by Marnee Blake
Broad, bare shoulders. Why the hell wasn’t he wearing a shirt? And why the hell did she have to notice?
Kirk rolled his eyes, exhaling. “It’s not tagging along. Special Agent Sinclair—Heidi,” he allowed, glancing at her again.
Shrugging into the gray T-shirt he’d brought with him, Dak didn’t seem to be paying attention to Kirk. She couldn’t focus either, distracted by the play of muscles along his big chest.
As her gaze met his, a zing of connection reverberated between them. Surely it had affected him, too. Proving her point, the right side of his lips tilted up, revealing a hint of straight white teeth. That halfway grin. The lace of heat in her gut reminded her that it had been way too long.
Well, she didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for that kind of sexy right now. To be honest, she might never have that in her again.
But, she could act professionally. Her job, her work, that’s what she had. Inhaling shakily, she extended her hand. “I’m Special Agent Heidi Sinclair. Call me Heidi.”
He extended his hand, the muscles along his arms and chest flexing. Not that she noticed.
His fingers engulfed hers. “Dak Parrish. Your tagalong.” The corner of his mouth turned up again. He’d heard her, then. If she was the sort to be embarrassed about stuff like that, she would be. But she wasn’t. So she grinned back.
“Exactly. You’re tagging along, so I can get a quick assessment. You’re here because they want you here.”
Tension exploded into the silence. If she was the kind of girl who cared about awkwardness—she wasn’t—it might have bothered her.
Dak Parrish’s eyebrows lifted, and his lips twitched again. “Noted.”
“Fine.” She was proud that she kept her eyes trained on his.
“Yes.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Fine.”
“Then we are in agreement. My son will accompany you to the point of origin today for your initial pictures and reports.” The man who had come in with Dak was dressed too smoothly, everything too neat and perfect, even his smile. His voice was imperious, like a king visiting the masses. This was a man who was used to getting his way, someone who got things done. Heidi disliked him immediately.
Lyle Parrish. This guy was super-hot, looked-good-in-dirt-and-smelling-like-smoke guy’s dad.
Bottom line: this was her job. She worked for the Forest Services, and part of that included maintaining good relations with the local communities, including the tribal ones. So, fine. If everyone wanted her to wander out to the side of the mountain today, she’d go.
“Yes. We’re all in agreement.”
Lyle Parrish’s smug grin made her grind her teeth.
“Well, then. I should get going. It’ll be dark soon.” She offered a glance at Dak. “We may need to camp there.” Then she smiled at Mitch. “Thank you again. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other.” Unlike Parrish and Kirk, she’d liked him right away.
Dak? She’d reserve judgment. Right now, she couldn’t decide, thanks to her annoying immediate attraction to him.
Well, that was enough public relating for today. She bid the two men from Warm Springs goodbye and left the air center, ignoring the appreciative glances from a couple of the other jumpers milling around. She had a job to do, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Besides, a big male body had been the start of her problems in Washington. That wasn’t a mistake she planned to repeat here.
Crunching across the gravel parking lot, she headed to the SUV the Forest Services had issued her. According to what Mitch had told her, the point of origin for the recent wildfire was on a hillside to the west of the reservation. She already had her gear in the back. Pulling her phone up, she mapped the area, wondering what the best route would be. She’d also need to contact her superior, let him know about this new development.
“Hey. Wait up.” Dak trotted up to her. “I’m supposed to keep you company.”
It had been a while since she’d been a girl who needed company. He definitely didn’t look like the kind of guy who would be used to being unwanted. Maybe all he needed was to be let off the hook. She halted, squinting up at him in the midday sun. This close, she was painfully aware of how tall and broad he was, dwarfing her five-foot-four-inch frame. “Look, Dak, you seem like a nice enough guy and I get the impression you’re getting dragged into this. So, if this isn’t your scene, I get it. You can bail. I can wait until tomorrow for the investigator.”
“What kind of nice enough guy would I be if I did that?” He hitched his thumbs into the belt loops on his pants. “What’s that?”
“Point of origin.” She lifted her phone, showing the map.
He cocked his head and grinned as if he found her adorable. “That’s not going to help you.”
She glared at him. “Google maps is quite—”
“Trust me, I’m better.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Come on. I can help. I’m a great tour guide.”
She rolled her eyes. “You ever hiked that ridge?”
He grinned. “Once or twice.”
Of course he had. Guess she wasn’t going to shake him. The lights of her SUV flashed as she unlocked the doors. “Climb in, then.”
“Can you give me a second?” He scanned the cargo space. “You have some gear, but I’m going to get mine.” He jogged back into the air center.
Less than five minutes later, he returned with a pack.
“That was fast.”
Shrugging, he pulled the gate on her Toyota, and dropped his bag in the back with hers. “Got some experience with quick pack-ups.”
She bet. “Well, hope you got everything, because I’m not letting you use my bug spray. We’ll drive, it’s not that far and we don’t have time for a helicopter.”
Sliding behind the wheel without another word, she dropped her cell in the middle console.
