Temperature: 103 degrees
“WE NEED CHOPPERS, WE NEED THE MANPOWER, WE NEED HELP.”
Quincy pulled up at the cluster of cars and spotted the thin columns of smoke darkening the bright blue sky. One, two, three—there had to be nearly a dozen of them. He turned back to the forestry official who was still barking orders into a radio.
“What the hell has happened?”
“Fire,” the man said tersely.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Is she a hiker? Who is she with?”
“Dammit.” Quincy spotted Ray Lee Chee staggering out of a vehicle and made a beeline for him, Rainie hot on his heels. “What happened?”
“Don’t know. Drove into Lake Drummond to start the search. Next thing I know, I’m hearing whistle blasts and smelling smoke.”
“Whistle blasts?”
“Three sharp blows, the international call of distress. Sounded from the northeast quadrant. I was headed in that direction, but man, the smoke got so thick so fast. Brian and I figured we’d better bug out while we still had the chance. We’re not equipped with that kind of gear.”
“And the others?”
“Saw Kathy and Lloyd headed toward their vehicle. Don’t know about Kimberly, Mac, or that doctor dude.”
“How do I get to Lake Drummond?”
Ray just looked at him, then at the clouds of smoke. “Now, sir, you don’t.”
Mac and Kimberly had Tina slung between them, one of her arms over each of their shoulders. The girl was a fighter, trying vainly to help them by moving her feet. But her body had been pushed beyond its limits days ago. The more she tried to run with them, the more she stumbled and careened sluggishly, throwing them all off balance.
The awkward motions were getting them nowhere and the fire was gaining fast.
“I got her,” Mac said tersely.
“It’s too much weight—”
“Shut up and help.” He stopped and hunkered down. Tina wrapped her arms around his neck, Kimberly boosted the muddy girl up onto his back.
“Water,” the girl croaked.
“When we’re out of the woods,” Mac promised. Neither of them had the heart to tell Tina that they had no water left. For that matter, if they didn’t magically find their vehicle in about the next five minutes, all of the water in the world would make no difference.
They were off and running again. Kimberly had no sense of time or place. She was stumbling around trees, battling her way through choking underbrush. Smoke stung her eyes and made her cough. In the good news department, the bugs were gone. In the bad news department, she didn’t know if she was heading north or south, east or west. The swamp had closed in on her and she’d long ago lost any sense of direction.
Mac seemed to know where he was going, however. He had a hard, lean look on his face, pushing himself forward and determined to take both of them with him.
A lumbering shape appeared to their left. Kimberly watched in awe as a full-grown black bear went running by not ten feet away. The big animal didn’t spare them a glance, but kept on trucking. Next came deer, foxes, squirrels, and even some snakes. Everything was clearing out, and normal food-chain rules did not apply in the face of this far greater foe.
They ran, sweat streaming down their arms and legs. They ran faster, Tina beginning to mumble incoherently, her head lolling forward on Mac’s shoulder. They ran harder, the smoke penetrating their lungs, making them all gasp.
They squeezed through a narrow space between two towering trees, rounded a large patch of thickets and came face-to-face with Ennunzio. He was on the ground, propped up against a tree trunk. He seemed unsurprised to see them burst through the roiling smoke.
“You shouldn’t run from the flames,” he murmured, and then Kimberly saw what was at his feet. A coiled nest of brown mottled skin. Two pinpricks of red showed on Ennunzio’s calf where the rattler had bitten him.
“I shot him,” he said, in reply to their unasked question. “But not before he got me. Just as well. Can’t run anymore. Time to wait. Must take your punishment like a man. What do you think my father thought about, each time he heard us scream?”
His gaze went to the muddy shape on Mac’s back. “Oh good, you found her. That’s nice. Out of four girls, I was hoping you’d get at least one right.”
Kimberly took a furious step forward and Ennunzio’s hand immediately twitched by his side. He was holding his gun.
