Chapter One
She was going to die.
Not from the blazing wall of heat ahead of her but from the amount of sweat weighing her down despite her lighter protective gear. Aslen Woods gripped the fire hose hard as it bucked in her hand. Every muscle in her body ached after clinging to this thing for two hours.
She’d tried everything she could think of to get the blaze under control. Including clearing a perimeter of brush to ensure the fire didn’t jump on this wind, but it didn’t help. She and the rest of her team had been fighting a losing battle since around four this morning.
The other firefighters employed by the park scrambled to beat back the spread of the flames with shouts, orders and a whole lot of controlled chaos. This was what they did. This was what they were good at, but dousing fires in the wildland wasn’t anything like trying to save a structure. With a structure, most of the fire was contained, and fighters wore more protective gear. Out here in the middle of Zion National Park? It took an army. The rip of a chainsaw reached her ears from the right as two of her fellow team members took precautionary measures to keep the flames from launching past the perimeter.
Once-green trees crackled with blackened bark. Embers seemed to breathe in the cracks, keeping up with her ragged pulls of oxygen. This was the third fire of the summer, thoughthis one had started far north of the most tourist-saturated area in the main attraction of the park. There wasn’t much out here at the far northern border of the park in Lava Point, apart from a man-made reservoir, Lava Point Overlook—a nearly eight thousand–foot cliff that looked down on miles of greenery and rolling mountains—the West Rim trailhead and the campground less than a mile west near the town of Virgin. Thousands of acres had already been consumed by human mistakes and lightning strikes, and there was no sign of slowing down anytime soon. The summer months brought on droughts, more tourists and charged thunderstorms: the perfect combination to keep her employed and on alert.
Zion National Park spanned over 232 miles of wilderness her fire management training hadn’t prepared her to protect that first time she’d been thrust into the field. It was all learned experience and on-the-job training that came with a heavy purpose—to protect the people from the park and the park from the people. But this… This felt intentional.
Aslen swiped a gloved hand over her brow, surely smearing her face with the ash collecting on her gear. Heat seared into her lungs with every breath as the wind kicked back into her face, changing the direction of the spread of flames. And bringing a bitter scent with it. Something with a chemical signature that burned the back of her throat.
A wave of shouts punctured through the steady thud of her heart behind her ears as the fire changed direction. They were about to lose control if the conditions kept up, but she wouldn’t let her nerves get the better of her. She’d never lost her calm in the field, and she wasn’t about to start now. They’d barely managed to keep the flames from consuming a nearby campground. Now the flames seemed to take on a life of their own as she aimed pressurized water at the base of a patch of brush that’d caught. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“There she goes again. Talking to the fire as if it’s going to behave.” Danny Kennex—the only other woman employed full-time in her unit—flashed a wild smile that showed a little too many teeth. Blond hair had escaped her team member’s ponytail and whipped into Danny’s face as she muscled the chainsaw in one hand. “Isn’t that what they call delusional?”
Aslen couldn’t help but take advantage of the distraction. “Isn’t minding your own business good for your health?”
“Aw, come on. Minding your business is overrated.” Danny threw a wink before surveying the wall of flames eating up the distance to Aslen’s position. “Besides, I seem to recall my nosiness helping you out a couple times with a certain law enforcement ranger who shall not be named.”
“Will you keep your voice down?” Aslen searched the surrounding woods as though Danny had summoned the man himself, but Murray Simpson, like most of the rangers in other departments, tended to keep his distance from her unit. Fire management rangers were only called when needed. They weren’t invited to the yearly Christmas party or to chat in the break room at headquarters. They weren’t considered full-time, despite Aslen’s full-time status, and they most definitely were not on the radar of any handsome—although aggravating beyond belief—law enforcement rangers. She caught the bitter chemical taint to the air a second time and thanked heaven for a change in subject that wouldn’t leave her skin feeling as though she’d been stabbed with a thousand needles, nodding toward the fire ahead. “You smell that?”
“Gasoline.” Danny’s shoulders rose on a deep inhale, perfectly arched and maintained brows pulling toward each other at the bridge of her nose.
The woman was a goddess, with long lashes, a full pouty mouth and a personality Danny’s parents had once deemed perfect for serial killing or running a Fortune 500 company.With curves to make anyone’s mouth water, she had no business hiding underneath fire-resistant protection in the middle of the wilderness and certainly not in the middle of nowhere Utah. And yet, despite their obvious differences in appearance, confidence and history—Danny coming from the world’s greatest family and Aslen growing up in foster care—they were closer than any of their other teammates. It’d only made sense to room together after they’d been hired on a year ago. Though Aslen was beginning to regret that decision every time Murray’s name came up.
