“We make a good team.” She uncapped the water and took a swig, her eyes on his the whole time. Energy hummed through him at that desire coloring her face. They were both dusty and sweaty. Seemed to him like the perfect time to test out that shower.
With that in mind, he bundled up the tarp, making sure to seal in all the debris, and dragged it to the doorway.
“Here, I can help.” Naomi set down her water bottle and rushed over, picking up the other side.
His gaze traveled down her body. “So how big is the shower?” he couldn’t resist asking as they maneuvered their bundle through the kitchen to the front door.
“It’s small.” She shot him the smile she seemed to save just for him—shy, tempting, and brassy all at the same time. “Could be a tight fit.”
“Sounds perfect to me.” Moving faster, Lucas opened the front door. They made their way down the porch steps, hoisting the full tarp over to the driveway, where they chucked it into the dumpster.
Clapping the dust from his hands, he sidled up to Naomi, sweeping her under his arm and drawing her close. “I’m so ready for a shower,” he said, unable to resist leaning down for a kiss.
But Naomi was staring at something across the street. “What’s going on? What’re the neighbors doing?” she asked, pulling away from him.
He turned to look. A group of people were huddled together, engaged in some serious discussion, in the driveway across from the inn. He recognized a few of them: Betty Osterman, who’d taught English at Topaz High, and Gus Hubbard, who’d written for the Topaz Falls Herald since God was a boy.
“Hey,” Naomi called, heading over to join them. “Is everything okay?”
Lucas trotted over, too.
“Didn’t you hear the sirens?” Betty asked when they’d joined them. “There were so many fire trucks blazing down the street, my cat’s fur was standing on end.”
Naomi glanced back at him, her face flaming with panic. “Sirens? No. We didn’t hear anything. We were…um…doing some work in the house. Loud work.”
Loud, hot work, Lucas thought. Work he’d like to do again. Which meant they should speed up the neighborly chitchat. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Gus directed his gaze toward the mountains on the west side of town. “Wildfire,” he said, pointing. “Up near the falls. Heard all the commotion about an hour ago.”
Wildfire. Lucas squinted at the horizon, noticing for the first time an ominous plume of smoke hovering over the trees. “Near Topaz Falls?” he choked out, shifting his gaze to Naomi.
Her face had gone white.
“Far as I’ve heard, they’re settin’ up the command center at the trailhead,” the man answered. “They’re callin’ out all the volunteers. Already got people from the county up there. Sounds like it’s spreadin’ fast.”
“Oh my God.” Naomi staggered backward, grasping at his arm. “Gracie’s up there. She’s hiking.”
Betty’s hand flew to her chest. “Oh dear.”
“I’m sure everything’s fine.” Lucas took ahold of Naomi, dread churning in his gut. He couldn’t be sure. Not until he saw Gracie’s face. “We’d better get up there,” he said, leading her away from the neighbors. “Make sure they’re off the trail.”
Naomi stumbled. She clutched his arm as though she’d forgotten how to walk.
Clumsily he led her to the truck. Every motion was a blur. Somehow he got the door open and helped her climb in. “I’m sure they’re safe,” he murmured. They had to be safe.
A hit of adrenaline carried him around the truck. He jumped into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine before peeling out.
“Oh God,” Naomi cried, her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I let Mark take her up there.”
“You couldn’t have known.” They’d had the perfect morning. The most perfect morning he’d had in years. “There hasn’t been lightning or anything.” Nothing was off. Nothing could’ve indicated that the bottom was about to fall out of their lives. “Must’ve been a campfire that got away or something,” he said, still trying to cut through the fog of shock.
Naomi’s hands shook violently as she dug her phone out of her pocket. “Mark hasn’t called.” She tapped the screen and held it up to her ear. “And his phone goes straight to voicemail.”
