Read Online Passion to Protect by Colleen Thompson - Free Book Online

sure that either a blade or a bullet could have caused the wound to Deke’s throat. And he and Liane had come out here without a gun.
    “Let’s go,” he said grimly. “We’re almost to the top, but first, put on your jacket.”
    He waited, prepared to offer his own jacket to cover Deke’s face if she balked. Instead, after one last glance in the direction of her father, she said, “C’mon, Misty,” slipped on the jacket and started walking, her shoulders shaking with her quiet sobs.
    As she turned away, a practical thought cut through Jake’s shock, prompting him to squat down to check his old friend’s pockets in the hope that he might have been carrying Kenzie’s inhaler. Finding nothing—not even a wallet—he caught up to Liane and reached for her again, as much because he needed to receive comfort as to offer it.
    She didn’t pull away when he put his arm around her.
    Liane paused, looking behind them. “Misty, come .”
    Whining in agitation, the dog swung her attention back and forth between Liane and the man she’d worked with, lived with and followed nearly everywhere since she’d been a pup. With her tail tucked between her legs and her head lowered, she finally made the decision to obey.
    The hike was steeper and longer than Jake had thought, so by the time they reached the ridge a leaden smudge had lightened the eastern horizon. But the brightest illumination they saw lay to the west, where a hellish orange flickered, reflecting off the low gray bellies of thick banks of smoke.
    Elk Creek Canyon was ablaze in half a dozen places, with thousands of towering trees going up like matchsticks. Jake knew that before help could arrive the fires would unite, then run rampant, destroying the forest and the thick carpeting of branches and leaf litter, and blackening every rock.
    A part of the life cycle of this land, such purges were considered vital to the forest’s health, especially after a long drought. But priorities changed when they put human life—particularly the lives of a pair of children—at risk.
    Letting go of him, Liane cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Kenzie! Cody! Can you hear me?”
    When she paused, her own voice echoed back. But there was another sound, as well, a breeze rattling through dry foliage and blowing toward them. Hot and thick with ash, it might have been a breath straight out of Hell.
    “Cody! Kenzie!” Jake yelled, his deep voice rolling like thunder. Neither of the children answered.
    “Try your phone,” he told Liane, hoping that with the higher elevation they might be able to get a signal and make contact with the authorities. “I’ll try mine, too, and the radio.”
    Pulling the phone out of his pocket, he winced when he saw that the battery had died. The radio was still working, if anyone was close enough to pick up his signal.
    He tried channel after channel, broadcasting their names and approximate location, along with a request that any listener call for emergency assistance. For a few minutes he thought someone might be attempting to respond, but then he realized he was hearing one side of a conversation regarding another search and rescue operation on the north slope of Bear Mountain.
    “Jake,” Liane said, “I couldn’t get a call through, but I sent a text to my boss.”
    “You reached Em?” Jake had known the lodge owner for years, had even dated the tall blonde a couple of times before he’d figured out that she was a firefighter groupie, a bored rich woman intent on sleeping her way through the ranks. Though for years his relationships with women had been no better, he had finally come to a point when the futility of that approach had put him off.
    But as shallow as Emma was when it came to relationships, he was confident she would act on Liane’s message if she received it.
    Liane nodded. “She texted back, said she’s calling the sheriff right now so he can send help. I gave her our location and told her the kids are out