Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
T his fire was out of control and it was spreading fast.
Becket’s feet pounded the earth. Bella had led them straight to the center of it, and the blaze surrounded them. But he didn’t stop. He pushed his body faster to keep up with the dog, praying she would lead them to Sky.
“The flames are getting thicker, Beck,” Teddy shouted through his mask.
“You can return to the road.”
“No. I’m staying with you. You shouldn’t be alone.”
Bella sped up, and Becket did too.
He pulled the radio from his belt. “Copter 403, this is Chief Hayes from Station 8. How long until the retardant drop?”
A deep voice sounded over the radio. “Station 8, this is Copter 403. We’re looking at a couple of minutes.”
Dammit.
Suddenly, Bella sprinted into a small gap between two trees. Everything around those trees was alight.
Becket cursed, barely feeling the weight of the pack on his shoulders as he yelled Sky’s name and ran between the trees.
Then he heard it.
His heart fucking stopped.
Sky.
He forced himself to move faster.
“Becket! Dammit, I can’t keep up,” Teddy called.
Becket rounded another tree—then he saw her.
Sky. She was on the ground, blood running down the side of her head, fire raging around her and Bella tucked into her chest.
Alive. Sky was alive.
His knees trembled with relief and he nearly hit the ground.
He dropped in front of her and tugged off his mask. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes were glazed, her pupils too dilated. And there was a wound on her temple.
“I think I have a concussion,” she breathed.
“Can you move?”
“Yes, but not fast.”
He slipped his mask over her face and grabbed her arm. She’d just made it to her feet when Teddy showed up behind them.
“Thank God!” Teddy gasped.
Sky swayed, her knees almost buckling. Fuck. She wasn’t okay.
Teddy took Bella from Sky. “Let’s go. We need to move fast.”
Becket anchored an arm around her waist and they moved through the trees, trying to avoid the flames that were now everywhere. But every couple of steps, Sky stumbled. And the fire continued to roar behind them, completely unforgiving.
They were moving too slowly.
“I’m going to carry you,” he shouted before swinging her up into his arms.
Now he could move faster, running beside Teddy as fast as he could back toward the road.
And the flames grew hotter and taller, behind him, beside him, thick smoke everywhere, making breathing fucking hard.
Teddy pulled out his radio. “Is the drop close?”
“Almost there.”
Fuck, they should have been here by now.
A tree suddenly fell several yards in front of them, flames covering it from root to tip.
They were completely trapped. The flames were moving in on all sides, growing closer by the second.
Becket looked at Teddy. They both knew the drop wouldn’t come in time.
“We need to deploy fire shelters!” Becket shouted.
Gently, he set Sky onto the ground and took the shelter from his pack. He shook it out quickly and placed his feet inside.
The flames continued to close in on them, and Sky’s eyelids began to flutter.
Teddy disappeared beneath his shelter with Bella, while Becket dropped down on top of Sky, tucking the floor panels of the shelter beneath her, the material completely covering their bodies.
“Stay awake for me, honey,” he whispered.
He slipped his arms through the hold-down straps and gritted his teeth as the fire blazed over them.
A minute, maybe two, passed before he felt something heavy hitting the shelter.
The retardant drop.
Thank fuck!
Still, Becket didn’t move. He remained over Sky’s body, holding the shelter down for long minutes, until the forest around them quieted and he was sure they were safe.
Finally, he lifted the shelter to see Teddy doing the same. Becket looked back down at Sky…but she wasn’t moving.
He quickly turned her over. “Sky?”
Nothing. Fuck . He felt her pulse. Faint but there, and she was breathing. But he needed to get her to an ambulance, and he needed to get her there fast.
He pushed to his feet. “We need to go,” Becket shouted. “ Now! ”
* * *
Warmth seeped into Sky’s hand. It was a familiar warmth. One she wanted to tug closer. Wrap around her entire body.
But God, her limbs felt heavy and weak.
Her eyes were too heavy to open, so she tried to lift her hand, but it seemed impossible too. Why did moving feel so hard right now? And what was that high-pitched beeping? It pricked at her ears, so loud, the beats at regular intervals.
The warmth on her hand moved, squeezing.
She scrunched her eyes in concentration and forced her thumb to move. Swipe across the back of the hand that held hers.
A sharp intake of air sounded, then a voice.
“Sky?”
Becket.
The beats of her heart stumbled over one another, a new urgency to wake up burned inside her.
Finally, she forced her eyes open. At first, everything was a blur. She shut them for another second, then tried again. That’s when he came into focus.
“Beck—” Her lungs spasmed into a round of painful coughing. When she tried to sit up and cover her mouth, she was met with an oxygen mask and a firm hand on her shoulder.
“Whoa, easy, honey.” Gently, he urged her to remain still. “You need to rest. You inhaled a lot of smoke.”
Smoke. The single word made it all come back to her. Rosemary. Bella. The fire.
She grabbed at her mask.
“Sky—” Becket warned.
She shook off his hand and removed it. “It was Rosemary!” Her voice was croaky and barely sounded like her own.
