Chapter 20 #2
“We have a name,” announced Colton, striding up to them.
The three men straightened. “Go on,” said Westlake.
Colton laid it out. “Tom Rader’s tanker crashed two years ago.
The insurance settlement still sits in escrow, the same amount the kidnapper demanded.
Precision confirmed the figure when I called them after landing.
Tom’s surviving brothers, Ed and Zeb, and Harvey’s comment about Zeb asking questions about Precision’s flight schedules and maintenance.
It all fits. We need to pull the crew rosters. ”
Deanna pulled Kylie’s notebook from her pocket. “Kylie noticed Zeb, too, and jotted it down.”
Westlake typed on his laptop and hit print. “Pulling the rosters.”
Colton retrieved the pages from the printer and spread the lists across the table.
Deanna picked up the pages, scanning them, her finger moving down the list of names. Three weeks of crew manifests, names highlighted where firefighters had demobed early. Most had legitimate reasons that included injuries, family emergencies, or other reasons.
Deanna’s finger stopped on a name. “Here. Zeb Rader. Worked on a Type 2 crew. Demobed eleven days ago. Family death.”
“Verified?” Colton asked.
Westlake checked his notes. “His grandmother passed, according to what he told dispatch.”
“The timing fits,” said Sergeant Mills. “Eleven days ago places him right before the sabotage escalated.”
Westlake reached for his radio. “I want each cabin in the search area cross-referenced with any property associated with the Rader family. Pull the Forest Service permit records and check the DMV for vehicles registered to Ed and Zeb Rader.”
Several phones in the room pinged at once. Everyone froze.
“More bad news.” Ace’s jaw ticked.
Colton opened his first. The video was dark and grainy. Kylie lay sobbing on a wooden floor, hands bound behind her. Her earlier defiance had vanished.
A man’s words cut over her sobs. “You have less than twenty hours left. The money better be ready, or the next message you receive won’t be as pleasant.”
The screen went black.
“No!” Ace slammed his fist into the table. Maps scattered and coffee leaped out of cups. “We have a name and a search area. Why aren’t we kicking down doors right now? Did you see her? She’s terrified!”
Colton stepped over and gripped Ace’s shoulder. “Listen, we got a break with the names and we’ve narrowed the location. Mills is running it down. We need you thinkin’ clearly, not punchin’ tables.”
“He’s right.” Deanna held her words steady, despite the water pooling in her eyes. “We need to stay focused.”
Ace slumped, his shoulders heavy with weariness. “I can’t lose her. I can’t.”
Colton pointed at him. “You won’t.”
Westlake turned to the sergeant. “Where are your search teams?”
“We’ve narrowed it to a twelve-square-mile area based on the video analysis.
That’s forty-three structures to check out.
Some are damn-near inaccessible with the fire moving the way it is.
” Mills swiped open a map on his tablet.
“With the Rader name, we can check cabin records, and any leases and permits in their family name.”
“What about the money?” asked Westlake.
Colton’s face darkened. “Precision Aviation is balking. Their lawyers say the escrow funds can’t be used for ransom. Some clause about violating the terms of the insurance settlement.”
“Are you kidding me?” erupted Ace. “They’re worried about legal technicalities while a smokejumper’s life is on the line? Never mind that she lays her life on the line every time she jumps a fire!”
“I’ll make calls up the chain,” said Mills.
“I need some air.” Ace shot them all a glance and stormed outside.
Colton followed, finding Ace with his hands on the cinderblock wall of the school, head down, breathing like he’d sprinted a mile.
Ace’s words were barely above a whisper.
“Kylie confided the night before she was taken that her father died when his car crashed during a blizzard, driving home from Seattle. She still thinks it was her fault for asking him to come spend Christmas with her.” He shook his head.
“She trusted me with the worst thing that happened to her, and the next morning, she was gone.”
Colton said nothing, only placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. Sometimes the best thing a friend could do was shut the hell up.
Ace’s eyes locked on Colton. “I feel helpless. I want to help find her.”
“Let law enforcement do their job,” advised Colton. “At least now we know who has her.”
“Wish I had your confidence, buddy.” Ace exhaled a weary sigh and scrubbed his hand down his face.
“I know you, and you’re no quitter.” Colton gripped his shoulder. “When we find her, she’ll need the man who has stuck by her through it all. Not the one who punched a table.”
Ace eyed a helicopter passing overhead, its searchlight sweeping the mountainside. He straightened, wiping his face with his sleeve.
“She’s the one for me, Colt. She’s the one.” His voice was gravelly. “When this is over, I want to be with her. As in permanently, long after fire season ends. Maybe even marry her.”
“You do what’s right for you, Ace.” Under different circumstances, Colton would have argued. But his best friend had crashed hard and rebuilt himself between one breath and the next. Arguing with a man that far gone would be pointless.
Ace pushed off the wall. “I’m going back inside to wait. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Good night, folks.” He swung open the door and disappeared inside.
Colton turned to Deanna, who’d stepped out to join him. “You shouldn’t be alone tonight. They took Kylie from your tent. Stay with me.” He met her eyes. “I need to know you’re safe.”
She softened. “Let me grab my gear.”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, they’d both settled into his hotel room after a fast drive. Deanna stood by the window, looking out at the glow of the fire on the horizon.
“She looked so scared.” The words barely escaped her.
Colton crossed to gather her into his arms. “We’re closer than we were this morning. Mills will have teams on every Rader property by sunrise.” He turned her to face him. “Whoever’s behind this will make a mistake, and we’ll stop ’em when they do.”
She reached up, touching his face. “When did I become so important to you?”
Three words rested on his tongue, ones that would change everything. But not now, not like this. When he planned to tell Deanna Brooks he loved her, it would be in a moment of joy, not during a crisis.
“From the second I laid eyes on you,” he said instead. “When you put yourself in harm’s way to help Ace.”
She drew him into a fierce kiss, her hands clutching his shirt like she feared the ground might open to swallow him. He kissed her back with as much ferocity.
“Glad I’m here. I need you tonight. Let’s both just go to sleep. I’m too tired and stressed to, you know. . .” She didn’t have to say it.
“Me, too. Get some sleep.”
“I’m down for that.” She stripped down to her T-shirt and climbed into bed.
He removed his clothes and lay beside her, covering them lightly with a sheet.
Outside, the fire glowed on the horizon, and somewhere in those mountains, Kylie counted the hours. Deanna’s breathing slowed until sleep took her.
Colton lay awake a while longer, staring at the ceiling. They had a name now. That was something. By morning, Mills would have boots on every cabin. By tomorrow night, this could be over.
It had to be.
Eventually, even worry surrendered to exhaustion.