Had she hit the jackpot entirely by accident? Lord knew she desperately needed some leads, and at this point she'd take anything she could get, especially a local son of a hotshot. Maybe he'd know something about Logan.
“My dad was seriously pissed when I didn't follow his lead and join the crew.” He shrugged. “What can I say? Firefighting isn't my bag, even if everyone in town thinks those guys' shit don't stink.” He shot her a grin. “I'd rather take pretty tourists up in my helicopter any day.”
She made herself smile back, even though she was slightly creeped out by his compliment. The truth was that Dennis's piloting skills were in great demand by the Forest Service. He could have helped put out a lot of fires over the years. But she wasn't here to make moral judgments about other people's professions.
Directing Dennis's attention back to the fire, she asked, “Is your father down there right now?”
“No, he retired a few years ago. But my brother is. Well, my foster brother anyway.”
Maya's breath caught in her throat and she found herself coughing. She'd been planning on contacting Joseph's son, Dennis Kellerman, later that morning. Instead, she'd lucked out and he'd been handed to her on a platter. Better still, he had no idea who she was—and seemed to have a very big mouth. The key was to keep him talking as long as she could.
“You okay?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. “I'm fine. Sorry about that. Anyway, I think you were saying that your foster brother is down there. Is he going to be okay?”
He shrugged. “Sure, he'll be fine. Logan knows his way around fire better than almost anyone.”
Maya worked like hell not to betray any recognition at hearing Logan's name. Right now the most important thing was to keep asking innocent little questions and find out as much as she possibly could about her suspect. “What do you mean?”
“He moved in with us when he was seventeen. Man, people would never know it now, he's such a do-gooder, but he was a badass back then.”
Dennis was wrong. Logan was still a badass, with a capital B. Any woman could see it. Especially her. The fact that he did good deeds on a daily basis only made him hotter. Her breath hitched as she caught herself doing it again. Allowing herself to build up Logan just because he was good-looking and his kisses made her burn with need.
Dennis continued, saying, “He was such a pyro when he came to live with us. He used to light fires all the time. That's probably why he's so good at putting them out.”
Holy crap, that's what Logan had been hiding from her.
His pyromaniac past.
Maya was so stunned that she barely managed to keep up her end of the conversation. “And they let him on the hotshot crew with that background?”
Dennis snorted. “No way. No one knows about his background. No one but me and my dad.” He shot her a glance. “And now you. But what the hell do you care about something a random firefighter did a zillion years ago? Don't tell anyone, okay,” he joked. “I wouldn't want to get the bastard in trouble.”
She manufactured another smile, even as it struck her that although Logan had moved in with Joseph as a teenager, and Dennis and Logan were practically brothers, based on everything Dennis had said to her, he obviously didn't know Logan was a suspect in the Desolation Wilderness wildfire. The two men must not be close enough for Logan to call and confide his troubles. Maya made a mental note to find out why.
But Dennis wasn't finished saying his piece quite yet. “Most girls I know love firefighters. You too?”
She paused to make it look like she was giving it some thought. “I guess so.”
He snorted again. “If women had any idea how much ass these guys get they might think twice before hopping into bed with them.” He seemed to realize what he was saying a moment too late. “Sorry, I didn't mean to be crude. I don't usually do the early morning flights, but I was on vacation all last week so I'm making up hours.”
She waved her hand at him and said, “Don't worry about it,” even though the truth was that she'd never felt cheaper.
Some silly, stupid part of her had wanted the connection she'd felt with Logan during their fifteen minutes in the bar—even last night when he'd kissed her—to mean something. But now that Dennis had confirmed she was just one of many, it was time to face the truth. Even as she continued to reel from her discovery about Logan's pyromania, she had to accept that there was no connection between her and Logan. And there never would be.
A moment later, they came up on the fire. When she looked down through the clear glass base of the helicopter her breath went. “My God, the entire ridgeline is on fire.”
Dennis pointed just to the east of the ridge. “Check that out. Those neighborhoods are about to go up in smoke.”
She bit back a curse. The hotshot crew had done an amazing job of playing defense, but they couldn't keep the full-court press going forever. Houses would start burning today. One by one, innocent people would lose everything. All of their pictures. The gifts they'd been given. Mementos they'd held on to for sentimental reasons.
The sense of violation she'd felt last night after losing one suitcase and computer was nothing compared to what these people were about to go through. All they could do was gather up their kids and their dogs and cats and get the hell out, only to watch their homes burn on the news.
“I had no idea it was this bad.” Dennis said. “I've definitely got to get back. I'm sure they'll be calling me any minute now to help with water drops. Sorry to cut your trip short. I'll talk to my boss to make sure he doesn't charge you for the trip.”
She nodded her understanding, but needed to find out a couple of things before they turned around.
“Before we head back, can you tell from looking at the blaze where it might have originated?”
She already knew, from the obvious V-like pattern in the hillside, and once it was safe to reenter the terrain, she'd head into the hills to get the information she'd need for a complete report. But right now she wanted to hear what Dennis had to say about it, to see if she'd get lucky again and he'd accidentally give something else away.
Dennis studied the terrain. “Might have been easier to tell you yesterday before it went crazy, but my first guess would be right there. It's pretty hard to see through the smoke,” he continued, “but I fly over these mountains every day, so I can tell what's different.”