Wildfire (4 page)

“Gimme one minute and let me see what I can find out.”

Elaine tried to squelch the prickle on the back of her neck as she waited. She told herself that she was just being efficient and knowledge was power. Not to mention, an invaluable tool.

“Well, Captain, it says in our registry that she is a doctor with the EPA and worked the original spill.”

No way!

“Was she on one of the follow-up teams?”

There was a moment of silence before Dane finally responded. The tone of his voice had changed slightly. “No, she was one of the first responders.”

Okay. Now Elaine was impressed.

“All right, thanks for the information. Please log Dr. McKinney in. She has set up camp at the spill site.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks, Dane.”

She searched her memory as she returned the handset to its former position. There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that had she met Devon before, she would have remembered. Devon was one of the first to respond? Damn, she certainly hadn’t expected that.

Elaine retired to the sofa and ate the can of chunky chicken soup that she had prepared for dinner as she tried to push thoughts of Devon from her mind. The next morning she was planning to drive along the old logging road leading to White River. There would be quite a bit of animal movement over there this time of year and it would be an ideal location to search for the poachers.

Elaine shivered as she thought about the senseless slaughter of animals. Most of the animals that were killed in these woods were killed by hunters for their meat. But the most recent rash of killings seemed to be thrill kills. Elaine had no idea how shooting these innocent animals gave anyone a thrill. The poachers she was searching for seemed to be shooting anything they came across. They had found a hawk and other birds, deer, beavers and even squirrels. Some poachers went after bears, but those generally made the news. The majority of animals that were killed went unnoticed, except by the individuals who made a career of protecting them.

She headed for the shower, grateful for the running water and even more grateful that it would be hot. She quickly washed her hair and stood motionless enjoying the water cascading over her body. Knowing that the water would soon turn cold, she finished washing and exited the stall. At least she had a few minutes to enjoy it. The heat from the fire was penetrating the bathroom but it was still chilly. Goose bumps crawled across her skin and she hurriedly slipped into sweats and a long-sleeved shirt. She towel-dried her hair and made a mental note to wash her towel and her uniform the next day. She still had two more clean uniforms, but always wanted to be sure she wouldn’t be caught without one. Her clothes rack in front of the fire would allow her laundry to dry faster. She missed some of the comforts of home, but hand washing her clothes beat the hell out wearing them again without a good cleansing.

Curled up on the couch in front of the fire, she brushed out her hair, sifting through it with her fingers hoping it would dry out a little more before bed. She stared into the flames and had a flash of the stormy gray eyes she had stared into earlier in the day. The heat of the fire suddenly seemed cool in contrast to the heat of her body.

She continued to brush her hair and wondered how Devon’s hair would feel in her hands.
What the hell am I doing?
She was here for solitude, alone time to enjoy her surroundings and forget about women for God’s sake. Thinking about a woman she had just met was the very last thing she should be doing. She finished brushing out the long locks and finally stripped for bed. She tossed her clothes over the back of the couch and slid between the cool sheets, trying not to think about the beautiful botanist.

She finally fell asleep and was thankful that she didn’t remember her dreams. She had a feeling they would have featured a certain somebody, making it even harder not to focus on her undeniable attraction.

Devon chewed thoughtfully on a mint leaf from her pocket as she crouched down to take a soil sample near the base of the
viola glabellas
. She was pleased to see that the smooth, yellow violet would return this year. The young flower seemed to be strong and healthy. Near it, still under the surface, were the beginnings of a
viola sheltonii
. She was surprised to find the Shelton’s Violet. They were rare in the northern mountains and the spill had destroyed many of the fairer species. Other, heartier plants, such as the
thalictrum fendleri,
had come back rather quickly and various types of meadow rue were more inclined to survive.

She continued gathering specimens, examining the bark, cork and periderm. She wished that she had indulged in another cup of coffee. She wasn’t the biggest fan of instant coffee, but this morning it had tasted unusually good. Maybe it was the way it had warmed her from the inside out. She made a mental note to buy a coffee press so she could brew
real
coffee next time she ventured into the field. Unfortunately, the day moved into midmorning without any rise in temperature and she still had a lot of work to do. She knew she would have to remain focused and pick up her pace.

One of her final tasks on this assignment would be to gather samples to take back to the lab. She would seek out a variety of plants in order to closely examine the vascular cambium through the pith to see how the vegetation was truly responding to the contamination. The foliage that had returned to the area had still been compromised and would need to be studied closely.

She wasn’t feeling confident about the trees along the river bank, though, not after boring into several to examine the core. She had not only been studying their age, but the discoloration of the wood. The outer rings had an unnatural rust color. Her cursory inspection of the root system showed damage to the mycorrhiza and she didn’t really see any way that the trees would recover, but she had been surprised before. The resilience of nature continually amazed her.

When she got back to the lab and tested the core samples and analyzed the results, she’d have a better indication of the magnitude of the damage. She was hopeful that the poisons would filter out of the soil and with transplanted seedlings the river bank would return to its once lush existence. If the transplant was unsuccessful the future of this area was anyone’s guess.

The fertility of the soil was another concern altogether. The hazardous chemicals had leached well into the subsoil. On first inspection, the soil texture hadn’t seemed to change all that much, but the death of the flora in the area told a different story. The soil that enabled the vegetation to absorb water, nutrients and oxygen through its roots was now carrying harmful chemicals. The earth had endured a violent biological attack that would have gone largely unnoticed had it not been for the danger to the human population. The South Croix River was a minor tributary to the Columbia River. Had the spill not been contained before reaching the Columbia River, the effects would have been disastrous. As seriously as she took the poisoning of the plant life, just thinking about the possibility that those toxins could have reached people was unimaginable. The damage wouldn’t have come close to the scale of the Gulf oil spill, but would have been devastating nonetheless.

