Star of His Heart - Brenda Jackson [84]
Netherland was about to leave the trailer and go in search of Trevor when he suddenly appeared in the doorway. The look on his face made her pulse quicken. “Trevor? What is it? What’s wrong?”
After taking a deep breath, he motioned to the sofa and sat down wearily beside her. “The park rangers just had a meeting. The fire is spreading too fast and all their efforts to keep it under control have failed. Because the smoke is reaching such high altitudes, they’re calling off the air searches in the Hollow.”
Netherland gasped as panic struck. “But they can’t do that. Ashton and Jada are still in there somewhere.”
He placed his hand on hers in a calming gesture. “I know, but they refuse to listen to what we have to say. It will almost take something akin to a presidential order to make them send another chopper in there.”
“There has to be a way to make them cooperate,” she said frantically, trying to keep hold of her sanity.
Trevor’s hand on hers tightened. “There is, and Sir Drake and I are working out the details of it now. I’ve contacted Jake Madaris. He has a lot of pull in these parts, and with him on our side we’re trying to get more time. Thanks to his personal friendship with Senator Nedwyn Lansing, I feel certain that we’ll get it and are getting prepared. Sir Drake, Alex and Howard are going over some land maps of the area. Alex thinks he’s identified some sort of a deep trench that’s underneath a small canyon. We have a feeling that’s where Ashton is holing up, to wait out the fire. It’s also the area where the fire is now headed. It will be hard to get a chopper in there, risky as hell, but we believe it can be done.”
Netherland nodded. “Have the park rangers agreed to do this?”
“Willingly, no. But it’s hard to refuse someone like Sir Drake without thinking of possible repercussions.”
Netherland nodded again. She could definitely believe that. She leaned forward and rested her arms across her legs. “So what’s the plan, Trevor?”
Trevor couldn’t help but smile. Again he thought of how well suited Netherland was as a marine wife. She was every bit as tough and dedicated to a cause as any gallant marine. A marine spouse had to be strong enough to deal with fear of the unknown and to understand that a marine had to do whatever it took to get the job done. Ashton’s decision to go into the Hollow and search for Jada was based on a marine’s mind-set of being the first one in a dangerous situation and being the last one out.
“The plan is for them to attempt one more air search. Sir Drake and I are going with them to make sure they target the right area, and hope we played our hunch right and Ashton is there sitting tight.”
Netherland didn’t want to think about what would happen next if he weren’t. “What do you need me to do?”
Trevor took a long, deep breath and said, “Pray.”
Four hours. It had been four hours since the chopper carrying Sir Drake and Trevor had left. For the first couple of hours Netherland had remained inside her trailer doing exactly what Trevor had suggested that she do—pray—which was what she’d been doing anyway since Ashton had been gone.
But she couldn’t stand being cooped up inside the trailer any longer. When she stepped outside, the rays of the sun were so bright they almost blinded her. For once she didn’t appreciate the sunshine but wished a storm would come through to help put out the fire. The last time she had checked with one of the park rangers, the fire was still going strong, and they hadn’t had any radio contact with the chopper in more than two hours, citing interference from the intense smoke as the cause.
Shielding her eyes from the sun she looked across the way and saw Rome. He was sitting on the ground alone, looking up toward the sky as if expecting some sign of hope that the chopper was returning. She quickly crossed the yard and when she reached him, she sat down on the ground beside him. She placed her hand over his.
“You okay, Rome?”
He didn’t say anything for