Sean shook his head. “If you were on time, you would make it. Your backup might have as well, unless she set one closer to the highway.”
“But it’s September-the forest is dry. This could set off a huge forest fire, thousands of acres. The waste-” Nora was distraught. She couldn’t help but feel partly responsible. “Or she set them to trap us all. She doesn’t care who dies as long as she gets what she wants.”
No. She wasn’t responsible in any way for Maggie O’Dell and her behavior.
She called Duke. “It’s Nora. Sean and I just landed. We saw five small fires close to Last Chance Road while we were descending. But they’re going to spread quickly.”
“Hooper and I smell them. Is your backup there?”
“No.”
“Shit. Hold on.”
Nora looked around the mountainside. The smoke was beginning to rise, she saw billows heading straight up. But a wind was beginning to kick up, and that would be the worst thing for the forest. And them.
Duke got back on the phone. “SWAT couldn’t get through. There’s a fire on the road. Deliberately set bonfire. The fire department is on their way, but it’ll be at least thirty minutes before they can get it cleared.”
“I have to go.”
“Drag it out with her, if possible, Nora. Hooper and I are almost to the cabin.”
“Okay.”
“Nora, please-I can’t lose you or Sean.”
“And I have no intention of getting either of us in trouble. But there’s no way in hell I’m leaving anyone alone on this airstrip with that woman running around setting fires, and until I know that you have Quin, I have to head to the meeting place.”
“I understand, but-just be careful.”
“I promise.” She wanted to say more, but what else could she say? She hung up and motioned to Sean.
“We’re on our own, Sean. But if she sees you, I don’t know what she’ll do.”
“I’m pretty good in the mountains. I made myself a map-” He held it up. She couldn’t read it, but he didn’t seem to have that problem.
“You’re a city boy.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” he said with a wink, reminding her of his older brother. He tossed her a walkie- talkie. “You go, I’ll follow, and I won’t let you out of my sight-even if you can’t see me. And you can buzz me on the walkie-talkie any time.”
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The small roughly hewn redwood cabin with a wide porch along two sides rested in the center of a wide, flat knoll with a hundred feet of open space around all sides. Canyons dropped down on two sides, one so steep it might as well be a sheer drop. An idyllic setting under any other circumstances.
But the fires to the north and west were growing, and they had no idea where Maggie O’Dell was, or whether Quin was dead or alive. Or if there was a booby trap.
But they could find out quickly. Duke took the thermal imager out of the sheath in his belt and turned it on. A minute later it began to register heat signatures in the cabin.
“There’re two people inside,” Hooper said.
Duke shook his head. “No. Just one. Here.” He pointed to the long humanlike shape in an array of colors, from dark to light.
“Move it a bit-see! There. It moved.”
“Too small. It’s an animal.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Small dog or cat.”
In tacit agreement, Duke and Hooper ran low to the ground to the cabin from opposite sides. They made it without trouble, and listened, waiting for a ten count.
There was no sound from inside the cabin. Duke concentrated, bringing up all his past military training, and listened. Nothing but breathing. Gasping.
He double checked the thermal imager at closer range and identified one individual inside.
At the count of ten, Duke went around to the front door. Hooper joined him. “It’s secure,” he said.
Duke kicked open the door and went in low, while Hooper went in high.
Quin Teagan was tied to a chair, her torso covered in blood. She wasn’t gasping, but breathing through her mouth, a low raspy sound. Her head lolled forward.
Duke went to her while Hooper checked the bathroom and closet and cabinets.
“Clear.” Hooper knelt next to the chair and helped Duke untie her from the chair. “The missing Butcher-Payne duck is in the bathroom.”
It took Duke a minute to register that Hooper said
Hooper ran through the cabin, found sheets on a Hide-A-Bed. “This is it.”
“They’ll have to do.” Duke eased Quin to the floor while Hooper cut the sheets with his pocketknife.
They tied the strips of cotton tightly around all wounds. The cut on her chest was the worst, and Hooper applied firm pressure while Duke searched the cabin for any strong tape. All he found was duct tape, but it was going to have to suffice. They needed to keep firm pressure on the wound while moving her.
“Nora,” Quin whispered. “Nora.”
“She’s fine,” Duke said, hoping it was true.
“Fire. Trap.”
Duke cringed. He needed to get to Nora and Sean. But Quin would die if she didn’t get immediate medical attention.
“Nora said there was a vial of something to counteract the effects,” Hooper said.
“I don’t know that I’d trust anything O’Dell said,” Duke grumbled.
Hooper looked around. Found two vials, one nearly empty and labeled heparin, one labeled with a name he didn’t recognize. He shoved them in his pocket. “I’m taking them just in case.”
Duke was about to pick her up when Hooper said, “I’ll do it. Save your energy for the trek to Last Chance Road. You’re going to need it. Back me up to the car, then I’ll take her to town where the ambulance is waiting, and you continue to the other road. If O’Dell is setting the fires to create a trap of some sort, you’ve got to alert them and get them the hell out of there.”
The end of Last Chance Road was a loop around a mountain peak more than four thousand feet in elevation. This part of the road was used only for forest patrol and fire prevention-it was so narrow a vehicle couldn’t turn around, so you literally had to drive around the peak, about a half-mile journey, in order to head back to town.
Nora caught sight of Sean only two or three times during the fifteen-minute jog along Last Chance Road until she’d gone around the entire loop. He’d stayed in the middle, on the peak, flitting in and out from behind trees, as sure-footed as a mountain goat. The smoke was getting thick coming from the south, and to the north and west were both deep ravines that were impassable.
She’d come from the east.
She pulled out the walkie-talkie Sean had the foresight to bring with him. “The fire is coming from several points south of the loop, and the other two sides are deep canyons. We need to go back.”
“Roger. I’ll follow your lead.”
Nora looked around for any sign of Maggie. Where was she? She started back along the edge of the road, and every hair rose on her skin. She was being watched. Her phone vibrated. She glanced down.
It was a text from Duke, and he’d sent it to both her and Sean.
