Wildfire Smokejumper Trilogy

Chapter 12-4

Akbar dove at Laura, driving her to the ground with a flying full-body tackle as the gas-filled wine bottle exploded, splashing a circle of fire for a dozen feet in every direction.

Some of it struck the cabin wall.

It had also coated the back of her gear in flame. He kept her in a bear hug and rolled her away from the flame, over and over on the muddy ground until she was extinguished.

Once he was sure the flames on her were fully out, he held her at arms’ length and checked her. She blinked dazedly, but appeared fine. She might not even have known she’d been on fire.

He glanced over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t burning as well. Smoulders from his own gear indicated that he had been, but he appeared to be unscathed.

Then he saw the man in black jeans and turtleneck. He lay unconscious in the center of the fire. Akbar’s first reaction was to figure out how to get him out, but it was way too hot, he couldn’t get close enough.

Laura started to turn around and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her facing the log wall.

Mark too stood a dozen yards back from the flame. He had his radio out and moments later they were all awash in a thousand gallons of water that hammered down out of the ligthening sky.

The deluge tumbled Akbar and Laura into the side of the cabin. Again, he managed to protect her and take most of the hit himself. Mark was knocked flat on his back into the mud.

But Emily had dead-centered the fire. It was completely out. However, one glance was enough to show that there was no help for the man who’d lain in the center of the flames. He lay face down in the pool of water, motionless, most of his skin already blackened.

Akbar managed to get Laura up and around the corner of the building without her seeing anything. There were some memories she didn’t need to have. He sat her down in the porch chair by the front door and knelt in front of her.

“Hey, Space Ace.”

Her reply was slow, but lucid, “Hey yourself, Fire Boy.” Then she startled and tried to rise.

Akbar kept her trapped in the chair on the front porch.

“My cabin?” She pushed at him.

“Hardly even any scorch marks. You did a great job of soaking it down. Though I’ll need to replace the living room window.” Either the blast of the fire or the impact of the helicopter’s water drop had blown the glass inward. But that was the only damage he’d noticed.

She settled back into the chair. “I’m guessing Grayson is dead by his own flame and that’s why you shuffled me over here so fast.”

Grayson? There hadn’t been time to recognize him, only to attack. Damn it! Akbar should have cut the b****y rope on the guy back when he had the chance up on the glacier. Of course if he had, he’d have been in jail for life. But Grayson hadn’t targeted him. Somewhere in his demented reasoning, he’d targeted Laura for refusing him. Well, no regrets here.

“I can see the fire,” Laura was looking over his shoulder. Her voice was still a little disconnected.

He turned to check the woods. Through the trees that they’d dead-limbed, they had a clear view of the forest beyond. The flames had burned their way toward the cabin, but stalled at the line where his crew had done the clean-up. Not enough heat to torch the trees, and not enough dry fuel to continue forward.

High in the morning sky, he could see the helicopters circling above, dropping loads of water down on the leading edge of the fire. Against the backdrop of the flames, he could see his smoke team moving steadily along the forest floor, keeping the flame’s boundary contained. This fire would be out in hours. He’d see to the mop-up himself to make sure there were no hidden hotspots that could reignite, but for now, they didn’t need him.

Mark looked around the corner of the cabin and gave him a thumbs up. The remains of one i***t arsonist were cleaned up and gone. He’d already been beholden to Mark, but now he owed him big time. At least a brew down at the Doghouse.

“They’ve contained the fire,” he reassured Laura. “The fire won’t get near you, or your home.”

She looked back at him. Her expression was no longer dazed. She was studying him intently from beneath the brim of her yellow hardhat.

He brushed a hand over her muddy cheek. Looked again at her char- and mud-stained Nomex to make sure she was uninjured. She was fine. She was so very fine.

“You said some things earlier, Fire Boy.”

He had.

She raised her eyebrows at him rather than speaking, but allowed her smile out to play a bit.

He’d talked about a lifetime together. Behind that simple statement was marriage, kids, and years upon years lit through and through with trust and love.

Akbar was already kneeling at her booted feet. He couldn’t ask for more than this woman was offering. Not ever. It was the best offer of his entire life.

He looked up into those honey-gold eyes alight with the new day and answered with all of his heart.

“Those things I said, Space Ace? I meant every single word.”