Tom harrumphed. “Wouldn’t count on that. Without bad luck, I wouldn’t have—”

“Any luck at all,” Chase finished with a wry laugh.

When they walked into the conference room for the briefing, Nat was already there with the fire chiefs from three neighboring towns and the fire ranger captain from Ticonderoga. Nat nodded to Chase and Perry and indicated the aerial map of the fire location projected on a wall screen. “Preliminary reports have the burn encompassing sixty woodland acres, projected to double that hourly. Satellite images”—another image came up—“show a large grassland area in the potential fire zone, depending on wind shift and fire movement.”

Chase grimaced. Wildland fires traveled faster in grassland than in heavily wooded zones, making it all the harder to contain them. Especially if the wind picked up to drive the fire uphill.

The Bolton fire chief, a heavyset man in his sixties with a gray crewcut and summer tan, grunted. “When do we think about evacuations?”

Nat shook her head. “There’s a lot of forest between the burn and any populated areas, but we will be sending teams out to clear any hikers or campers who might be in the red zone once we set up our perimeters.”

She turned back to the satellite images. “We’ve got a water barrier here”—she traced a line with her laser pointer—“and a rocky escarpment along this eastern peak. We’ll put our lines there.” She circled a spot just off the barely visible thin line of an access road that ended below the location of the fire. “Incident command post here. Questions?”

No one had any—the approach to fire containment was standard, although anything but routine. The terrain, the wind, the dryness of the soil, the moisture level in the air, and the ability of firefighters to reach the areas where they needed to work were all unique factors, which would have to be addressed on the ground as the situation evolved.

“I’ll see you out there,” Nat said, and the teams dispersed to head for their assigned locations.

As Chase jogged toward the helicopter, she let her mind drift for the last free moments she’d have before the job ahead demanded all her attention. Her last glimpse of Lily’s face—a little pale and worried—mirrored the emotions swirling through her now. Good-byes were hard, even when necessary, even when expected. She knew that. She and her father hadn’t had a chance to say good-bye, but she and her mother had. This felt a little bit like that, like a little piece of her had died. The pain in her chest was real, and she hadn’t realized that could happen. But her heart felt bruised. She settled into the jump seat next to Tom and pulled on her headgear. She had to let that go for now. After all, she’d have a lifetime to miss Lily and knew that she would.