I head to the shoreline where they were camping, trusting that Ollie, who spends most of his days in Bearclaw, didn’t get disoriented.
I scan the section of forest ahead. At eleven o’clock is a crumpled form on the ground. My heart pounds. Every step closer tells me it’s him.
He's doubled over on the ground coughing. I can’t waste my breath trying to communicate through the mask. I haul him over my shoulder. He wheezes in my ear. It sounds like he’s trying to tell me something.
Sorry, Dude. No communication is possible.
Branches fall a few feet behind us. Fuck, the fire is taking out the trees. We’ve got to get to the shoreline. With Ollie struggling for breath into my ear, I run as fast as possible. A whooshing sound has me turning hard to the left.
The sudden torque is too much from my hamstring. Pain sears the back of my leg. “Ollie.” I don’t think I can hold him. The muscle is too weak.
He coughs in my ear.
Fuck it. There’s no stopping. No slowing down. I limp and it hurts so fucking badly. My hip is on fire. My lungs are stretched to capacity.
I break through the trees to the stretch of lawn before the lake. The air is still smoky, but a hell of a lot clearer than inside the forest. I place Ollie on the ground. His face is nearly purple.
I collapse beside him and pull off my mask. “Hang in there, Buddy. I’m going to get someone to bring you a respirator.”
Jesse arrives with the respirator in less than five minutes. I have to stand to help get Ollie set up. I rise on my good leg. Breaking each movement of my bad leg into one fraction of a step at a time, I manage to put pressure on it. The hamstring holds. It’s fucking painful, but it holds. I can get the job done.
Jesse tells me about the progress they've made containing the fire. “It definitely started with the car. The arsonist struck again.”
It was Sammy’s car. Not Tabitha’s. Does it matter? Was the arsonist using the same M.O. as last time? Just use the property to start a fire? If so, why did he wait for the car? He could’ve done it sooner. He could’ve set something on fire besides Sammy’s car?
I hate the direction this is pointing in.
“It’s gonna be a long day,” Jesse says, “but we’ve got a handle on it.” He crouches down beside Ollie. “You ready to get out of here?”
Ollie has been sucking on clean air and watching us go back and forth about the fire. He takes off the mask and points to a pile of camping equipment down the shoreline. “Can I get our stuff?”
Stupid, lucky sweatshirt. I test out my hamstring with a few steps. The initial shock of pain has eased. The hamstring didn’t tear, but it came damn close. “I’ll get it.”
There are half a dozen cars in Sammy’s driveway. I pull behind the one at the end. In the passenger seat, Tabitha is sound asleep. “We’re here,” I say gently and shut off the engine.
It’s almost noon. Tabitha got the all-clear to head home after being checked at the Bearclaw Pass Health Center. Ollie is still there. Chief asked if I’d take Tabitha home and brief Sammy on what we knew about the arson.
I wish I had better news. She texted earlier to ask how I was doing. I texted back to tell her I was bringing Tabitha home and would give her details of the fire.
Tabitha sits up in her seat. “Thanks so much for bringing me home.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
By the time we’re out of the Telluride, the family is heading toward us. Sammy and Lara walk alongside a man who’s twenty years older and several inches taller than I am. Mark, her ex? Her dad? Her mom Ellen and two other women engulf Tabitha in big hugs.
“Thanks for bringing Tabitha home safely.” Sammy's brow furrows as she gazes up at me. “Mom and Dad are going to take Lara back to their place, along with everyone else, so we can talk about the fire.”
She glances over at the house. A guy stands on the porch watching us. I’m guessing it’s Mark.
I can practically smell the country club from here. He’s got on a neat sweater vest and dark jeans. He’s not smiling, not frowning. Calm and controlled, he takes in the scene. If he blinks, I miss it. This is a man who believes in his authority.
Sammy’s mom pulls me into a hug. “Thank you for everything. I want to hear all about what happened, but we need to take Lara back to our place.”
“I understand.”
Sammy and I walk toward the house while everyone else leaves in an enormous SUV.
“Mark’s here,” Sammy says. “I think it’s best if he hears everything.”
