Chapter 11

Things hadn’t gone so well after that bombshell had dropped last night. Charlie had no clue how to explain it, and Jayne hadn’t been interested in hearing his answer anyway.

To be fair, they were both running on empty.

Even after a night of sleep, he didn’t feel much better. Bridget had made pancakes for the kids. Charlie just took a cup of coffee onto the porch and checked all the morning updates on his phone.

The wind had changed overnight. Smoke hung even thicker in the air. Miles had confirmed with him and Orion that the smokejumpers would be dropping in early.

“It’s bad out here.” Orion approached the porch, that mutt by his side—the one that cut and ran when things got out of control.

“You’re right. It’s much worse today.” Charlie didn’t like the way the wind blew hard and fast. “Parachuting through this will be dicey.”

“Booth said they live for this stuff. All part of the rush.”

“So you have a death wish?”

“Seems like I might not be the only one.” Before Charlie could ask what that meant, Orion changed the subject. “I walked down to the propane truck. The fire is thick on both sides of the road. I don’t think anyone will be driving up here today, even if they want to. Walking out would be risky—maybe even impossible. I don’t think it’s worth risking an evacuation order that will put us in more danger than staying put.”

“So…what then? We wait for the wind to die down and a chopper can come in?”

Orion shrugged. The dog trotted into the house. “There’s a couple spots inside to hunker down, but it won’t fit all of us and the smokejumpers.”

And if worst came to worst…“Everyone here has a shelter, right?”

Orion nodded. “We should do a refresher on deploying it, especially in wind, before anyone goes out.”

Charlie spotted the plane and a helicopter overhead. One to carry the team and the other to get a visual on the fire and the best place for them to deploy. “Here they come.”

Orion went to the door and called, “Incoming,” loudly into the hall.

A thunder of feet answered, and the kids spilled out onto the gravel in front of the porch. One of the boys stared up at the sky—Joshua Masterson, Dakota’s nephew. “I so wanna do that.”

The first smokejumper dived out of the plane.

Charlie turned to Orion. “Does your mom know we’re cut off from evacuating?”

“I do now.” She stepped out onto the porch.

All the frost between them since last night hadn’t melted in the warm morning temps. Today was going to be a scorcher, but it wouldn’t fix the impasse they’d found themselves at.

He just hoped she didn’t say anything about it to Orion or Alexis.

“I talked to Miles on my way back up.” Orion paused when one of the kids spoke.

“Let’s go meet them where they land.”

All the kids turned to look at their camp director.

Jayne said, “Be careful. Give them plenty of room.”

The teens ran off toward the lake in a group.

Jayne said, “Did we wait here too long?”

Charlie had been thinking the same thing. “Whether we did or not, this is the situation we’re in.” He folded his arms, ignoring the ache in his lower back. He needed to take his morning meds but had to actually eat first. He turned to Orion. “You said you talked to Miles?”

Orion nodded. “I didn’t like the look of the fire by the road out of here. He said the morning spotter called it in. They flew over and said the fire is in spots, clumps of burning trees with no fire between.”

That wouldn’t last long the way the wind was blowing.

Orion said, “I think someone set them on purpose. To keep us here.”

“Roger—Crispin—said he was leaving. That means there would be no reason for Earl to stick around.” Jayne moved to the steps and lifted her gaze to watch the last jumper.

Orion looked from his mom to Charlie. Of course the kid noticed the tension.

The last jumper deployed his parachute.

Wind whipped it violently, sending him toward them and not the lake to the west.

Charlie stepped off the porch. Jayne prayed aloud for the safety of the firefighter struggling with his toggles to control his chute.

Orion hissed a breath.

The smokejumper swung in an arc toward the cabin opposite them, hitting the crest of the roof. Charlie heard him cry out. He lowered violently to the ground in front of them, followed by the billowing chute that threatened to drag him back off his feet.

He immediately crumpled, crying out again while he disconnected the chute. It whipped up into the wind and headed for the trees with no way to retrieve it.

Tucker Newman slumped to his back with a loud groan.

Charlie reached him first, then Jayne knelt on Tucker’s other side.

The smokejumper boss sat up. “Not my best entrance.” His face paled. He turned to the side and threw up on the ground.

“Broken leg?” Charlie didn’t like how he’d landed.

Tucker lay back on the ground with another groan. “Left.” He sucked in a few breaths.

Jayne jumped up and ran to the main house.

Orion handed Charlie a multitool, the knife already extended. He cut Tucker’s pant leg to his knee and winced at the look of his shin. “We need to immobilize this. Get you inside until we can get an evac.”

“What happened?” Alexis raced toward them, surrounded by the other teens and smokejumpers. Logan, Booth, Alex, Vince, Eric, and Finn—and the women, Nova and Hannah.

It looked like everyone else had made it down from the plane okay. Jayne returned with a first-aid kit. Charlie said, “We need to splint his leg.”

Alexis jumped up. “I know what we can use!” She turned to one of the boys. “Get me two rolled up lake towels and some thick tape.” She ran off toward the recycling trash.

