Page 7 of Burning Hearts

The fire was to the west, where he could barely see the smoke, but headed this way. The occupants of this valley probably couldn’t even see how near it was. They likely had no idea how close to danger they were, as the air currents seemed to be sending the smoke over the top of the valley rather than down into it, acting like an inversion, where the cloud cover sat like a lid on a bowl and below was only stagnant air.

Logan keyed his radio. “This is Logan, does anyone copy?”

The response came a few seconds later. “I copy you, Logan.” That was JoJo. “We’re on the trail, headed for the fire. How long are you gonna be? I can give you our coordinates.”

He wouldn’t be catching up. Not with what he was looking at right now. “I found a compound in a valley to the north. Looks like a lot of people down there, and the fire is headed east, right toward them.”

After a long pause, Jade got on. “It’s not on the map.”

Logan didn’t remember talk about a compound in their briefing. “Should I head down and advise them to evacuate?”

Never mind if Jamie was down there or not. Logan wouldn’t be able to walk away without telling these people—whoever they were—that their lives were in danger if the fire spread to the valley in front of him.

“I’ll let the sheriff know there are people at your location. He might be interested to know since none of us were aware.”

“Copy that.” Logan would have to walk all the way down this hill to even get near enough to speak to someone. The closest people seemed to be a couple of guys with a woman between them. As he watched, one of the men shoved the woman to the other, who grasped her.

Logan winced. Not the kind of people he wanted to try and reason with, but everyone deserved to be warned if their lives were in danger. He could advise them to leave, but if they didn’t want to go, he couldn’t force it. He would need local law enforcement to roust them all out—or to at least do so with a little more authority than Logan had.

The man dragged the woman to a building and in a side door.

“Go ahead and advise them to evacuate, which they already should have done.” Jade didn’t sound happy. “But I want you with us by lunchtime, Logan. Got it?”

“Got it, boss.” Logan lowered the radio and set off down the hill. He was going to get written up for not heading for them right away after he landed, but the fact Jade hadn’t sent a rescue party to help him meant she trusted him, at least a little. “I’ll be there.”

“If you need backup, call it in. But we have a fire to fight.”

“Copy that. Out.”

He jogged a little, but mostly fast walked. Not just for the woman he’d seen being menaced by these guys. All of the people down here deserved a chance to live—to face the truth of the Bible and find redemption. Every person on earth got a shot at a second chance. He’d learned that the hard way after running from God for years. He’d finally surrendered his life on the same night his twin brother, Bryce, had. At a church service, where the pastor had talked about a shepherd who’d left ninety-nine sheep to find one lost lamb.

In a way, that was probably what Jamie thought she was doing for her brother. Wherever she’d ended up.

Down there?

What a horrifying thought.

Logan made it to the gate. “Hey, bro! Gotta talk to you.”

The guy took his cigarette out of his mouth, a rifle strapped to hang across his back. He slid the gate open enough for Logan to slip through. “Whatcha want, hotshot?”

He was a smokejumper, but this wasn’t the time to correct the guy. The uniforms were the same, with a Midnight Sun Wildland Firefighter patch on the left arm. “Fire is west of here, and it’s headed this way. Y’all need to evacuate while there’s still time.”

The guy took another drag on his cigarette, about to speak when another man joined them. The guy immediately launched into conversation about something funny, given the laughter in his tone. “Snatch claimed her. She told him her name is Jamie, which is a dumb name for a girl, but whatever.”

Logan glanced at the guy. “What did you just say?”

* * *

Jamie’s back hit the wall. Snatch had dragged her in here despite her protests and attempts to explain. And her trying to bargain with him. “I really need to find my brother.”

She didn’t have many options for getting herself out of this. They’d taken all her things. Except they had no idea the tracker on her right index finger wasn’t just an ordinary ring.

Too bad no one knew she was in trouble, but at least her colleagues knew where she was.

This was going to come down to the self-defense moves she’d learned in the class she’d taken after Samuel had found out she didn’t know how to fight off an attacker.

Snatch pressed against her. “We can talk after.” His breath wafted across her face.

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