Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Z ack stuck out his foot to halt the momentum that kept them rolling. He tugged Naya closer to himself. His leg skidded across the gravel until they came to a stop. Specks of dirt burned his eyes, and he blinked.
An explosive?
The fuse poking out from the capped end of the pipe had alerted him to the danger.
Someone had tried to kill them.
The heat from the blast was so intense that the back of his shirt stuck to him with sweat, and Zack breathed hard. Naya’s body trembled next to him, and he eased up on his grip to give her room.
“Are you hurt?” Zack slid back so she could sit up. His shoulder throbbed, and pain radiated down his arm. Blood and small pebbles caked his forearm where the skin had broken.
“I think I’m okay.”
He pushed aside the pounding of his own injuries. As long as she was okay, that’s what mattered.
A few minor cuts covered her face, and some leaves were caught in her hair. He reached out his hand and plucked the leaves and let them fall to the ground. Then he used the pad of his thumb to wipe away dirt on her forehead.
“I hope I didn’t injure your arm more.” He scanned her face, waiting for an accusation or indication that she was hurt more than she let on.
“I’d rather be hurt than dead. You saved me.” She offered him a faint smile.
Zack gulped. He stared at her, and his thoughts drifted.
Either of them could have died just now.
Were both of them the intended target in this attack?
She had enough trauma to handle from the attack the other day, and the news about her brother cut through his heart. He’d made it his duty to be her big brother when they’d first met in foster care.
Two broken kids finding solace.
“Zack.” Naya waved her hands in front of him. “Did you black out?” Then she shrieked. “That fire is getting close to the trees.”
He whipped his head around, and a wave of lightheadedness clouded his vision.
Wrong move.
He put his hand to his cheek to massage the corner of his eye. But when he pulled away, his palm was stained red. He’d have to assess the extent of the injury later. Right now, they needed to stop a wildfire before it started.
Flames engulfed the vehicle and licked at the grass along the gravel road. Smoke rose in the air. Tall oak trees stood a few feet off the path. It was only a matter of time before the leaves succumbed to fueling the blaze.
“Call 9-1-1. Tell them we need the fire department and police here, stat.” He tossed her his phone and stood up. “I’m going to find something to contain the flames before they get worse. I won’t go far.” The gravel road could work in their favor, keeping the fire in a contained area, but they’d have to work fast.
They were close to the main road, which meant the stream that ran through the mountain trail should be nearby. But was there enough time to get the water up here?
Naya called dispatch while he searched for anything that could hold liquid, or a way to smother the fire with dirt.
Footsteps descended behind him, and a twig snapped. Was her attacker back?
He spun, prepared to defend himself with his fists.
“It’s just me.” Naya held up her good hand. “I’m going to help you put out the fire.”
“Sorry.” Zack grimaced.
He found a few pieces of wood that had broken apart in a U-shape . Thick enough to hold dirt. It would be slow going, but at least it was a way to starve the fire of oxygen.
Zack handed Naya one of the pieces. “Shovel some dirt into here. We can throw it on the fire.”
Naya followed his lead. They threw dirt on the edges of the grass, which smothered some flames.
“It’s working. Keep at it.” Zack shoveled more dirt into his makeshift basin.
A few minutes later, sirens pierced the air.
Zack raced back to the road but kept his distance from the car. He braced his hands on his thighs to catch his breath.
Engine 14 screeched to a stop, blocking the width of the road. Amelia hopped out, decked in her black-and-yellow reflective gear. The other crew members, Izan, Zoe, and Della, followed behind. “Let’s get the hoses started. I want a trench around here. Don’t let the flames touch any kindling.”
Izan pulled out the hose and ran it toward the blaze while Della cranked the wheel to start the water.
Zoe grabbed a pickaxe and began to rip out the grass to make a barrier.
They’d come.
Zack knew what to do to put the fire out. But with the rest of the squad and their equipment here, he wouldn’t have to face the blaze alone.
Two police cruisers whipped around the corner and parked behind the engine followed by an ambulance. A few seconds later, Basuto climbed from one while Ramble and Wilcox stepped out of the other.
“You two okay?” Basuto looked between Zack and Naya.
“I think so.” Zack turned to Naya, who nodded.
Basuto raised a brow like he didn’t quite believe them.
