Wild Heat (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #1)(54)
Author: Bella Andre

A bright yellow body moved in front of the orange wall of flames and Logan shouted, “Joseph,” only once, knowing better than to waste any more breath trying to be heard over the imploding gases.

Without any protective gear, it was borderline crazy for Logan to go in and pull Joseph out. But had their positions been reversed, he was certain that Joseph would have risked his life in the same way.

Logan sprinted off-trail, making a beeline for the man to whom he owed his life. His debt would never be repaid, not even if he got Joseph off the mountain today in one piece.

Fully intent on wielding his chainsaw, Joseph didn’t notice when Logan ran up behind him. Knowing better than to tap on the arm a man holding heavy, deadly machinery, Logan picked up a rock and threw it at Joseph’s leg.

Joseph’s head whipped around, his mask covered in black ash, and seconds later he’d moved far enough away from the flames to put down his chainsaw and flip up his mask.

“Logan, what the hell are you doing out here? This fire’s a killer. It’s no place for a kid. Get back to the cabin.”

Logan instantly understood that Joseph had traveled back to a time when he was lead hotshot and Logan was a teenage kid acting stupid. This wasn’t the place to try to talk Joseph back to the present, not while a killer was on the loose.

First, Logan had to get him to safety. Then they’d work on putting the pieces together and figuring out what had happened today.

“You’ve got to follow me out of here, Joseph. Now. It’s not safe.”

Joseph had never once backed down from a fire. He had the scars from second-degree burns to prove it. But Logan couldn’t wait for his agreement. He moved behind Joseph and put his hands on his shoulders, scorching his palms on the heat of the thick fire-resistant fabric, pushing Joseph in the direction of the trail, off the meadow.

Joseph struggled over the rocky hillside under the weight of his gear.

“Give me your pack,” Logan said.

Joseph growled, “Like hell if I’m letting you carry my gear.”

The wind howled across the mountain, taking the smoke—and flames—with it. In an instant, Logan had Joseph’s pack off and in the dirt. Squatting down, he reached in and pulled out the fire shelter, praying it wasn’t too old to be useful.

Heat singed his shin and he grabbed Joseph in a bear hug and pushed him to the ground, struggling to deploy the shelter over both of them in the whipping wind, his feet to the fire, his boots jammed into the straps at the foot of the shelter. It took every bit of his strength to hold it down as flames and wind rushed over the aluminum and fiberglass tent.

Joseph’s breathing was ragged beneath him, and Logan hoped he hadn’t caused the man any broken bones or other injuries that would prolong their hike back to the cabin.

Logan had only deployed his shelter once before in all the years he’d been a hotshot. It wasn’t something a guy wanted to repeat. The sensation of being micro-waved alive was even worse with two men under the silver aluminum and fiberglass cover. Radiant heat was one thing, but direct flames could burn right through to their skin.

Still, Logan knew damn well that the most likely cause of death for a firefighter was getting scared and throwing off a shelter.

He held fast to the hand-and-foot holds even as the temperature soared. The nickname “shake’n’bake” was well deserved.

And then, as quickly as they came, the flames rushed over and off them, the wind taking them up the hill. Logan held fast in case another fireball was about to roll across the trail. He lay over Joseph for several minutes, until he was certain the fire had jumped them for good.

Slowly, he pushed back the shelter, closing his eyes against the ash raining from the charred trees surrounding the meadow. He held out a hand to Joseph and pulled him up. In one glance, he could see Joseph’s mental fog had cleared.

“What the hell just happened?”

“I’ll tell you soon. Do you think you can run?”

Joseph looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Of course I can.”

“Good. Head back down to the cabin as fast as you can. I’ll follow behind.”

Joseph shot downhill through the meadow back to the trail at a pace that belied his years and mental wanderings. It was five minutes of good, hard running before Logan felt safe enough to slow their pace. Moving alongside Joseph, he put his hand on his arm.

“We can slow down now.”

Testament to all his years as an elite firefighter, Joseph only took it down to a very fast hike. He was winded but determined.

Logan didn’t want to blame his mentor for what had happened, not when he probably couldn’t have done anything about it. But it was time to make some command decisions. Screw Joseph’s independence. He was coming to live with him. It was the only way Logan could make sure something like this didn’t happen again.

A sudden vision of his house on fire backhanded Logan. He’d been so worried about Joseph that he’d temporarily forgotten that his house was gone.

Fine. He’d move in with Joseph while he rebuilt. Although maybe this time around, he hoped he’d have to plan enough space for a wife. And children.

“What the hell happened?” Joseph asked again.

Logan weighed his words carefully. “I’m not completely sure. Maya and I went to the cabin and saw that you were gone.”

Joseph rubbed his chin as he tried to work out what had happened. “All I remember was waking up from a nap and seeing Dennis’s girlfriend in my living room, holding up my gear. She said she wanted to see what I looked like in it. She helped me put everything on.”

Jenny? “Is that the first time she’s done that?”

Joseph nodded. “I haven’t put these on in years. Not until she mentioned it.”

Logan’s mind reeled with the implications. Was it possible that Jenny was responsible for the Desolation Wilderness fire? For the motel fire? For Robbie’s explosion and the car bomb too? Had she been laughing inside as he’d practically begged her to spend time with Joseph, to “take care of him”?

She’d taken care of him, all right. She’d tried to send him straight to his death.

But why?

“Did she send you out here with a chainsaw? Was this her idea for you to come out and fight the fire?”

Joseph’s thick gray brows furrowed over his eyes. “I don’t know. I can’t remember much of anything else.” He shot Logan an apologetic glance. “You were right. I should have gotten on that plane to Hawaii. I almost killed us both out here.”

“Forget about it. We made it out alive,” Logan said gruffly.

But Maya was still in the cabin. And Logan had never been so scared in all his life. Because if Jenny had written the letter in the firebox in Maya’s hotel room, her intent was clear: “I’ve often dreamed of seeing your long hair on fire and watching your soft skin melt down to the bone.”