Chapter 12 Willa
WILLA
The acrid smell of smoke and burning timber filled Willa’s lungs as she surveyed the chaos unfolding in the forest just north of Ember Lake Memorial Campground.
The orange glow of flames danced between the pine trees, casting eerie shadows that made her stomach clench with memories she’d spent ten years trying to suppress.
This wasn’t the same fire. This wasn’t the same place. But the sight of her firefighters moving through the smoke-filled darkness, the sound of radios crackling with urgent communications, the familiar weight of command responsibility on her shoulders—it all felt horrifyingly familiar.
“Captain Parker,” Lieutenant Spencer’s voice crackled through her radio. “We’ve got the eastern perimeter contained, but the wind’s picking up from the southwest.”
“Copy that,” Willa responded, forcing her voice to remain steady and professional. “Redirect Team Three to establish a firebreak along the ridge. We can’t let this thing jump the creek.”
She pushed the memories deeper, focusing on the tactical situation in front of her. Her team needed her to be their leader, not a widow haunted by ghosts from a decade ago. There would be time for emotional processing later, when the fire was out and everyone was safe.
The sound of approaching footsteps made her turn, and she felt a familiar flutter of relief when she saw Ace jogging toward her, already dressed in full firefighting gear.
“Ace,” Willa called out, genuinely grateful for his presence. “I didn’t call you.”
“Heard the dispatch on the scanner,” Ace replied, falling into step beside her as they moved toward the command post. “Figured you could use an extra pair of hands.”
Willa nodded, immediately shifting into operational mode.
Ace had been a smokejumper for eight years before returning to Sandpiper Shores, and his experience with wildfire suppression made him invaluable in situations like this.
More than that, his calm presence always seemed to ground her when things got chaotic.
“I need you to take Team Two and work the northern flank,” she said. “The terrain gets rough up there, and the one crew is still getting used to forest work.”
“On it,” Ace confirmed, already moving toward the staging area where the additional firefighters were gathering their equipment.
Before Willa could follow him, she spotted Police Chief Morrison approaching with Detective Dillinger and Dr. Tanner. Tom looked pale despite his determined expression, and she noticed the white bandage visible beneath his police cap.
“Chief, Detective,” Willa greeted them. “Dr. Tanner, it’s good to have you here. We’ve got a ten-year-old asthmatic who lost her inhaler in the evacuation. She’s struggling.”
“Where is she?” Lucy asked immediately, her medical bag already in hand.
“Triage area, near the main pavilion,” Willa directed. “My Aunt Carmen is with her.”
Lucy headed off immediately, and Tom turned to give Rad his orders for crowd control and perimeter security. As the detective moved away to coordinate with the forest rangers, Tom focused his attention on Willa.
“Any idea how this started?” he asked, his voice carrying the authority of someone who’d spent decades dealing with emergencies.
Willa glanced toward the origin point, where the flames were brightest. “My one lieutenant thinks it started from an unattended illegal campsite. Someone set up about two hundred yards off the main trail, probably thinking they were far enough from the designated camping areas to avoid notice.”
“Illegal camping?” Tom frowned, pulling out his notebook. “That’s been a growing problem this summer with the increased tourism.”
“The fire appears to have started from an improperly extinguished campfire,” Willa continued, her professional training taking over despite her personal anxiety. “With this drought and the wind conditions, it would have spread fast once it got into the understory.”
“Have you found whoever was camping there?” Tom asked her.
“That’s the problem,” Willa said, her voice tight with concern.
“No one can locate the campers. We’ve accounted for all the registered guests at the official campground and cabins, but whoever was at that illegal site has vanished.
They either evacuated on their own when they saw the fire spreading, or. ..”
“Or they’re still out there,” Tom finished grimly.
“Exactly. I’ve got teams doing search and rescue sweeps, but with the fire still active, there are areas we can’t safely access yet.” Willa’s jaw clenched, and she sucked in a breath.
Tom scanned the perimeter, then looked at her with sharp eyes that missed little.
“We’ll get search and rescue teams from the county to help once the immediate fire threat is contained.
In the meantime, I’ll have Rad coordinate with the park service to see if anyone matching unknown campers was spotted in the area today. ”
It was then that he tilted his head slightly, and Willa caught sight of the bandage more clearly.
“Chief, what happened to your head?” she asked, genuine concern replacing her professional detachment for a moment.
Tom touched the bandage self-consciously. “A shelf collapsed in Rad’s office, and it caught me right on the side of the skull.”
Willa’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“That’s the third accident involving Rad in the past two weeks,” Tom told her.
“Third?” Willa looked surprised.
Tom nodded. “One of my officers mentioned that a filing cabinet tipped over the other day and nearly crushed Rad. Then he got locked in the records room. The door handle had been removed and was nowhere to be seen. And a few other things.”
“Sounds like it’s time to renovate the precinct. That building’s been due for updates for years.” Willa’s eyebrows rose.
Tom nodded, and something uncomfortable settled in her chest. The pattern felt familiar in a way that made her skin crawl.
Ten years ago, in the months leading up to the Ember Lake fire, there had been a series of similar “weird accidents” around town.
Small things. Like door handles breaking at inconvenient moments, shelves falling, and equipment malfunctioning just enough to cause delays or injuries.
Shaun and the previous Sandpiper Shores detective had suspected someone was deliberately causing problems, trying to disrupt emergency response capabilities. They’d never been able to prove it, but the timing had been too coincidental to ignore.
“Mom!” Andy’s voice cut through her dark thoughts, and she turned to see her son running toward her, followed by Tyler and Holt Dillinger.
“Andy, what are you doing here?” Willa’s heart lurched with sudden fear. Her children were supposed to be at a safe distance from this fire.
