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Chin propped in hand, she scrolled through the messages that had come in since she was summoned to the fire yesterday afternoon. Work ... work ... spam ... a confirmationfor a haircut ... church newsletter ... work ... Crystal ... reminder for—
Wait.
She backed up.
Crystal had finally responded to her email from Tuesday night.
She opened it and read the message.
Hey, girl! Sorry for my tardy response. I unplugged from all electronics and spent a few days camping in the backcountry.
Glad you got the job at County. I’m loving my ranger gig with the National Park Service. Wish I could have talked you into joining me instead of going home, but I know you wanted to be there for your mom.
Funny you should ask about Travis. I’m still connected to the McCall grapevine, and he is in one heap of trouble. After the furor died down between the two of you, he apparently reverted to his old ways—except his next victim did more than threaten to file harassment charges. She followed through.
Now he’s on administrative leave until the matter is resolved, and the general consensus is that he’s either taken off for parts unknown or is lying low and staying under the radar. That guy is a piece of work. (I’d use a stronger term, but you wouldn’t approve! J)
As the last vestiges of sleep vanished, Bri skimmed the remainder of the chatty email about Crystal’s current beau and the smokejumper crew, then reread the two pertinent paragraphs.
So Travis had pulled the same stunt again, after he’d promised under threat of a lawsuit and job loss to mend his ways?
Crystal was right.
Piece of work didn’t come close to describing him.
And if he wasn’t in Idaho ... if he’d fallen off the radar there ... where was he?
A quiver of unease slithered up her spine as suspicion began to swirl through her mind.
Surely he wouldn’t travel cross-country just to play mean-spirited practical jokes on her, though.
Would he?
Frowning, she rose to claim the mug of caffeine she no longer needed, an image of his cold, angry eyes strobing across her mind. Eyes that had strafed her whenever they’d met after their squad leader took her concerns to his supervisor, who’d called her and Travis in for separate chats.
Of course Travis had said all the appropriate things. Agreed to respect her space and keep his distance. Put on a public show of conciliation and deference.
But while he’d honored his promise to leave her alone, rage had continued to burn in him. He’d masked it well around the other team members, hiding it behind the jovial demeanor that had fooled her at first too. On the few occasions they’d encountered each other at the base facility without witnesses around, however, the venom in his gaze had sent an arctic chill through her.
Instead of being grateful she’d refrained from pressing harassment charges, those glowering looks had made it clear the grudge he harbored wasn’t going away anytime soon.
Bri took a sip of her brew, wincing as the hot liquid scalded her tongue.
Her own fault, though. If you got up close and personal with heat, you should expect to get burned.
Scrubbing a hand down her face, she moved to the fridge, pulled out a carton of half-and-half, and added a generous splash to her coffee.
Despite her suspicions, it was foolish to jump to the conclusion that Travis could be behind the tire and tree incidents.Their clash was old news at this point. Besides, why come after her for problems he’d brought on himself because of his improper behavior with another woman?
That wouldn’t be logical.
Yet anger could override logic, and he did have anger management issues.
Her doorbell rang, and her hand jerked, sending coffee spewing across the floor in a wide arc.
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
She was getting all worked up over speculations that probably had no basis in reality.
