“I’m heading in on foot to verify whether the area is populated,” Sam informed Logan before shoving the radio back into his turnouts.
He was going in with his Pulaski, an ax-hoe combination, his chain saw, his “shake and bake” emergency fire tent, and his first-aid supplies. Hopefully, he’d need only the first two to cut a fire line through the brush and light a backfire. But until he knew what awaited him down below, he’d make damn certain he was prepared for a worst-case scenario.
“Drop me in, Joe.”
A strong breeze shoved the helicopter a half-dozen feet closer to the mountain and Joe shot Sam a concerned glance. “The winds are really picking up. You sure you don’t want to wait for backup?”
The breeze blew the flames away for a split second, just long enough for Sam to see a structure.
“There’s a cabin down below. I have to check it out.”
“I don’t know if this is such a great idea,” Joe said as he maneuvered the helicopter so that it hovered directly over a flat part of the roof, just out of reach of the highest flames. “I can’t get any closer. It’s going to be a long way down.”
Sam looked out the bubble-front window to assess the risk. By rough calculations, he figured that the distance was a little less than ten feet. One measly story. No problem.
“It’s close enough.”
Sam pulled the emergency ladder out from beneath his seat, then opened the passenger door and latched the ladder onto the metal rim. Carefully climbing out of the hovering helicopter, he was halfway down the ladder when Joe shifted position so that the distance from the ladder to the roof closed in from ten feet to eight.
Sam let go and dropped. The fall was faster than he’d expected, but he managed to land on the peeling roofing tiles with both feet and hands like a spider.
The helicopter pulled up and away, leaving an eerie stillness all around the remote mountain cabin. Sam understood why people liked living deep in the woods. Who wouldn’t want to listen to the wind through the trees and the rushing river, rather than traffic and neighbors? A cabin like this was the perfect place to get away from it all.
The only downside was that when danger struck, it usually meant there was no one around to help.
Suddenly, the silence was replaced by the sound of a child crying. Moving quickly across the roof, Sam found a rock cropping at the rear of the house. Using the rocks as natural steps to the ground, he headed in the direction of the cries toward an outbuilding.
A little girl with tear-streaked cheeks barreled into his legs. She was crying too hard for him to understand what she was saying, so he knelt down and gently brushed the hair out of her eyes. She was a skinny little thing and he wasn’t exactly sure how old she was, but he guessed she wasn’t quite in the double digits yet.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he told her in a gentle voice. When her wild gaze finally locked onto his and her sobs receded, he asked, “Are your parents here?”
This time he was able to make out the words, “My dad’s away at work. My mom is sick.”
“Anyone else here with you?”
The girl shook her head.
“A dog or cat or iguana?”
Her lips almost curved up at his reptilian reference and he knew she was going to be just fine. Children were the first ones to forget their fear. He’d been just like that as a kid. So had his brother.
“I’m Sam. What’s your name?”
“Piper.”
“Can you show me where your mom is, Piper?”
The girl started running and Sam jogged behind her into the house. A woman was lying on the couch in a fetal position. Her hands were on her rounded stomach. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were wide and he could see that she was frightened.
She was tall and blond and slim, and her features were close enough to those of a woman Sam used to know that something splintered apart in his chest before he could shut it down.
Dianna.
Forcefully pushing thoughts of his ex aside, he knelt beside the woman. “I’m a firefighter and I’ve come to help you. What’s your name?”
Her lips trembled slightly and her cheeks were wet from tears. “Tammy.”
“Your daughter tells me you’re not feeling well.”