Chapter 32
CHAPTER 32
“Y ou need to calm down, Beck.”
“How?” Becket growled at his brother, the anger and panic and fear choking him. “How do I calm down when I don’t know where she is? Rosemary has made her intentions pretty fucking clear.”
“She’s seventy years old and there’s an APB out for both her van and her car. She won’t get far.”
Becket leaned his head back. He’d wanted to drive but his brother had refused to let him.
He couldn’t breathe . It was too fucking much. If he lost Sky, he’d never recover.
His phone rang, and he pulled it out to see it was the fire station. He wanted to let it go to voicemail, but he was chief. If they were calling, it was important.
He answered it, almost barking into the phone. “What is it?”
“One of the helicopters that has been doing routine checks in the mountains has reported smoke,” Irene said. “It’s not far from the highway, but it’s a lot. Makes me think an accelerant was used.”
“The arsonist.” Becket scowled. Just what he fucking needed.
“That’s what we’re thinking. I’m going to call a few other stations for backup.”
He frowned, a thought hitting him so hard in the gut that it almost cut the air right out of him. “The arsonist…”
“Yeah, that’s what you said.”
He looked at his brother. “It’s connected.”
Jesse frowned. “What?”
“The fires only started a few months ago. Eloise died in a fire. What if she wants the same fate for Sky?”
“Chief, I don’t—”
“She was practicing,” Becket said, cutting Irene off. “She was testing different accelerants. Seeing which fire spread the fastest. How long it took crews to respond. She doesn’t want Sky to be able to outrun it.”
Jesse cursed.
“I think—”
“Irene.” Becket cut her off a second time. “Grab my stuff. I’ll track your location and meet the engine. I’m coming with you.”
“Okay. Sure. See you soon.”
He hung up and opened the app on his phone that showed the location of his engines. It didn’t take them long to meet up on the road. Once they did, Jesse and the lead engine stopped. Becket jumped out of his brother’s car, pulling on his jacket and helmet before climbing in with his crew. Moose drove, while Teddy and Irene sat in the back.
Jesse followed the engine, everyone’s lights and sirens on.
Becket glanced at Irene. “You’ve called for a retardant drop?”
“I have.” She frowned at him. “What’s going on?”
“Sky was kidnapped.”
Moose gasped. “What the hell do you mean, she was kidnapped?”
“Someone took her. And I think that same person set this fire, so she’ll be close.”
“Jesus Christ,” Teddy cursed.
“Faster,” Irene urged Moose.
They were speeding down the highway when, up ahead, a dog ran onto the road.
Becket frowned and leaned forward. “That’s Rosemary’s dog…Bella.”
“Who?” Teddy asked.
Moose was slowing to swerve around Bella when Becket shook his head. “Stop!” He jumped out and ran up to the dog. “Hey, Bells.”
Bella whimpered, biting his pant leg and trying to drag him into the tree line.
“You know where she is?” Becket asked.
She whined and tugged again.
“Just a sec, girl.”
He ran back to the engine and grabbed his pack, the little dog right on his heels.
Teddy rolled down the back window. “Becket, what the hell are you doing?”
“Sky’s in there.”
“The engine won’t fit here,” Moose shouted.
“So find somewhere it will fit. I’m going in.”
“Wait!” Teddy jumped out and grabbed his pack. “You’re not going alone.”
Becket shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Fuck that. If you’re going, I’m going.”
Becket didn’t have time to argue. He looked down at the dog. “Take me to her, Bells.”
Bella took off, and they followed her, moving fast toward the smoke.
* * *
The trees blurred around Sky, the smoke thick in the air.
The fire was moving quickly, and every minute that passed had it spreading faster, not just behind her but all around her.
She didn’t even know where she was going. Every muscle in her body was tired and her lungs burned. All she wanted to do was stop and rest, but she couldn’t. The flames would swallow her.
Her chest ached from coughing and her knees trembled. She stumbled forward, almost falling.
Where was the road? Or people, or any form of help whatsoever? Would she reach it in time?
Yes. She would make it. She had to.
She hadn’t even told Becket she loved him yet, and the thought of him never hearing those words hurt. A physical ache that spiraled through her limbs, competing with the other pains.
Her feet stumbled against the dirt as she ran, skirting around trees, tripping over roots.
Her next breath was more of a wheeze. She tried to leap over another tree root when her foot caught and she fell. Her bound wrists stopped her from fully catching herself, and she hit her head hard on a tree.
Pain crashed through her skull, making a deep fog set in.
She groaned and rolled. When she touched her forehead, a sticky wetness coated her fingers.
Blood.
For a moment, she didn’t get up. Her limbs were too heavy and her chest too tight to move. She just wanted to breathe , but there was too much smoke. The heat of the flames was too intense.
Get up, Sky. You need to get up! The words were a shout in her head.
She tried to push up, but her arms collapsed.
Come on! You’re stronger than this.
The fog threatened to pull her under. But she didn’t let it. If she didn’t get up, she’d die. And she was not dying in this forest.
She shoved herself up again, this time forcing her limbs to hold her. The world spun, a mixture of smoke and flames dancing in front of her eyes. Nausea crawled through her belly, and for a second, she thought she was going to be sick, but she swallowed the queasiness. When she was finally on her feet, she swayed and grabbed a tree.
One step at a time, Sky.
She was whispering the words in her head when she heard something. A noise that she barely registered over the roar of the fire.
She frowned, almost convincing herself it was in her head. That she couldn’t possibly have heard his voice.
Then it came again…a shout that competed with the flames.
Becket’s voice.
Was he really here?
A part of her rebelled against the idea of him being here, because it wasn’t safe. But the other part, the part that barely had the energy to walk, let alone run, let hope bloom inside her.
“Becket?” She tried to yell but her voice was cut off by coughing.
She forced her feet forward, grabbing another tree, then another again, barely keeping herself upright.
“Becket?” she yelled again.
She wasn’t loud enough. So weak that she couldn’t even yell at full volume.
Suddenly, a second voice sounded, this one less familiar but also male. Was someone with him? Maybe someone from his crew, here to fight the fire.
She took a few more steps, a new determination inside her. A determination to reach Becket. To see his face.
“Sky!” Becket’s voice was louder this time.
He was calling for her. He knew she was here.
How?
God, it didn’t matter.
She forced her feet to move faster. Black dots danced in her vision, but she blinked them away.
Suddenly, something appeared in front of her. Something small and fast.
“Bella!” Sky gasped.
The small dog closed the distance between them, and Sky dropped to her knees, cuddling her to her chest. “You came back.”
Bella licked her face, and Sky looked up to see another figure in the distance…Becket.