Chapter 13
Axe
There was nothing like the exhilaration of a parachute jump.
The free-falling moment.
The wind and sunlight on your face.
The beauty of the scenery.
That’s why the first time I’d gone skydiving, I’d been hooked.
My brothers had called me an adrenaline junkie.
Not one moment of fear. That had followed me from driving at breakneck speed and rock climbing without a harness.
I’d rushed into the face of danger often.
With smokejumping, I’d been trained how to do so and stay alive.
That’s the way Will had been with flying a plane. He and I had been very much alike. I’d heard stories about our father taking him up on a puddle jumper when I was just a baby. Will had been enthralled. A couple of years later, he’d made a proclamation he was going to be a pilot.
He’d been maybe eight years old.
I sat back, taking a deep breath.
Why was it that even in the plane, listening to the roar of the engines, my thoughts continually drifted to Kenzie? Spending the night with her had been amazing, something I dared not admit to anyone.
Her banter had nearly driven me nuts. And the taste of her sweet lips had left me intoxicated.
The way she peppered me with questions was exactly what I’d remembered from years before. She’d certainly chosen the right profession. I glanced out the window, able to see an image of her face the moment she’d climaxed for the first time. Her beautiful face.
Jesus. I had it bad for the girl, my stiff cock a reflection of my lurid thoughts.
Her scent lingered on my skin. For some crazy reason, I brought my hand to my face. I wasn’t wrong.
“So, who’s the girl?” The chiding words were followed by a knowing laugh.
I’ll be damned if Dante wasn’t going to push my last button. He’d already ribbed me about seeing her by the helicopter.
Before I answered, I turned off my microphone. He better damn well have his off or I’d have his hide. “No one you need to know,” I threw back, noticing Rock was paying close attention. “Aren’t you engaged?”
“Not yet. Is she your girlfriend?”
“Nope,” I said, popping the p with a little too much emphasis. The guys caught everything. Dante rubbed his hand down his chest.
“Then I think I need to introduce myself to her.”
“You do. You die. Plain and simple.”
“Oh!” When the others chimed in, I showed Dante my fist. The motherfucker hadn’t turned off the microphone, goading me on purpose.
Dante threw up both hands. “Hey, I’m just saying. If you can’t handle a beautiful woman, I certainly can.”
“Fuck you.” We were given the evil eye by the captain. “Said with full adoration in my heart.”
One taste and it just wasn’t enough. Why I’d given her my old cell phone I didn’t know, other than the thought of her being without some level of communication bothered me.
Yeah, I didn’t think her father would let anything happen to her, but I also didn’t like the thought of not being able to get in touch with her.
Even if the way we’d left our time together was as if we’d never see each other again.
I shook my head, unable to get images of her out of my mind. She was still a handful after all these years.
“Earth to lover boy,” Dante continued teasing. “Hey, Cap’n, I think we need to vote on a name change for our rookie here.”
The term had gotten old long before now. Before, I’d felt the camaraderie of every man on this plane, so I’d let it go. A sudden, unwanted feeling of irritation threatened to build into anger. I flipped in my mind, hissing loudly enough for everyone to hear my annoyance.
Captain Daughtry seemed to catch that I was close to the edge. “Keep you goddamn eye on the ball, gentlemen. We have an arsonist out there. The structure fire appears suspicious and got out of control quickly.”
“Not enough firefighters,” I threw in.
“Cause you left them, Axe man,” Rock teased.
The others burst into laughter, stopping only when the captain cleared his throat loudly in the microphone.
“As I was saying. We don’t know the forest fire isn’t what the son of a bitch was hoping for. For all we know, there could be other accelerants out there buried in the wilderness. Stay focused.” The captain rarely cursed. We were all pissed. Because of the arsonist, Will was gone.
“Yes, sir,” we said collectively.
Dante was still grinning.
And even with the captain’s reminder, I was still thinking about the beautiful woman.
I’d hated lying to her about Wade. Maybe some part of me had thought our momentary lapse of judgment could stay our little secret.
While I doubted Kenzie would confide anything to her brother, since he was the one who’d come to pick her up, he’d jump to conclusions.
I had to wonder what story he would end up telling her.
Or if she’d shut him down.
“Two miles out,” Captain Daughtry barked into the communications system. “Look alive, people.”
