Chapter 12

TWELVE

Floyd's truck screeched to a stop near the airplane hangar at jump base, and Booth jumped out. He slammed the truck door with a clang. Scanning the area, he spotted Aria and jogged toward her.

"I need that next plane out." His breathing was labored. "Have to get back to the fire."

Aria's eyes clouded and she glanced down. "Booth, it's bad out there. You heard about what happened to Nova?"

He gave a terse nod. "JoJo told me. That's why I need to go up with the crew. I have to find her."

Aria shook her head, her ponytail swaying with the motion. "Booth, there is no crew! The wind is too unpredictable right now. It's too dangerous for jumping. Retardant planes are doing their runs, and the search-and-rescue choppers are scouring the area. Miles hasn't given the green light for a new crew yet, and I'm grounded until he decides it's safe enough for anyone to jump."

Booth scrubbed a palm across his tired face. Nova might be out there, injured or worse, and she mattered more than protocols. "I can't just sit here, Aria. I have to find her."

Studying him, she said, "You're in love with Nova, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. More than I ever thought possible." He swallowed. Blinked against visions of Nova's broken body obscured by smoke and flame.

No. She was a survivor. He had to believe that.

A seismic shift moved deep within.

Booth let go of some of the tension that had haunted him. All this time, he'd been torn between his past as a Homeland Security agent and the new life he'd found with the smokejumpers. Nova was the bridge between the two. He could see that now.

No matter where he stood—no matter who he was?—he loved her.

"Please, Aria. Let's go look for her." He tucked a hand in his pocket and dipped his head. "I love her. I can't lose her."

Aria nodded. "Nova's my best friend. It was killin' me to sit here. You're just the push I needed. We'll scour every acre if we must."

Booth shifted the focus back to the immediate crisis. "Can you fly in these winds?"

Aria adjusted her baseball hat by lifting it and putting it back on her head. "I can, but Booth, it's risky. The winds are unpredictable, and it's not like I'm flyin' an F-35."

"I won't jump unless it's safe. I need to find her. Please, Aria."

She chewed the side of her lip. "All right. I'm probably going to get fired for this, but I could use a change of scenery anyway."

"Thank you!" He hugged her. "I don't want you to lose your job, but really. Thank you."

"Okay, okay." She patted his shoulder. "Let's get moving."

"I'll grab my gear while you do your checks."

Aria cast a hard look at him.

"Just in case," he said. "Always gotta be prepared."

Booth ran to the ready room and found a spare set of Nomex pants and shirt and changed into them. He pulled on his padded jumpsuit and his parachute gear. On his way out, he grabbed a helmet, skipping all the extras he normally stuffed in his pockets.

He'd only jump if he found Nova and conditions were right.

Back at the plane, Aria had torn through preflight checks in record time and was ready for takeoff. "Strap in."

He climbed inside and buckled in next to her.

The propellers of the DHC-6 Twin Otter roared to life.

As Aria piloted them up into the swirling darkness, Booth prayed. "God, Nova's probably out there alone and injured. I need to find her. Help her get home. Please keep her safe from the fire and any other danger she might face."

Like Floyd.

In the cockpit, Aria focused on navigating violent currents causing intense turbulence. Gale-force winds buffeted the wings as she fought to hold course for Nova's last coordinates.

As Booth peered through the haze, his stomach twisted from more than airsickness. A sea of orange and black stretched as far as he could see. Flaming tongues consumed everything in their path.

Somewhere down in that fiery wasteland was the woman who held his heart.

The plane descended toward the last known location of Nova's jump. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but the flames still burned hot beneath them.

"She's a survivor," Aria yelled over the plane's engine. "We just have to find her."

If she could still be found. Wildfires didn't care if she was the strongest woman he'd ever known. That she'd endured the nightmare of riding away from a fire, leaving her parents to perish. That she'd emerged with a heart burning to help save lives from the very thing that had stolen her family.

No, he couldn't lose hope. Not when he'd just found true purpose again. God had redeemed him. Given him a new life—the life he really wanted despite all the running and hiding. "She's down there somewhere. I know it."

Gripping the radio, Aria switched to command's operational channel. "Jump Two checking in. Currently en route to recent search sector three on a recovery mission."

Miles's gravelly voice crackled through. "Aria, what're you doing out there? Winds are still erratic. You do not have permission for this."

Aria kept them on course through an updraft's jolt. "Extra pair of eyes on the ground. We're not jumping."

"You darn well better not be." He paused. "Go ahead. We won't have clearance for jumpers for a few hours yet. Logan's coordinating the search and rescue on the ground."

"Copy. Switching to the SAR frequency for now." Aria toggled over and nodded to him. "Go ahead and check in. I need to focus."

Booth held the call button. "Logan, it's Booth. What's your team's status?"

Static hissed before Logan's smoke-raw voice came on. "We've got three crews working a grid pattern where Nova went down. No flare sightings or radio contact so far." He hesitated. "It was an inferno tearing through. Odds aren't favorable that?—"

"Don't. Don't say it." Booth choked on the words.

