Chapter 21
Deanna
The nightmare clung to Deanna like smoke even after she woke. In the dream, she’d been standing at Colton’s funeral as they lowered his scorched body into the ground while Reeva laughed behind her, shouting, “Everything you touch dies!”
At four in the morning, Deanna jerked awake, drenched in sweat, Colton’s arm heavy across her waist, his breathing deep and even.
Careful not to wake him, she slipped from the bed, grabbed her phone, and tiptoed into the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind her.
Before doubt could talk her out of it, she tapped her mother’s number.
She answered on the second ring, voice thick with sleep. “Deanna? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Mom. I wanted to hear your voice.” She folded her knees to her chest. “I know the anniversary was a hard day for both of us.”
A pause. “You never call me at four in the morning to talk about your father. What’s really going on?”
Deanna hesitated. “I met someone. A pilot. He’s good, Mom. Like a super good person. But. . .” She trailed off.
“But what?”
“I’m afraid I’ll ruin things like I always do,” she confessed.
The silence on the other end lasted so long Deanna thought the call had dropped. Finally, her mother came back. “You mean like I’ve always done.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that—”
“Yes, you did,” her mother cut in. “But you’re not wrong. The fact you’re scared means you’re aware of the consequences of your actions, that’s all. I was too busy chasing the next guy without stopping to ask myself why.”
“Doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“It’s not supposed to. Don’t make my same mistakes.” Her mother paused, then her tone steadied. “Does he care for you?”
Deanna pictured Colton sleeping in the next room. “Yeah, Mom. I believe he does.”
“Don’t you dare give up on him and run.” She paused. “You hear me? Don’t you dare run.”
“I won’t, Mom.” Her mother’s hardline stance took her aback. “Not this time. He’s a keeper.” She only repeated what Kylie had said, and it turned out to be true.
“Be safe, my girl. You know how I worry about you skydiving into those horrible fires.”
“I don’t skydive, Mom. And I jump next to the fires, not into them.”
“Whatever. Be safe and stay in one piece. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” Deanna ended the call.
Don’t you dare run.
The same woman who never thought twice about running into the arms of men she barely knew. Maybe that was the point. The people who made the worst mistakes were the ones who understood the cost of repeating them.
She opened the door to find Colton sitting on the bed, getting dressed. “Good morning, starshine,” he said as she moved to him and pecked him on the cheek.
She got dressed, and they hurried out to Colton’s pickup for the drive to the ICC.
“MORNING, brOOKS AND Davis.” Westlake greeted them. “Mills called. Three Rader-connected properties identified overnight. Two in the search area. Search teams hit them at first light.”
Deanna’s pulse jumped. “And?”
“Nothing at the first one. Empty cabin, no recent activity. Still waiting on the second one.”
Colton dragged over a chair. “What about Reeva?”
“Hospital confirmed Reeva left around 2300 the night Kylie was taken from the base camp. She was never officially discharged. ADLC hasn’t located her or the dark pickup.”
Westlake slid a printout across the table. Deanna stepped close to read alongside Colton. Zeb Rader, age thirty-two. Six seasons on Type 2 hand crews across the Northern Rockies. Grew up hunting deer and elk in the Pintlers. Competitive precision-rifle shooter, three state titles.
“Six seasons out here,” Deanna murmured. “He’d know every back road, supply cache, and crew rotation.”
Colton brought out his phone. “I’ll look for him on socials.” A few minutes later, he stilled. “Look at this. Not Zeb. His brother.”
He turned the phone toward Westlake and Deanna. One of Zeb’s tagged photos: a tall, lean man with pilot’s sunglasses pushed up on his head, his arm around a blonde woman. The tag read Ed Rader.
Deanna’s stomach dropped. “No freaking way! Is that . . .?”
“Yep. Reeva.” Colton’s voice came out rough. “With Ed. In front of Precision’s hangar in Helena. Six months ago, based on the timestamp.”
Westlake squinted at the screen. “How well did you know Ed?”
“Never met him. But see the banner in the background? Precision’s annual safety stand-down. Every pilot in the company turns out for it.” Colton’s brow furrowed. “Harvey said Ed flies helicopters and is a certified flight instructor.”
Deanna’s mind raced, the dots connecting with sickening clarity. “I’ll bet Ed taught Reeva to fly helos, and she got her rating with him.”