Trace stepped up next to Basuto. “I’ll be the judge of that.” He frowned.
“Whoever did this needs to be stopped.” Naya piped up. “Before someone gets killed.”
“What happened?” Ramble pulled out a pen and paper.
They all walked over to the ambo so Trace could evaluate Zack and Naya.
“Someone put a pipe bomb on my car.” Zack pinched his lips.
How had anyone known they were going to be up here? He hadn’t paid attention for a tail, but he also hadn’t thought there’d been a need to. Surely he would have noticed someone behind them. The service road wasn’t that wide.
Wilcox stood with her arms crossed, looking every bit the detective she was. “And why would someone place an explosive in your gas tank, Stephens?”
Zack shifted his stance. He tried not to glance at the burning car that his colleagues were working to put out. He’d brought them all into this mess, and yet they hadn’t responded to the situation any differently than if this were a callout for someone else.
Zack didn’t know whether to be grateful or annoyed.
“Someone wants to silence me.” Naya spoke up before Zack had a chance to explain the situation with his parents. “I filed a report yesterday when someone attacked and pushed me over the edge of the overlook.” Naya talked with her hand, but her fingers shook.
Zack wanted to take her hand in his and still the tremors. Now wasn’t the time to provide solace. He’d certainly get a few stares from the officers if it looked like he and Naya were more than friends.
Besides, it would be a lie.
“Yes. I remember. Walk me through it again, please,” Wilcox said.
Naya explained the situation with the story she’d been tasked to write. The note. The attack. This. She recounted it all.
Lieutenant Basuto folded his arms. “We’ve got a lot of conflicting opinions with both of the groups involved in this mess. With the protests and the fire at Callahan’s, it doesn’t surprise me someone wants the truth to remain hidden.”
“We found evidence,” Zack added. “Although it’s burned to a crisp now. There was a key chain shaped like a globe and some type of burlap bag. Similar to a sandbag.” He pointed to Della, who carried one from the truck to spread on the fire. “Like that. But not quite.”
“Are you able to ID your attacker? Or did you notice anyone today?” Wilcox wrote down a few notes.
“I wish. But no.” Naya sighed. “I’m pretty sure it was a guy who pushed me, though. He had a ball cap on and kept his head low, but his stature was indicative of a male. And he was strong.”
Zack wanted to tug her to his side. “The incident today might not have been the same person.” He needed to give them details about his parents. Otherwise they might miss a lead that could point them to the attacker. “My parents were killed when I was a child. Arson. I started looking into their file again to try to find who’s responsible for their deaths.”
“What are their names?” Basuto’s radio squawked with intel on another incident, and he turned down the volume.
“Douglas and Callie Nelson. It’s a cold case from twenty-three years ago.” Zack’s throat and eyes burned at the mention of his parents, although maybe it was from the smoke in the air. “The bomb was planted on my car. What if it was done by someone who doesn’t want me uncovering decades-old secrets?”
Wilcox scrunched up her nose but still wrote the information down. “It’s a long shot, but right now any theory is a good theory. No one is willing to risk either of your lives on an assumption.”
“You’re both cleared.” Trace closed up his bag. “But you should take it easy.”
Zack nodded. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“You guys need a ride back to town?” Ramble closed his pad.
Zack turned to the fire crew. He couldn’t just leave them here to finish putting out the blaze without checking in.
He jogged over to Amelia. “Do you need any help?”
She took a sip of water before putting back on her helmet. “No way. We got it under control. You should go home and take it easy.”
Zack stared at the blackened metal that lay in a mangled heap. Smoke continued to rise from the ground, but no flames surfaced.
“Go, Stephens.” She shooed him away.
Zack turned to see Naya sliding into the backseat of Wilcox’s car. He ran back over and slid in after her.
Wilcox pulled out. “You said your car is at the café in town?”
“That’s right.” Naya’s voice sounded small.
They were both dusty, and the backseat of this car would smell like smoke for a while after they got out.
While the detective drove through town, Zack’s mind raced with different ways this day could have ended and all the possibilities of what this attack could mean. He needed to write it out in order to work through the threads. Yet his body screamed at him to rest.
Now that the adrenaline had started to wear off, his muscles hurt with the slightest movement. Like getting out of Wilcox’s car and into Naya’s.
