Naomi darted after Lucas again but Darla pulled her back. “Let him go,” her friend ordered, blocking her way. “You’re in no condition to run up that trail.”
It was true. Naomi knew it was true. She was already shivering with sweat, on the verge of throwing up.
“I can’t believe this.” A stark helplessness gouged her. She turned to her friend, her knees buckling. “Why did I let him take her up there?”
Darla took Naomi’s cheeks in her hands, steadying her with a long, sure glare. “This isn’t your fault. This isn’t even Mark’s fault. No one could’ve predicted this would happen.”
“I could’ve,” she sputtered, her heart floundering in the hollow feeling that stretched all the way through her. “I should’ve set more boundaries. I should’ve forbid him from taking her away from the house.”
Her friend shook her head slowly, eyes focused and intent. “Mark’s a great guy. You know that. He would never put Gracie in danger on purpose.”
Tears clogged her eyes. They wouldn’t stop. The fire’s thick haze hovered over her, tinted with that nightmarish smell. Everything was burning. Her world was burning.
“Come on. Let’s get you into a chair.” Darla half-dragged her to her car. She popped the trunk and pulled out a folded camping chair. Once she’d set it up she sat Naomi in it, then shoved a water bottle into her hand. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Naomi wanted to. God, how she wanted to. Close her eyes and wake up from this nightmare. Her eyes blanked. All she saw was that trail. Leading up the mountain into a fog of smoke.
Chaos hummed all around her—cars and people and ATVs. But it seemed to be happening in a movie—like she was watching someone else’s tragedy unfold.
Closing her eyes, she fisted her hands and fought the hopelessness that spread through her like the smothering smoke. She had to fight it.
Blinking hard, she opened her eyes.
Dev ran over and put his head together with Darla’s, murmuring in a hushed tone. The conversation was short and clipped—all business. When he hurried away, Darla knelt next to her. “Dev said they’re mobilizing a team. They’ll send the ATVs up after Lucas and try to get them spread out so they can cover more ground.”
Her head nodded in what seemed to be slow motion. That small movement took so much effort. A painful hammering in her heart ordered her to get up and do something. Scream, tear up that trail after her daughter. Instead, she gripped Darla’s hands and pulled herself out of the chair. She would not do this. She would not sit here helpless.
Darla squeezed her hands. “Your color’s coming back.”
“I’m better. Stronger.” And she could help. She might not be able to run up the trail, but she could do something. “Come on,” she said, tugging on Darla’s arm. “Let’s see how we can help.”
She marched over to where Dev now stood with Hank Green, engaged in a heated discussion.
“I just heard from the fire chief,” Hank informed them. “They suspect arson.”
Arson. Outrage tangled with the fear that still thumped in Naomi’s heart. “Someone set the fire on purpose?”
“Too early to say officially,” Dev insisted, glaring at Hank like he wanted him to shut up before the rumors got going.
“But that’s how it looks,” Hank countered, scowling at the deputy. “And I’ll bet I know exactly who’s responsible.”
“Enough.” Dev’s voice bordered on a shout. “We won’t know anything until we get a handle on the fire,” he said firmly. “No use pointing—”
“They’re saying it started on the south side of the mountain,” Hank interrupted. “Near the river. We all know who spends his time down there.”
Naomi looked at Darla. The south side by the river. That was where Lucas had taken her fishing. But surely they didn’t think he’d started the fire. “He was with me all morning!” She hadn’t meant to yell, but desperation shattered her control. “There’s no way he could’ve had anything to do with this.”
“It’s probably been smoldering for at least a day,” Hank argued, as though he was enjoying her misery.
“Right now, this is all speculation.” Judging from the harsh edge in his tone, Dev was losing patience. “Besides, if he’d started the fire, why would Lucas be up there right now? Risking his life to search for Gracie and Mark?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” the mayor sneered.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Naomi backed up a step so she wouldn’t haul off and hit him the way her daughter had hit the Dobbins kid.
“It’s okay,” Darla said, eyeing the mayor like he was parasite. “Hank’s just blowing smoke again. Typical day in Topaz Falls.”
Anger made the man’s face glow. “It means he wanted to look like the hero. He set the fire so he could go and rescue your girl and make himself the hero.” His lips curled in a self-righteous smirk. “He knew she’d be hiking up here this morning. Didn’t he?”
Naomi refused to answer the question. “You don’t even know him.” Hank Green had always hated the Cortez family. He’d find every excuse to go after Lucas just to spite his father.
“I know what he is,” Hank snapped. “The whole town knows what he is. You’re the only one who’s naïve enough to believe he’s changed.”
Naomi could’ve hit him then. She could’ve popped him right in the face if Dev hadn’t stepped between them.
“Enough,” he said again. The deputy put a hand on Hank’s shoulder and directed him away. “We’re not discussing this now. We have a hell of a lot to do, the most important thing being locating two missing persons and getting them off that trail.”
He led the mayor away, but something told Naomi that wasn’t the end of it.
* * *
The fire seemed to have spread to his lungs. Lucas hadn’t broken his swift jog since he’d left the trailhead. It felt like years ago, but he’d only gone a few miles. Every five minutes he checked in with Dev, but even with the firefighters spreading out all over the mountain, no one had seen any sign of Gracie and Mark.
He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled again because that was all he could do. Keep shoving one foot in front of the other. Keep whistling. Stop and listen. He did that all the way up the side of the mountain. As he climbed higher the air grew murky, but the smoke rose above him, pouring in from the south.
He hadn’t seen any flames yet, but he kept a close eye on that wind as he followed the trail. The forest was restless, quiet, but full of sounds that kept startling him to a stop. Cracking twigs, rustling leaves. Every time he heard something, he’d pause and suck in his breath, wishing his fucking heart would slow down so he could hear better.
