Firebreak: A Mystery Read Free Page A

where the shade trees provided a measure of relief from the sun. The bank sign down the street read 103 degrees, and the heat showed no sign of breaking. Temperatures in the hundreds down in the river valley were typical for early July, but Josie held out hope for an early monsoon season, especially with the fire risk so high.
    Josie walked through the empty engine bay and figured the fire truck was probably already positioned up north near the mudflats and the prairie grasses. An open door at the back of the bay led to a training room for the volunteer fire department. She found every seat taken, and most of the standing area in the room occupied as well. Dozens of voices mixed together as worried officers and firefighters prepared for the worst.
    Officer Otto Podowski stood at the other end of the room, smoothing down the white flyaway hair that never seemed to stay put on his balding head. He had been her boss when she’d first been hired by the police department, nearly fifteen years ago. When he decided to give up the extra stress that came with running the department he’d encouraged her to put in for the chief’s position. Otto was a first-rate cop and one of her closest friends.
    He offered a friendly smile as she approached, although his demeanor was sober. “What’s the word?” he asked.
    “Marta’s at the watchtower. I saw smoke in Piedra Labrada just before she came on duty. I called it in to Doug. We’re hoping it doesn’t jump the river,” Josie said.
    “I hope Mexico’s got somebody working it. We’re stretched pretty thin.”
    “We’ve got some extra help coming in today. I just left the Marfa airport,” she said. “I met up with an old friend of mine from high school that’s with a smoke jumper crew out of Montana.”
    He leaned back slightly at the news. “No kidding?”
    She smiled. “I hadn’t seen him since school. I’d heard he was jumping but I never imagined we’d meet again like this.”
    The noise level of fifty people all talking among themselves died down as they noticed Fire Chief Doug Free walk to the front of the room. It didn’t take long for him to get their attention. People were desperate for news. Not only were the group of first responders worried about their town and their neighbors, but they were also concerned for their own homes and families.
    Finally Doug began. “Thank you all for coming. You know we’re low-tech here. No air-conditioning and no microphone, so bear with me. This should take about twenty minutes with the law enforcement, then I need the firemen to stick around another twenty for direction. I’ll get you back out on the front lines as soon as possible.” He pulled a blue bandanna out of his back jeans pocket and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He had brown hair that he wore combed back to one side and he had dark-brown eyes filled with an intensity that was evident even from across the room. He was a trim man with an athletic build. Josie noticed that all the firefighters in the room were in good physical shape. In the field they carried fifty-pound water sacks, additional equipment, heavy fire suits, and they had to be able to walk for miles at a time.
    “As you know, yesterday I requested a voluntary evacuation for the southern part of Arroyo County,” he went on. “The northern half of the county has already evacuated. But things just got worse about ten minutes ago. We’re looking at a mandatory evacuation. The Harrison Ridge fire is headed toward us from up north. It’s slowed down somewhat as the wind gusts have died down. Hopefully as evening falls we’ll lose the wind and be able to stay on top of it. The bad news is we’ve got a fire that started late afternoon in Piedra Labrada. My spotter just called and said the fire’s jumped the river in two places. I just sent Joey, Jake, and Luke over there about twenty minutes ago. The wind has me worried. We’ve got wind gusts coming up out of the canyons down by the river