Page 24 of Smoke Season

“Start with Level 3, and work backward,” she reminded Janet, who shot her a look as if to say,This isn’t your first forest fire ... act like it,before circling the circumference of Flatiron Peak plus the section below it already under evacuation order by the BLM in pink highlighter ink. With a softer glance at Mel—she’d probably just remembered that Annie was compromised by smoke—she wroteLEVEL 3.

The sheriff rep noted the locations on a yellow legal pad he retrieved from a nearby desk, then excused himself to start making calls. He’d alert his department in neighboring Outlaw first, then activate his crew of search-and-rescue volunteers, who would don their bright-orange uniforms to troll the roads in trucks, going door-to-door to ensure the evac notice reached every ear. Janet moved on to Level 2—be set to go—Mel’s eyes still trained on her. This time, Janet used blue highlighter ink to circle the few roads on the far east side of Flatiron, its adjacent ridgelines, almost, but not quite, to the base of Highline Road.

She released an exhale she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding, but still, the questions came to her mind unbidden. Had Sam packed Annie’s inhaler when he left the Eddy? Had he convinced her to comply and wear the pink pediatric N95 mask critical to her breathing ability? Where was it? Mel couldn’t remember. Probably forgotten under the back seat of Sam’s car.

She pushed back from the table to confer with the sheriff rep, a guy she’d only met a handful of times, at mind-numbing training sessions and the occasional interagency picnic.

“My crew can start knocking on doors right now,” she offered, “taking the roads west of Highline and that vicinity before your SAR crew can be mobilized.” It wasn’t normally her detail, but it would place her within a stone’s throw of her daughters, should they need her. She’d take Lewis with her, maybe Deklan and his buddy Ryan. They seemed attached at the hip.

The man wavered, and Mel knew the wordprotocolscreamed in his head like the siren every agency made it into, but then Hernandez nodded and he agreed.

“We’ll take the two other sections, then. I want you on the road within minutes, though.”

“Don’t worry, she will be,” Janet promised with a hint of a smile touching her lips, not bothering to look up from her map. The last thing Mel heard was her familiar voice calling the media to get the evac orders on the radio and TV news before she grabbed Deklan and Ryan, nodded at Lewis, and snagged a set of keys from the motor-pool board. “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 13

Sam paced the kitchen at Highline. Despite the digital clock on the microwave telling him it was only 3:15 p.m., it was dark as dusk thanks to the smoke. In the living room, he could hear Astor trying to remain patient as she helped Claude download the crappy Outlaw County emergency-information app on his phone. For some reason, Sam’s hadn’t updated the way it should have, and they needed to know: Were they at evacuation Level 1, 2, or 3?

“We can’t get the blasted thing to work!” Claude called from Sam’s living room.

“That’s because you won’t let me see it!” Astor protested.

Sam abandoned his search of the kitchen cupboards for Annie’s backup inhaler and joined them in time to watch Astor take possession of the phone once again, swiping deftly across the surface. “Here, Uncle Claude.”

Claude scrolled through a few pages, then sighed in relief. “Level 1,” he announced. “Thank God.”

“Does that mean we’re safe enough to stay here?” Astor asked, brow furrowed.

“For now,” Sam told her. And they were decidedly safer than if they’d stayed in the smoke in town. Still, he glanced out the window again at the deepening gloom, feeling like a sitting duck. It was all so overwhelming, and they’d just gotten here. It was times like this Annie could use both her parents working in tandem, but thinking that wayonly made Sam miss Mel more. And worry more for her safety, somewhere up at Flatiron.

Claude studied him, worry creasing his forehead just like Astor. “We’ll get through this together, son,” he said.

Sam looked up, trying to offer a shaky smile. “You’ve been babysitting us far too long, Claude. Take a few minutes to get your things in order, how about?”

Claude agreed, but the worry remained all over his face.

“I’ll pop over in a bit to help you with Ingrid’s quilts. We’ll get your hoses ready, too.” Sam nodded. Even at Level 1, it might become necessary to protect their rooftops from flying embers that might catch and take hold, and to water down their lawns and driveways, soaking the ground before it could spark.

Claude’s face cleared somewhat. “That would be a lifesaver.”

“What arewegoing to do?” Astor asked, once Claude’s stooped back had disappeared back into the smoke at the end of the drive. “We already brought our go bags, and the rest of our stuff is at Mom’s, or still at the Eddy.”

Sam forced brightness into his voice. “That’s right. We’re already all set. Why don’t you two play a game while I help Claude? Check the cabinet by the TV ... I think we still have a deck of UNO! cards in there.”

“Annie doesn’t remember all the rules. She can’t reverse.”

“Candy Land, then. It should be there, too.” The game had been rejected by Astor as too babyish during the move to town, but Sam didn’t see the point in reminding any of them of that day. He’d been bereft. Astor sullen. Mel absent.

Astor took a few halfhearted steps toward the cabinet before turning back. “I’d rather help you and Claude.”

Annie heard her sister and looked up from the episode ofPAW PatrolSam had cued up on his old iPad. “I wanna help, too. Astor! I wanna.” She clamored to her feet clumsily, iPad cast aside amid the blankets on the couch.

For once, Astor exhibited patience, waiting for her sister. The sight brought a hard lump of pride, with a healthy helping of dismay, to Sam’s throat. If Astor had decided she needed to be this nice to Annie, he had clearly done a piss-poor job of downplaying the gravity of the situation.

“I want you to stay in the house, but why don’t you both fill up some water bottles,” he offered. “And, Astor, you can put your watch on the charger in the kitchen. We’ll want it fully juiced up.”

He and Mel had bought her the Gizmo kids’ smartwatch last year, when she’d found herself home with Annie alone when a tet spell had hit. Sam had only been greeting the UPS driver in the parking lot of the Eddy, but he was gone long enough for Astor to need a phone and come up empty. She’d worn it religiously ever since.

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