We stood, every jumper hooked on the line keeping us secure. The smoke was clearly seen out the windows on the starboard side of the plane. I was antsy like the other jumpers. The reason was the rumor mill that had already run the gamut through the system.
As noted by the captain, the fire that had started the wildfires had likely been caused by arson. It was possible whoever had torched the old mill hadn’t calculated the wind speed. But it was also possible there was something even more sinister with his or her plans.
Embers from the flames had carried two miles to the edge of the forest that hadn’t received the previous day’s storm. Given our budget had been cut, we hadn’t gone out on our usual yearly debris clearing missions.
Doing so could have prevented the flames crawling up the mountain. The combination with the lack of rain was a death sentence for the terrain.
“Buddy check!” the captain called. Today, I was paired with Rock, who yanked on my parachute straps first.
“Watch yourself out there, rookie,” he teased, knowing exactly how I’d react.
After giving him the finger, I checked his gear as well. Since Will’s death, he’d been the one to take me under his wing, pretending he wasn’t worried about me. That was not something I’d wanted in any way, shape, or form and he knew it.
“The fire is barely twenty percent contained,” Captain Daughtry explained. “Two air tankers have come and gone. With the size of the fire, we’re pulling in another shift. We’ll be stretched thin, gentlemen. No room for mistakes.”
With the large aircraft already dropping fire retardant chemicals, we had a leg up on the fire. As long as we could keep it contained.
The pilot slowed. We were almost over the jump spot.
“We have several crown fires to deal with. Be careful out there. Get the control lines established before starting a burnout. Number one goal. Keep the flames away from Missoula.”
Even after two years on the team, to have two fires crowding so close to home was debilitating.
Today it fueled the anger I had for the city council.
Why wasn’t the Forestry Service pushing harder on the group?
I’d worked on fires so far removed from the public or any structures that we’d hiked for two days to get to a suitable pick-up location.
To think this was premeditated burned deep within all of us.
“We are ready for the jump,” the pilot called.
“Good luck and God speed,” the captain said and I noticed at least four of the jumpers made the sign of the cross.
“Say a prayer to Big Ernie!” Denver tossed out, laughing as he always did before the start of a mission.
The pretend deity was a legend with smokejumpers, a god with a twisted sense of humor, justice, and fair play.
But you never wanted to irritate the dude.
That I’d learned the hard way. I thought about how I’d mentioned it to Kenzie. Maybe I’d wanted her not to worry.
Another jump without my brother. And Steel was out there with another team. This particular mission hit me harder than most.
We were always in danger, our lives placed on the line. However, the weight of what we’d gone through with losing one of our own was detrimental to everyone. We owed him and every other fallen jumper our respect and honor.
That was no problem. However, my belief in a being greater than all of us had been challenged. So had my beliefs in just about everything.
As the cargo door was opened, my thoughts drifted from Will to Kenzie once again. Maybe she’d been brought back into my life for some crazy reason.
The cargo boxes holding all our heavy equipment were dropped, which meant it was time.
“Go. Go. Go!” the captain yelled.
The call was made, the jumpers lining up and one by one, we bailed from the aircraft before placing the pilot in harm’s way.
Floating. I glanced at the mountain as I controlled my fall, studying the flames eating through the dry timber. The speed of the flames was unimaginable, fueled by brisk enough winds it already felt like a losing effort.
But we were going to do our best to ensure every one of us came back alive.
A simple yank of the parachute cord and I was jerked up. The fall was well controlled. With a gentle swing, the entire team fell softly toward the jump spot.
Until a brisk swing of wind brought smoke into our faces.
Within seconds, disorientation hit and we were spinning in the wind. If we weren’t careful, we’d collide into each other.
“Goddamn it!” Rock shouted.
“Control the line. Control!” Captain Daughtry’s voice held concern.
While the captain tried to provide some sense of orders, we were drifting pretty far off course. With the smoke intermittent, I noticed we were coming close to a goddamn drop-off. Somehow, I was ahead of the others, falling too fast.
“Drop. Don’t roll!” I yelled.
The drop was hard and I struggled instantly with the parachute, fighting to keep from rolling. Tangled in the rope, I already had my knife out, struggling to cut the slick material away before another burst of wind caught it, possibly dragging me close to the edge.