Chapter 49 BREE

Chapter 49

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Bree slowed. "It's the boy!"

"Oh, my God." Mercy pressed a hand to her mouth.

Relief burst in Bree's chest as she reported to dispatch and stopped the vehicle on the shoulder. Her deputies stopped behind her. The boy sat cross-legged in the full sun. She got out of the vehicle. The wind that hit her face was hot and dry and heavy with the smell of smoke. Tiny particles blew through the air.

She slowly approached the boy. "Hey, Timothy."

He turned his flushed red face to Bree. "He told me not to move."

"You did good." She crouched in front of him and held out a hand. She didn't have time to waste, but he was traumatized. She wouldn't rush him. "But it's OK now. You're safe. Let's get you out of the sun. Are you thirsty?"

He nodded, then launched himself into her arms and sobbed against her chest. She let him cry for a minute, then pulled back. "Timothy? Did you see a young woman in the car with the man?"

"It was just him in the car." Timothy shook his head. "I don't want to think about him right now."

"I understand. Can I ask you one more question?"

"OK," he said in a tiny voice.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"He didn't talk at all." Timothy shuddered.

Bree smoothed the damp hair away from his face. "OK. Thanks. I have to go, but you did great."

He rubbed a hand across his wet face. "You're gonna catch him?"

"I'm going to try my best."

"Mommy says that's all we can do."

Bree held back the hot prick of tears. "Your mommy is very smart." She stood and steadied him on his feet. He walked beside her, clutching her hand, as they approached the patrol unit. The deputies stood by their vehicle.

Bree bent down to the boy's level. "These nice deputies are going to take you to see your mommy and daddy. You're safe with them. That I can promise."

"OK." Timothy squeezed her hand, then released it.

After he was safely loaded into the patrol car, Bree turned back to Mercy and the job at hand. "The smoke is much worse."

"It is."

Over the trees on the horizon, gray and black smoke plumed into the sky.

"That's not good." Bree assessed the wind. "The wind is blowing the smoke toward us."

"Not good at all."

Bree checked in with dispatch on the status of the fire.

"Last report says the fire is headed south at a fast pace," the dispatcher said. "The fire chief says proceed with caution."

"Roger that."

Then she and Mercy got back into the SUV. In the rearview mirror, Bree watched the patrol unit turn around and head back toward town. She shifted into drive and glanced at Mercy. "Any word on FBI backup?"

Mercy checked her phone. "They're about ten minutes behind us."

Bree punched the gas pedal. "Same for the state troopers. I'm out of deputies, and there aren't any local PDs out here. I really appreciate you coming with me." Otherwise, Bree would be alone.

"I wouldn't miss this."

"Let's hope backup catches up with us."

At a cue from the GPS, Bree turned onto a narrow dirt road. She slowed the vehicle to navigate the rutted lane. The air had turned gray.

"I don't like this smoke," Mercy said.

The radio squawked. The wind had shifted suddenly—and so had the fire. Crews reported thick smoke and downed trees. State police closed the highway they'd just left.

Bree checked the map on the dashboard computer. "The fire is headed right toward us."

"The cabin is on the river." Mercy traced the river with her finger. "I don't see a bridge or a way out. If we keep going, we'll be trapped."

An ember blew onto the hood.

"We could turn around." Bree didn't want to quit, but getting burned alive wasn't on her to-do list either.

Mercy shook her head. "He dropped the boy on his way. This is where they went. Paige wasn't at his house. She must be with him."

"She could have been in the trunk of his car." The smoke thickened, forcing Bree to slow the vehicle. She lowered her window and could hear the crackling of fire. Light shifted among the trees, and she saw the glow of flames. Wind blew through the branches. Embers soared through the air, and smoke rose from small fires in the underbrush.

It's moving too fast!

"Shit." Mercy pointed out the passenger window. "I see fire!"

"Do we go back?" Bree took her foot off the gas pedal. Three deer and a rabbit bounded across the lane, no doubt fleeing the fire. A loud crash shook the ground. A minute later, Bree's vehicle crept up on a giant downed oak tree across the lane. She hit the brakes and slammed a fist on the steering wheel. "The woods are too thick to go around. We have to go back."

Mercy gestured toward the radio, then swiveled to look out the rear window. "We can't. The fire is behind us now."

"We have to keep moving forward." Bree reached for the door handle. "We'll have to continue on foot."

Mercy tapped the map on the dashboard computer and switched to satellite view. "We're almost at the cabin. There are a bunch of homes and cabins on the river. I see docks. Where there are docks, there should be boats."

Bree glanced behind them. The woods were black with shifting smoke. A lick of flames reached through the trees. "Let's move." She reported their location and intended direction to dispatch.

The radio crackled as the dispatcher responded. "The chief says the fire hasn't jumped the river. If you can get to the other side, you should be all right."

"Roger that." Bree dropped the mic and fished a flashlight and Leatherman tool from the console. She handed both to Mercy. She jumped out of the vehicle, hurried to her cargo hold, and grabbed her backpack. They'd have to move fast. Survival equipment only. The air was hot and foul. They both coughed. Bree reached into her crime scene kit and fished out a few N95 respirators. She slipped one over her face, handed one to Mercy, and tucked the remaining ones into the cargo pocket of her pants.

Mercy grabbed several water bottles and stuffed them into her pockets.

They moved around the SUV and broke into a jog. They rounded a bend in the lane and the cabin appeared. They stopped at the edge of the clearing. Dutton's Dodge Charger was parked in front of a tidy cabin.

Bree glanced behind her, but all she could see was smoke. "If we can't find a boat, we're trapped."

Mercy jerked a thumb at the Charger. "But so is he."