“It’s my fault,” Holt said, reaching them slightly out of breath. “After I picked the boys up from the outdoor movie, we came to the campground restaurant for dinner. We were supposed to have s’mores by the fire pit for dessert. Then we were rounded up and moved out of the establishment.”
“Oh,” Willa said, understanding immediately. The campground restaurant was a popular spot for families, especially during summer evenings. “But you need to leave the area now. It’s not safe.”
“I know,” Holt replied, and she saw something in his eyes. A depth of understanding that suggested he knew exactly what this scene was costing her emotionally. “Andy just wanted to make sure you were okay before we left.”
The compassion in his voice caught her off guard. Most people saw her professional competence and assumed she was unaffected by the dangers of her job. But Holt seemed to recognize the fear that lived beneath her calm exterior.
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” Willa assured Andy, pulling him into a quick hug. “But I need you to go home and stay there until this is over.”
“I’ll make sure she stays safe,” Ace’s voice came from behind her, and Willa felt her heart do that familiar skip it always did when he appeared unexpectedly.
“Ace!” Andy broke away from his mother to give the pilot a quick hug. “I’m glad you’re here. Is there fire jumping to do?”
“Not yet, kiddo,” Ace said with a grin, lifting his head and looking into Willa’s eyes with a look that promised he meant what he’d said about keeping her safe.
Andy turned back to his mother, worry shining in his eyes. “Please be careful, Mom,” he said, hugging her so tightly that her throat ached with emotion.
“I will,” Willa promised, meaning it completely. “Now I need you to go. Let your sisters and your grandmother know I’m okay, and tell your grandmother that your Aunt Carmen...”
“Who is right here,” Carmen’s voice interrupted as she approached the group, looking harried but competent.
“That she’s fine as well,” Willa said with a soft laugh.
“Yes, please tell your grandmother, I’m fine,” Carmen said, smiling at her great-nephew.
“I’ll walk you out,” Ace offered, gesturing toward the parking area where civilians were being evacuated.
Willa hugged Andy goodbye one more time, then turned to Holt. “Thank you for taking care of the boys tonight. And for bringing him to check on me.”
“Of course,” Holt said with a nod and warm smile. “I’ll get them home.”
He turned and walked away, following Ace and the teenage boys.
“That was very thoughtful of Director Dillinger,” Willa added to Carmen as Ace led the group toward the evacuation zone.
“Trust me, honey, there’s nothing thoughtful about that man.” Carmen’s sharp response caught Willa completely off guard.
“Why don’t you like him?” Willa asked, frowning at the venom in her aunt’s voice.
“It’s a long story,” Carmen said curtly, then looked away as someone called her name. “I have to go. Please keep your promise to Andy and stay safe.”
Carmen hurried off toward the triage area, leaving Willa standing alone with more questions than answers.
She’d never heard her aunt speak with such obvious dislike about anyone.
Her brow furrowed as she watched her aunt walk away.
But there was no time to puzzle it out now.
Her radio was crackling with updates from the fire line, and her team needed her full attention.
The next three hours passed in a blur of tactical decisions, resource coordination, and the controlled chaos of fighting wildfire.
Willa found herself moving constantly between the command post, the fire line, and the evacuation areas, making split-second decisions that could mean the difference between containing the blaze and losing half the forest.
By the time the fire was officially declared contained, the moon was high overhead, and Willa’s voice was hoarse from shouting orders over the noise of engines and radios. Her gear felt twice its normal weight, and every muscle in her body ached from the constant tension.
“Captain,” Tom Morrison appeared at her elbow, looking as exhausted as she felt despite his head injury. “Good work tonight. Your team handled this beautifully.”
“Thank you, Chief,” Willa replied, pulling off her helmet and running a hand through her sweat-dampened hair. “Ready to take a look at the origin point?”
They walked together toward the area where the fire had started, their flashlight beams cutting through the smoky darkness.
The illegal campsite was easy to identify.
There was a cleared circle surrounded by the charred remains of camping equipment, with the blackened scar of the escaped campfire clearly visible at its center.
“Definitely careless fire management,” Tom observed, making notes in his ever-present notebook. “But still no sign of whoever was camping here.”
“None of the other campers remember seeing anyone,” Willa confirmed. “And all the registered guests are accounted for. Whoever this was, they’re either very good at staying invisible, or they got out of here fast when the fire started.”
“Captain Parker!” Ace’s voice cut through the night, and both Tom and Willa turned to see him jogging toward them, his face mask pushed back, and something clutched in his gloved hand.
“What is it?” Willa asked, though something in his expression was already making her stomach clench with dread.
“I don’t think this was an accident,” Ace said, holding up an empty gasoline can. The red plastic container was partially melted by the heat, but still clearly identifiable.
Willa felt the world tilt sideways as she stared at the can in Ace’s hand.
Ten years ago, in the ashes of the Ember Lake fire that had killed her husband, the arson investigators had found an identical container.
Same brand and the same size. It was found just far enough from the origin point to survive the initial burn.
“Where did you find that?” Tom asked, his voice suddenly sharp with professional interest.
“About fifty yards northeast of the campsite,” Ace replied. “Hidden under some brush that didn’t burn. Like someone tossed it there and expected it to be destroyed.”
The implications hit all three of them at once. If someone had deliberately started this fire, if the pattern from ten years ago were repeating itself, then Sandpiper Shores might be facing something far more dangerous than careless campers and tourist-season accidents.
Willa stared at the gasoline can and felt the carefully constructed walls she’d built around her grief and trauma beginning to crack.
Somewhere in the darkness, someone was playing with fire in the most literal sense possible.
Only this time, if this was arson, Willa would stop them no matter what it took before the arsonist could destroy any more lives.