As he slipped into the passenger seat and she started the car, Kirk, Shepard, and Lyle Parrish all stepped out of the air center. The police officers got into a car emblazoned with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs logo, and Lyle Parrish strode across the parking lot to a black Tahoe.
Apparently her face gave away her distaste because Dak asked, “You don’t like them, do you?”
She paused before answering honestly. Dak’s father and Kirk were the ones who wanted Dak to chaperone her. Deflecting, she asked, “What if it’s them who don’t like me?”
He lifted his hands in the universal motion of truce. “Because I know Kirk, and he never needed an excuse to be a dick.”
In spite of herself, she laughed. Maybe she was being too hard on him. It wasn’t his fault that he got dragged into this. It wouldn’t hurt to give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she could use an ally.
“You’re right. I don’t like them. Or more, I don’t like what I think they want me to do.” She glanced at him, catching his confusion. She wondered if it was a mistake to confide in him. But, like so many other times in her life, she disregarded the internal warning. As she backed out, heading for the road, she offered, “This isn’t only about getting to the scene faster. I think they want me to ignore how this might be related to a string of arsons on the reservation. And I’m not willing to do that.”
Chapter 2
Dak allowed the pretty special agent to ignore him for the first twenty minutes of the drive. Since she made it clear she didn’t want him along, he figured the least he could do was allow her some time to stew on it.
What he couldn’t figure out was why he’d pushed so hard to change her mind. She’d offered him more than one graceful exit. Even a couple ungraceful ones. He could have accepted her gift, wished her the best, and never seen her again.
Except his father wouldn’t take that well and he’d lose the chance to see his mom. Until he could find another way, this was the best option he had right now. So, as they turned off 126
and headed north on 20, he gave conversation a shot.
“So, you think this is arson.” The word tasted like spoiled milk in Dak’s mouth. What the hell had his father gotten him into? Yet another reason he needed to try to make nice with Heidi.
Her eyes fixed on the road, she shrugged. “Don’t know.”
That was no help at all. He narrowed his eyes on her. “You going to try to ignore me the whole ride?”
“Part of me wants to ignore you in entirety.”
His bark of laughter escaped, without him able to catch it. “Just part?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I really don’t know if it’s arson. What I have been able to find out is that the authorities on the reservation have been working two other suspicious fires, investigating locally. This is the first fire that stretched outside the reservation. Now, I get involved.”
Apparently that’s all she wanted to say about it because they lapsed into silence again. Dak could guarantee that his father was well aware of the other suspicious fires. His dad wanted him to find out what the special agent knew.
Dak was supposed to be his spy.
His mouth thinned. Damn it. He should have guessed it was something like this. His father didn’t care how the new special agent got acquainted with her job. The only person Lyle Parrish cared about was himself and whatever agenda he was currently keeping.
Which meant that Special Agent Sinclair was in his crosshairs. Across the seat, he studied her. Her dark ponytail fell over her right shoulder, and the pulled-back, stark style only accentuated her already striking features. Green, almond-shaped eyes, rounded high cheekbones, and ridiculously full lips. He’d met a couple other Forest Services investigators and rangers over the years, but she had to be the prettiest one.
Who was he kidding? She was one of the prettiest girls he’d ever met, full stop.
“You’re new?” If he was going to protect her from whatever chaos his father was planning, he needed to find out more about her.
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, twisting. “Yeah. But before you make any judgments about that, let me assure you—”
“Whoa,” he said. “No judgments. Just making conversation, Prickly.”
Her lips pursed, and she wrinkled her nose. The expression was feisty and cute at the same time, though he assumed she wouldn’t like that assessment. “Don’t call me that.”
“What, Prickly?” He chuckled. “Got it.”
Then she surprised him. “I worked for the DEA until last fall. Needed a change,” she offered grudgingly. As if pissed she’d explained herself, she pinched those full lips closed again.
“The DEA, huh?”
“Yeah. In DC.”
She didn’t go on, so he prodded again. “You aren’t going to tell me any more?”
“No. I’m not.”
He got it. He was private, too. But something about her reticence to say more made him want to know more. There was a story there, but he wasn’t getting it right now. He was patient, though, so he changed the subject. “My jump partner and I were the first on the ground for this one. It was north of Camp Sherman, past the fishery. I can get us close but then we’ll need to hike it from there. Since it’s getting late, we should plan to stay the night.”
“That’s what I figured,” she said, watching the road. “You’re a jumper, huh?”
“Yeah. My first year.”
He didn’t offer more. She hadn’t been forthcoming, so it seemed fair.
It surprised him that he cared. If she didn’t want to talk, it shouldn’t matter. Her life was her business and he wasn’t the kind of guy who pushed too hard. God knew, he hated when people nagged him. But right now, her aloofness felt like a puzzle he wanted to figure out.
Determined not to play games, he opened his mouth to say more, give the sort of explanation he’d give any acquaintance, when she interrupted.
“That’s quite an achievement. Smokejumpers are elite. You must care very much about firefighting.” Her admiration sounded genuine.