Anger glinted in his eyes. “I know. We got in contact with Mateo Flores, and he told us that Rosemary was Eloise’s grandmother.”
“Did you catch her?”
“Jesse’s team is looking, but I haven’t spoken to him since I got here.” Fury shadowed his words.
“Are you okay? God—are Teddy and Bella okay? You guys ran into a forest fire for me.”
His fingers tightened around her hand. “Everyone’s fine. After we got under the shelters, the retardant drop arrived. My crew’s still in the mountains working with other stations, making sure the fire’s completely out, and I should be getting a notification soon that they’re done.”
The air rushed from her lungs, which made more coughs rack her chest.
A deep growl rumbled from Becket, and he reached for a glass of water and put the straw to her lips.
Cool liquid coated her throat. God, water had never tasted so good.
When he set the glass back down, she whispered, “Thank you for saving me.”
“I was almost too late.”
“But you weren’t. You got there exactly when I needed you. Thank you.”
“You should really be thanking Bella. If it hadn’t been for her leading us straight to you…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t need to. If Bella hadn’t done what she did, Becket wouldn’t have found her in time.
She squeezed his hand. “Thank God for Bella.”
A knock sounded at the door, and they both looked up to see Jesse poking his head in. “Hey. Is now an okay time?”
Sky nodded before once again trying to push up into a sitting position. Becket helped her, even though his pulsing jaw told her that he wasn’t happy about it.
“I checked in with your crew—the fire’s out,” Jesse said.
Becket nodded. “Good.”
Jesse’s gaze shifted to Sky. “And we picked up Rosemary.”
Relief hit her hard in the chest. “Thank God! Where?”
“She was driving down the highway, looking for Bella. She had no idea there was already a warrant out for her arrest.”
“Good.” Becket’s voice was deep and full of rage. It was probably lucky he hadn’t caught her first.
“Where’s Bella?” Sky asked, needing to know that she was okay.
“We called your receptionist, Dolly, who took her to the vet and is looking after her until we figure out what—”
“I’ll take her.” The words were out of her mouth before she’d finished processing them. But they felt right. How could she not take Bella? “She saved my life. Taking her in is the least I can do.”
“The least we can do.”
She swung her gaze to Becket. He wanted to adopt Bella with her? The man hated dogs.
“I’ll make it happen,” Jesse said, not questioning Becket. “When you’re ready, I’ll need to get your statement, but that can—”
“No, I want to do it now,” she cut in.
Another deep growl from Becket. “Sky. You need to rest.”
“No, I need to get this over with.” She wanted all of this behind her. She knew there’d be some recovery, both mentally and physically, but the sooner she gave her statement, the sooner that recovery could begin.
She started at the daycare, including every detail she could recall, from the dart in her stomach to Bella running into the woods. She even detailed Rosemary’s demeanor, how she never raised her voice or seemed anything beyond mildly angry…just sad, mostly. Like she was genuinely doing what she thought she needed to do for her granddaughter.
“She really seemed to believe that killing me in the same way Eloise had died would bring her some kind of peace,” Sky finished, not missing the rigid muscles in Becket’s neck.
“Thank you,” Jesse said quietly, snapping his notepad closed and hitting the “stop recording” button on his phone. “All of this will be used to make sure she’s never a free woman again.”
That was good. There was no way she’d feel safe if the elderly woman ever got out of prison, especially when she inevitably found out Sky had survived.
Jesse looked at Becket. “Would you like me to stay?”
Becket shook his head. “Go home to Aspen. Thank you for your backup today.”
“Always.”
He left the room, and Sky turned back to Becket, studying his hard features and the lines beside his eyes.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked gently.
“You almost died today, Sky. I won’t be okay for a long time.”
Her belly rolled. She had almost died. And Becket could easily have died trying to save her.
She gestured to his clothes. “When did you shower?”
The small lift of the corners of his lips almost made her feel better…almost. “Clara brought me some clothes and forced me to shower and change. She said I stunk.”
“Good. I’m glad you have family looking after you.”
“Speaking of family…I haven’t called your mom and dad yet. I haven’t been able to think about anything but waiting for you to wake up.”
Oh, God, her parents. They needed to know, but at the same time, she didn’t have the energy right now. “Let’s just leave it for another hour.”
He nodded, but his eyes were back to that dark, almost black shade. “How are you feeling?”
She looked down at his hand and traced a vein. “I never would have thought it was her. Even if evidence had been shoved in my face, I don’t think I would have believed it.”
“Me neither, Peaches. She surprised us both.”
“She’s locked up now though.”
“Thank God.”
“No, thank you .” Sky smiled softly. “And thank Bella.”
His lips twitched. “And Bella…who apparently we’re adopting.”
“Are you sure you want to adopt her with me? You don’t even like dogs.”
“I like Bella. Plus, you and me come as a team. So if she’s yours, she’s mine too.”
Team. The word did funny things to her chest. “I’m glad you’re on my team.”
“You have no idea.” Something almost primal passed through his eyes. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.