by Laura Scott
Reese didn’t call out for Duke, hoping that his dog had already gotten Katy off the trail and down to safety. He could hear the wail of sirens indicating that help was coming. But the Hope County Fire Department was far too small to take on a forest fire. Normal protocol was to call the DNR as well as every fire department within a fifty-mile radius. He hoped every single one of them was already on its way.
As he fought his way through the smoke, back down the trail, Reese remembered how calm and peaceful he’d felt after praying. Was God listening to Katy’s prayers right now? He wanted to believe that was the case and found himself adding his own prayer.
Please save us, Lord! Save us from the fire!
Three short barks reached his ears, and he paused on the trail, breathing hard through the damp fabric of his shirt. Three short barks from Duke indicated danger, and the realization that Katy and Duke weren’t safe at all spurred him into action.
Despite the thick smoke, he slipped and slid down the path in the direction from where he thought the barks had come. Although being surrounded by smoke was disorienting, so he couldn’t be sure he was headed the right way.
Sweat, or maybe it was smoke, burned his eyes. “Duke?” he croaked, just in case the dog and Katy were nearby. “Come, Duke!”
There was an answering bark, and he smiled grimly behind the shirt. He couldn’t understand why they were still on the hill, unless Katy had fallen again, injuring her ankle to the point she couldn’t walk. And if that was the case, he knew Duke wouldn’t leave her alone.
Even if it meant succumbing to smoke inhalation poisoning right alongside her.
Despite the overwhelming heat, smoke and sweat, a chill snaked its way down his spine. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing either of them, so he shoved the negative thoughts aside and concentrated on following the sounds of Duke’s barking.
It seemed like hours but was probably only ten minutes or so before Duke burst out through the smoke to greet him. He dropped to his knees and hugged the animal gratefully.
“Good boy,” he murmured. “Good boy!”
The dog wiggled away and barked. He understood the animal was trying to tell him something, so he slowly stood. “Find Katy,” he said.
Duke headed off the path, and Reese followed, snaking around rocks and boulders. He trusted Duke, even though he couldn’t figure out why the animal wasn’t leading them out of the fire.
He slipped and landed hard on a rock but quickly forced himself upright. “Katy?” he called, forcing air through his sore throat. “Are you all right?”
“I’m here.” Her reply was so faint he almost thought he’d imagined it. She must be injured, or he was certain she would have come to meet him.
“Hang on, okay? I’ll be there soon.”
Following Duke off the trail wasn’t nearly as easy, as the animal slipped under a fallen tree branch that Reese had to crawl over. He was glad they were still heading downward, if not on the path.
Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought the smoke was thinner as he followed Duke’s winding path. At least his eyes weren’t burning as much.
“Reese! Over here,” Katy called. He caught a glimpse of her red hair and felt the tightness ease in his chest when he realized she was sitting under a tree about twenty yards up ahead. He was amazed that she’d tied fabric over her face, the same way he had, to protect her airway as much as possible. Most hikers wouldn’t think of that, but then again, she was a doctor.
“What happened?” he asked as he made his way closer. “Did you fall and hurt your ankle again?”
“No, Duke led me this way,” she said in a stronger voice. “He was pretty insistent about it, too.”
“Good boy, Duke,” he said, praising the dog again for saving their lives. “We’re still heading down, which is good, but I’m not sure I understand why he led you off the trail.”
Katy slowly rose to her feet as he came closer. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said in a low tone. “I’m not as afraid.”
He reached out and pulled her gently into his arms. He was dirty, sweaty and smelly, but he couldn’t resist holding her at least for a moment.
She hugged him back, and despite the seriousness of their situation, he found himself smiling.
“How are we going to get out of here?” she asked, her voice muffled against his shirt.
Regretfully, he loosened his grip enough to look down at her. They both looked like bandits from the Old West with their noses and mouths covered, but he figured this wasn’t the time to point that out.
“We’re going to be fine,” he assured her with all the confidence he could muster. “Duke will get us out of trouble, won’t you, boy?”
Duke lifted his head, his ears perking up when he heard his name. He wagged his tail and then turned to continue on a convoluted path that only he could see.
“Can you walk?” he asked Katy.
“Yes, but I don’t know that it’s going to help much,” she said as she followed him down the rocky path.
“Why not? Surely you’re not still afraid of Duke after all this?”
“No, not at all. He’s a wonderful guard dog, and I’m sure I’d already be dead if not for him guiding me.” Katy was silent for a few minutes as they carefully picked their way over the boulders and fallen tree branches littering the side of the hill. “Duke pushed me off the trail and I think it’s because there’s more fire down there.”
He snapped his head up and looked over at her. “I didn’t see any sign of fire from my vantage point up above.”
Katy’s gaze was full of despair. “Trust me, I saw it. I just don’t see how we’re going to get out of this mess.”
“We’ll find a way,” he assured her, even though his mind was reeling at the news. If the fire was truly surrounding them, they were definitely in trouble. But how could the fire have gotten over to the southeast when the wind was coming from that direction? The fire should be heading away from them, which was one of the reasons that he’d sent Duke with Katy to keep her safe.
