WILD HEAT

by Bella Andre

  “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.”

  “Maya's in your cabin, Joseph. She's waiting for us. I left her all alone. She could be in trouble.”

  For all he knew, Jenny had been waiting in the wings to see if they'd made it out of his house alive.

  Joseph picked up the pace. “Let's go get your girl.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  MAYA QUICKLY assessed her surroundings, looking for something she could use in self-defense, and decided the fireplace poker was her best bet.

  “Actually,” she said in a perfectly calm voice as she slowly made her way toward the fireplace, “I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to talk with you.”

  Jenny frowned. “With me? About what?”

  Maya forced herself to sit down on the arm of the couch beside the stone fireplace. “I'm worried about Dennis. About some of the things he's told me.” If she could convince Jenny that she thought Dennis was the guilty one, maybe she could escape.

  “What kind of things?”

  Maya waved one hand in the air. “You know, about his relationship with his dad and Logan. And the competition between them.”

  Jenny smiled viciously. “Dennis hates Logan.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “He's jealous. After all, Logan's so much better-looking. So much better at everything. Everybody loves him.”

  Maya's heart thudded as Jenny moved toward her. The poker was almost within reach. She'd never hurt anyone before, but she'd do whatever she needed to do to make sure this terrible woman sat behind bars for the rest of her worthless life.

  Jenny got a dreamy look on her face. “I love him too, you know.”

  “Of course you love Dennis,” Maya said, purposefully misunderstanding Jenny's intent. “He seems like a great guy. And very devoted to you.”

  “Not Dennis, you idiot. I'm talking about Logan. I love Logan. We were meant to be together.”

  Maya edged closer to the fireplace. “Does Logan know you feel this way about him?”

  “We would have been together if it weren't for you. I was there. I saw you six months ago.”

  “Where did you see us?”

  “When you and Logan started your fuck-fest. I walked in and heard you talking.”

  “The bar was empty,” Maya stated, but now that she thought about it, she'd been so upset about everything that she supposed she could have gone past a crowd of people and been blind to every last one of them.

  “I forgot my wallet after the lunch shift and when I came back I walked in on you. Not that either of you noticed. You were too busy sucking face. And after that he didn't want anything to do with other girls anymore. He was under your goddamned spell. What did you do to him?”

  “I didn't do anything,” Maya said honestly. He'd rocked her world and she'd left him stone cold.

  “Like hell you didn't,” Jenny spat. “He hasn't touched another woman since you left.”

  He hadn't touched another woman.

  Had their stolen kisses meant as much to him as they had to her? Maya was deeply moved by Logan's behavior, even as she continued to face Jenny.

  Jenny's rant continued, unrelenting in its fury. “He stopped coming into the bar. I hardly saw him anymore. He was supposed to be mine.”

  Maya swallowed. “I'm sorry.” She forced the words out between her lips, hoping they sounded somewhat sincere.

  “No you're not. You're fucking him again, aren't you?”

  Maya jumped to her feet. “No.”

  “Don't lie to me.”

  Maya followed Jenny's eyes to the corner of the folded photo sticking out of her pocket. Just as Jenny grabbed it, Maya's cell phone fell to the ground, and Jenny stomped it hard with her boots.

  Maya stared at the busted phone and tried not to focus on how much trouble she was in. Hopefully Chief Stevens had heard her whisper and was on his way.

  Jenny shook the photo in Maya's face. “You're in love with him, aren't you? And he probably said he loves you, hasn't he?”

  Maya hesitated a moment too long and Jenny crumpled up the photo and threw it on the floor.

  “He did. I can tell. He thinks you're his soul mate. He wants you to have his babies.”

  Maya shook her head back and forth, saying “No” again as she inched toward the poker. She nearly had her hand around it when Jenny pulled a handgun from her pocket. Maya went completely still.

  “Whatever,” the crazy woman said in a dull tone as she waved the gun in Maya's face. “Everything will be better once you're gone. Once all of you are dead. You should have died yesterday, in the truck. Then I wouldn't have to do this.”

  “You still don't have to do it, Jenny,” Maya said. “I can help you. I can tell my boss the fire was an accident. I can tell the Forest Service it's impossible to determine how it started. I'll give you money, enough to get you out of the country and make sure you never need to work again.”

  “You could do all that for me?”

  Hope flared in Maya's chest. “Give me five minutes on the phone. That's all I need.”

/>   Jenny chewed on her lower lip. “Um, no thanks. I think it'll be more fun to kill you instead.”

