Oh, God!The sweet dog was too close to those flames.
“Bella, you have to go,” Sky rushed out.
Rosemary rushed over to the animal and tried to lift her—then yelped when Bella bit her hand. She dropped the Chinese Crested.
Bella dug her head into Sky’s neck and whimpered. She lowered her mouth and whispered, “Run, Bella! Go get help.”
It was ridiculous to ask a dog for help. But when Bella looked up…Sky would swear she saw understanding in the animal’s eyes.
Rosemary was just reaching for Bella a second time when the dog took off, sprinting away from them through the trees.
“Bella,no!” Rosemary yelled.
The flames grew, the heat already licking Sky’s skin.
Rosemary looked at the flames, then back to where Bella had run.
“Please,” Sky begged, muscles protesting as she once again tried to stand.
Rosemary scowled at her. “This was always how it was supposed to be.” Then the older woman returned to her van, climbed in, and drove off through the forest, leaving Sky alone with the flames.
Shit!
Sky reached for the rope around her ankle, madly trying to undo the knot. Rosemary had driven the van into the forest on some kind of narrow trail. It had to connect with a road. All she had to do was outrun that fire until she found it.
Quickly, she worked the bindings on her ankles.
Come on, come on, come on.
It felt like it took hours, when in reality it was probably minutes. But finally, she got her ankles untied and again tried to push to her feet—and again immediately fell down, the world around her swirling.
The fire grew louder, drowning out the sound of the wind.
She forced herself back up with the help of her still-bound wrists, this time locking her knees, refusing to let herself fall.
She moved one foot forward, then the other. It was slow, but any distance between her and the flames was better than none. Each step was a small chance at survival.
CHAPTER32
“You need to calm down, Beck.”
“How?” Becket growled at his brother, the anger and panic and fear choking him. “How do I calm down when I don’t know where she is? Rosemary has made her intentions pretty fucking clear.”
“She’s seventy years old and there’s an APB out for both her van and her car. She won’t get far.”
Becket leaned his head back. He’d wanted to drive but his brother had refused to let him.
He couldn’tbreathe. It was too fucking much. If he lost Sky, he’d never recover.
His phone rang, and he pulled it out to see it was the fire station. He wanted to let it go to voicemail, but he was chief. If they were calling, it was important.
He answered it, almost barking into the phone. “What is it?”
“One of the helicopters that has been doing routine checks in the mountains has reported smoke,” Irene said. “It’s not far from the highway, but it’s a lot. Makes me think an accelerant was used.”
“The arsonist.” Becket scowled. Just what he fucking needed.
“That’s what we’re thinking. I’m going to call a few other stations for backup.”
