Hot as Sin

He’d been furious when Mickey woke him up out of his dark dreams with the news that April had escaped. But it had been fairly easy to guess where she’d end up. Tigiwon was as close as they got to civilization around here and straight down the hill from his lab.

After speeding down the single-lane road to the campground, he’d spotted her on a pay phone, probably giving Dianna instructions on where to find her. Moving silently, he’d followed the girl after she hung up the phone, keeping out of her range of sight until she made the mistake of believing she’d really gotten away.

As she took the narrow trail that led between the parking lot and the ranger’s station, after first making sure they were alone, he’d jumped her, slamming his fist into her jaw once, then twice, until she crumpled to the ground.

Setting the cabin on fire had been pure genius. It was the perfect distraction so that he could not only take April to his car unnoticed, but given that he knew Dianna was on her way to collect her sister, it was the ideal opportunity to finally take his true prize captive as well.

If only that goddamned guy would leave her side for thirty seconds, maybe he could get close enough.

Moving away from his car, he headed toward the throng of people surrounding the fire engine. At the first available opportunity, he’d be ready to spring.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TWO HOURS later, after the cop cars and fire engines drove away, after the crowd of bystanders had grown bored and dispersed back to their campfires and card games, after she and Sam had circled the campground twice looking for clues and found absolutely nothing, Dianna was on the verge of giving up hope.

She’d never been able to forget the pain of being eleven years old and watching the state official drive away with April. Losing her own baby had been brutal and, of course, the breakup with Sam had been horrible. But sitting against a tree, her knees under her chin as she wrapped herself into a tight ball on the forest’s dirt floor, knowing her sister was at the mercy of some anonymous creep … well, that was almost unbearable.

Sam had offered to deal with the police alone, but although she’d felt so raw and her fears about her sister burning alive in that cabin were still jammed in every pore, every cell, every single breath she took, Dianna had felt that it was best if she spoke directly to the cops.

Not that it had mattered. Sure, the police had taken notes. They’d looked concerned. But they’d also made it perfectly clear that they didn’t have the resources to jump on the case, not with a couple of recent murders in the area taking top priority.

“Why aren’t they going to do more to find her?” she asked Sam. “It feels like they’re hardly taking me seriously.”

To Dianna, it seemed like the cops had been much more concerned about who had set the fire, asking Sam endless questions about how he’d been able to put it out without a water truck and fire gear.

Sitting beside her now, his arm around her shoulders a shock of warmth against her cold limbs, Sam pressed his lips against the top of her head.

“Nothing’s changed from our original plan,” he reminded her. “We’re going to find April.”

She longed to believe him, but she wasn’t sure she could anymore. Her life had turned into a bad dream. A surreal nightmare. She desperately wanted to get the hell out of here and pretend that none of this was happening, that everything was exactly as it had been before she’d come to Colorado.

But she couldn’t do any of those things. Because April was still missing, even after they’d come so close to finding her.

“I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve been up against some pretty nasty wildfires, but I’ve never been in a situation like this before.” He paused, brought her hands to his lips, and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. “I’ve never had you by my side, either. That’s why I know we’re going to find April and bring her home.”

She wanted to listen to his words, rather than all of the voices in her head telling her that they were too late, that she was never going to see April again. But letting herself believe that everything was okay after April’s phone call had been her biggest mistake.

Having hope ripped away had shattered her beyond repair and she felt broken inside.

“How can you have that kind of faith in me?” she whispered. “I’m failing her, Sam.”

“You sure as hell aren’t failing her. You’re pushing yourself to the limits to help her. And trust me, April knows you well enough to know you’re not going to give up. You’re tenacious. And you love her. So even if she can’t escape again, she’s going to hold on and wait for you. She knows you’re coming. She’s always known it.”

Dianna could hardly swallow past the lump in her throat. “I’m just so scared, Sam.” God, she hated tears, hated feeling weak and completely out of control. “I hate that I don’t know what to do next.”

“Of course you’re scared. She’s your sister and you love her. But you’ve got to see that this isn’t much different from fighting to pull April out of the foster system.”

“It is,” she protested.

“Not really. You didn’t know much about the people she was living with back then. But you knew she was unhappy, so you fought and fought and fought and fought for her. You won, Dianna. You won.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head against her hands before looking back into her eyes. “You’re going to win again. And I’m going to be with you every step of the way.”

A flash of lightning crackled overhead and thick drops of rain began to fall.

She was still silently digesting his optimism, his faith that they’d find April despite this crushing blow, when he pulled her to her feet.

“I know you want to stay here in case she comes back, but we don’t have our gear and I’m not going to risk you getting sick in the wind and the rain tonight.” Before she could protest, he added, “And if she can get to a phone again, she’ll know where you are. She’ll call the Farm first.”

She knew he was right, but even as she let him take her over to the dirt bike, she hated leaving the campground without having gotten one step closer to finding April, hated thinking that the person responsible for all of this pain could be standing in the forest watching them right now.

———

As they drove the dirt bike on the trail back to the Farm, Sam’s heart went out to the incredible woman holding him tightly from behind. He thought he’d been through hell with Connor, but not only had he been able to immediately rescue his brother, he’d had the satisfaction of personally wiping out the fire responsible for melting Connor’s skin. Whereas Dianna was moving forward with no clues, only more disasters, more misfortune.