“You shouldn’t run from the flames,” he said sternly. “I tried it thirty years ago, and look what happened to me. Now sit. Stay a while. It only hurts for a short time.”
“You’re dying,” Kimberly told him flatly.
“Aren’t we all?”
“Not today. Look—sit here all you want. Die in your precious fire. But we’re out of here.”
She took another step, and Ennunzio immediately raised the gun.
“Stay,” he said firmly and now she could see the light flaming in his eyes, a feverish, rabid glow. “You must die. It’s the only way to find peace.”
Kimberly pressed her lips into a thin, frustrated line. She shot a glance at Mac. He had a gun somewhere, but with his hands full trying to keep Tina on his back, he was in no position to do anything quickly or stealthily. Kimberly shot her gaze back to Ennunzio. This one was up to her.
“Who are you?” she asked. “Frank or David?”
“Frank. I’ve always been Frank.” Ennunzio’s lips curled weakly. “But do you want to hear something stupid? I tried to pretend in the beginning that it wasn’t me. I tried to pretend the killer was Davey, come back to do all those terrible things, because I was big brother Frank and I’d gotten out and I wasn’t going to be anything like my family. But of course it wasn’t Davey. Davey got beat one too many times. Davey stopped having any hope. Davey, given a choice between running and dying, chose dying. So of course it could only be me, hunting down innocent girls. Once I had the tumor removed, I could see more clearly. I had done bad things. The fire had made me do it, and now I must stop. But then the pain came back and all I could dream of was bodies in the woods.”
The smoke was growing thicker. It made Kimberly blink owlishly and become even more aware of the intense heat growing at her back. “If we fashioned a tourniquet above the bite, you could still live,” Kimberly tried desperately. “You could walk out of this swamp, get yourself some antivenom, and then get yourself some serious psychological help.”
“But I don’t want to live.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because living is hope. Trying is hope. And because I come from a long line of people who have excelled at being earnest.” Ennunzio’s gaze had drifted to Mac. It was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. Choking back a harsh cough, Kimberly swiftly brought up her Glock and leveled it at Ennunzio’s face. “Throw down your weapon, Frank. Let us pass, or you won’t have to worry about your precious fire.”
Ennunzio merely smiled. “Shoot me.”
“Put down your weapon.”
“Shoot me.”
“Shoot your own goddamn self! I wasn’t put on this earth to end your misery. I’m here to save a girl. Now we have her and we’re getting out.” The smoke was so thick now, Kimberly could barely see.
“No,” Ennunzio said distinctly. “Move, and I’ll shoot. The flames are coming. Now take your punishment like a man.”
“You’re a coward. Always taking your rage out on others, when all along you know who you truly hate the most is yourself.”
“I saved lives.”
“You killed your own family!”
“They wanted me to do it.”
“Bullshit! They wanted help. Ever think who your brother could’ve been? I’m sure he would’ve done better than turn into a serial murderer who preyed on young girls.”
“Davey was weak. Davey needed my protection.”
“Davey needed his family and you took them away from him! It’s always been about you, Ennunzio. Not what
your brother needed, not what your mom needed and sure as hell not what the environment needed. You kill because you want to kill. Because killing makes you happy. And maybe that’s why Davey stayed in the house that day. He already knew the truth—that of the whole family, you are the worst of the bunch.”
Kimberly leaned forward. Ennunzio’s face had turned a mottled shade of scarlet while his Glock trembled in his hand. The fire had grown dangerously close. She could smell the acrid odor of singeing hair. Not much time left. For him, for her, for any of them.
Kimberly took a deep breath. She waited, one, two, three. A popping sound came from the woods, an old tree trunk exploding. Ennunzio jerked his head toward the noise. And Kimberly descended upon him with a vengeance. Her foot connected with his hand, the Glock went flying out of his grasp. A second hard kick had him holding his gut. A third whipped his head around.
She was moving in for the kill, when she heard his rough laugh.