She didn’t want to think about him. And she didn’t want anyone else thinking about him either. Murray Simpson was possibly the most frustrating man Aslen had ever met, and that was saying something, considering the ego it took to become a firefighter, but she’d managed to put up with him since she’d been a teenager living off of nothing but chocolate pudding cups in public school back home. The fact that he couldn’t see her as anything more than a friend grated on her nerves more than Danny’s nightly snoring that outdid the chainsaw in her hand. Honestly, what Aslen wouldn’t give for him to look at her as anything more than an obligation. It was that stupid promise he’d made to protect her in middle school, after she’d been beaten to a pulp by another girl in her class, that’d had him following her to Zion. It didn’t matter he’d chosen the law enforcement route or that they hardly saw each other on shift. Her awareness of him had been so thoroughly ingrained into her bones it overpowered separate departments and miles.
“Aslen.” Danny penetrated her peripheral vision. A knowing smile crested her friend’s face. “I know that look. You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
“Utter another word, and I will turn this hose on you.” It wouldn’t be the first time either. A flame jumped, and Aslen’s instincts kicked in. She directed the hose to the base of the flameas an eruption of sound overpowered the crackle and pops of the fire consuming the park acre by acre. Collapsing wood and a renewed sense of panic filtered through the trees. “The fire must’ve reached the campground.”
Her heart shoved higher in her chest. They’d evacuated the campground as soon as they’d arrived on site, but the idea of anyone getting caught in the flames had her taking a few more steps forward to beat the fire into submission.
“I got this. You check it out.” Danny motioned over her shoulder before offering to take the hose. Sweat built along the blond hairline, revealing her perfect friend really was human after all. “It sounds like they’re going to need someone trained in structural.”
“Don’t take your eyes off it.” She couldn’t stand the thought of losing Danny’s bright light in a world repeatedly determined to drag her into the darkness.
“Yes, Mom.” Danny gave a half-hearted salute.
“Don’t think I won’t call her.” Aslen tossed the comment over her shoulder as she jogged for the burst of embers thirty yards north. The flames had found something fresh to chew on, growing in height and intensity. The heat licked up the front of her body and pooled beneath her hard hat as she closed in on the group of four other rangers armed with axes, shovels and hoses. She collected an axe along the way, the weight solid and counterbalancing as her emergency pack threatened to throw her off.
The outline of a structure took shape. What was left of the roof had collapsed inward, highlighting the crossbeams. The construction itself wasn’t large. More like a maintenance shed. The thick wood door hung off the hinges and swung outward with a protest a split second before hitting the ground. There were a dozen or so of these sheds all over the park, but they’d lost this one in a matter of minutes. The trees surroundingthe shed had already caught fire, and she maneuvered in front of the team, strategically trying to contain the fingers of flame stretching from one branch to the other.
“We need the extinguishers!” Her voice barely rose over the roar of the fire, but two of the rangers at her back scrambled to follow through. That bitter chemical scent hit her harder here, and her stomach rolled with the assault. Danny had been right. Whoever had set the fire had used gasoline as the accelerant. It would take them hours and cause a whole lot of damage to douse the flames. A glimpse of red at the base of the collapsing structure sucker punched her. A gasoline canister had melted into the floor. If it still contained any gas, her team was at risk. Aslen rounded on the rangers behind her, arms out as though she could protect her fellow rangers with her body alone. “Everyone get—”
The explosion licked up her spine and thrust her forward.
The ground rushed up to meet her. Her hard hat collided with a nearby rock, the impact echoing through her head, but she was alive. Debris rained down on around her as groans punctured through the high-pitched ringing in her ears. A chunk of wood collided with her boot as she assessed any bodily damage. No burning sensations. Nothing broken as far as she could tell.
The four rangers who’d been positioned behind her climbed to their feet, extinguishers back in their hands. The hose they’d been using to control the burn was out of control. Cold water umbrellaed overhead and gave the impression of one of her favorite summer storms as Aslen got to her feet. A wave of dizziness had her reaching out for something to hold onto.
“Aslen!” Danny’s voice warbled from the left. Strong hands clamped down on Aslen’s arms, holding her steady, right before her friend’s face took shape in front of her. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Gas can.” The words scraped up the back of her throat as if she’d inhaled great lungfuls of smoke. “I’m okay. Just dazed.”
