He released the mic. “Fuck.”
His head fell forward and for a moment he stood there, silent and still. Then he drew in a breath, lifted his head, and raised his hand mic. “Dispatch, Scarlet Command. Have the rescue helicopters continue to Haley Preserve and Camp Mato Sapa to search for survivors.”
Joaquin supposed another photographer might have tried to capture that moment—the stress, the despair—but he couldn’t.
Hawke turned to him, shadows in his eyes. “Our buddy Rossiter was at Camp Mato Sapa when the fire burned through. He and a handful of others voluntarily stayed behind because there wasn’t enough room in the vehicles for everyone.”
It took a moment for Hawke’s words to sink in, but when they did, they were like a blow to the gut, knocked the breath from Joaquin’s lungs.
Rossiter.
That son of a bitch.
Joaquin’s next thought was for Kat and the kids—Alissa, Nakai, little Noelle.
Mierda.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Has anyone contacted Kat—his wife?”
Hawke shook his head. “She was driving one of the vehicles and knows he stayed behind. I’d rather wait to call her until we have some final word.”
“Yeah. Right.” Joaquin felt sick.
How much courage had it taken for Kat to drive away and leave the man she loved behind, knowing he might not survive?
“Is there any chance he might have made it?”
“Knowing Rossiter, there’s always a chance.” Hawke rested a hand on Joaquin’s shoulder and then went back to his discussion with the hotshot crew.
Naomi sang,the kids singing with her.
“The wheels on the bus go ’round and ’round, ’round and ’round, ’round and ’round. The wheels on the bus go ’round and ’round all through the town.”
Ironically, the van’s wheels were barely moving. They were stuck on the highway just outside town, traffic slowed to a crawl.
“The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish…”
She kept the song going, doing her best to make this less scary for the children, but it had been terrifying for her, too.
Leaving Chaska behind like that, seeing the fire coming toward them…
Thank God the sheriff’s deputy and Gabe had arrived when they had, Megs, Conrad and Ahearn not far behind them. They would make sure Chaska and the others got to safety.
The camp would burn, all the work they’d put into restoring the buildings lost. But the buildings and everything in them could be replaced.
If she had lost Chaska…
God, no.
She couldn’t go there.
She would have to come up with an evacuation plan so this never happened again. She’d never imagined having to drive everyone from camp at once. They’d been extremely lucky this time, no thanks to that fallen tree.
“The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep…”
A horn honked outside, making the children laugh.
Naomi laughed with them and went back to singing. “The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep, all through the town.”