“Then she signed on with Precision to gather the information they needed,” said Colton. “Insurance schedules, fleet vulnerabilities, maintenance routines. All of it.”
“Thanks for your work on this, Davis and Brooks. I’ll relay this info to Sergeant Mills.” Westlake stepped outside, talking rapidly into his cell phone.
Colton stared at the photo. “Reeva always gravitated toward men with money. Rader no doubt promised her a cut of the ransom.”
“How can you be sure?” asked Deanna.
“Think about it.” His words tripped over themselves.
“Reeva hands them the inside of Precision. Insurance, operations, fuel suppliers. Ed brings the aviation, flight paths, frequencies, how a tanker’s put together.
And Zeb’s been on the fire all season, so he owns the ground.
Drafting sources, deployment, when the crews rotate. ”
Deanna sank into a chair, the room closing in on her. The Rader brothers. Reeva. The complete picture clicking into place. She had trouble catching her breath.
“I need some fresh air. Walk with me to our usual spot?”
“Sure, let’s go.” Colton motioned her to go, then followed.
They headed up the trail leading into the foothills behind the school. Morning sunlight filtered through the smoke, veiling the mountains in a ghostly haze. A breeze rustled the leaves as Deanna climbed the trail through a grove of aspens.
Despite the noise below, with engines running and crews preparing for another firefight, it was peaceful on the hill. The fire had consumed the far ridge, reducing the tree line to jagged rows of blackened skeletons jutting into the smoldering sky.
“What gives?” Colton asked. “You’ve been unusually quiet this morning.”
“A woman in Alaska cursed me once,” she burst out.
“What woman?”
“Cohen’s ex-girlfriend, before Raynie. When she found out I’d gone after him, she cornered me at the spike camp and said, ‘I hope someone you love gets taken from you, so you know how it feels.’”
“She lashed out in pain, Deanna. It wasn’t a curse.”
“Kylie’s gone and Reeva nearly burned alive.” Her words cut loose before she could yank them back. “I jinx everyone around me.”
He reached for her, but she backed away, her chin trembling. “I had a dream last night you were dead, and it was my fault. I woke up thinking if I stay with you, terrible things will happen.”
“Dreams don’t work that way, Deanna. Pushing me away won’t keep me any safer.” He gave her a dubious look. “That isn’t how this works.”
“So, how does it work? Because I’ve loved only a few people in my life. My dad is dead. Kylie is in a cabin with a gun pointed at her. And you. . .” She stopped, gesturing her frustration.
His tone softened. “What about me?”
Did I just say it? Is it too soon to say it? Oh, the hell with it.
“You . . . I . . . okay, dammit, I love you! All right? There. I said it.” Tears fell, hot and furious. “I didn’t mean to, and tried not to, but I do, and I can’t help it. But I’m afraid this jinx, or whatever the heck it is, will snatch you away from me and I’ll be one hot mess again!”
Colton closed the distance and cupped her face in both hands.
“Don’t say it back only because I did.” She choked back a sob. “Don’t feel obligated.”
“Listen to me, Deanna.” His gaze fastened to hers. “You aren’t jinxin’ anything. You’ve made mistakes and owned them, but that’s all in the past.”
“You can’t promise nothing will happen to you.” Her voice hitched. “I don’t want to jinx you, too.”
“Stop it. You’re not a jinx!” he said gruffly.
“Don’t you see? I’m the freaking wildfire!” she shouted, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Everyone around me eventually gets burned!”
“Stop it, Brooks. We both know the risks in the jobs we do.” He waited for a helicopter to pass overhead. “I can’t promise what tomorrow holds. But I won’t let fear decide how I live today. I’m also good at what I do.”
She berated herself for losing control, swiping her cheeks. “I know you are.”
“And you’re good at what you do, so we cancel each other out. It’s a non-issue.” Colton always had a way of reassuring her, and she truly loved him for it. She shouldn’t worry about her future when Colton occupied every minute of her present.
Westlake’s voice cut in on Colton’s radio. “Davis, Brooks, get back here. Sergeant Mills’s team cleared the second cabin. Empty, same as the first.”
Deanna’s heart kicked, dread and resolve warring inside her. Both Rader properties were dead ends, and the official search would grind away at the speed of paperwork. Kylie was somewhere a federal team couldn’t reach before the deadline.
“Let’s go.” She set off down the path, not bothering to wait for Colton.
“Are you coming or not?”