“There’s hardly any reception up there,” he assured her, doing his best to override the panic trying to sneak into his tone. He never got service around there. The trailhead wasn’t that far from his favorite fishing spot, so he knew. But his heart still raced with movement of the truck’s speedometer. “I bet they’re waiting for us at the trailhead.” He ran his hand up and down her arm. “Maybe Mark wanted to stick around and see if there was anything he could do to help out.”
“I hope so,” she whimpered. “Please.”
The whispered prayer drilled into his heart, echoing over and over. Please.
The speedometer inched up until they were traveling well over the town’s thirty-mile-per-hour limit. He avoided Main Street, taking the neighborhood avenues instead, and sure enough, once they’d made it to the west side of town, they saw a cloud of thick, ugly smoke mushroom over the mountain.
“Oh my God,” Naomi gasped, digging her fingers into his arm.
The sight shattered his breath. That wasn’t smoke from a couple of trees burning. It looked like the whole damn forest was on fire.
He blitzed out onto the highway and veered off onto the county road that switchbacked up into the trees.
The small parking lot at the Topaz Falls trailhead was crowded with fire trucks and police cars and SUVs, all in a flurry of activity. Lucas parked on the road and helped Naomi climb out of the truck. In the chaos, he spotted Dev standing near Mark’s car.
Hand in hand, they raced in that direction. “Has anyone come off the trail?” he yelled even before they’d reached Dev.
“No.” Dev glanced at the car. “I was just getting ready to run the plates, figure out who it belongs to.”
“Mark and Gracie,” Naomi wheezed, her hand clutching her chest. “They left a few hours ago. Around nine.”
The deputy’s mouth formed a grim frown. “And you haven’t heard from them since?”
“No,” she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks.
Lucas gathered her against his side.
“I’ll call up search and rescue, get a team out there.” Dev gave Naomi’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sure they’re all right. Maybe they came down a different way because of the smoke.” He stepped away and barked into a radio.
Naomi wriggled out of Lucas’s grasp and turned to stare up at the mountain. He looked, too. The acrid scent of burning wood made his eyes water.
“Lucas,” she whispered. “Where are they?”
He didn’t know. He didn’t know if they were up there. Or down at the road. Or lost somewhere in between. But he couldn’t stand here and do nothing. He couldn’t be helpless. “I want to go,” he said, turning to Dev. “I want to be on the team.”
“Too dangerous.” The deputy shook his head. “We’ve got plenty of trained volunteers.”
Where were they? Lucas scanned the parking lot. People were running back and forth, talking, looking at maps, but no one was heading up the damn trail. “Where are the volunteers?” he demanded. “Are they here yet?”
“Not yet. Still getting mobilized.”
He released his hold on Naomi, blood pounding in his head. “Then I’m going up. Now.”
“I can’t let you go, man.” Dev shifted as though he wanted to block his way. “Sorry. The situation is too volatile. You know how dry it’s been. Wind’s shifting all over the place. No way to tell which way this thing is moving.”
Lucas had never wanted to deck a police officer. Ever. Until right now. “You can’t stop me.”
“I can cuff you,” Dev threatened. “Lock you in the back of my cruiser.”
Lucas stared the man square in the face. “Just give me twenty minutes.
I’ll run up and see how things look, see if there’s any sign of them.”
The deputy hesitated, glancing around like he wanted to assess the possibility of anyone overhearing.
“You’d do the same thing,” Lucas persisted. “You know you would.”
“Fucking hell,” the deputy growled out. “Fine.” He reached into his patrol car and pulled out a radio, shoving it into Lucas’s hands. “Take this, you stubborn bastard. You keep in touch or I’ll come up there myself and pull you off the trail.”
Lucas clipped the radio to his belt. “I will. I promise.”
“I’m coming, too.” Naomi grabbed ahold of his shirt.
“No.” He lifted her chin, looked down at her. “You have to stay.” Across the parking lot, he saw Darla drive up. She’d been on the volunteer force for years. Hooking his arm through Naomi’s, he pulled her over to Darla’s car. Right as the woman stepped out, he ambushed her. “Mark and Gracie are up there. I need you to stay with Naomi.”