“You good, boss?” Logan Crawford stepped forward.

“As long as everyone else is.” Tucker grunted. “Stevie is gonna kill me when I get back to Alaska.”

“We’re good.” That was Booth. “Glad to be here, ma’am.”

“Thank you.” Jayne nodded.

Alexis skidded to a stop beside him. “We can cut this.” She handed over a long, skinny box with thick packaging. “Take off the front surface so we still have the back and two sides.”

Tiger handed over the towels.

Alexis stuffed the box with one towel, then got the box under Tucker’s leg while they held it aloft and Tucker tried not to hurl again. She padded his leg with the other towel and wrapped tape around the whole thing to hold his lower leg in place.

They lowered the limb to the ground, and Tucker groaned again.

Charlie turned to his daughter. “That was good thinking.”

She flushed.

Jayne said, “Let’s get him inside.”

Two of the smokejumpers came forward and got Tucker upright. The twins grabbed his knees, and they carefully carried him inside the house.

“Benning.” A familiar hand clapped him on the shoulder.

Charlie spun around. “Lieutenant.”

Logan Crawford held out his hand. “Ready to fight this fire?”

Tiger said, “We’re gonna help.”

They both ignored the kid for a second.

Charlie clasped his friend’s hand and pulled him in for a brief hug. The past couple of weeks, the smokejumpers had been deploying to a different fire to the north while the hotshots had stuck closer to Ember. “Good to see you.”

Jayne returned from accompanying Tucker inside. “Okay, everyone who wants to fight this fire, gear up. You buddy up with a smokejumper, or Orion or Charlie. You stay together. You come back together. You do as you’re told like your life depends on it. Because it does.”

The teen boys all raced inside to change and get their stuff.

Jayne addressed the rest. “If any of you are staying close to camp instead of going out, great. Let’s get this place ready to withstand a fire.” She said, “Logan Crawford.” They shook hands. “Good to see you.”

“You too, Jayne.” Logan glanced at Charlie.

Booth said, “Dakota told me you guys might’ve seen Earl up here.”

Charlie nodded. “Keep your eyes open when you’re out.”

Why Booth had such a vested interest in finding a gunman, Charlie didn’t know. The guy’s past was a mystery to all of them. Whatever he told them would probably be nothing but a fantastical story like the ones he told over the dinner table—which was where he’d heard the whole story so far from Houston and Dakota.

“If Earl is still here, then he has a death wish.” Jayne folded her arms. “It’s going to be up to you guys to keep this fire from destroying my entire life.”

Charlie wanted to pull her into a hug, but they were surrounded by people, and it hadn’t ended well last time. “Orion had a good idea. We should go over shelter deployment before we do anything.”

“And cover places to shelter,” Orion said. “Like the walk-in refrigerator and the basement cold storage.”

“Good idea.” Nova nodded. The female smokejumper—one of two on the team—always seemed ready to take charge. “Let’s get everyone out here and we can have a safety briefing.”

Could he get Nova and Hannah to tell Jayne all about the safety precautions they took while jumping? Maybe that would put her mind to rest about Orion doing it.

“We need to make it quick.” Charlie motioned to the tree. “With the wind blowing like this, we might not have long to mount our stand.”

Logan pulled his radio off his belt. “I’ll get Miles to request retardant drops if he hasn’t already. Let’s not take any chances. No one dies today.”

Jayne spun around and pinned him with a look.

Charlie winced. “If you’re the kind of person who prays, now’s the time to start.”

* * *

It had been an hour since they’d all headed out. The kids here had deployed around the camp to assess how much time they might have. Which, if the fire started to move fast, Jayne knew full well could be a matter of a minute or two.

Fire lit the sky behind the mountains to the west, and she could see flames on the hills. Glowing spots through the hazy gray fog of smoke that indicated the fire was coming. It had stopped raining ash, which was never a good sign.

Aria had opted to stay at the main house so she could video-call her mom. The two Shellys had gone with the boys and all the smokejumpers. Orion had promised to stick with Pablo, her wildcard. Apparently Charlie worked with Pablo’s brother Izan in Last Chance County. Alexis chose to go with her father.

“I think that table might be clean.”

Jayne’s hand ached. She let go of the washcloth and straightened to find Bridget beside her. Across the room, Tucker sat on the couch with his leg up. She’d set up a map on an easel, and he’d had Aria mark the map with the fire coverage area before she went to make her call. He was on the phone, sounding like he was coordinating with Miles. She’d tuned it out.

Hearing Orion over the radio—or any of them—that worried tone in their speech.

They had it handled.

“I guess there’s no point asking if you’re okay.” Bridget handed Jayne a cup of coffee. “None of us are.”

Jayne sipped the comforting brew and leaned against the table. “Their whole goal is to save lives, even their own. To fight the fire in such a way there’s no loss of life. Then they worry about property.”

She wanted to throw the cup across the room.

Bridget just waited, listening but saying nothing.

“He isn’t going to fight it.”

“Charlie is going to put people’s lives at risk?”

