Page 47 of Flashback

Her voice echoed back, nothing else but silence.

“That had to be him, don’t you think?”

Before he could answer, something on the ground caught his eye. “What’s that?”

She kicked aside the ashes and revealed a dark-blue cloth. “It’s a bandana.”

Dakota used his stick to lift it up. “That might be blood on it.” He pulled a plastic baggie out of his backpack and picked it up with the bag covering his hand.

Allie opened the GPS app on her phone. “We’re not that far from where we were with the boys.”

“I think we’re close to the cabin we saw when we were running from the fire.”

They used the GPS to navigate to a clearing. Everywhere they turned, it all looked the same. Burnt devastation. Husks of trees.Smoldering piles of ash. Every now and then they called for Scout, but there was no more barking.

Allie’s lips pinched tight after calling again without an answer. Maybe Dakota could keep her from getting discouraged.

“Did you have dogs like Dixie or Scout growing up?”

“Never. It was hard enough to feed a family of nine on a pastor’s salary.”

“But I bet you were never bored, huh?” He stepped over another fallen tree and helped Allie.

“True. And there was never a quiet moment, privacy, or vacations to Disneyland.”

“I dunno. If I had to pick between Disney and having a house full of kids, I know what I’d pick.”

Allie stilled. “You want a big family?”

“Oh yeah. I hated growing up alone. I mean, it was probably for the best, but…I always wanted brothers and sisters. So hopefully, when I get married, we can have a house full. At least four or five.”

She didn’t return his grin. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. Was he scaring her talking about marriage and kids? Didn’t girls like guys that wanted that kind of stuff?

Smoke in the distance caught his eye, just a thin wisp floating toward the sky. “There’s the cabin. It didn’t burn when the wildfire swept through here.” Dakota pointed out a rocky retaining wall running along the back of the property.

Allie stood next to him. “How is that possible?”

“Between that wall and the creek running along the side, the backyard is pretty clear of trees. It was enough of a break to funnel the fire that way toward the road we used to escape.”

“Hey, there’s a truck over there. Look. It’s under the tarp.”

“Someone might be here then. We should?—”

A gunshot broke through the silence of the forest.

Dakota slammed into Allie and tackled her to the ground.

Ooof. “Was that?—”

“Dunno.” He got up but pushed her behind the wide trunk of a burnt spruce tree. “Stay here.” He swung off his pack and dug through it.

“Where are you going?”

Dakota pulled out binoculars. “I can’t see anything, but we need to get out of here.”

“Maybe they don’t know we’re out here. It could’ve been an accident.”

“I don’t think I want to stick around and find out. You?”

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