  Maya shivered at the delight in the woman's voice. At this point, a mental institution was a far likelier future home for Jenny than a prison.

  “But before I do, I need you to help me with something,” Jenny said. “Out on the back deck. I've got two dozen containers of gasoline waiting.” She shoved the butt of the gun into Maya's spine. “Go.”

  Maya slipped her hand in her pocket, grabbed the ballpoint pen, and spun around, lashing her weapon at Jenny's eyes. The tip of the point struck Jenny in the neck, just below her ear.

  Jenny screamed, “You're going to pay for that, you little bitch,” and as Maya lunged for the fireplace poker, Jenny threw herself on Maya's back, scratching at her hair.

  Tears of pain filled Maya's eyes as Jenny ripped a thick wad of hair from her scalp and dug her gun in deep between Maya's ribs.

  “Maybe I should just kill you now,” Jenny hissed.

  No. Maya had promised Logan she'd be here waiting for him when he returned. He'd be back soon with Joseph in tow and together they'd find a way to thwart Jenny.

  She needed to hold out—and stay alive—until then.

  “I'm sorry,” she ground out. “I'll do whatever you want. Tell me what you want me to do.”

  Jenny lay across Maya for a long moment, long enough for Maya to wonder if the last thing she was going to hear was the gun's release. But then Jenny shifted her weight off to the side. Pushing Maya into a standing position with her gun, Jenny shoved her out the door.

  A row of gas cans was waiting for them. “Start on that side and work your way back to me.” She massaged one bicep with her free hand. “Lighting Logan's house on fire was hard work. I should probably go to the gym more often.”

  Maya saw red. This bitch had killed a hotshot and all she cared about was lifting weights? “How could you do it?” she asked in a low voice.

  She wanted to launch herself at Jenny and wrap her hands around her throat, but a moment's satisfaction wasn't worth a bullet in her chest. She wanted to be alive to witness Jenny's life sentence, to watch the handcuffs clip into place over her bony wrists.

  Jenny didn't reply as she shoved the gun into Maya's breastbone. “Get to it, already. I'm working the afternoon shift and I don't want to be late.” She shoved Maya back to work with the gun's cold metal barrel.

  After everything she'd done—after everything she was about to do—Jenny was worried about clocking in late to work? But then, hadn't she served them their sandwiches yesterday, knowing that Robbie was in critical condition in the hospital, knowing she'd likely killed him with the explosion?

  Maya's hands were numb as she picked up a heavy gas can and hefted it over to the far corner of the house.

  “Don't try to run,” Jenny warned. “I'm a great shot.”

  After everything Jenny had done so far, Maya didn't doubt it. She possessed a strange group of talents for a waitress, and clearly could have done so much more with her life if she weren't so deranged.

  Maya's heart clenched as she uncapped the can and started pouring fuel onto the redwood decking and shrubs surrounding Joseph's cabin. Logan had grown to manhood here, had started his life anew in this house. It wasn't enough for him to lose one home today, Jenny had to take everything from him in one fell swoop.

  “Feels good, doesn't it?” Jenny's words were carefree and happy as she watched Maya do her sick bidding, liberally sprinkling fertilizer pellets in her wake.

  “No,” Maya said. “This is a horrible thing to do.”

  “Actually, if anyone ever asks, I'm going to tell them that I tried to stop you from setting dear Joseph's house on fire. He was such a sweet man, after all.”

  Maya was this close to throwing the empty red gas can at her. Silently, she completed the atrocious task, her shoulder and arm muscles burning from picking up so many cans of gas. All that mattered now was staying alive as long as possible. She prayed Logan was on his way back.

  “Now for the really fun part,” Jenny said when Maya was done. “Here's a box of matches. Start lighting.”

  Maya's eyes widened. With this much fuel on the dry grass, and with the wind blowing a gale, even one match could instantly combust and burn her. “You're crazy.”

  Jenny raised an eyebrow. “Guys sometimes say that, but it's just because they can't handle a girl like me.” She jammed the gun into Maya's skull, making her wince. “Start lighting.”

  Maya's hands trembled as she lit the first match. Silently asking for forgiveness, she threw the match against the house. A path of fire lifted off the grass and goose bumps of horror covered her flesh, head to toe.

  “I can't do this,” she said, backing away from the house.

  She heard Jenny cock the gun. “Sure you can. Especially since it doesn't look like lover boy's coming back any time soon to save you. He and Joseph are probably already dead.”

  No, Jenny was wrong. Logan was alive. She'd know if he was dead, would feel it deep in her bones, in the center of her heart.

