Radclyffe - Firestorm

The back of Mallory’s neck burned, probably a bit of windburn from standing up on the tower most of the afternoon. She rubbed at the sore spot, but the niggling irritation didn’t go away. Her warning antennae quivered, and she never ignored her gut.

“Damn it,” she muttered, jumping to her feet. She pulled her sweatshirt off the back of her chair and shrugged it on, jammed her hands into the pockets, and stalked out of the hangar to the ready shack. She checked the equipment room first. Jac’s gear was there, stowed neatly. She cut through to the hallway that led to the gym. The room was crowded, but a quick look was all she needed to know Jac wasn’t there. Okay, so she was having dinner. But the canteen was nearly empty. Ray and Sarah sat with dinner trays in front of them, talking at a far table. Mallory walked over.

“Have you seen Russo?” she said to Ray.

He straightened in his seat. “No…ah. No.”

The itch at the back of her neck spread like a rash, and she wanted to shake, twitching off the irritation like a horse shedding flies in the summer sun. “Sarah? Did you talk to her after the exercise today?”

“No,” Sarah said in surprise. “I didn’t see her. Sorry.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Something wrong?” Sarah asked.

“No,” Mallory said quickly, too quickly, because Sarah’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Sorry to bother your dinner.” Mallory spun around and beat a quick retreat. She didn’t want to discuss Jac or why she was looking for her. Back in the equipment room, she grabbed her field jacket and flashlight and headed for the woods. As soon as she ducked into the trees, the chill seeped into her extremities. Even in summer the sunlight rarely touched the ground under the canopy of evergreens, and in winter, the bone-deep cold hovered above the ice and snow like a malignant being, sapping body heat and distorting concentration. The snow was mostly gone now, but the soil temperature was still below fifty degrees. It was damn cold. Anyone caught out overnight would be at severe risk for hypothermia. But she wasn’t leaving Jac out overnight—she’d find her before then.

Mallory set off down the main trail, moving fast over familiar terrain, looking for signs of Jac, but not really expecting to find any. Jac was no inexperienced hiker. She wouldn’t leave litter to mark her passing. What the hell was she doing out here, if she was even out here at all? Too late, Mallory considered that Jac might have left base camp altogether. Maybe she’d gone to town. Maybe she wanted to get away—or wanted company.

Except Jac wouldn’t walk out in the middle of a training session without a damn good reason. A trip to town for a little recreation and company just didn’t seem to be her style. Not that Mallory really knew what Jac’s style was, but irresponsibility and flouting authority didn’t seem to be her. Which meant something was wrong.

As soon as she let the thought in, her stomach churned. Not another rookie in trouble. Not Jac. By the time she reached the midpoint of the trail it was getting too dark to see, and she switched on her flashlight. She couldn’t continue to search at night, alone. She’d be at risk herself, and if Jac was out here, possibly injured, then she needed to organize a full-out search and rescue mission. She ought to turn back. She stood in the center of the trail, searching the woods on either side. She couldn’t leave her out here.

A branch snapped off to her right.

“Jac? Jac!”

She waited, heart pounding, and then heard a faint call. Maybe an owl, even a coyote, but she needed the sound to be Jac.

“Jac? It’s Mallory.”

“Hey.”

Mallory spun around. Jac stood a few feet away. Mallory’s heart leapt into her throat. “God Almighty. What in the hell are you doing out here?”

“Sorry,” Jac said somewhat breathlessly. “I was on my way back and my flashlight batteries died. I was headed for the upper trail—better visibility. What are you doing out here?”

“What am I doing out here? What am I doing here.” Mallory’s anxiety morphed into anger. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I was about to pull together an SAR team to come after you.”

“Why?” Jac frowned at her watch. “I’ve only been gone a few hours. I didn’t realize that would be a problem.”

“What the hell, Russo. You walked out of the session this afternoon, didn’t leave word with anyone where you were going, and then didn’t return with dark coming on. What did you think I would think about that?” Mallory was furious with herself for losing her composure, and even more angry at Jac, who stared at her with a confused frown. God damn it, she’d been scared Jac was hurt. She didn’t need that.

“Hell, Mallory. I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“You know, that seems to be a habit with you. You don’t think.”

Jac stiffened. “You don’t know me well enough to say that.”

“You put yourself at risk, Russo. Probably in the desert, that kind of behavior was necessary. I get that. I respect you for what you did over there. It takes incredible bravery to put yourself in front of one of those insane devices to save others. But you are not in the desert now. This isn’t war. I can’t have you going off like a loose cannon whenever the mood strikes you.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I—” Jac clenched her jaw, biting off the rest of her sentence.

“You want to explain it to me, then? Why did you leave early today, and don’t tell me it’s because you were winded. You’re in great shape. You took that fall fine. You weren’t winded when you got up. You lost a little air, sure, but you would have been fine in a couple of minutes.”

“You saw that?”

Mallory shook her head. “Don’t change the subject.”

“I was shaky after the drop,” Jac insisted. “I needed to walk it off.”

“For four hours?”

Jac looked away and Mallory’s heart sank. Jac was hiding something. And that was another problem. “Jac,” Mallory said, trying to be reasonable while frustration eroded what remained of her patience. “I need to know what’s going on. If there’s a problem with you, if there’s something that’s not working in the training, I need to know. I need to know that you’re going to trust me to make the right decisions.”

“I do,” Jac said.

“Then what’s your explanation?”

Jac looked away.

“All right. Let’s get back.” Mallory fished around in her pocket and pulled out another flashlight. She tossed it to Jac. “And don’t wander away this time.”

“Mallory.”

Something in Jac’s voice brought Mallory up short. Sadness, or resignation maybe. “What?”

“I know you don’t have any reason to, but if I tell you the reason I left this afternoon has nothing to do with the training or the job, will you believe me? Will you trust me on that?”

Mallory considered. If it wasn’t work, it was something personal. Something Jac didn’t want to reveal. The options were few out here. “If there’s a problem inside the team, that’s just as critical for me to know as if one of the team members is having trouble with the training. It all comes down to the team, Jac. Not you, not me, not any one of us. Only the team matters.”

“I know. I know I don’t have any right to ask you, but I’m going to.” Jac wanted to curse, but only a reasoned argument would win Mallory over. She couldn’t tell Mallory about Hooker—she was not going to dump his bile on Mallory. The guy was a jerk, and she shouldn’t have let him get to her. She sure wasn’t dragging Mallory into it. “If you could just give me a little time to work things out, I promise I’ll tell you if there’s any problem.”

Mallory drew a breath. Oddly, that nagging irritating sensation was gone. Her gut settled. Jac was right in front of her. Jac was fine. “There can’t be a repeat of this, Jac.”