The toxins would be filtered and dissipate over time, but their presence would be enough to affect growth for years to come. As she looked around, she was once again sickened by the attacks of terrorism waged on the environment by man. Train tracks had no business running this close to precious woodlands.

She continued to take notes when a noise startled her and she abruptly stopped to listen. For a wild, fleeting moment she hoped that it was the ranger. When she turned around she let out her breath. The only creatures to join her today would be the chipmunks playing tag on the tree branches behind her. Normally she would have been more attuned to the noises surrounding her and not nearly so jumpy. She tried to convince herself that the only reason she wasn’t paying more attention was because she was focused on work. The ranger had certainly gotten her attention.

She spent several minutes watching the chipmunks in amusement. They didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It had been a long time since she had felt that way. Her social life consisted of spending time with Stacey and her sister, but when she wasn’t with them, she was working. Since college, she had been so focused on her career it left her very little time to meet anyone. Sometimes the loneliness made her wonder if the sacrifices she had made to advance her career were really worth it. The truth was she had spent far more time working than was actually necessary. She longed to find the love everyone around her insisted she deserved and would someday find. It was ironic really. She had been on the receiving end of plenty of pickup lines from men. But for reasons she would probably never understand women didn’t generally pay her the same attention, at least not the women she would have preferred. That is until she met Captain Elaine Thomas who had looked at her in a way she had always imagined. It was almost inconceivable that a woman of Elaine’s caliber had looked at her that way.

She had spent years learning to work with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. She respected both agencies and knew in her heart that they did the best they could to protect these areas. But as she took in the beauty around her she was sickened by the people responsible for defiling such a magnificent place. She supposed if it wasn’t for people like her and those she worked alongside, all of the forests would be replaced with concrete jungles. People just really had no idea what they were destroying. She knew that she was being judgmental, which wasn’t one of her better qualities, but when she looked around all she saw were reminders that civilization wasn’t really civil at all.

Devon’s Internet service was slow at best, but she knew she was lucky not to have to hike up the mountain to find a signal. She sent a short e-mail to Stacey just as she had promised and was happy to receive one from Raine letting her know that all the news from the obstetrician was okay. The same message was reiterated by Stacey who had left her an e-mail detailing her daily checks on Raine.

Stacey went on to tell her that her houseplants were coming along nicely. She had planted a new fern and Devon shouldn’t worry, Stacey would take care of it. She laughed to herself. If it wasn’t for Stacey, she would have a gravel yard and fake plants. She felt it embarrassing that she couldn’t seem to keep a houseplant off death row and she was a botanist for the love of God!

She returned a few other e-mails and loaded some pictures onto her laptop. As soon as she finished, she turned off the computer so to not run down the battery. She lay back on her bed and finally admitted that she had been hoping to see the ranger again today. Of course she hadn’t. She knew that Elaine had work to do and that she probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

Besides, she told herself, there was no reason for her to want to see the ranger. She didn’t want company. She enjoyed these quiet days working. That’s why she preferred to work alone. She could have worked with a team if she wanted, but she enjoyed the solitude. No, there was no reason that she should want to see Elaine again.

Elaine spent the next several days driving the fire lanes to check out areas where there was an abundance of animal activity that a poacher might decide was prime killing ground. So far she had seen no evidence of the poachers, but she knew that could change at any time.

In another month or two logging would begin on the west side of the basin and following the loggers would be a crew planting seedlings. She knew that it was just a fact of life that as long as there were trees, people would cut them down. At least there would be foresters coming in to replant. Hopefully the presence of so many people would help keep illegal activities to a minimum.

For the most part, the old growth regions would go untouched. The areas that were stripped with heavy equipment were less beautiful, but they did succeed in removing the heavy foliage that could cause a fire to burn out of control or suffocate any new growth. People like her made sure that corporate forestry stayed in its allowed areas, though sometimes it was an ugly business.

The North Cascades National Park began just to the north of the Wenatchee National Forest…Elaine’s territory. The U.S. Forest Service was a branch of the Department of Agriculture and was charged with protecting National Forests and grasslands. Elaine and the other rangers focused mainly on controlling forest fires, conservation and protecting the quality of the environment so that future generations could enjoy it. The Forest Service had to work in concert with the National Park Service; a sector of the Department of the Interior. They were responsible not only for National Parks, but also recreational areas and historical sites. They may have shared the same mission, protecting the land, but didn’t always see eye to eye. Generally, the Park Service had more contact with the public and as Elaine had been reminded many times, the millions of visitors to National Parks each year made a significant contribution to the economy. She didn’t envy the park rangers who had to deal so frequently with tourists. That’s one reason why she had decided on the U.S. Forest Service. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe that protecting people was as important as protecting the land, it was that deep inside the forest she felt comfortable. Specializing in law enforcement and firefighting kept her out of most of the politics too. It was home.

Elaine glanced at her watch. It had been several days and she knew she should check in on Dr. McKinney. Tomorrow she would need to do that. She tried, in vain, to convince herself that she was just doing her job, but the quickening of her heartbeat when she reflected on their first brief encounter was both terrifying and exhilarating. As she surveyed the area, she noticed the flush of her cheeks in the rearview mirror and rolled down her window to let in a cold breeze.