The service road that wound through the mountain to reach the logging site could act as a firebreak. They would have to move below the site to start that line of attack and spread out to the east and west.
Sawyer ran alongside his crewmembers until they reached the appointed location and began to clear the trees along the section of service road in hopes the fire wouldn’t jump the road. Any equipment left behind at the logging site would be lost, but at least no lives were in jeopardy. And if they were lucky, they would save the homes down below.
“Amanda. Honey. God almighty. Please, answer me. Please.” He kept working at full pace, reciting the mantra over and over.
»»•««
Logan paced outside the interrogation room where Trace had been with Pastor Edmund for over half an hour. What he wanted to do was bust the door down and wring the guy’s neck until he told him where Amanda was. He was suffocating. He needed air. He glanced at the spot where Melinda and Laurie were sitting with Mary, trying to calm her down.
Turning on his heels, Logan stepped outside the sheriff’s office and lowered his head to face the uneven concrete of the precinct’s parking lot. It was in disrepair and sorely needed repaving. He forced himself to focus on this one thing, anything to keep from screaming loud enough for everyone in a two-mile radius to hear.
A gentle moan entered his mind.
At first he thought he imagined it. And then the glorious tone of his mate’s voice. “Logan? Sawyer?” She sounded horrible, groggy and barely recognizable.
“Jesus. Amanda? Oh, baby. God. Where are you?”
Silence.
“Amanda,” Logan screamed into the connection, praying he hadn’t imagined her sweet voice. He leaned over the side of his truck, his hands on the bed, his head dipped. He hoped he wouldn’t collapse.
Finally, the blessed noise again. “Logan. Oh God. Where am I?”
“Baby, I don’t know. Please, help me. What do you see? Help me find you.”
She moaned into his head. “I don’t know. So tired. What happened?”
“Baby, someone must have kidnapped you. From the junior college. Where are you? Please, Amanda. Give me something.”
A pause. And then her faint voice again. “I’m in the dirt. I woke up with my face smashed into a dirt floor. I can’t see anything. The smell…”
“Baby, that’s great. Try to stand. Is there a door? A window?”
Silence again. Logan’s heart ponded nearly out of his chest.
“So small… Like a shed… The walls are tin or aluminum or something… What’s that noise? So hot… I need to sleep Logan…”
“No,” Logan shouted through the connection, “no sleeping, baby. We need to get you out of there. Do you see anyone?”
“No. I’m alone, I think. My head hurts so badly. And it’s so hot. The smoke…”
“Smoke?” Logan froze. “Amanda, did you say smoke?”
He could sense her coughing in his head. Where the fuck was she?
“Amanda. You have to hurry, baby. Can you move?”
“I think so. It’s so foggy. I can’t see anything. It burns my eyes.”
“Find an exit. Amanda, baby. Find the door.”
“Ugh. Locked.”
“What can you see? Describe the shed to me.”
“Small. Rough. It’s so loud outside. Is it storming?”
Loud? The fire. Shit.
“I found a slit. I can’t see much. Is it night?”
“No, baby. It’s still afternoon, but I think you’re in the path of the forest fire.”
“Oh God.” She screamed into his mind, a sound he would never forget in his life. “I can see the flames.”
“Amanda, you have to get out of there. Is there a tool or something you can use to break the door or pry it open?”
Silence. He knew she was frantically looking around. Her thoughts were coming in stronger now. He could almost see through her eyes. “Nothing,” she shouted. “Logan, I’m going to die in here. Oh God.”
“No.” He held himself rigid. “Baby, you’re not going to die. You hear me? You’re going to get the fuck out of that shed and run.”
“Okay.” Her voice was weaker.
“Lie down on your back and kick the door. Kick it hard with all your strength. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
He held his breath while he waited, flinching every time her efforts reached his senses.
“It’s working.”
Thank God. “Good. Keep going. Kick harder.”
Suddenly a burst of her adrenaline flooded his senses. “I got it. I made a hole. I’m crawling out.”
“Good. What do you see?”