Page 24 of Some Like It Hot
She opened the door to the copilot’s seat.
“Not quite yet, honey.” He got up.
The world tilted, but he forced himself upright as he walked over to Seth. “Listen. If that wind continues to grow, the fire is going to kick back up. Stay ahead of it. If you cut a line from the ridge over to that peak, you’ll keep it from going south, drive it east. There’s a river about a half mile from here. Best bet would be to corral it. I’ll send Barry back with some water dumps, see if we can slow it down, even kill it out before it gets that far, but at this point, with our numbers, we need to think containment.”
Seth nodded, but his eyes contained doubt.
Riley reached out, more for balance than support, but still, he clamped his hand on Seth’s big shoulder. “You remember the Watchout rules Tucker drilled into us, right?”
Seth nodded.
“The most important thing—most important—is safety. Do not wait until the last minute. And know where your safety zone is at all times. Got it?”
Now he’d probably scared the man, but Seth just set his jaw and nodded.
Romeo had come up, joined them, listening with a grim face.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Riley glanced at the chopper, at Larke inside, her mouth in an annoyed line. Turned back to them. “Stay alive. Got it?”
Seth nodded. “Got it, boss.”
“I’m not the boss. Tucker is. But until he gets back…let’s all try not to do anything stupid.”
He limped over to the chopper. Got in and struggled with the door.
Seth stepped up and closed it. The US marshals had already taken off on the trail of the fugitives.
Riley leaned back, cradling his arm, listening to the bird shudder to life.
They lifted off and for a moment, he got a good view of the fire. Blackness scraped the land, the trees broken, gnarled corpses of the once lush forest, the meadow a charred blanket. Dead.
On the northernmost flank, tongues of flames lapped up still-green trees, the land glowing red as the cinders baked the earth.
Barry turned the chopper up and away, Riley’s view now of vibrant, green land, shaggy spruce, meadows sprinkled with white flowers amidst a backdrop of jagged foothills.
Barry’s words before they’d deployed rushed back at him.You are their good shepherd. Protect them. Guide them. And bring them home safely.
Riley leaned his head back. Closed his eyes. And wished his instincts weren’t always right.
* * *
Good thing Larkehad decided not to let him into her life, because one look at Riley sleeping in the hospital bed, a little broken, scuffed up, and vulnerable, one of his wide, ropy shoulders bandaged, could turn her all gooey and warm inside.
He looked like a wounded warrior.
A smart girl would remember that she’d had her fill of those, thank you.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to leave his room. Probably just the medic inside, wanting to see her patient stable. Keep him from doing anything stupid.
Like run back to a fire line and possibly do worse damage to his already broken self.
Even from here, through the wide picture window on the second story of the Copper Mountain Regional Hospital, she could gauge the thickening cloud of soot and smoke that hovered over the park.
I’m not trying to be a hero. We could be in real trouble here.
His angry, almost desperate voice still shook through her.
They need me, orsomeonewho knows what they’re doing.