Chapter 12

The plane flew so high Charlie could barely hear it over the wind. He would give the pilot, Tirzah, credit. She knew how to handle herself. Even in crazy winds like these.

The hot air blew against his face, like a fan pushing air around but giving no relief from the punishing temperatures. Trees bent over in the onslaught, branches waving like flags.

Tirzah let go of the water drop.

Moisture hit the air. She’d accounted for the wind, but the water was no match for the radiant heat from the flames. It hit the air and turned to steam before even reaching the fire.

“This isn’t good.” Logan had a dark expression on his face.

The rest of the smokejumpers and the firefighting teens didn’t disagree. They attacked the fire with shovel after shovel overloaded with dirt. All of them were covered with sweat, ash on their faces.

Charlie inhaled but couldn’t take a full breath without coughing.

Alexis came over to stand with him.

“No, this isn’t good at all.” They would need to get to cover if the fire kept moving like it was. It would take minutes to run to the camp. “Is the trail to the camp clear? We may need an exit strategy.”

Alexis said, “I could go check it.”

“Not alone.” He squeezed her shoulder.

The rhythmic sound of shovels hitting the dirt, then the hiss of flames, proved almost soothing. God, help us .

Since he’d started praying recently, he figured he was man enough to admit they could use help. For the first time while out on a fire, he realized he wanted to be at home. In this case, that was back at the camp with Jayne.

But that wouldn’t get this fire suppressed.

“We’re fighting a losing battle.” Orion strode over, one hand shielding his bloodshot eyes.

“But we’re not giving up.” They couldn’t.

These kids deserved every bit of effort the adults responsible for them could muster.

“Let’s get back to work.”

One of the female smokejumpers got on the radio, asking for more water. Or retardant. Something. Anything.

But when would this situation turn from a rescue to a recovery?

A branch cracked.

Instinct took over. His mind barely registered the falling branch before he grabbed Alexis, spun around, and shoved her to the ground. Alexis screamed. The branch slammed into his back.

It splintered, burning his shirt against his back.

He cried out. Multiple sets of hands slammed his back, patting out flames.

“Dad.”

Pain blinded him. She moved under him, and he let his arms give out so he could collapse to the ground. His face hit the dirt.

“Dad!” Orion rolled him over.

Charlie groaned.

“Hold up,” someone said. “Did Orion just say ‘Dad’?”

Charlie blinked. Orion grabbed his wrist and hauled him to sitting. Pain cut through him and the world spun. If Orion thought he should be sitting, it couldn’t be that bad.

But Orion wasn’t looking at him. He was motioning to someone else.

Cold liquid hit his back.

Charlie hissed.

“Sorry.” Orion squeezed Charlie’s neck.

Alexis gasped. “What’s going on? I know you’re not okay. Is it your back?”

Charlie gasped. “Kidneys.”

Logan crouched by him. “You’re gonna hurt for a while, and you’ll have some blisters. Kidneys?”

Charlie nodded.

“We’ll get to that.” Logan frowned. “Is Orion really your son?”

Alexis crouched on Charlie’s other side. “Uh, duh. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“So tell me the not obvious thing,” Logan said. “I’ve worked with Charlie for years. He’s never mentioned his kidneys.”

“I’m fine.” Charlie glanced at Alexis. He wanted to ask how she was doing, but they had a fire to fight. Later they could decompress and talk through it all—but the truth was, he might not have a later. Not if he enacted the plan he’d come here with.

His daughter’s expression hardened. “You’re not fine. That makes so much sense. Your kidneys are failing, aren’t they?”

“Lex—”

Orion cut him off. “What’s this?”

Alexis said, “More secrets? Fantastic.”

She paced away, so he couldn’t see the hurt on her face. He didn’t know if that was better or worse. As with figuring out his connection to Orion, she seemed to have started putting together the fact he wasn’t in good health. She’d noticed his weight loss. What else had she seen?

His son stared at him. A muscle in his jaw flexed. “Does my mom know?”

The guy almost looked disappointed.

As though Charlie was worth anything.

Charlie held up both hands. “I’m not dragging everyone into this, but yes.” He looked at Orion. “Your mom does know.” Then he looked around. “Can we get back to fighting this fire?”

Logan got up and swiped his shovel from the ground.

Smoldering embers of the shattered branch that’d hit him littered the earth around Charlie. He wanted to sink into it and accept the exhaustion that weighed him down.

Alexis said, “You really just took that hit for me?”

“I would take all the hits for you. If I could.”

She frowned. “I don’t need to be babied.”

“It’s just me being your dad while I can.” He kept his voice quiet. “With the time I have left.”

Everyone else except Orion had returned to their shoveling, which looked like it might be making progress. Are we really going to do this? He’d never fought such an important battle in his life.

And he wanted to win it.

Alexis said, “So you’ll risk dying just to make sure I don’t get hurt?”

Charlie touched her cheeks, rubbing gravel from his thumb on her chin. “Yes. Every time.” After all, that was why he’d come here this summer and chosen to be a hotshot. To give his life so she didn’t get hurt when everything that made up his future fractured into pieces the way her mother’s had.

