“Help ’em up, Cal!” She had to concentrate on keeping the Hawk level and stable without landing it.
The officer herded the family over with their heads ducked down. In moments they were loading up. She could hear Cal giving calm directions and snapping them into seats.
Jeannie also kept an eye on the flames, but they were holding to the other side of the line of her dousing. For now. No way she’d stopped them permanently.
“Okay!” Cal reached up between the seats and grabbed his two-way radio that he’d left charging on the console. She could see him slip it into the shoulder harness of his Nomex fire suit. “Climb about five feet and hold.”
“What the hell?”
“Do it, Magic Girl.” His voice was practically a caress.
Then he was gone.
Others had tried that nickname on her because of her n
