Facing the Fire

“Hold on. We’ll help you up,” Trey said.

“I can do it.” He wasn’t injured, for God’s sake. He just needed to catch his breath. “Just get a line around that snag before it spreads the fire.”

He forced himself to his knees. Nausea roiled through his belly, but he ignored it and stood.

He waited until the ground steadied and the chain saws started up again. Then, his head down, his right shoulder throbbing, he staggered off the line. His pulse lurched. His skull hammered. Sweat and ash stung his eyes.

The rookie stayed with him. “I still can’t believe how fast that fell. I didn’t even hear it coming.”

Cade stopped near the pile of equipment. He inhaled, and pain seared straight to his ribs.

“Man, do I owe you,” the rookie continued. “I can’t believe I froze like that.”

“Forget it.”

“No, really. If you hadn’t pushed me out of the way—”

“We’d be peeling your skin off that stob,” Trey said from behind them. “Look, we’ll do the play-by-play later. Grab a Pulaski and help get that damned thing inside the line.”

“Sure.” The rookie grabbed the ax-like Pulaski. “Thanks again, man. I owe you.” He turned and trotted off.

Cade tipped back his head. Even that small movement made him grimace.

“We’d better look at that shoulder,” Trey said.

“I’m fine. I just need to catch my breath.” He bent to grab his canteen, then froze as his back and ribs pulsed.

Angry now, he straightened. A wave of dizziness blurred his eyes.

“Come on, Cade. You know the rules.”

He knew the drill, all right. Safety first. Get an injured man off the mountain. Anyone who couldn’t outrun a fire endangered himself and the other jumpers.

And he was far too professional to compromise his men.

But he wasn’t seriously injured. His shoulder was probably just wrenched. And smokejumpers worked hurt all the time. Bad knees, sprained ankles…Chronic pain came with the job.

Besides, he couldn’t leave the fire—his fire. Not until they had it under control.

And those damn doctors. What if they took him off the jump list? Hell! He couldn’t stop jumping now, not with fires raging all over the west.

Not ever. Dread rolled through his gut. “Just give me a minute,” he said. “I’ll shake it off.” He reached up to remove his hard hat. Pain flamed through his shoulder and he dropped his hand. He glanced at Trey and saw the doubt in his eyes.

“We can’t wait,” Trey said. “If this wind picks up, they’ll ground the choppers. We need to call it in now.”

“A few more minutes won’t matter. Look, I’ll go check out that cabin and make sure no one’s hanging around. If my shoulder isn’t better by then, I’ll call it in myself.”

“Cade—”

“For God’s sake. Nothing’s broken.” With supreme effort, he picked up his PG bag and swung it over his left shoulder. Sweat popped out on his forehead and he struggled to breathe.

Trey shook his head. “All right, but I’m going with you, and we’ll scout a landing spot on the way.”

“Fine.” He hated pulling a man off the line, but didn’t bother to argue. He knew he’d need every bit of breath he had for the steep trek to the cabin.

By the time they reached Granite Canyon, Cade could hardly stay upright. His head reeled, hot pain ripped through his shoulder, and his ribs burned whenever he breathed.

He stopped at the black Jeep Liberty parked under the trees and propped himself against it to catch his breath.

“You okay?” Trey asked.

“A little winded.” He blinked to clear his blurred vision.

“McKenzie?” a voice on his radio called.

“I’ll see who’s in the cabin,” Trey said.

“Go ahead.” Glad to have an excuse to lean against the Jeep, Cade pulled his radio from his bag. “McKenzie here.”

“This is dispatch. We got that weather report you wanted.”

“Good. What’s the forecast?” He watched Trey stride to the door.

“Right now it’s holding steady at fifteen knots, with gusts up to twenty-five. But there’s a front coming through….”

The cabin door opened. A tall, slender woman stepped out and her dark hair gleamed in the light. Trey shifted sideways, and Cade caught sight of her face.

His heart stalled. His chest cramped tight, and suddenly, he felt dazed, as if the tree had crushed him again.

His gaze swept over her features. Those dark, exotic eyes. That full, erotic mouth. And damned if he didn’t still feel that pull, that powerful lure of passion and innocence that had once demolished his heart.

He scowled. Innocence, hell. She was as helpless as a rattler, and about as trustworthy, too.

She looked past Trey and their gazes latched. Her dark eyes widened and she mouthed his name.

Bitterness seeped through his gut. His ex-wife. Just what he’d needed to cap off a hell of a day.

“Did you get that?” the person on the radio asked.

“Yeah, I heard you.” He turned his back on his ex-wife. The motion set off another wave of dizziness. “Listen. There’s a Forest Service road that runs just north of the fire, then intersects with Highway 10. Is it still clear?”

“It is for now. In an hour it could get dicey. The front’s going to push that way.”

Unless they stopped the fire first.

“Okay. Let me know if anything changes. We’ve got a civilian heading out that way.” He turned the radio to scan.

Trey jogged over. “She’s packing up now. She’ll be out of here in just a few minutes.”