Chapter 25
Deanna
The rumble of diesel engines made Deanna look up from the fire progression map she’d been hunched over in the Command Center. Through a window facing the parking lot, two transport vans unloaded a crew.
Westlake lowered his radio. “I pulled the Aurora Hotshots from the fireline to help us out with this situation.”
Deanna’s insides took a nosedive. The Aurora crew had been working on the Copper Creek Fire, and she’d kept her distance from them at the fire base.
Tara strode into the ICC, her green eyes taking in everything at once. Her gaze caught on Deanna and she dipped a nod, then moved to the IC.
“Westlake,” said Tara. “I understand you need more warm bodies. What’s the skinny?”
“Yep, we do. We want to pull off a rescue of one of our smokejumpers. You’ve heard about Kylie Sumner?”
Tara nodded. “Yes, we’re all aware of what happened.”
“Good.” Westlake briefed the crew on what they knew about the Rader brothers.
“The county’s in the loop. Sergeant Mills has a roadblock going up at the Georgetown Lake turnoff, and his deal is to observe and report.
We locate the cabin, hold our distance, and call it in.
His tactical team won’t be operational for eight hours, give or take.
” He let that sit for a moment. “Fire hits that drainage in two to three. If it beats his people there, pulling civilians out of a burning structure stops being a rescue and becomes an evacuation. Evacuations are our job, and nobody needs permission for those. The Forest Service records puts the cabin here.” He tapped the location on the map.
“Brooks will be the lead on the ground. She’ll explain. ”
All eyes turned to Deanna as surprise rippled through the Aurora Crew, though nobody said a word.
She pushed through it. “Zeb Rader has been working fires all season and knows our tactics.”
Tara studied the map. “What’s the plan?”
“Colton will make drops to slow the fire toward the cabin and hopefully create a distraction for us so we can get close. We’ll need a couple of people on the ridge overlooking the cabin to track what’s going on, a few to stay with the vehicles and radios, and someone else to go with me.”
Deanna glanced around at the Aurora Crew. “I know this is dangerous and you have no reason to trust me. But Kylie’s life depends on it.”
“Not doing it for your benefit,” Cohen said flatly. “We’re doing it for her.”
“I know. And I’m grateful.” Deanna met his stare without blinking. “I’m going in first because Kylie trusts me, and Reeva knows me, too. It’s our best chance.”
“She has a point,” said Ryan. “Brooks saved my ass from a burning snag. She’s solid under pressure.”
A heavy quiet descended over the room. Tara glanced at the map, then at Deanna, sizing her up.
“All right, we’ll help,” Tara said finally. “You helped Ryan when he needed it. We’ll do the same for your jump partner.”
Tara didn’t hesitate. “Ryan, Cohen, and Tupa, take the ridge above the cabin and keep eyes on everything below. Raynie and Kenzie, stay with the vans and the radios. If anyone asks on an open channel, we’re scouting escape routes ahead of the fire.” She turned to Deanna. “I’m with you.”
It wasn’t forgiveness, but Tara was trusting Deanna with her crew, and with their lives.
Deanna held Tara’s gaze without flinching, a thank-you lodged in her throat. “Thanks, Tara. Follow my lead. But first, I have something to say.”
Tara paused. “Copy that.”
Deanna addressed the Aurora Crew, her words pouring out in a rush. “I was selfish and inconsiderate up in Alaska. I hurt people and damaged relationships. Each of you had every right to hate me.”
Step Two. Own the wreckage.
“We didn’t hate you,” said Kenzie. “We pitied you.”
“That’s worse,” said Deanna. The truth hurt, but she needed to hear it.
“Your head was in a different place. You were obviously lashing out,” Tara said evenly. “None of us wanted in your crosshairs.”
Deanna stood tall. “I’m in a different place now.”
“Ryan told us about the tree incident,” said Kenzie. “And the helicopter rescue. Kudos for saving people instead of making lives miserable.”
Deanna glanced at Raynie, who stood silently with a dour expression. “I apologize for what I did in Talkeetna, where Cohen was concerned. I was out of line, and I’m sorry.”
“When this is over, we’ll talk.” Raynie’s tone could freeze a volcano.
“Right. Sounds good.” Some of the heaviness eased off Deanna’s shoulders. She showed Tara a copy of the map Sergeant Mills had provided. “Cabin is here, at the end of this road, about six thousand feet.”
Tara stepped forward and tapped the drainage east of the cabin on the map. “This tree line gives us cover for the last two hundred yards. If the wind holds from the west, the smoke will screen our approach.”
“Provided it holds,” Deanna said.
“It will. I read the morning forecast.” Tara said it the way other people said the sun would rise. “Let’s move.”
As the crew headed toward the vans, Deanna grabbed a can of bear spray from her gear bag and followed.
“You sure about going first?” asked Tara.