“Shit.” Darla’s eyes went wide. “You’re going after them?”
“I have to.” He couldn’t watch Naomi suffer this way. The smoke was getting so thick. So black. What if they’d passed out from smoke inhalation? “I don’t want Naomi to be alone.”
Judging from the way she clung to him, she didn’t want him to go. Her eyes were wide, glazed with a look of shock.
Darla nodded briskly. “Of course I’ll stay with her.” She moved in closer to her friend. “It’ll be all right, honey,” she said, gently peeling Naomi’s grip from Lucas.
Before he turned, he kissed her forehead. “I’ll find them,” he promised. “You stay with Darla. Okay? I have a radio. Let me know if they come back.”
“No!” Naomi clawed at his shirt. “I’ll come with you. We can look together.”
Lucas shot Darla a glare. She wouldn’t make it. Her body shook so hard she couldn’t even stand up straight. “You need to stay here,” he said as gently as possible. “Just hold on, baby. I won’t come back without them.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Naomi darted after Lucas again but Darla pulled her back. “Let him go,” her friend ordered, blocking her way. “You’re in no condition to run up that trail.”
It was true. Naomi knew it was true. She was already shivering with sweat, on the verge of throwing up.
“I can’t believe this.” A stark helplessness gouged her. She turned to her friend, her knees buckling. “Why did I let him take her up there?”
Darla took Naomi’s cheeks in her hands, steadying her with a long, sure glare. “This isn’t your fault. This isn’t even Mark’s fault. No one could’ve predicted this would happen.”
“I could’ve,” she sputtered, her heart floundering in the hollow feeling that stretched all the way through her. “I should’ve set more boundaries. I should’ve forbid him from taking her away from the house.”
Her friend shook her head slowly, eyes focused and intent. “Mark’s a great guy. You know that. He would never put Gracie in danger on purpose.”
Tears clogged her eyes. They wouldn’t stop. The fire’s thick haze hovered over her, tinted with that nightmarish smell. Everything was burning. Her world was burning.
“Come on. Let’s get you into a chair.” Darla half-dragged her to her car. She popped the trunk and pulled out a folded camping chair. Once she’d set it up she sat Naomi in it, then shoved a water bottle into her hand. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Naomi wanted to. God, how she wanted to. Close her eyes and wake up from this nightmare. Her eyes blanked. All she saw was that trail. Leading up the mountain into a fog of smoke.
Chaos hummed all around her—cars and people and ATVs. But it seemed to be happening in a movie—like she was watching someone else’s tragedy unfold.
Closing her eyes, she fisted her hands and fought the hopelessness that spread through her like the smothering smoke. She had to fight it.
Blinking hard, she opened her eyes.
Dev ran over and put his head together with Darla’s, murmuring in a hushed tone. The conversation was short and clipped—all business. When he hurried away, Darla knelt next to her. “Dev said they’re mobilizing a team. They’ll send the ATVs up after Lucas and try to get them spread out so they can cover more ground.”
Her head nodded in what seemed to be slow motion. That small movement took so much effort. A painful hammering in her heart ordered her to get up and do something. Scream, tear up that trail after her daughter. Instead, she gripped Darla’s hands and pulled herself out of the chair. She would not do this. She would not sit here helpless.
Darla squeezed her hands. “Your color’s coming back.”
“I’m better. Stronger.” And she could help. She might not be able to run up the trail, but she could do something. “Come on,” she said, tugging on Darla’s arm. “Let’s see how we can help.”
She marched over to where Dev now stood with Hank Green, engaged in a heated discussion.
“I just heard from the fire chief,” Hank informed them. “They suspect arson.”
Arson. Outrage tangled with the fear that still thumped in Naomi’s heart. “Someone set the fire on purpose?”
“Too early to say officially,” Dev insisted, glaring at Hank like he wanted him to shut up before the rumors got going.
“But that’s how it looks,” Hank countered, scowling at the deputy. “And I’ll bet I know exactly who’s responsible.”