His cheek burned, and Zack rubbed the bandaged area.
“Do you need a new Band-Aid? I have a first aid kit.” Naya smiled despite the hint of dirt still on her cheek. She leaned over to the glove compartment and pulled out a white box.
“Nah. It’s just tender. But at this point, you’re a pro at being my nurse.” For a split second, Zack wasn’t sitting in Naya’s car but on the bathroom floor so many years ago.
“Sit still so I can clean your face.” Naya playfully hit his shoulder. “Hold this to your eye too.” She handed him a cold paper towel to help with the bruising that was sure to draw attention at school tomorrow.
He couldn’t even remember what that fight had been about now.
All he remembered was Naya.
Zack squinted at the bright light that streamed in through her car window.
“You did good today. With Hudson.” Naya closed the glove box and shifted back in her seat.
“Thanks.” Zack rested his arm on the center console next to hers.
He swallowed, trying not to think of how close they were in this enclosed space. It was one thing to have let Naya take care of him when they were kids. Back then girls had cooties, and she’d only been a friend. Now she was a grown woman who carried herself with poise and grace. The whole package added another dynamic that left his heart wanting to explore more.
Zack trailed his finger down her hand, then took hers in his. His pulse throbbed in his thumb.
Could she feel it too? They were both still breathing. Still alive.
What if this was his chance to make things right between them? Show Naya that she could trust him. That he wouldn’t leave her side again—the promise he’d broken once when they were teens.
Naya squeezed his hand and leaned forward. “Thanks for getting us out of that car,” she whispered.
Zack brushed his hand against her cheek to remove the dirt still there, then drew her to himself. He wanted to hold her and never let go. But would she let him in again?
Naya rested her head against his shoulder. The smell of smoke in her hair wafted into his nostrils but he didn’t care. He wanted to be her safe place.
“I’d do anything for you, Nay.” He kissed her cheek, ready to leave a trail of them along the side of her face.
Naya sucked in a breath and pulled away. “Zack, I can’t.” Her eyelids dropped. “Not now.” She tucked her hands in her lap.
It didn’t take long to imagine how the cold would seep into the space between them. Zack gritted his teeth. He’d failed her once, so why did he think she’d be willing to give it another go?
“I never meant to hurt you.” Zack fisted his hand and covered his mouth.
Lord, I care about Naya. A lot. Show me how I can pursue her and earn her trust.
She had told him not now . A very different response from never . He wasn’t going to let this deter him. Not from keeping her safe. And not from showing her that he could be the man who treated her right.
“It’s in the past.” She sighed.
Zack didn’t believe her. The way he’d left without a word, never reaching out to hear how she was doing, had wedged a barrier between them. Zack didn’t want to consider the possibility of the past being unmovable.
So he’d keep praying he could show her that she could trust him. Before it was too late.
Whether that person had intended for Naya to be with him today or not didn’t change the fact that she could have been hurt far worse.
Zack wished his dad were here to tell him what to do. To help him make sense of it all.
But he wasn’t, because someone had committed arson.
R, son.
Just remember the most important word in your vocabulary. It was so important I had to tell other people about it. R, son.
No, he didn’t want to relive that moment right now.
“I want to believe you. I just need time.” Naya’s words sliced through the silence.
“I want to give that to you.” He’d wait until she was ready. “You know, my dad was the most patient person ever.”
“You want to talk about it?”
Did he? Not really. But saying it aloud might help keep it from occupying his thoughts. “It’s silly. My dad would play the ‘R game’ with me when I was little. To help me practice pronunciation. Said it was the most important word in my vocabulary.”
Naya stared at him. Eyes attentive.
Zack sat up straighter to imitate his dad. “R, son. It’s important. So important I had to tell other people about it. There’s a lot of sentences you can make with r-words. Like this one: rats only go empty’n rivers.”
Naya’s eyes creased with a smile.
“He helped me with so much.” Zack needed to visit their graves again. It had been too long.
“He sounds like a great dad. I would have loved to meet him.”
His parents might not be here anymore, but he could honor them by finding out what had happened that fatal day. Even more than that, Zack could aspire to be half the man his dad had been. A man of patience and integrity.
“No matter what happens, Naya, I promise I’m not leaving.”
Because after today, one thing was clear. Someone had ramped up their threats. But why? And who was the intended target?