Page 55 of Burning Justice

“Tris!”

The guy didn’t move.

As Kane closed in on them, he saw Tristan had hold of Raine’s wrist. She held the gun, and with Tristan pinning her where she was, the gun was pointed up in the air.

“Give me the weapon.” At this point, it didn’t matter who had control of it. Kane reached over and put his hand around the gun. “Both of you let go.”

“What’s going on?” Tucker strode over, his expression pinched. “Who fired that weapon?”

Kane had control of it now. A revolver, and it was old. He pushed the cylinder to the side and tipped the rounds onto the ground.

Tristan let go of Raine and stepped back. “I did.”

She flinched. Surprise flashed across her face.

“Is that what happened?” Tucker asked.

“I fired the weapon.” Tristan turned to the commander. “It was my fault.”

Kane watched Raine react to Tristan’s words.

“Come with me.” Tucker walked away, and Tristan went with him. Crew jogged after them.

Half the smokejumpers and everyone who’d been in the mess hall stood watching.

“Wanna tell me the truth?” Kane pinned Raine with a stare.

“It’s just what Tristan said.” She shrugged, not looking at him or anyone else. Suddenly finding the grass on the mountain behind the hangar extremely interesting.

“Right. You think I’m gonna believe that?”

Mitch strode over from the group by the mess hall door—a group that included Maria. But aside from a general assessing glance, Kane wasn’t going to get distracted by her right now. This could be a serious situation.

Mitch said, “People on my team are people I trust. That means you tell me the truth.”

Raine pushed off the side of the hangar where Tristan had pinned her.

“Is this your gun?” Kane asked. “Or your grandpa’s?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

She really thought that? Kane wanted an answer as to what had just happened between Raine and Tristan. He hadn’t seen them interact before, but maybe there had been something going on this entire summer.

“Tell us what that was.” Kane had to bank on the relationship the hotshots had built. Otherwise, what else did they have? He didn’t know much about this woman and her personal life, but he respected her. She was an amazing firefighter, someone who didn’t give up.

The kind of woman who kept going through any situation.

Never quit.

She was cut from the same cloth as Maria.

“You can trust us, Raine.” He studied her, praying she would open up.

Maria came over, close enough she held on to his side with her good hand. Kane resisted the urge to put his arm around her. Everyone already knew the deal—he and Maria had simply been the last ones to get on board with what was going on. At least, he figured that was what’d happened.

Maria leaned against him. “Does this have to do with your father?”

Kane frowned. He needed to be caught up with what they were saying.

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