“It doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “There shouldn’t be any fire coming from that way, not unless someone set it on purpose.”
“Maybe someone did set it on purpose,” Katy said. “Because I know that I saw fire. Duke saw it, too, which is why he led me off the trail.”
The implication sank deep. Reese knew with sick certainty that this was the work of the blond guy. The same guy who’d tried to kill them on the freeway.
The same guy who’d broken into Katy’s house and his motel room.
Was this his final goal? To get rid of him and Katy once and for all?
Okay, he needed to get a grip. Who’d started the fire and why were the least of their concerns. They needed to find a way to get to safety. Duke was still following some sort of trail, and Reese tried to remain positive, although it wasn’t easy.
Katy was saying something softly under her breath, and he soon realized that she was reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The verse echoed in his mind, drudged up from a distant memory from the last time he’d attended church, before Suzanne had left him for his best friend.
He found himself saying the prayer with Katy as they followed Duke.
And when the prayer was over, a strange sense of peace surrounded him.
“Oomph,” Katy said as she slipped and fell on her backside.
“Are you all right?” he asked, reaching out for her at the same time he was trying not to do the same thing.
“I’m fine, but do you hear that?” she asked, her eyes lighting up with hope.
For a moment, he wondered if she’d hit her head, or maybe the smoke had gotten to her. “Hear what?”
“That noise.” She hastily scrambled to her feet, looking around in earnest. “It sounds like water.”
“Water?” He searched the rocky landscape for Duke and found the dog several yards down near a cluster of boulders. When the dog lifted his head, Reese thought for sure he saw water dripping from
the animal’s muzzle.
“There is water, see?” Katy said excitedly. “Duke found it! Good boy, Duke! Good boy!”
He followed Katy down to where Duke waited near the water. As much as he knew water was vital to their survival, he couldn’t bear to burst her bubble.
Because even with water to wet their clothes and hydrate their bodies, he knew they were far from safe.
If the fire truly surrounded them on all sides, he didn’t know how on earth they’d make it out of here alive.
Chapter Ten
Katy pulled the gauze shirt off her face and cupped her hands in the stream, drinking greedily even though she didn’t know if the water was safe for consumption.
At this moment, a parasite of some sort was the least of their concerns. Besides, the way Duke had lapped up the water was good enough for her.
The dog stayed by her side, even when Reese joined them at the stream. When she finished drinking, she leaned over and wrapped her arms around the animal’s neck, giving Duke a big hug.
“You’re an awesome dog, you know that?” she whispered against his damp fur. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“I agree,” Reese said after he’d finished drinking from the stream. He sat back on his heels and looked at her. A smile kicked up the corner of his mouth. “I’m glad to see you’re not afraid of him anymore.”
She lifted her head, surprisingly reluctant to let the dog go. “I feel stupid for being afraid of him in the first place,” she admitted. “He’s amazing. I understand now why people get so attached to their pets.”
“Not stupid,” Reese corrected swiftly. “He’s trained to attack, so being cautious around him was smart. But he’d never hurt you. In fact, he’d protect you with his life.”
“Me?” She frowned and shook her head. “No, he’d protect you before me.”
“Not if I told him to protect you.”
The intense expression in Reese’s eyes made her shiver, despite the heat and smoke. Was Reese really willing to put his life on the line for her? His dog’s life on the line for her? No one had ever done something like that for her before, but then again, she’d never been in this kind of danger before, either.
Thinking back to the way Deputy Kramer had treated Reese, she couldn’t suppress a flash of anger. No way in the world would she believe Reese was the poacher, and he didn’t deserve the wild accusations the deputy had thrown at him. So what if he was in debt? Half of America was in debt! That didn’t mean anything.
Reese had always treated her like a gentleman, and heaven help her, she was beginning to care about him, far more than she should. He was strong, kind and gentle, all at the same time. If things were different…
But they weren’t. Besides, this wasn’t the time or place for a heart-to-heart, soul-baring discussion. They needed to find a way to get off this stupid hill to safety.
“Do you think Duke can find a way out of here?” she asked, changing the subject. “He’s been amazing so far.”
“Maybe.” Reese bent over the stream, filling his water bottle as much as possible. “Hand me yours, too.”
She was surprised she’d managed to hang on to her empty container, especially after following Duke over the rocky terrain. The bottle was badly crumpled, but that didn’t matter since Reese could only fill it halfway.
“Now we need to get our clothes wet,” he instructed her. “I’ll go first and then back off to give you some privacy.”
She nodded, understanding his reasoning. Their clothes wouldn’t stay wet for long, but since they were surrounded by fire, they needed every possible advantage they could get.
“Maybe we should follow the water,” she suggested, averting her gaze, too, as Reese lay down in the stream, face down and then rolling onto his back. He shouldn’t be getting his stitches wet, but she decided not to say anything since they were both covered with soot and grime, anyway. If his wound was going to get infected, it didn’t much matter what the source was.