Thrown off by her compliment, he offered her a real explanation instead of the canned crap he told other people. “My family lost our house to fire when I was a boy. Saving others from that…” He shrugged. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
She cast a glance at him, and there was pain in her eyes. He had no idea what he’d said that had bothered her, but something had. He had the strangest urge to say something, to ask if she was okay or apologize or even to explain. What the hell? That didn’t make sense. He barely knew her.
The moment passed, though, and she returned her gaze to the road.
He flexed his fingers into the armrest, trying to sift through the confusion inside him. One second, she amused him, the next he was trying to push her to talk more, and then he was almost protective? He was acting like a Neanderthal and that wasn’t who he was.
Whatever she was doing to him, it was setting him off balance and he didn’t like that. Not one bit.
Disconcerted, he pointed ahead. “There, you’re going to turn off, toward Camp Sherman. There are some campgrounds up there, and I think I know where the blaze started.” Though the windows were up, the scent of smoke filtered through the air vents, the lingering ghost of a fire they finally got under control last night. “We came in to the west.”
“This is rocky terrain. That must have been difficult.”
“Dropping in?” He glanced at her again, but whatever emotions he’d seen earlier were long gone. “It can be. I’ve only treed myself once, though. Trust me.” He snorted. “Do that once, you don’t want to do it again.”
“I bet.” She grinned, and he was struck by how it softened her. He found himself speechless, blinking at her.
Damn it. Heidi Sinclair wasn’t just pretty, she was a complete knockout.
Traveling toward Camp Sherman, they sat in silence for a while as he tried to get ahold of himself. After a couple more directions, she couldn’t drive any farther. Around them, the fire’s destruction was everywhere. There were charred remains of trees, some standing and some lying on the ground. Everything was still smoking, though the wind was carrying it away pretty well now. Thank God that breeze had held off until they were done. That air could have really amped up the difficulty on a fire.
As they parked, she reached into the back and he couldn’t help noticing the graceful lines of her. Returning to her seat, she handed him a face mask. “Gift. For you.”
“Thanks.” He tucked it over his mouth and nose before getting out. They emptied the hatch of the SUV, strapping on all their camping equipment. His eyes burned, part from the smoke and part, he suspected, from the drain of only having a few hours of sleep at a time the past days. Finally, they headed off toward the ridge.
It took the better part of the afternoon to get to the point of origin, traipsing around in the burned-out carcass of the forest. The trail was barely decipherable in some places. They would get off track only to have to retrace their steps. But, an hour later, Dak was pretty sure they’d found where the fire began. There was a clearing, and to his west, there was no sign of fire.
Still, despite the fire’s destruction, the sky spanned wide and vast above them, the clearest turquoise. He’d traveled all over the country, swam in pristine waters, skydived and jumped everywhere. He may be biased, but nothing compared to the silence and sharp splendor in Oregon.
Why would someone want to do this? The tranquility there…it touched him, almost a spiritual connection. He could never understand how anyone would want to ruin it.
His resolve firmed. Maybe Heidi didn’t want his help, but she was going to get it. No one should be able to get away with causing this kind of destruction.
“It looks as if from here the flames moved east.” He bent down, inspecting the ground. In front of him appeared to be the remains of a fire pit. Rocks had been mov
ed into a circle. He jabbed at the dredges with a stick. “Looks like maybe campers.” Not surprising. The majority of forest fires were started by lightning strike or human negligence.
Heidi didn’t appear to be listening. Near the forest line, she knelt, her gaze down, as if studying the brush there. “There’s evidence of camping, yes. But, from the fire pit, the flames seem to burn in a line, across here, to catch fire on the brush.” Getting to her feet, she pointed. “See? There and there. I’m going to take a soil sample.” She strode back to where she’d dropped her pack.
“For an accelerant?”
“Yes.” She paused. “Except I don’t know that I’m going to need it.”
“No?” He trudged through the burned-up earth to join her. Bending over, she picked up something. When she straightened, something dangled from her fingertips, covered in dirt.
A jug of lighter fluid. On the ground at her feet were three other containers.
He scowled. “Don’t think we need Sherlock Holmes for this one.”
* * * *
Heidi finished collecting the soil for the test. If there was any trace of lighter fluid in the ground, this would pick it up, even now after the fire was over.
Standing, she squinted at the scene. The daylight was almost gone, so it was getting harder to see. “Looks like they sprayed it along here, to the forest.” The burn line, it was too perfect. It went in a neat line to the trees, where there was more fuel for a fire. “I’ll need to look this over more when the sun comes up.”
Dak nodded. He hadn’t said much since she found the lighter fluid. Now, he motioned to the east. “I think we should head that way, to find a better spot to camp. There’s a stream down there. Follow me.”
They gathered their gear quickly, neither wanting to set up camp in the dark. With the sun setting, a rainbow of colors streaked the sky. Though it had been the independence of this job that had drawn her to Oregon, she’d fallen in love with its stark beauty.