deep. We’re going to ride in as far as we can, and then take a helo to the fire site. Alpine has the eastern edge.”
“Should I get my gear?” I asked.
Tyler cringed. “No.”
“What do you mean no? When are we headed out?”
“We’re not.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re not cleared to go. It’s a fast-moving fire. They’ve already had some close calls. The winds are changing by the hour, and it’s just not safe, Ellie.”
“It’s never safe,” I hissed.
“The only safe zone is the black.”
“Then I’ll shoot the black.”
“I won’t be in the black. They need me on the fire line.”
I turned my back to him, fuming. The decision wasn’t his, but knowing that didn’t help. “Did you at least stick up for me?”
“He vouched for you, Ellie,” Runt said. “We all did.”
“I could probably get my red card by now. This is some sexist bullshit,” I growled.
Tyler sighed. “There are half a dozen women out there right now. It’s not sexism; it’s a safety issue. No civilians on the mountain. They’ll reconsider when it’s closer to being controlled.”
I turned to him. “Are you fucking kidding me? Are you saying if I had a dick they wouldn’t let me up there with my press pass? A fire is never controlled. It’s never safe. You don’t know what it’s going to do. We all just hope it goes our way up there. Now I’m going to be shooting the horizon and the ground pounders mopping up when it’s over.”
“I told you not to come,” Tyler said, impatient with my tantrum. “We have to go. I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Get me out there,” I called after him. “Maddox!”
The crowd in the lobby quieted and watched Tyler walk away from me toward the elevators. I turned to face Stavros, trying to hold back angry tears.
“You said ‘dick,’” Stavros said. “I like you already.”
“Pour me a vodka tonic.”
Stavros smiled. “Really?”
“Really.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
My fingers were spread out in my lap, all ten ink-stained and covered in dirt. I intertwined them, touching the knuckles of my thumbs to my forehead and closing my eyes but praying to no one. Echoes of movement traveled down the hall to my cell, and my knee began to bob again. This was the first time I’d been arrested without knowing my father would have me freed within the hour.
Tears stung the gash on my cheek, just one of several wounds the forest had left on my body while I’d tried to trudge through the thick trees and dry, razor-sharp branches. My head was still swirling from the countless vodka tonics that had helped me decide to sneak into the black.
The bars rolled to the right, and the sheriff’s deputy caught the gate just before it crashed into the wall.
“You got some friends in high places, Edson,” he said.
I stood, holding my hand in front of my face to block out the bright light. “Who?” I asked.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he said.
I stepped out, hoping to God the person on the other side of the wall wasn’t my father.
The deputy guided me by the arm to a small room where Trex sat in a folded chair. He stood, reaching out to take me from the deputy’s grasp.
“Don’t speak,” Trex whispered.
“We’re releasing Miss Edson into your custody, Agent Trexler. We assume you’ll make sure she’s not in a restricted area again?”
“She’ll be up north. Nowhere near the fire,” Trex said.
We walked down a long hallway into the front of the county jail. Tyler was sitting in one of the dozen or so chairs lining the white wall, his head in his hands. When the door closed behind us, he looked up.
“Oh, thank Christ,” he said, standing up and pulling me against his chest. He kissed my hair, breathed me in, and then held me at arm’s length.
I cringed, knowing what he would say.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Ellison? I mean … what in the actual fuck?”
“Not here,” Trex said, holding open the front door.
Tyler grabbed my hand and pulled me through, following Trex down the sidewalk to an Audi much like my father’s. Trex opened the back door for me, and I sat, sliding over when Tyler began to climb in next to me. Once the door shut, the yelling began again.
“Do you have any idea how scared I was when I got the call?” he seethed. “Do you have any fucking clue how much trouble you could have been in—how much trouble we all could have been