“Because they’ll just deliver her into the hands of the monster who caused those injuries. The lady at the register told me there’s a family crisis center in Merced. Let’s feed her and then we’ll drive her there.”
She had to go. Now.
With one last, longing look at the pie case, Cara waited until the hostess glanced down at her cell phone, then slipped out the front door.
THIRTEEN
JORDAN
The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires is merely one more symptom of an ailing planet.
—@ClimateReality
“Sheriff Burke! Sandy Rivers, ABC 30 Action News. Can you confirm that Cara Campbell is still on the run?”
Jordan had just pulled in, taking the first available space in the parking lot of Oakhurst Adventist Church. He hadn’t even seen the reporter who stuck her microphone in his face the moment he opened the door of his vehicle. As he climbed out, more reporters crowded around, including some he hadn’t seen at the gravel turnout they’d just evacuated. The media monitored police scanners, he knew. But how had they all gotten here so fast?
The MCP’s driver was still in the process of parking on the other side of the lot, so Jordan had no choice but to make his way through the scrum.
“We were tracking her location only minutes ago,” he told the reporter as he started walking. “We’re right behind her. Recapture is imminent.”
As the journalists moved with him, it was like trying to navigate in the middle of a football huddle. Jordan couldn’t even see the ground due to the press of bodies. He was acutely aware of their microphones and phones with flashing redrecordbuttons.
“If you know where she is, why haven’t you picked her up yet?”
This reporter, a pink-skinned bro type, looked fresh out of college. Jordan recognized him from KMPH, the local Fox News affiliate.
Because I thought she was dead. Because she had a head start. Because she has no idea what she’s doing so we can’t predict what she’s going to do. Because wildfires, dumb shit.
“We’re close,” he said curtly.
Then a warmly resonant voice rose above the din. “Jack Schapiro, CNN.”
Jordan turned his head, slowing slightly. National media. Just like Wen predicted.
“Sheriff Jordan, a source tells me you confronted Campbell last night, but she got away,” said Shapiro. “Can you explain to us what happened?”
Someone in his department leaked, that’s what happened. But who? Jordan had always thought of his force as a family. They didn’t always get along, but they always put each other first. Clearly, someone else saw things differently.
Jordan quickened his pace. He was halfway across the parking lot.
“I’ll make a full report on the operation when the time is right,” he said, meeting Schapiro’s steady gaze. “But right now, we’re in the middle of an active search and every second counts.”
“KVPR, Elias Sotelo,” said a reedy voice. “Can you tell how many people have been evacuated due to the Coarsegold Fire?”
“I don’t have current information on that. Try Cal Fire.”
“Troy Silverman, candidate, Madera County Sheriff,” boomed a voice behind him.
Jordan couldn’t help himself. He stopped and turned. Silverman’s Bronco was idling in the middle of the lot, and Silverman himself stood outside its open door. His hair was wild, his face was smudged with soot, and his clothes were dotted with cinder burns.
The reporters all turned, too, aiming their microphones at Silverman as he spoke.
“Can you tell me why your deputies deliberately led search and rescue volunteers into harm’s way?” he asked theatrically. “We were lucky to escape with our lives.”
Jordan took a deep breath as the microphones—and cameras, he now noticed—swung back toward him. “My deputies are brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day. Our S&R volunteers are just as brave. Everyone here should know, however, that you?—”
“Nearly died.” Silverman interrupted before Jordan could say he had inserted himself into the situation. “While the sheriff here was coolin’ his heels in his RV, we were closin’ in on Cara Campbell. But nobody at the top thought to warn us, let us know we were in the crosshairs of a fast-movin’ wildfire.”
