Chapter 2
AIDEN
The crackle of my radio breaks through the quiet of my workshop and I reach for it.
"Go." No one on the other end will be surprised that I answered that way. In fact, they'd likely be more worried if I said anything more. I don't say much. People accept that or they don't.
"Hey Aiden, we've got a problem." I recognize Hunt's voice and even more, I pick up on the urgency in his tone. "Hoping you can help."
"What you got?" The words are barely a grunt, but it's what I can manage.
Hunt clicks over on his end and there's a quick burst of static before he comes back on.
"We've got a fire. It started on the lower ridge and is spreading fast. Everything's too dry right now.
Almost all our guests are accounted for, and the fire looks to be turning away from the resort. But we're cut off."
"Hmm."
He takes that as I intended. Recognition of what he didn't say. Almost all their guests are safe and sound under the watchful eye of the resort staff. But he's calling me because of the ones that aren't.
"We've got a guest, a photographer. She left early this morning on her own. We checked the video footage and we know the direction she went. She was headed right toward where we know the fire started." He pauses, and then adds, "Aiden, we can't get to her."
I'm moving before he finishes, old instincts flaring back to life. Hunt and I both served in war zones. He might be a handyman now, and I might be a recluse, but those skills that kept us alive once never really leave you.
I click the radio button twice, confirming message received, mission operational. My supply bag is in its place by the back door of my cabin, ready and waiting. I grab it, shrug the straps on. Even inside, I can taste the acrid tang of smoke on the air, and I know this fire is moving fast.
The drought has hit us hard, even here, and the brush has quickly become a tinderbox just waiting for a spark. The volunteer fire crews do the best they can to clear out the high threat areas, but they haven't had enough time to get to them all.
The door bangs shut behind me and I don't bother with a lock. No one comes up here. No one except me. The chances that anyone will stumble onto my place are slim and that's the way I want it to be.
Scanning the trees below my cabin, I spot the rising cloud of smoke. The wind is blowing it my direction and I pull a bandana from my pack, tie it around my mouth and nose, and head out. Running toward the flames this time.