Jogging up a steep section of the trail with sweat trickling down and burning his eyes, he yelled Gracie’s name for what had to be the hundredth time. Each time her name scraped his throat, he prayed she’d answer.
The trail veered more to the south, winding around a sharp curve.
Lucas hesitated. Here the air was thicker, darker, almost like dusk was descending in the middle of the afternoon. A form appeared a ways off and at first he gasped a hopeful breath, but then a fireman’s yellow gear came into focus.
The guy was running toward him. “You shouldn’t be out here,” he called.
Lucas didn’t recognize him. He held up the radio, hoping he’d think Dev had given him free rein. Truthfully, the twenty minutes Dev had given him had ended a while ago. The deputy had called him back and he’d lied, saying he was on his way down.
But he couldn’t go down there. Not without Gracie. He couldn’t face Naomi. “I’m looking for the missing hikers,” he said, battling a cough. “A little girl and a man in his late twenties.”
“We’re keeping an eye out.” The firefighter frowned, eyeing the smoke that seemed to be creeping closer. “But the wind’s shifting again. We have no idea what this thing’s gonna do.”
He didn’t care what it would do. He couldn’t go back to Naomi without Gracie. “I’m guessing they went off the trail.” Mark would’ve taken Gracie in the opposite direction when he saw the smoke. “I’ll head north,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll meet up with—”
A muted shrill cut him off. Once again, he held his breath. “Did you hear that?”
The firefighter removed his hat. “What?”
“A whistle.” His blood pumped hard. “I heard a whistle.” It had to be.
The guy looked at him like he’d lost it, but Lucas strained his ears and headed a few steps to the east. Something trilled again. So faint. He jerked his head to look at the fireman.
The man nodded. “It’s definitely something.”
Lucas stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. They both stilled. Seconds stretched into a torturous minute. Then the sound rang out again. A whistle and a bark.
“Bogart!” Lucas darted around a spruce and bolted to the east, calling to the dog and whistling like he’d lost his mind.
The answer came faster this time. Louder. Dodging trees and rocks, he tore down the mountainside, then stumbled along a rocky slope, his feet slipping on the loose gravel. The fireman stayed close behind him, barking into a radio. But Lucas was afraid to call Dev. To get Naomi’s hopes up. What if it wasn’t Gracie?
The rocks got bigger, forming a series of jagged shelves that hung over the mountainside. Down below, Bogart sprinted into view.
“Gracie!” he yelled.
“Lucas!” She wasn’t far behind the dog. “Lucas, Dad needs help!”
“We’re coming,” he told her, picking his way down the rocks.
Moments later he pulled her into his arms and she hugged him so tightly he couldn’t breathe. “Gracie. Oh God, Gracie girl.” Bogart jumped and whimpered like he wanted to be held, too.
“Dad slipped on the rocks when he was trying to help me,” she sobbed. “He hurt his leg real bad.”
“Can you show us where?” Lucas held her tighter, trying to stop her trembling.
Bogart tore away from them, staying near the edge of the boulders.
“That way,” Gracie said, pointing after the dog. “Bogy knows.”
The fireman ran ahead of them, following the dog, yelling into his radio. “We’ve located the missing hikers.” He rattled off some coordinates, his voice growing fainter as he disappeared around a bend.
Lucas tried to breathe, his feet suddenly clumsy. He set Gracie down and knelt. “You’re okay, though?” he choked out, his eyes full. He couldn’t blame that on the smoke.
“I’m okay,” she murmured.
“What happened?” He stood and took her hand, continuing toward the sound of Bogy’s frantic barks. “How’d your dad fall?”
“When we got to the waterfall, we smelled all that yucky smoke. At first we thought it was a campfire, but then it got so dark.” Gracie slowed, her eyes reading the ground. She guided him past a small cave in a rock face. “Dad thought the smoke was coming toward us, so we ran off the trail and came down this way.” Her voice wavered. “I couldn’t do all the big rocks so he was helping me, but his foot slipped and he fell.”
“I’m sorry, honey,” Lucas murmured. “I’m so sorry that happened.” That she’d had to witness something so terrifying.
“I just want him to be okay.” She rubbed the tears from her cheeks as though she was trying to be strong.
“He’ll be okay,” Lucas assured her. “They’ve got all kinds of people ready to help him.”
They skirted the base of one more cliff before Lucas caught sight of Mark, propped up against a fallen tree, his legs stretched out in front of him.
Bogy licked his face while the fireman asked him questions.
“Boy, am I glad to see you guys,” Mark said as Lucas and Gracie approached. Sweat and obvious pain had turned his skin sallow.
“We’re glad to see you, too.” Lucas took a quick look at the leg. Judging from the blood, it was a compound fracture.
“Will he be okay?” Gracie asked fearfully, her eyes wide and teary.
Lucas lifted her into his arms again. It was finally hitting him that they’d found her. That she was safe. “He’ll be fine. You were so smart to use your whistle.” And thank God they’d had the dog with them.
“Thank you for finding us,” she whispered.
“You saved him,” Lucas told her. “You were so brave. We found him because of you. And now he’ll get the help he needs.”
The fireman stood. “It’s a nasty break,” he said grimly. “They’re sending up a UTV.”
“Hear that?” Lucas brushed a kiss on the top of her head. He held the girl tighter. Couldn’t seem to put her down.
“I was so scared.” Gracie laid her head on his shoulder.
He closed his eyes, savoring the feel of holding this precious little girl in his arms.
“You don’t have to be scared anymore,” he told her. “I’ll always protect you.”