  Temporarily out of options, she dropped one lit match after another against Joseph's cabin, and then, suddenly, Jenny's cold hands were on Maya's wrists and she was duct-taping them together behind her back.

  Maya clasped the half-full box of matches tightly in her palm. They were all she had, her only potential weapon.

  “Good job,” Jenny praised. “Now let's go for a hike.” Jenny pushed her forward with the gun, then picked up a chainsaw. “Move it.”

  Maya felt her eyes go wide as she looked at the machine and forced herself to speak calmly. “You don't want to do this, Jenny.”

  “Sure I do. I couldn't believe how lucky I was when you showed up to investigate. Here I thought I was only going to fuck with Logan's life by lighting the wildfire and calling the tip line, but now I get to take you down too. This is going to be superfun.”

  Fumbling with the matchbox at Jenny's straightforward admission of guilt, Maya forced herself to calm down so that she could slide it open and slip out a match. She let it fall to the ground for Logan to find.

  “If you get caught for starting a wildfire and burning buildings, you won't be in jail too long,” she lied. “But if you murder people—”

  “Too late,” Jenny said cheerfully. “That young hotshot is already dead. Which is really too bad, because he was kind of cute. You know what's really sad, though? I hadn't gotten around to fucking him yet. The young ones are always so energetic and eager to please.”

  Maya stumbled over a rock, stunned by the woman's cruelty. She dropped another match to the ground, praying her trail of bread crumbs wouldn't catch fire and disappear before Logan found them.

  “How many hotshots have you slept with?”

  She'd need to know these things when she got away, when she was testifying against Jenny in court, even though she couldn't stand the thought of Logan or any of his men in bed with this horrible woman.

  “Not as many hotshots as I'd like. It's a pain that they're gone for so many months every year. But most of the guys in town.”

  Maya's skin went cold and clammy, even though they moved closer to the heat of the fire with every step up the trail. Ignoring the push of metal against her ribs, she spun around.

  “Did you know Tony Jackson?”

  Jenny's lips curved up. “Oh yeah, I knew Tony.”

  Her words snaked around Maya's heart like a huge, deadly anaconda. “Did you sleep with him?”

  “Of course I did. He was one of the best I ever had. Too bad he had to die.” Jenny poked her head closer to Maya's and asked, “Why, did you know him or something?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  HOLY SHIT.”

  Logan nearly barreled into Joseph, who'd cursed and then gone dead silent as he stood in the center of the trail. What now? Logan moved out of the shade of a baby oak and that's when he saw that Joseph's cabin was engulfed in flames. His heart stopped cold.

  “Maya's i
nside.”

  Joseph grabbed Logan's shoulders as if he were still seventeen years old. “Goddamn it, go save her!”

  Logan sprinted downhill. All he'd been doing for the past two days was running up and down this goddamned mountain. First to save Connor. Then Joseph. And now Maya.

  His house was gone. Joseph's cabin would be nothing but ashes very soon. But Robbie was dead. Dead.

  Someone had killed him. And if it turned out to be Jenny, Logan hoped she'd burn in hell for what she'd done.

  He was long past the point of pain as he sprinted onto Joseph's property. Flames leapt ten feet in the air and the stench of gasoline filled his lungs.

  “Maya,” he roared into the smoke-filled sky, yelling her name over and over, praying she'd answer.

  A quick check of the property's perimeter confirmed what he'd already guessed: Maya was gone. She'd promised to be here waiting for him, but she hadn't bet on Jenny. Neither of them had.

  Logan had never been this scared and knew it would be nearly impossible to treat this situation like any one of the hundreds of emergencies he'd worked. But he wouldn't be worth shit if he didn't calm down. He unclenched his fists and forcibly slowed his heart rate.

  Maya was one of the smartest women he knew. She wasn't going to let someone haul her off without leaving a clue as to her whereabouts. And Jenny's truck was parked between two pine trees. Which meant they couldn't have gone far.

  He quickly ruled out the driveway. If they'd been headed to the road, Jenny would have taken her truck. Which meant they had to be back up in the mountains, on a different fork of the trail than he and Joseph had taken.

  He looked down and saw a match on the ground, and then another, heading toward the trailhead. Logan sprinted back toward the mountain, passing Joseph, who was on his way down.

  “You didn't find her?”

  “No. But I will. She left me a trail of matches.”

  “Smart girl.” Joseph stripped off his fire-resistant jacket. “Put this on. It'll buy you some time if you need it. I'll run out to the freeway and get some help.”