“Kylie will be scared.” Deanna tucked the bear spray into her daypack. “If she sees a stranger come through the door, she might panic, not knowing what’s going on. If she sees me, she’ll know it’s a rescue.”
“Sounds good.” Tara turned and walked to the lead van without another word. Deanna’s breath came easier.
This is who you are now. Not the woman who kissed other women’s boyfriends for sport. Not the woman who wrecked everything she touched. You’re a woman who walks toward danger for those she loves.
The two vans headed for the Georgetown Lake access road, moving as fast as they dared without kicking up dust to attract attention.
Deanna rode in one van with Ryan, Raynie, Kenzie, and Cohen.
The road narrowed as they climbed, washboard ruts rattling the van, the air thickening with smoke the higher they went.
She squinted at the road up ahead. “The map says the cabin is around the next switchback.” She scanned the roadside, spotting a spur road turnout. “Let’s park the vans here and walk the rest of the way. We need to stay out of sight.”
Everyone got out. The guys hiked up to the ridge as planned, Raynie and Kenzie stayed with the vans, and Tara and Deanna picked through the woods parallel to the access road toward the cabin.
The smoke thickened, stinging Deanna’s eyes and coating her throat with the taste of burning pine. Through the haze, the unmistakable sound of Colton’s air tanker droned in the distance. Deanna trusted his instincts, and it bolstered her confidence.
Westlake had ordered a second tanker from the Alaska Fire Service for cover, piloted by a woman named Ripley. Deanna had heard amazing stories about her firefights when a wildfire threatened Anchorage last season.
Two tankers burst from the smoke, a respectable distance apart. They each dropped a load of slurry ahead of the approaching fire. The drops were precise and measured, nothing to suggest what was about to take place below.
“Let’s move closer.” Deanna switched off her radio. If the Raders heard radio chatter from outside the cabin, all hell would break loose.
Deanna and Tara crept through the woods, using scattered boulders and Douglas fir for cover.
A drab log cabin appeared in a tiny clearing, weathered to the color of smoke, a crumbling stone chimney on one end.
One good-sized window faced them at ground level, dirty glass reflecting the gray sky.
A dark pickup sat at an angle next to the front door.
Deanna crouched behind a boulder and raised binoculars to her eyes. Through the window—a stone fireplace, and in front of it, Kylie, tied to a straight-backed chair.
“I see Kylie!” whispered Deanna, her heart speeding.
“See anyone else?” Tara whispered back from where she huddled behind a thick stand of Douglas fir.
“Not yet. Wait a sec—I see someone.” A tall, lean man paced near the front window, and a blonde woman crossed the room with nervous strides, arms folded.
“A man and a woman are in the room with Kylie. Pretty sure it’s Ed Rader, from that photo. And Reeva Dunsmore.”
The sound of turboprops grew louder until they swallowed the mountainside. Colton’s tanker thundered over the cabin low enough to shake the trees. His distraction was right on schedule.
Deanna lifted the can of bear spray for Tara to see, then she scurried closer to the cabin, using the roar of Colton’s low pass to cover her footsteps, snapping twigs and crunching dried leaves.
Her pulse drummed in her ears as she reached the cabin wall and flattened her body on the logs.
The tanker’s roar faded and swelled again beyond the ridge.
Tara sneaked up behind her, and Deanna nearly jumped out of her skin. “What are you planning to do?”
“I’m going in.” Deanna put a finger to her lips.
She had a decision to make. Sneak in with the bear spray, or radio for the county officers and wait, since their arrival time was a question mark. Colton might have slowed the fire, but Deanna had no way of knowing how close the head of the fire was now, after switching off her radio.
Mills’s instructions said observe and report. Unfortunately, wildfires didn’t follow instructions.
There isn’t time.
“Wait here, Tara. Take my radio. When I’m in there, radio for help.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No,” Deanna said quickly. “If this goes sideways, I need someone out here to call for help. Kylie knows me. She’ll trust me.”
Tara studied her for a moment, then took the radio. “Don’t make me regret it. What if they have weapons?”
Deanna smiled and lifted her bear spray. “Guess I’ll have to act fast, won’t I?”
She inspected the back door. Old wood, rusted hinges, a thumb latch instead of a knob. Probably a squeaker and noisy as hell.
The man she figured to be Ed stood at the front window on the other side of the cabin, and Reeva had moved somewhere else.
Deanna had to rush in and spray Ed before he knew what hit him.
The chemical had a range of twenty feet, more than enough for the small room.
She had to make sure the spray reached his face.
Deanna locked eyes with Tara, who met hers with a steady focus. Tara held up Deanna’s radio, ready to call for help.
Time to find out if redemption was earned or only wished for. Deanna took a breath, whispered a prayer to the heavens, then lifted the thumb latch. The door was either locked . . . or it wasn’t.
She pushed.