“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” His knuckles were white on the armrests. He shifted in the seat and bumped his knees. He was a pretty big guy. Rather mouthwatering, too, if she was being honest, and she usually was. There was a suppleness to all that lean muscle—and a good bit of pure power. It was obvious that physical labor was a part of his lifestyle, weak stomach or not. Interesting.

Taking her eyes off him, she simultaneously turned the control wheel and applied rudder pressure for an eastward banking turn.

He let out a low oath.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I could fly this thing upside down and backward and still get us there.”

If possible, his grip on the armrest tightened.

“Really,” she said. “This is just a barely more challenging approach than most because of the quick change in altitude, but I’ve done it so many times I could—”

“Yeah. Fly it upside down and backward. Got it.”

A smart-ass too. That bothered her even less than the lack of charm, but because he’d gone an interesting shade of green, she wanted to keep him talking instead of puking. “You do this often? Volunteer?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I hear a firefighter’s schedule can be pretty hectic. Twenty-four hour shifts, right?”

He lifted a shoulder.

“Well, I hope you’re braced for that because you’re going to hit the ground running down there. There are people in danger of losing everything. And believe me, they don’t have much to begin with.”

With another noncommittal grunt, Griffin pressed closer to the window so she could no longer see even his profile, but she had no problem getting the message.

Conversation over.

Fine. She’d only been trying to help him forget to lose his lunch in her clean plane. Instead, she’d concentrate now on getting them there. Time was of the essence this time around. Beneath them lay Copper Canyon, a breathtaking network of more than twenty canyons covering 20,000 square miles. Four times the size of the Grand Canyon, the place was a natural wonder. Lost in there, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, lay San Puebla. The village had once been a miner’s jackpot but was now too remote and isolated for anything or anyone but the most rugged of ranchers. The thought of them losing what little they had frightened her. She could only hope this man had what it would take to direct the crew, who would likely be a bunch of ranchers and a few military laborers sent in by train, all with little to no fire training.

She dipped the plane into a low valley, her breath catching at the vast beauty of the forest, the undiscovered creeks and rivers. The deep gorges and canyons and high vistas were some of the most amazing in the world, unarguably among the most rugged and secluded.