He cleared his throat. "Did teams confirm if she got her shelter deployed?"

"Negative. JoJo saw her chute catch fire before losing sight completely."

Booth scrubbed a palm down his face, beating himself up all over again. Why hadn't he stopped Nova from going on that jump? Or gone with her? At least they'd have been together right now.

Hindsight shredded his heart.

Sheriff Hutchinson's words echoed in his mind. Sometimes, Booth, the best way to protect those you care about is to let the law do its job. He was right.

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I should've stayed with her. She needed me, and I walked away."

Aria shot him a glance. "We'll find her. Just stay focused."

Booth turned and looked out the window. Images of Earl's charred remains popped unwanted into his head.

Sure, he might find Nova, but what if he was too late?

Nova urged Abilene forward. Her hands gripped the reins as the horse navigated the uneven terrain in darkness. She let Abilene lead the way. The horse picked her way through the underbrush, maneuvering around rocks and fallen branches.

Henry had said to trust the horse, and that's what she was doing. She had no other choice because she was tired, hungry, and utterly lost.

"I trust you, Abilene." Nova patted the horse on the neck. "And I trust You, God."

A branch whipped past Nova's temple. She winced and pressed her bandaged arm to the sting. A thin line of blood bloomed on the bandage. "Okay. That wasn't your fault, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't drive me into the branches."

Abilene nickered in response.

The forest around them was alive with the crackle of approaching wildfire. The scent of burning wood and the distant roar of flames hung in the air like a warning.

Another rib-jostling stride caused Nova to clamp her jaw tight, stifling a groan. Pain blazed from her ankle, but she dared not slow Abilene.

The makeshift splint provided some support, but she couldn't put any weight in the stirrup. Abilene's every step sent sharp pangs radiating up her leg and through her ribs.

The horse seemed to sense her condition and moved with a deliberate slowness that allowed Nova to endure the ride.

As they moved, Nova's mind raced with thoughts of Booth.

The information Henry had shared sounded like another ultrafantastical story. The Brothers. Russian sympathizers. Revenge. A missing nuke…It was hard to comprehend the magnitude of the danger they faced.

She couldn't shake the image of Booth standing in the crosshairs of assassins, oblivious.

An ominous glow lit up the sky where the wildfire raged, creeping closer by the hour. Nova had no doubt the flames would soon find their way to her. She'd been considering how to outrun the fire's advance, same as every wildfire.

Her shoulders knotted, imagining fire nipping at Abilene's heels. She reached out and stroked the horse's neck. "Don't worry, girl. We'll find our way."

As if in response, Abilene jerked her head and swished her tail.

Then another sound broke the quiet rhythm of the horse's hooves. Was that…

A plane engine rumbled in the distance.

Her gaze snapped upward, scouring the bare snatches of sky visible through breaks in the canopy.

The plane droned overhead. Nova's heart raced. She needed to be seen, to attract attention and bring help. Signaling the plane meant rescuers could fly Nova back to the base.

Back to Booth.

Her grip tightened on the reins. She dug one heel into the horse's side, urging the mare into a jolting canter. "C'mon, girl. Giddy up."

Abilene responded. Hooves thundered through the underbrush.

Nova's pain intensified as Abilene picked up the pace.

Low-hanging branches whipped past Nova's face, and she hunched low over the horse's neck, using her uninjured leg to grip the barrel of Abilene's body.

They broke through a copse of trees into a wide meadow. Nova hauled back on the reins, chest heaving from the effort of staying astride.

She scanned the sky for the passing plane.

Overhead, the plane's beacon lights flashed in the inky black sky.

Heart thrashing, she let out a howl. "Nooooo!" The plane was flying away from her.

She'd missed it.

Her mind raced with possibilities. Maybe it wasn't too late to signal them. But how?

Fumbling with the saddlebags, Nova located two emergency flares. Striking them alight, she tossed the sputtering red fuses into the field, where they glowed red. This had to work. Had to catch the pilot's eye.

Abilene shifted beneath her.

"It's okay. They'll come back." They'd have to.

Gritting her teeth, Nova awkwardly dismounted. She half slid, half fell from the saddle and landed hard on the ground with a strangled cry. Her body gave out and she collapsed. The impact jarred her broken ribs. She curled on her side, panting.

Flare smoke wafted overhead.

Nova forced herself to rise, clinging to the stirrup for balance. On legs that threatened to buckle, she hobbled to the saddlebags and searched the pouches for more flares but only found a flashlight.

Yes. This could work.

Nova flipped on the flashlight beam. Limped into the open field. Sank to her bottom in the meadow between the two flares.

In the hazy red light of the beacons, she waved the flashlight overhead in broad arcs.

"Hey! I'm down here!"

They couldn't hear her, of course, but she shouted and signaled for help anyway. "Come back! Come back!"

A tear slipped free as she watched the plane disappear through the haze. "Please…please see me…I need help."