“Hm. Says who? Let’s reassess which of us resides in deep shit at the moment.” He gave her a sardonic smile. “You left me hanging at that bar in Chinook. An unwise decision. One you’ll regret, I’m thinking.”
“Know what’s an unwise decision? Groping people against their will. When I report you, you’ll be out of here so fast you’ll think being hit with a log was fun.” She glared and moved swiftly past him.
Not fast enough.
He grasped her wrist, yanked her against him, and wrapped his other arm around her, pressing her close. “You won’t report anything. I’ll make sure of it. Like I said, it would be a shame to ruin this pretty face.”
He gripped the back of her neck and pressed his lips on hers in a sloppy kiss. He was strong, but her adrenaline helped her wrench free.
She shoved him away. “Let go of me, asshole!”
“Mm, you taste good.” He reached around her, and she felt something leave her pants pocket.
Hudson backed up, dangling her worn, orange bandana with his thumb and forefinger. “I’ll keep this for a souvenir. It’ll come in handy.”
“Give it back!” She spit the words like bullets, clenching her jaw.
“Come and get it, sweetheart,” he taunted.
She lunged for it and nearly lost her balance when he dodged her.
He smirked. “Nice try. You’ll regret what you did to me in Chinook.” He licked his lips, reminding her of a copperhead snake. Laughing, he turned and continued on his way to the men’s latrine, twirling her precious bandana.
“And you’ll regret threatening me,” she spit at him, heart pounding.
His laugh echoed in the twilight and she hated him.
For a split second she thought of charging after him to get her bandana back. No. That’s what he wanted. Who knew what he would do?
She’ll get it back tomorrow. When she reports him, he’ll be demob’ed off this fire in an Anchorage minute, as Ryan would say.
God, I miss him.
Tara hurried back to camp with furtive glances over her shoulder. She ducked inside her tent and zipped it closed, heart thumping. Her watch told her Aurora Crew would be up in two hours. Sitting cross-legged on her sleeping bag, she mulled what to do. She couldn’t let Hudson get away with threatening her.
Blech. The guy creeped her out. He was like a Jekyll and Hyde. Two personalities: The nice guy and the jerk. She pawed through her pack for a face wipe and rubbed it over her mouth.
What would Ryan do if he knew what Hudson did? She had miscalculated Hudson; his heart was blacker than she thought. Her pulse quickened at the thought of him following up with his threat.
He won’t get the chance. I’ll make sure he doesn’t.
Tara dressed in her Nomex and tugged on her boots. She’ll go to HR first thing when she wakes up before Aurora Crew left for their work site.
She’ll get Hudson off this mountain no matter what.
Chapter 29
“Waters, you in there?” yelled Silva. “Everyone’s ready. Let’s go.”
Tara’s eyelids fluttered open. Her muscles ached. Her brain tried willing her muscles, but they weren’t listening. She groaned at the prospect of leaving her tent.
“Tara, wake up.” Angela tapped her tent wall. “We’re all waiting for you. Hurry.”
“Working on it,” she called out. She unzipped her tent, crawled out, and stood blinking with a killer of a headache.
“Good morning, starshine. You look like putrified death,” said Angela, sipping coffee.
“I feel like it,” muttered Tara.
Tara ticked through her checklist and readied her day pack with the gear she’d need for the day. She shuddered, recalling last night’s encounter with Hudson. Her eyes scanned the crew. Hudson was at the head of the crew line, talking to Rego.
“Aurora, time for fun and games,” Silva called out from the front of the single-file crew line. He took off and the crew fell in behind him.
First things first: She must file her complaint with HR. Would anyone be there this early?
Angela was last in the crew line and Tara tapped her on the shoulder. “Angie, tell Silva I’ll catch up. Have to go to HR.”
“Okay, but why?” Angela’s eyes grew big.
“Tell you later.” Tara left her gear at camp and sprinted up to the ICC. Not much activity this early. She didn’t see movement in the IC tent, let alone HR. She checked the line of large tents and spotted a guy with a clipboard. “I need to talk to someone in HR. Do you know where they are?”
“Both HR staff flew out last night to another fire. They’re shorthanded. You’ll have to wait until they return this afternoon.”
Talk about a letdown. She felt the urgency to report Hudson now.
“Where’s the IC?” she asked.
“Doss is flying the fire perimeter. He won’t be back until this afternoon.” The guy was terse and in a hurry. She’d have to wait until the HR staff returned. In the meantime, she’d tell Silva what happened.
“Okay, thanks.” She hoofed it back to Aurora’s camp, gathered her gear, and hustled to catch her crew.
She’ll keep her distance from Hudson and work near Tupa. If Hudson tried anything, Tupa would flatten him like roadkill. He had become big-brother protective since working with her on the Afi Slayers squad in Chinook.
Finally, she saw dots of yellow moving through trees along the worn trail. When they arrived at their work site, Tara jogged up to Silva. “Jon, I need to talk to you.”
“Can it wait? We have to get to work.”
She let out a sigh. “Sure.”
“Catch me at lunch.” He patted her shoulder, then backed up to address the crew. “Okay folks. Work in a grid, same as yesterday. Smother and douse smokes.” He motioned the crew to spread out.
Tara set to work near Tupa. Angela worked a short distance away and kept glancing at her. Tara knew Angela was dying to find out why she’d gone to HR.
“Okay, people, lunch break,” yelled Silva.
Thank God. Tara was ravenous after running to catch up with the crew. She sat