“Take it like a man,” he cackled. “By God, boys, don’t you waste your pathetic cries on me. Hold your chin up when I beat you. Square those shoulders. Look me in the eye, and take your punishment like a man.” Ennunzio laughed again, a hollow sound that sent shivers up her spine.
His head came up. He peered straight at Kimberly. “Kill me,” he said, very clearly. “Please. Make it quick.”
Kimberly walked over. She picked up his gun. Then she threw it deep into the heart of the oncoming flames.
“No more excuses, Ennunzio. You want to die, you go do it yourself.”
She turned back toward Mac and Tina. The fire was so close now, she could feel its heat on her face. But mostly she was aware of Mac, his calm blue eyes, his big strong body. His absolute faith that she could handle Ennunzio. And now his readiness to take her and Tina Krahn straight out of here.
Life was filled with choices, Kimberly thought. Living, dying, fighting, running, hoping, dreading, loving, hating. Existing in the past or living in the present. Kimberly looked at Mac, then looked at Tina, and she had no problem with her choices anymore.
“Let’s go,” she said crisply.
They started running. Ennunzio howled behind them. Or maybe he simply laughed. But the fire was moving fast now. The flames would no longer be denied.
The wall of fire descended, and one way or another, Ennunzio had his peace at last.
They found the car ten minutes later. Tina was piled into the backseat, Mac and Kimberly plunked down in the front. Then Mac had the keys out and the engine running and they were tearing down the flat, grassy road, dodging fleeing animals.
Kimberly heard a roar that sounded like an inferno, while overhead the skies filled with rescue choppers and forestry planes. The cavalry coming, bringing in professionals to fight the blaze and save what could be saved.
They tore out of the swamp, coming to a screeching halt in a parking lot now filled with vehicles.
Mac jumped out first. “Medical attention, quick, over here.”
Then EMTs were working on Tina with water and cooling packs, while Quincy and Rainie were running across the parking lot toward Kimberly, and Mac was beating them both to the punch by taking her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest. He put his arms around her, and things finally felt safe.
Nora Ray appeared out of the crowd, moving toward Tina’s side.
“Betsy?” Tina murmured weakly. “Viv? Karen?”
“They’re happy that you’re alive,” Nora Ray said quietly, squatting down next to Tina’s prostrate form.
“Are they okay?”
“They’re happy that you’re alive.”
Tina understood then. She closed her eyes. “I want my mother,” she said, and then she started to cry.
“You’ll be okay,” Nora Ray said. “You have to take it from me. A bad thing happened, but you survived it. You won.”
“How do you know?”
“Because three years ago, the same man kidnapped me.”
Tina finally stopped crying. She looked at Nora Ray through bloodshot eyes. “Do you know where they’re going to take me?”
“I don’t know, but I can stay with you if you’d like.”
“Buddy system?” Tina whispered.
Nora Ray finally smiled. She squeezed Tina’s hand and said, “Always.”
EPILOGUE
Quantico, Virginia
10:13 A.M.
Temperature: 88 degrees
SHE WAS RUNNING, TEARING THROUGH THE WOODS at breakneck speed. Dangling leaves snatched at her hair, low branches tore at her face. She leapt fallen tree trunks, then threw herself full throttle at the fifteen-foot wall. Her hands found the rope, her feet scrabbled for footing. Up, up, up she went, heart pounding, lungs heaving, and throat gasping.
She crested the top, had an absolutely stellar view of the lush, green Virginia woods, then flipped herself down the other side. Tires coming up. Bing, bing, bing, she punched one foot through the center of each rubber mass. Then she was hunched over like a turtle, scrambling down a narrow metal pipe. Now out the other end, racing down the homestretch. Sun on her face. Wind in her hair.
Kimberly careened over the finish line, just as Mac clicked off the stopwatch and said, “Ah, honey, you call that a time? Hell, I know guys that go twice as fast.”
Kimberly launched herself at his chest. He saw the attack coming and tried to brace his feet. She’d learned a new move in combat training just last week, however, and had him flat on his back in no time.
