“Your hard hat is cracked.” Danny prodded along the ridge then reached back for her radio while leveling her gaze with Aslen’s. “I think you hit your head. I’m radioing the EMTs to check you out.”
“Danny, I’m fine.” Stumbling forward, Aslen forced herself to release the grip she’d had on her friend’s identical bright yellow fire jacket.
“What are you doing? You might have a concussion.” Danny followed close on her heels, and in any other circumstance, Aslen would’ve been grateful for the concern, but she couldn’t shake the feeling they’d missed something important. “You need to take it easy until the EMTs get here.”
“I saw something. By the gas can right before the explosion. Clear me a path! Right here.” The image had burned into her brain deeper than the details of Murray’s face over the years. The four-man team slapping her on the back for the heads-up had control of the hose once again, carving a path straight to the heart of the collapsed structure. Water ricocheted off blackened plywood and siding as Aslen grabbed for the largest piece and hauled it out of her way. Her head hurt more than she wanted to admit, but she wasn’t going to stop. Not until she proved she wasn’t seeing things.
“What did you see?” Danny was right there, throwing smaller beams out of the way as the rest of the team continued the heated battle.
Aslen dragged another section of plywood free and tossed it to the side, revealing the human remains underneath. She straightened, all the strength leaving her at once. “A body.”
Chapter Two
Murray Simpson didn’t recognize the ranger acting as the first line of defense onto the scene, and he didn’t care. Only one thing mattered the second he’d heard about the explosion over the radio: getting to Aslen.
“Whoa, buddy.” Ash and sweat combined into a paste along the man’s dark skin as he held up his hands. “This is an active fire. You can’t go in there.”
“Law enforcement division.” Smoke twisted and curled over the blackened wasteland in front of him almost as far as the eye could see. It collected at the back of his throat, burning its way through him and raising his temper a notch higher as the reality of the situation set in. It didn’t take much to imagine how close any one of these firefighters could’ve lost the battle they’d taken on. Flames had died down, but teams were still working the embers, ensuring hot spots were doused to prevent another breakout. A chemical odor churned acid in his gut. Gasoline. He’d recognize it anywhere.
Lava Point—though far north of the dense areas of the park—consisted of miles of woodlands and brush. It was any wonder this section of the park hadn’t gone up in flames before today, but Aslen shouldn’t have been anywhere near here. Her supervisor had given Murray his word she wouldn’t be called to big events like this.
Something primal and aggravated worked through him as he set sights on the woman who’d somehow managed to undermine every single rule he’d set for himself when it came to keeping his distance. A vibration that seemed to tune directly to her shook him down to the bone, and without conscious effort, Murray was maneuvering around the man acting as nothing but an obstacle between him and Aslen. “Get out of my way.”
“Hey! I’m going to have to report you to the chief.” The firefighter scrambled to get someone’s attention. Wouldn’t do any good.
Murray didn’t bother looking back. “Go ahead. See where it gets you.”
At six foot four and 230 pounds, there weren’t a whole lot of people who could stop him from getting onto the scene. He didn’t like to use his size to intimidate, but in this case, he wouldn’t hesitate. That hum, honed specifically to Aslen, threatened to pull him apart cell by cell if he didn’t get to her. Now.
The woman who commanded his every thought and action sank down onto a bare patch of ground in the middle of the scene, staring out at the damage, unaware of him closing in on her. Ash darkened her hair from its normal brown to nearly black, and clumped random strands together. Taking a swig from the stickered green metal water bottle she’d carried around as long as he could remember, she tipped her head up to the sky and closed her eyes.
Murray pulled back on his pace. Some part of him wanted to tear into her for putting her life in danger while the other couldn’t get enough of the look of peace in her expression. When was the last time she’d looked so…content? He couldn’t remember. Though, if he was being honest with himself, he’d taken great pains to avoid coming into contact with her at all over the years. Distancing himself a little more. Setting upinvisible walls to keep her from getting through. Didn’t matter. The know-it-all he’d saved back in middle school got under his skin no matter how hard he fought her off.
Sun broke through the black swirls of smoke and highlighted the rough scrape across Aslen’s face, igniting his protective streak all over again. It wasn’t enough she’d charged into a dangerous situation, but she’d managed to get herself hurt in the process. His shadow cast ahead of him and fell over her closed eyes.
One eyelid cracked open, then the other, as she took him in. Shock interrupted that smooth look of contentment as she scanned the scene. In an instant, she was on her feet. “What are you doing here? This is an active scene.”
“What the hell were you thinking taking on this assignment?” Murray didn’t bother hiding the rage coiling in his gut. He’d promised to protect her since she’d been that skinny little thing he’d found crying behind a dumpster twenty years ago, and he wasn’t about to stop now. Even if he had to protect her from herself. “You could’ve been killed.”
“I was thinking I was doing my job.” The muscles in her jaw jumped under the tension of her back teeth as she tried to control the volume of her voice. It was the same every time she got riled, and the fact he could get such a reaction out of her brought him the slightest hint of joy. Apart from being in the same room as her, hearing her laugh, oh, and having all of her attention. But she didn’t know any of that, and he would do whatever it took to make sure she never would. “Putting out fires is kind of in the title.”
“Not anymore. I’m submitting the paperwork to have you transferred.” Because apparently, he couldn’t trust her supervisor to follow orders. “Monday morning, you’ll be with the information rangers in the visitor’s center.”
No way she could get herself hurt providing visitors directions, restarting the park video in the cinema and answering the same question a hundred times in a single shift. At least, that was what he would tell himself. When it came to Aslen, he’d learned nothing was a sure bet.
“First of all, you are not my department head. Second, you can’t keep coming up with schemes to protect me like I’m made of glass. This is my job. This is what I’m good at, whether you approve or not.” Shoving her palms against his chest, Aslen attempted to push him off balance. In vain. It would take a miracle for her five-foot-three frame to have any kind of physical influence on him, but stranger things had happened.
“It’s already done.” It wasn’t, but she didn’t need to know that. And if she ended up hating him more than she already did, he’d done his job. He’d keep his distance, he’d make her think he didn’t care, he’d do whatever it took to protect her. Especially from the way he cared for her—because nothing could ever come from that. “Grab your gear. I’m taking you back to your place.”
The tick in her jaw was back. Her knuckles whitened as she clamped down on the handle of her water bottle. He could practically see the gears turning in her head as she strategized where to hit him with the metal. It would hurt, but the pain would be nothing compared to the vise constricting his chest at the thought of losing the last person he cared about. “My shift isn’t over, and you don’t get to tell me what to do.”
No amount of training could have prepared him for the storm brewing in her green gaze. It was that same look that’d preceded her telling him she’d taken a job as a national park ranger here in Zion after graduation. Against his advice. She was supposed to take a safe job, meet a nice guy—one Murray would’ve vetted ahead of time with his connections to the Salt Lake Police Department—get married, have a couple of kids andlive a boring life behind a white picket fence. But Aslen Woods had never been that woman.
Numbness prickled in his fingertips as he gauged his chances of surviving the oncoming explosion. Battle-ready tension tightened through her shoulders as she took a single step toward him. He caught hints of gasoline and smoke coming off her clothes.
“Aslen!” Another fire ranger—a blonde bombshell who had no problem carrying the forty-plus pounds of gear strapped to her back—jogged to close the distance between them with a wide smile. “Look who’s up and about. How’s the head?”
Aslen’s wide gaze aimed at her friend broke the contained anger simmering beneath her skin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
