Page 54 of Burning Escape

“Which is why we’re deploying ASAP. Everyone get your gear.” Jade checked her watch. “Plane’s going up in twenty. Hotshot bus will be leaving sooner.”

The rest of the crews headed out, leaving Orion behind…except Tori. She looked back at him, her expression asking,What do we do?

He moved to the front of the room and approached Tucker Newman. “I know I can’t fight the fire, but I can help on the ground at the Refuge. They’ll be reluctant to leave.”

“I know.” Tucker turned off the screen he’d used to display the map. “Last night’s crew reached out to the Brinks and asked them to get a message over. They got back to us this morning. The residents of the Refuge won’t budge.”

Tori stood shoulder to shoulder with Orion. “We know this group. We were there with them. Send us in.”

Tucker shook his head. “We need you on the line. And you”—he pointed at Orion—“shouldn’t be going anywhere. In a couple days we might consider putting you on the plane as a spotter, but for now?—”

“For now, this is how I can be useful. Send me in.”

“With everything that’s going on, I’m not sending anyone out there alone.”

“I’ll go with him,” Tori said. “You have two Trouble Boys who can jump. Have either Saxon or Hammer take my place. Orion and I already have a rapport with the group. They’re slow to trust outsiders. If they’ll listen to anyone, it will be us.”

Tucker looked at Jade and Mitch. “You two okay with this plan?”

They both nodded.

“Okay.” He stood, hands on his hips, and stared them down. “Pack what you need. Take one of the trucks, keep your radios and a backup sat phone close. You stay in communication. That’s imperative. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Orion and Tori said in unison.

“Get those people out of there. This fire is growing by the minute.” Tucker turned to leave.

Finally, Orion could be useful again. It took longer than he liked packing one-handed, but they grabbed chain saws, fuel, and tools—everything they could find to help fight a fire—and threw it in the back of the white truck with the Midnight Sun logo on the doors.

“We’ll need more than a truck if we have to evacuate the group.” Tori’s words stopped him. She looked at him over the bed of the truck. “There’s, like, forty people out there.”

She was right. “We need a fleet of vehicles. Maybe the Brinks will help us.”

“It’s still not enough. They have their family and probably animals they’ll be evacuating.”

“I did see some four-wheelers in their shed, but it won’t be enough.” Orion set another Pulaski in the truck bed.

“Or…I can drive one of the base-camp buses. I mean, not legally, but I know how.”

“Even on that low-maintenance road to the Brinks’ homestead? It’s pretty rough.”

“We have to get them to safety.” With that stubborn tilt to her chin, she probably wasn’t going to back down.

“All right. Do it. I’ll follow you in the truck.”

“You okay to drive one-handed?”

He walked around the cab of the truck and kissed her. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go save some people.”

She smiled up at him. “Okay.”

Tori ignored the posted speed limit on the paved road, which was fine with this Montana boy who took full advantage of the 80mph on the interstate back home. They had people to save. But it was called backcountry for a reason. Their base camp was already on the edge of civilization.

Out here it was all wide open sky, trees and meadows, and mountain giants looming in the distance. They passed vehicles on the highway, but once they turned off the main drag, the roads were rough. And no wonder. They were cut out of the wilderness, which wanted to reclaim the territory. Trees encroached on both sides.

The top of the bus brushed against branches. Orion bounced as his truck hit pothole after pothole. At this rate, he might injure his rear along with the shoulder. But he pushed the pain aside. Eventually, they reached the end of the road. The Brinks’ homestead.

They pulled up to Kitri strapping down a cage of chickens in the back of a truck. “I didn’t expect to see you two again so soon.” She walked over to them. A man with red hair and a barrel chest joined her.

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