“Enough.” Dev’s voice bordered on a shout. “We won’t know anything until we get a handle on the fire,” he said firmly. “No use pointing—”
“They’re saying it started on the south side of the mountain,” Hank interrupted. “Near the river. We all know who spends his time down there.”
Naomi looked at Darla. The south side by the river. That was where Lucas had taken her fishing. But surely they didn’t think he’d started the fire. “He was with me all morning!” She hadn’t meant to yell, but desperation shattered her control. “There’s no way he could’ve had anything to do with this.”
“It’s probably been smoldering for at least a day,” Hank argued, as though he was enjoying her misery.
“Right now, this is all speculation.” Judging from the harsh edge in his tone, Dev was losing patience. “Besides, if he’d started the fire, why would Lucas be up there right now? Risking his life to search for Gracie and Mark?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” the mayor sneered.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Naomi backed up a step so she wouldn’t haul off and hit him the way her daughter had hit the Dobbins kid.
“It’s okay,” Darla said, eyeing the mayor like he was parasite. “Hank’s just blowing smoke again. Typical day in Topaz Falls.”
Anger made the man’s face glow. “It means he wanted to look like the hero. He set the fire so he could go and rescue your girl and make himself the hero.” His lips curled in a self-righteous smirk. “He knew she’d be hiking up here this morning. Didn’t he?”
Naomi refused to answer the question. “You don’t even know him.” Hank Green had always hated the Cortez family. He’d find every excuse to go after Lucas just to spite his father.
“I know what he is,” Hank snapped. “The whole town knows what he is. You’re the only one who’s naïve enough to believe he’s changed.”
Naomi could’ve hit him then. She could’ve popped him right in the face if Dev hadn’t stepped between them.
“Enough,” he said again. The deputy put a hand on Hank’s shoulder and directed him away. “We’re not discussing this now. We have a hell of a lot to do, the most important thing being locating two missing persons and getting them off that trail.”
He led the mayor away, but something told Naomi that wasn’t the end of it.
* * *
The fire seemed to have spread to his lungs. Lucas hadn’t broken his swift jog since he’d left the trailhead. It felt like years ago, but he’d only gone a few miles. Every f
ive minutes he checked in with Dev, but even with the firefighters spreading out all over the mountain, no one had seen any sign of Gracie and Mark.
He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled again because that was all he could do. Keep shoving one foot in front of the other. Keep whistling. Stop and listen. He did that all the way up the side of the mountain. As he climbed higher the air grew murky, but the smoke rose above him, pouring in from the south.
He hadn’t seen any flames yet, but he kept a close eye on that wind as he followed the trail. The forest was restless, quiet, but full of sounds that kept startling him to a stop. Cracking twigs, rustling leaves. Every time he heard something, he’d pause and suck in his breath, wishing his fucking heart would slow down so he could hear better.
Jogging up a steep section of the trail with sweat trickling down and burning his eyes, he yelled Gracie’s name for what had to be the hundredth time. Each time her name scraped his throat, he prayed she’d answer.
The trail veered more to the south, winding around a sharp curve.
Lucas hesitated. Here the air was thicker, darker, almost like dusk was descending in the middle of the afternoon. A form appeared a ways off and at first he gasped a hopeful breath, but then a fireman’s yellow gear came into focus.
The guy was running toward him. “You shouldn’t be out here,” he called.
Lucas didn’t recognize him. He held up the radio, hoping he’d think Dev had given him free rein. Truthfully, the twenty minutes Dev had given him had ended a while ago. The deputy had called him back and he’d lied, saying he was on his way down.
But he couldn’t go down there. Not without Gracie. He couldn’t face Naomi. “I’m looking for the missing hikers,” he said, battling a cough. “A little girl and a man in his late twenties.”
“We’re keeping an eye out.” The firefighter frowned, eyeing the smoke that seemed to be creeping closer. “But the wind’s shifting again. We have no idea what this thing’s gonna do.”
Comeback Cowboy Page 23
