage braced his binoculars on a satellite television dish. A faint staccato carried across the valley. “There, you hear?”
“Unless they’re shooting at the first responders, she’s still alive.”
“It’s been over half an hour,” Savage added. “One woman against a team of Talon mercs?”
“That’s Karla Raven up there,” I said softly.
The distant chatter of a helicopter could be heard. I turned in search of it, finding a red-and-white heavy-lift unit with a big conical bucket hanging from a line beneath it. “I can’t believe they’re attacking the fire, even while there’s shooting.”
Savage arched an eyebrow. “With all those gazillion dollar homes on the mountain? Who would you rather deal with? A bunch of mercs shooting holes in your helicopter, or an army of hyper-rich people’s attorneys after you let a fire scorch their billion-dollar mansions?”
“Ask me something easy.”
Across the distance, a bang echoed. “Hand grenade.” Savage announced needlessly. “Damn it, Ryan. It’s a miracle she’s lasted this long. They were shooting at her when she ordered me out of there. I should have stayed.”
“You had a duty to Cat and those two civilians. The gate was closing as you roared through. But for you, they’d still be in there.” I paused. “And, Major, you understand, don’t you? When it comes to Skientia, the gloves are off. This is going to land in Grazier’s lap like a bomb. Maybe even a congressional hearing.”
He nodded, then gave me a dark look. “SEAL or not, you know how this is going to end?”
I swallowed hard. I’d lost of lot of friends and patients over the years. It’s part of the job when you’re a military psychiatrist. Somehow, losing Karla Raven was different. It was going to tear an irreparable hole in my soul.