She might have laughed at how he looked, like a giant fish flapping around in the shallow water, if their situation weren’t so grim.
“Your turn,” he said, rivets of water running off him as he climbed back up on the rocks.
Normally she would have felt self-conscious about rolling around in the stream, but the cool water felt so good she couldn’t bring herself to care. She had to force herself to get out when all she really wanted to do was to bask in the cool bliss.
Reese had his back turned to her as promised, but she could tell he was searching the landscape around them, no doubt figuring out their next move. A realization that brought her back to their harsh reality.
“Ready?” he asked when she came up to stand beside him.
“Yes.” Really, she had no choice but to be ready, but if he was going to maintain a positive attitude, so was she. “Is it my imagination or is there less smoke down here near the water?”
“Definitely less smoke,” he said. “But I don’t think we can afford to sit here and wait to be rescued. We need to keep moving. I’m hoping we’ll run into the firefighters who’ll be here fighting the blaze soon.”
“That would be nice. Duke could find them, couldn’t he?”
“I hope so.” Reese shook out his wet T-shirt and pulled it on, drawing the collar up to cover his nose and mouth. She re-tied her freshly dampened gauze shirt over her lower face, too, knowing that they were likely going to see more smoke rather than less as they made their way out of here.
“Home, Duke. Take us home,” Reese commanded.
The dog picked his way along the edge of the stream heading south. Their pace was slow since the uneven terrain was difficult even for the dog to navigate.
Her ankle didn’t seem to hurt as much, but that could also be the result of an adrenaline rush from being in danger. She knew full well that basic survival instincts would always outweigh the mundane.
“Why haven’t you asked me?” Reese said, his voice muffled by his cotton T-shirt.
“Ask you what?” They were walking single file, following Duke, so she couldn’t get a good look at his eyes.
“If I’m guilty of poaching. Of planning all this to throw suspicion off me,” he said.
“Deputy Kramer doesn’t know what he’s talking about, that’s why. I was in the car with you when you saw your smashed truck, and the shock in your eyes was real. Plus, I was with you when that black truck came barreling down on us, nearly causing us to crash.”
He didn’t say anything in response, and she risked a glance over her shoulder. His gaze met hers, and she saw the glint of hope reflected there. He wanted her to believe in him.
And she did.
“Do you remember that first night in the hospital?” she continued. “When I came over to take a look at your injury? You said, ‘Marcus Boyle needs your medical expertise more than I do.’ This was the guy you shot in self-defense, yet you were more worried about him than you were about yourself.”
“I remember,” he said. “I’m glad to hear you believe me, but I’m still surprised you haven’t asked me any details about why I’m in debt.”
She lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug, unwilling to admit she was, in fact, dying of curiosity to know the details. But Reese’s personal life was none of her business. “I’m sure you have a good reason.”
There was another long stretch of silence as they followed Duke’s lead. When the dog crossed the stream, heading to the other side, Reese held out his hand to help her cross, too. Their fingers clung for a long, poignant moment before he released her.
“I was married once,” Reese said, breaking the long silence. “While I was still in the navy. I heard the stories about cheating wives, women who were unable to handle the long separations, but I thought Suzanne and I were in love.”
The hint of suffering in his tone made her want to hug him. “What happened?” she asked, even though she could guess.
“She proved me wrong. And then some.”
“And then some?”
“Not only did she cheat on me, with my best friend, no less, but she cleaned out our joint bank account and maxed out the credit card. When I came home from being at sea, the divorce papers were the only thing waiting for me. So I signed them and began to dig my way out of debt.”
Her chest tightened with sorrow and anger. What he’d told her was so much worse than what she’d imagined. She glanced back at him again but tripped and stumbled. She would have fallen if not for Reese’s quick reflexes. She clutched the muscles of his arms and stared up at him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “What Suzanne did was unnecessarily cruel, and I can’t imagine how you managed to get through it. I hope she had to pay at least half of that debt off.”
She couldn’t see his mouth covered by the T-shirt, but his eyes crinkled at the corners, which made her think he might be smiling. “No, I signed the papers, sold the house to pay off as much as I could and then went to a lawyer to consolidate what was left into monthly payments. I’d be in worse shape if my boss weren’t allowing me to live in that log cabin for dirt cheap.”
She put a hand on his arm, trying to think of something to say. But in truth, her mind was still reeling from what Reese had gone through. Most men would be angry and bitter and would have dragged their ex-wife through court to force the issue, but he hadn’t. He’d taken on the responsibility without complaining.
He’d isolated himself from civilization, choosing to live in the woods with only his dog for company while dedicating his life to keeping the natural resources and wildlife safe.
Now that she knew the truth, it was easier to understand why he’d made the decisions he had.
Duke let out a sharp bark, interrupting the moment. She dropped her hand and turned away, heading after the dog.
They walked in silence for several moments. A coughing fit caught her off guard, forcing her to stop and bend over, bracing herself with her hands on her knees, to catch her breath.