Orion hadn’t gone anywhere. “So you’re dying, but you’re here fighting fires?”

Now wasn’t the time for this. “I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

Alexis said, “Because you’re too stubborn to admit that you aren’t okay.”

“How I am doesn’t matter,” Charlie said. “What matters is that the two of you are safe and happy. That I don’t take anything else from you. I’ve already cost you too much.”

“So you’ll fight this alone. Silent about what’s going on.” Orion pressed his lips into a thin line. “And we’re supposed to say nothing? Just get on with our lives like we don’t know?”

“It’ll be easier…after.”

Alexis flinched. “What do you…”

“After what?” Orion’s brows leaned together.

“I don’t want you guys to worry. I’ve figured it all out.” Charlie didn’t want to think about their family when he was gone, but this was the reality. “You’ll have each other.”

“But not you.” Alexis paled. “You’re going to let yourself die. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”

He wanted to say We can talk about it later . But would there be a later? If he was ever going to go through with it, this storm would be the time.

“That’s why you couldn’t tell me what your plan was for after summer.” Orion levered back on his heels and pushed up to standing. He paced away. “You’re trying to die?”

Charlie shifted and managed to get up. Pain sliced through his back from the injury and his lower back from the situation that would take his life. He ignored both of them and faced his children. “We don’t get to decide what life hands us. But I get to choose this. And it’s the right choice for everyone.”

“And we get no say?” Tears rolled down Alexis’s cheeks.

The last thing he’d wanted was to cause her more hurt.

He prayed that with the wind and the noise of shovels, the others wouldn’t hear.

“I can’t control what’s happening to me, but I refuse to take from you when I’ve already done that enough. It’s not going to cost your futures—either of you.” He glanced between them. “I won’t make either of you pay this price.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me.” Orion took a step back. “You’ve been my father for…what? Two days?” He turned and walked to the other end of the line.

Alexis said, “That’s what you don’t get.”

He turned to her.

“We would all pay anything not to lose you.” She shook her head. “But you won’t even fight.”

* * *

Jayne shoved back a tarp. “Fire retardant blankets. And more turnout coats, but they might have been discovered by mice, so we need to check them for holes.” She lifted a stack of blankets.

Shelly from California wrinkled her nose.

“Everyone pitches in. You know that.”

“I’ll take these to the main house.” Aria grabbed the pile from her. “You bring the rest, Shelly.”

The other teen rolled her eyes at Aria’s back as she headed outside. “Who died and made her the boss?”

Jayne said, “You leave a power vacuum, and someone is going to fill it. But you’d all be better off just being peers. Not rivaling for who is on top.”

“Who even cares about that right now?” Shelly from Alaska grabbed an armful of turnout coats. “The fire is coming.”

Then it was only Shelly from California in the storage shed with Jayne.

Perhaps fear had settled too deep below the surface. The girls had a mix of being stir-crazy and getting exhausted from all the tasks she’d occupied them with.

Maybe a movie would be a good idea while they all waited for the heat of the day to die down. That would take a few hours, and the time between now and when the fire pulled back with the cool evening temperatures could prove hair-raising.

Jayne had run them through emergency drills all morning. Everyone had talked to their parents, and Tucker had said hello to the guardians, telling them all how the teens were taking care of him.

The rest were out with the smokejumpers.

The ones at the camp would, if the order was given, help Tucker to the walk-in refrigerator and barricade the door.

Last resort, but how fast they got in there could mean the difference between life and death if the air super-heated and they really did end up with a fire tornado.

Lord, help us.

She could prepare so everyone here made it through. But what about the others?

Hot wind whipped through the open doorway.

Shelly shoved the door wide as she moved out, then ran for the main house. The girls had made a joke of racing to this shed, but Jayne wanted to check a few places before she went back to them.

She dumped a stack of turnout coats and pants outside the door and locked the building.

She stood still a moment, watching flames whip from tree to tree over by the entrance. Would they be completely encircled by fire this afternoon?

With the strength of the wind, that was a very real possibility.

The last building, over by the trail to the lake, caught her attention. Movement flashed in the window.

If an animal, or that mutt, was caught inside, she needed to let them out. Or one of the campers.

She didn’t need another problem. Jayne’s hands curled into fists as she tromped over to the building. The door was unlocked, for crying out loud. She shoved it open. Who had?—

Roger, her guest, lay on the bare distressed-wood floor. Bloody. Rumpled. A huge bruise on the side of his face.

A punishing grip clamped down on her arm.

Jayne swallowed a cry.

The door slammed shut with her inside. She spun to see who had her in their grasp and came face-to-face with a pistol.

Dead eyes.

Dark hair with split ends hung down to his shoulders.

“What do we have here?” He yanked her around to face her guest. “Leverage.” He pressed the gun against her temple. “Tell me what I want to know, or I’ll blow her brains out.”

Jayne sucked in a breath. There was no time for this. And no help for her if the worst happened.

Just the aftermath.

Kids in danger.

Her loved ones, grieving like she had when she’d lost her father. The way she would if Charlie had his way and succumbed to the illness ravaging him.