She was still breathing hard, sweat glistening across her face and dampening her navy blue FBI Academy T-shirt. For a change, however, she wore a smile.
“Where’s the knife?” Mac murmured with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“Don’t you wish.”
“Pretty please. I can insult you more, if you’d like.”
“No way can you do that course twice as fast.”
“Well, I might have been exaggerating.” His hands were now on her bare legs, tracing lines from her ankles up to the hem of her nylon shorts. “But I’m at least two seconds faster.”
“Upper body strength,” Kimberly spat out. “Men have more and it comes in handy at the wall.”
“Yep, ain’t life unfair?” He rolled with a surprise move of his own, and now she was the one on the dirt and he was the one looming above. Trapped, she did the sensible thing; she lunged up, grabbed his shoulders and nailed him with a long, lingering kiss.
“Miss me?” he gasped three seconds later.
“No. Not much.”
Other voices were coming from the woods now. More students, taking advantage of this beautiful Saturday to train. Mac got up grudgingly. Kimberly vaulted up with more energy, hastily wiping dirt and leaves from her hair. The students were almost in view now, about to top the wall. Mac and Kimberly bolted for the shelter of the neighboring woods.
“How’s it going?” Mac asked as they drifted into the lush, green shade.
“Hanging in there.”
He stopped, took her arm, and made her face him. “No, Kimberly. I mean for real. How is it going?”
She shrugged, wishing the sight of him didn’t make her want to throw her arms around his waist or bury her head against his shoulder. Wishing the sight of him didn’t make her feel so damn giddy. Life was still life, and these days, hers carried a lot of obligations.
“Some of the students aren’t wild about my presence,” she admitted at last. She had resumed her studies nearly a month ago. Some of the powers-that-be weren’t wild about it, but Rainie had been right: everybody blamed a failure, nobody argued with a hero. Kimberly and Mac’s dramatic rescue of Tina Krahn had been front-page news for nearly a week. When she’d called Mark Watson about returning to the Academy, he’d even gotten her her own room.
“Not easy being recycled?”
“No. I’m the outsider who showed up halfway through the school year. Worse, I’m an outsider with a reputation half want to challenge and the other half don’t want to believe.”
“Are they mean to you?” he asked soberly, thumb beneath her chin.
“Someone actually short-sheeted my bed. Oh my God, the horrors. I should write home to Daddy.”
“Uh oh, what did you do in retaliation?” Mac asked immediately.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Oh dear.”
She resumed walking. After a moment, he fell in step beside her. “I’m going to make it, Mac,” she said seriously. “Five weeks to go, and I’m going to make it. And if some people don’t like me, that’s okay. Because others do, and I’m good at this job. With more experience, I’m going to be even better at the job. Why, someday I might even follow a direct order. Think of what the Bureau will do then.”
“You’ll be like a whole new secret weapon,” Mac said with awe.
“Exactly.” She nodded her head with pride. Then, not being stupid, she regarded him intently. “So why are you here, Mac? And don’t tell me you missed my smile. I know you’re a little too busy for social calls these days.”
“It’s always something, isn’t it?”
“At the moment.”
He sighed, looked as if he wished he could say something clever, then must’ve decided to get on with it. “They found Ennunzio’s body.”
“Good.” It had taken weeks to completely annihilate the swamp fire. In the good-news department, crews had contained the blaze fairly quickly, limiting damage. In the bad-news department, the smoldering peat continued to flare up for nearly a month, requiring constant vigilance on the part of the U.S. Forestry Service.
During that time, volunteers worked the site, tending the woods and seeking some sign of Ennunzio’s body. As week had grown into week, they had all started getting a little nervous, especially Kimberly.
“He made it farther than any of us would’ve guessed,” Mac was saying now. “True to his natural ambivalence, he must have decided at the last minute that he wanted to live. He actually hiked a good mile with his bitten leg. Who even knows what got him in the end? The venom pumped into his heart, or the smoke, or the flames?”
“They do a postmortem?”