Jayne shook her head. “Just his own.”

He would leave her, Alexis, and Orion to deal with the aftermath. She could see plainly enough that he believed it was the right thing to do—but he wouldn’t have to grieve. The pain would be over for him.

While the rest of them lived with what could’ve been.

“He thinks it’s the best way to deal with his health issues.” To die doing what he loved and leave that legacy. Maybe save someone in the process.

He would keep Alexis and Orion from having to watch him decline. Or either of them from having to live with the complications of giving their father a kidney—which would likely keep Orion from smokejumping and could prevent Alexis from having the career she wanted.

Jayne groaned. She set the coffee down on the table so hard some sloshed over onto her hand.

Ugh. Why did he have to be honorable?

Charlie was determined to make the hard choice and take the pain on himself rather than let anyone else suffer for years because of his condition.

Jayne slammed her hand on the table. “I get it. Honestly? I actually think I would do the same in his position.”

She straightened and paced across the room.

Tucker stopped talking on his phone and looked at her.

She waved him off. “Ugh. I actually get it. But I don’t want him to do that. It’s too much to take on himself. All that responsibility? And he just wants to suffer in silence. To let us move on…without him.” She let out a frustrated moan. “I’d rather have him and the hard times.”

“But he thinks he’s given you enough of those already.”

Tears spilled from her eyes. Jayne swiped them away, angry that he got to make the decision for them all. She even understood why he wouldn’t have sat them all down and explained.

He wanted to save them from even the pain of that conversation.

As much as she might want to believe it was misguided, didn’t he get to choose?

Didn’t she need to give him the respect of letting him make his own decision, rather than forcing him to accommodate their feelings and do what he didn’t want to do?

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Bridget laid a hand on her shoulder and began to pray for wisdom. For God to move in Charlie’s heart and for him to be open to listening to that still, small voice. For the protection and safety of everyone—especially the kids in this unimaginable situation.

“Amen.” Jayne gave her friend a quick hug. “We need to get to work.”

Bridget smiled. “The biggest problem we’ll have to worry about is if the fire comes through here and the air superheats from the wind. We need to be inside under cover if that happens.”

Jayne nodded. “We can get at least four in the basement storage area in a pinch. We can get eight in the walk-in refrigerator, though it’s more like fifteen if we get the racks out and sacrifice the food.”

“Just not the water bottles.”

Even if they might need the food to keep them going, it would be tossed if it saved their lives. “But anyone else who doesn’t make it inside in time will be out of luck.”

By her count, between the kids, staff, and firefighters, there were at least twenty of them. Or thereabouts. They couldn’t save everyone, which meant they needed a third place to hole up.

Anywhere not reinforced would burn.

Anywhere with no clean air could suffocate whoever hid inside.

Lord, help us . If the wind died down, they could get a rescue chopper in to ferry kids out. Having the smokejumpers here to help fight the fire was great for morale for the kids—but could mean someone lost their lives if they had to hide from the fire and let it blow over them.

Someone would need to deploy their shelter and ride out the heat.

If she didn’t cover everyone, Charlie would give himself up to the fire. No way she was going to let that happen.

Jayne strode over to Tucker. “What’s the latest?”

He adjusted his seat and winced. The painkillers they’d given him were helping but not combatting the broken leg. If they didn’t get Tucker out of here, he could end up with problems that came from not being treated.

He could lose his career—or his life.

“Miles is feeding me information from the spotter planes. We have two fires converging, and they look like they’re skirting toward the camp alongside the lake. I requested a water drop, but the chopper can’t fly in this wind or we’d be getting rescued. They might be able to get a plane to drop more retardant, but I’m waiting for word on if it’s too dangerous for them to try.”

“It could be too dangerous for us if they don’t.”

Tucker nodded. “Miles knows that. He’s getting calls from all over the country, and international numbers, asking him what he’s doing to protect these kids. He’s pretty sure he’s got a missed call from the White House.”

“These kids have connections you wouldn’t believe.”

Tucker said, “No one is willing to lose anyone here. Everyone is working this fire. The hotshots are to the south of us, trying to cut a line southwest to keep the fire from moving over the camp, but the embers are flying, and fires are springing up.”

She tried to swallow against the lump in her throat. More people putting their lives on the line to save her and the people in her care. She loved every one of them for it, but it was the last thing she’d ever wanted to happen.

“What I’m worried about is that we have two fires colliding. With the wind, they could join forces.”

“You’re not talking about what I think you’re talking about, are you?”

Tucker’s expression darkened. “Fire tornado.”

“I teach that to the kids because it’s cool. Not because I think there’s any chance of it actually happening.” Jayne squeezed the bridge of her nose. It was an engaging lecture at the beginning of the year, a mix of weather science and crazy stories. Plus the video—trees bent nearly horizontal from the wind. Debris and embers flying.

A column of flames stretching up to the sky.

“You’re telling me we could be in for a firestorm?”

Tucker nodded. “I’m afraid we have to see that as a very real possibility here.”

Lord, help us .