She wasn’t going to go out without a fight.

No one should die believing that the world would be a better place without them in it. Every life was made in the image of God and valuable.

Roger—or Crispin, if this really was Sophie’s brother—shifted. Pain flashed in his expression and he sat up. “Don’t, Earl. There’s no need to hurt her.”

“Then tell me what I want to know and I won’t.” His grip sparked pain down to her fingertips.

“You think I won’t die to protect this country from people like you?”

Earl said, “One man?” He barked a laugh. “You can hardly stop us. I’ll get what I want one way or another. You can’t stand in my way.”

Crispin slid his back up the wall. “Let her go. This is between us.”

And it was about protecting the country?

Who was this guy?

“I think she came in at just the right time.”

Earl might think that, but Jayne knew he was discounting one thing. “So is the fire, by the way. So how about you two take your business elsewhere and get out of my camp.”

She couldn’t stand the thought that one of the kids might be in danger or hurt.

At least, not more than what they’d all been trained to handle.

Earl chuckled. “The leverage has a mouth on her.”

Jayne pressed her lips together.

Crispin said, “Let her go and I’ll go with you.”

“Why do I need you?” Earl said. “All I need is the information. So where is it hidden?”

“Nowhere near here. You think I’d put these kids in danger?”

“Wrong answer.”

Jayne didn’t want to get shot. She twisted her upper body and elbowed Earl in the side as hard as she could.

He doubled over. Crispin rushed him.

The gun skittered across the floor.

Jayne dove for it.

The two men grunted behind her. She bent for the gun, and they slammed into her. Jayne’s shoulder hit the wall, but she managed to keep her head from doing the same.

Crispin did some martial arts move, his arm around Earl’s throat long enough that Earl’s eyes fluttered closed and he slumped to the ground.

Crispin let go.

Earl launched up like he hadn’t been passed out at all and slammed into Jayne.

Crispin raced after him out the door.

Jayne stumbled to it and looked out in time to see them both disappear into the woods.

She still had the gun.

She sprinted for the main house, up the stairs, and found Tucker in the same spot. “Radio the firefighters. Tell them Earl and Crispin are in the woods, unarmed as far as I can tell.” She recounted what had just happened.

One of the teen girls gasped from the kitchen.

Tucker said, “Are you okay?”

Jayne nodded. Lord, give me Your peace.

He grasped the radio and relayed a warning to watch out for the two men.

“Camp,” came the reply, all crackly. “Can you repeat that? You’re breaking up. Wind…” The voice broke up. “…getting bad out here.”

The connection went silent.

“Come in…” Tucker repeated his statement, asking the smokejumper crew to reply again.

When he got no answer, Jayne said, “I can head over there. I have gear and this gun.” She didn’t want to go out in the heat and wind wearing heavy gear, but she would in order to relay a message. “You all stay here and keep inside. Just in case.”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna get far.” He didn’t look so happy about the fact his leg was broken, propped up on the couch.

“We need you coordinating. No one knows fire command here like you do.” He wasn’t exactly lying around doing nothing. She would probably be screaming in his position.

“Get me back in contact with them.” He shifted in his seat and paled. Took a sip of the water glass on the table. “I’ll text my wife again. Make sure all is good at home.” He pointed to the table. “Take a radio. Stay in contact. Get them a message to decide if they want to come back here.”

Jayne nodded. “Will do.”

“The weather front is almost on top of us. I don’t want anyone caught out in it if we can help it.”

“I’ll make sure they are safe and stay that way.” She headed for the door. “You all know what to do if things turn hairy.”

She headed out and jogged the trail to the fire road where they had gone. From their position they had two options: the lake or the camp. Neither was far.

She made it in ten minutes—a turnout coat on, a gun in one hand, and a radio in the other. By the time one of the smokejumpers spotted her, Jayne had sweat rolling down her back.

Someone peeled off and ran to her. She couldn’t remember his name.

Orion raced over. Then Charlie. Alexis.

The other kids.

“What’s going on?” Orion shoved by the smokejumper.

The smokejumper shoved him back. “The radio call from Tucker said Crispin and Earl? You saw them? They’re here?”

“Okay, Booth,” Orion said. “Back up. We need to make sure nothing else is going on.” Orion eyed the gun in her hand.

“I’ll hang on to that.” Booth grabbed the gun and turned to look around. “Where did you see Earl and Crispin last?”

Who was this guy?

Jayne said, “Going north from the camp.”

“They could come this way.”

A female smokejumper stepped forward—the redhead. “ Could . But the fire? It is coming.”

“Tucker was trying to warn you to keep an eye out. But we should get out of this wind.” Jayne watched the sky and the front coming in.

Charlie did the same.

She noted then that Alexis and Orion didn’t seem so happy with him. What was going?—

“There it goes.” One of the boys whooped. “Fire tornado.”

Jayne watched it twirl up into the sky. Lightning cracked to the east. The wind died enough that it quit blowing in her face.

Charlie took her hand, his fingers strong around hers.

Jayne said, “We need to get out of the open.”